Hi all,

o.k., time for something new and easy. I just went into a deadlock with my Trumpeter MiG-15bis, and we talked about this aircraft on a clubmeeting this week, I just pulled this from the stash.



Actually I have two different boxings with Hinoki's markings but both are typical Hasegawa and have yellowed "white" decals. I'll check my decal stash if I have them somewhere..

The kit is intended to be a relatively short project, but the Aires Cockpits always have one or another surprise up the sleave and instructions are lacking. Sooo, we'll see....

all the best

Steffen

I'll be watching this build as I like to follow your builds and this subject interests me.

Steffen,
I'll be tagging along as I always enjoy your builds.
Joel

Looking forward to that one Steffen. Ki-100's are beautiful airplanes.

Best wishes,

Ian

Cheers guys!

Many thanks for the hearty welcome ... I hope this to be a medium timespan project.

It is one of my "almost oobs" with just a few things added. Major "problem" will be the Aires cockpit but more on that later. I ordered the colours/paints from the instructions as I have no desire to descuss this topic in depth. I also have the Maru Mechanic on the Ki 61/100 and Ki 48 which especially helpful in cockpit painting .. but I first have to get to this point...

all the best

Steffen

Well, lets start with something easy.

I had the Quickboost exhausts in the box. First I removed the flash in this area and then I thinned the cowling flaps and made the resin parts fit. O.k. the improvement looks minor, but it is visible...





of course I also thinned the cockpit sides. The Aires instructions are very (VERY) unclear on this and I probably took a bit too much away, but I will show this in the next update.

all the best

Steffen

Steffen,
No way. That's a huge improvement with the exhausts. The kit ones look horrible next to the resin parts.
Joel

Cheers Joel,

well the outcome looks nice, but IMO it is only a minor imprvement.

Now for the difficult part. I filed the whole interior in the cockpit area down to paper like thickness (esp on the upper edge) as Aires Cockpits are known to fit very tight and I want to display the pit open so I wanted a thin edge. After that I testfitted the side walls from the aires set, which was not stellar.



I glued in the upper 1mm or so and held it in place with crocodile clamps. Then I took a hair dryer and heated the resin (attentión! plastic is taking the heat only a little better then resin. Then I clamped the sidewall down to the fuselage side and glued it with CA glue.. Worked like a charme



Now I wanted to tesfit the floor with bulkheads. This fit pretty good on the rear but did not so much on the front. Especially the part with the instrument panel and MG mount is too narrow, so it was time to add some bits of plastic sheet to make that fit. (it is still not fully tested. Also I noticed that the gunsight won't fit this way and a bit of cutting was necessary to remove weverything but a thin border to the panel line for the canopy (do not get too close as this is slightly away from the wind shield. (see picture above)

So this is what it looks now, all in all not bad for an Aires cockpit.



Also I got the missing colours today. I will used decanted AS12 (Tamiya Spray) for the lower side and this Kawasaki green enamel for teh upper side. Furthermore I bought Propeller colour and blue for all the striking stripes on this aircraft. I will probably use decals if I can (Lifelike) but the spinner will get this blue).



It is urgently necessary that I do not forget that I use enamels this time and need a Future finish before weathering. We'll see if I can remember that

all the best

Steffen

I puzzled a bit wit the firewall and MG Mount to make it fit as good as possible. I also added the small parts to the cockpit floor. Then I painted the whole thing in the advised brown colour (Gunze RLM 79) though the restored a/c in Cosford is green inside. To make the details stand out for the detail painting I gave it a first dark wash.




all the best

Steffen

Last week I have ordered the Eduard Zoom set to replace the instrument panel and the seat belts of the Aires set. I hoped it would fit half way ... guess what: the instrument panels are identical in size and outline! (sometimes I am lucky)



not yet finished, but it is taking shape...

all the best

Steffen

Nice one Steffen!

The office is looking excellent!

All the best

Rowan

Pit is looking good so far , following with interest



Terri

Steffen,

why this emphasis on having a future finish before weathering on top of enamels?

Thanks Rowan and Terri! Much appreciated (I already though I was on my own in this thread )

@ drabslab: I use an enamel based wash this time. You can guess what happens when I use this wash on an enamel finish (esp. as I am not always patient and 2h drying time seems sufficient).

all the best

Steffen

Good choice of subject Steffen, the Japanese had a bunch of real lookers in their inventory and this one must rank near the top in that aspect. Good choice to replace the exhausts, I did that on mine in 1/72 (well, not a bubbletop but the exhausts are the same...) but didn't have the luxury of a resin replacement !

Enamel over enamel - if the underlying layer is thoroughly set (24 hours is a common indication for enamel to really set, not merely being dry to the touch) it shouldn't be a problem. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with some extra added safety in the form of an acrylic barrier!



Magnus

Everything looks really nice. All the little details really stand out.

Thank you Magnus and Russ!

I did progress a bit but not enoght to take more pictures. Also note that the cockpit pictures are much larger than the real thing and much of the "dirty" areas will be hidden inside the fuselage.

I painted the backside of the instrument panel and the gun sight black. The map case got a fabric color and I applied some pin wash araound some details. Next will be lhs cockpit wall and build up of the throttle controls plus the seat belts.

@Magnus: these markings are one of my favorite japanese, the Ki 100 was avery capable a/c and Hinoki an ace .. so it is a must for me

Thanks again to all for the positive feedback!! It really helps to keep going....

all the best

So here are the pictures og the other cockpit side and the floor. Sorry it is a bit blurry, but the thing is closed now and I cannot retake the picture...




Of course this looks not as clean as Jean-Luc's or Rowan's builds but it looks the part and the pictures are much larger than the real thing.

all the best

Steffen

Watch out for the downward curved left wing, same wing parts as the Ki-61: It is moulded-in and hard to fix without making a "dip" on the top... The right wing is easier.



Gaston

Here is a picture of the current state ...



got a flu breaking out today. Nasty thing already, so progress will probably be slim in the near future.

BTW though I do not like G. posting other peoples work to point out mistakes and has yet to come up with any own model, the observation is correct. No idea if or how I will correct it.

all the best

Steffen

Steffen,
Excellent work on getting the Aires Pit to fit. I'm not a big fan of them, as I lost my one and only battle with one. The cockpit does look rather nice once weathered up, and I'm sure even nicer with the fuselage halves glued together, and viewed in 1:1 scale.

As for sealing before weathering, I do that nearly 100% of the time no matter the base paint. I find that it really helps the wash flow better, and clean up is much easier when needed.

Hope you're feeling better. The Flue is certainly no fun.

Joel

Cheers Joel.

Yes, I got th eAires Cockpit to fit. It was not that bad most problems caused by myself.

Not much prgress. Honestly I feel it is rather a step back but the wing bothered me. So as I had a downward swing I cut the upper wing at a panel line and glued it together... keeping the thing straight with my saw (it is even, very light and does not stick and most of all it was at hand)



To keep everything aligned I removed teh tape after a few hours and reenforced the cut with CA glue. Of course you get an indention when you do such things so I filled the area with Gunze white putty leaving it to dry over night. When I sanded it down I got some marbelin (probably not fully cured yet) so I gave it another layer with Mr Surfacer 500



The picture shows it with just the Gunze Putty

...and with the canopy to show that it still fits I'll only use the rear part as my Vacu Canopy is for the Ki 100 Koh

all the best

Steffen

Steffen,

I'd be happy with just that cockpit on my shelf - super work!

I'll be watching this build.

Thank you Fred!

Still, I am aware that my cockpit building abilities are rather mediocre (or worse) which is one of the reasons why I don't like this part of the build.

As for the wing: It still has a slight bow in the last 2cm (overemphasized in the picture due to the angle of lighting) but both wings look similar and I am happy with the result. The top wing is flat and rescribed so I can proceed.




OTOH I will be away tomorrow and the comming weekend so progress will be limited.

all the best

Steffen

Steffen! I don't want to rub it in but there is certainly nothing wrong with that cockpit ! I have found that either you build for the camera (and then it does have to be smoother and with less contrast) or you build for the eye and then you need a bit more contrast since the parts are rather tiny! I often work under magnification (or without my glasses since I am myopic), when I get the "perfect result", I sit back, put on the glasses and realise that in normal lighting and from a normal viewing distance, I can't see a thing so a bit of extra "oomph" is usually needed!

Good progress by the way!



Magnus