There aren't too many variations of JACK paint schemes I know of. I thought about the 'yellow' nosed Jack, and the yellow/ aluminum behind the exhausts Jack, and the American NMF Jack.

But, no.

I wanted a run of the mill, combat-ready and combat tested aircraft. And I figured with a little attention to paint and/ or weathering I could have a decent addition to my shelves. Not everything went as planned, but I have my Jack.

Tamiya 1/48th Mitubishi Raiden 'JACK'
A ridiculous attempt to use Eduard PE for the Hasegawa JACK in 1/48th
Vallejo Model Air paints for the exterior
AeroMaster Decals "Empire Defenders Part 1"
Ill-fitting canopy my fault from adding extras to cockpit.
Aerial is .005 diameter transparent nylon
Aerial tie-down 'eyelet' from 1/35 Panther tank brass PE
















Ken

Your Jack, Ken, is fantastic looking. You should be very proud of it. I thought I would share mine in 72 scale, the older Hasegawa kit. Take care, Russell

Ken

Your Jack looks amazing, I have seen alot of Japanese, in what I personally think, that are over weathered, I think yours is perfect balanced, excellent job.

Thanks for sharing

Kevin

Great job Ken, the weathering, fading and panels lines came up very nicely. A quick question, did you post-shade the panel lines across the hinomaru, or are they showing through from pre-shading?

Cheers, D

Russell, Kevin, and Damian... thank you for looking and posting.

The panel lines through the insignia are post-shading. I'm trying to use the Chris Wauchop method of very thin and very fine post shading lines on nearly all panel lines. Rather than quickly squirt along the lines I try to slowly inch my way across each line. The fourth picture of the underside shows how unsteady my hand becomes after a while, the line jogging a bit. Just part of experimentation to add some grime to the lines, more practice necessary.


Ken

Hi Ken,

First, pretty Raiden.

You are quite right for WW2 IJNAF subjects, although there were several R/T/B (Recon / Transport / Bomber) types with segmented schemes into 1943. By and large IJNAF planes wore 'plain' upper green/lower XXXX schemes, although we know there were a few exceptions.

I think what makes IJNAF subjects so appealing is the the hinomaru just makes them attractive subjects, even before the yellow leading edge ID was applied.v

Nice Jack Ken!

As for schemes, about the only other one I know of is this scheme that I did my 1/48 Hasegawa kit in many years ago. I've seen one grainy photo that is purported to support this scheme, although I no longer have access to it:



The only constructive criticism I can offer is very minor and as follows:

1) Your canopy appears to be "floating" above the model, some sanding of the windscreen attachment surfaces should fix that, alternatively, you can put some white glue in the gap and smooth it with your wet finger or Q-tip and then paint over it.

2) Regarding the sprayed lines, I think that it might work better if you make a couple of quick passes, letting the paint build up until it is barely visible (stop when you think it needs one more pass). This will give you a more subtle look, and get rid of any waviness in your weathering lines. Of course, this is a taste issue, so not really constructive criticism

3) In your photos, the cowl anti-glare area seems to have a blue area on the sides? Not sure of this is intentional, or just a trick of the flash.

Overall, a very nice build which should look great added to your collection!

Doug

Nice, Ken. I see nothing to point out.

Fred, Doug, Jim ---

Thanks for looking and commenting.

Doug-- you are quite right about the canopy. After adding the PE antennae mast stabilizer(?) the canopy sat flat up front but not so much on the sides. I was anxious to photograph it and call it done and this is what I get.

And about the anti-glare paneling... I was determined not to have a monochrome flat black so I used some thinned Vallejo Model Color (NOT Air Color). They have several shades of grey... make that many shades of grey... and I airbrushed two greys and some Tamiya Smoke. I believe the bluish hue is from my background and not from some genius plan I had.

Thanks again.


Ken

Doug, a beautiful rendition of a "Jack". Russell

P.S. I had trouble with my canopy too, in 72 scale. I sanded it in order to fit better, believe it or not!