Hi all!

Here is my finished entry for the "Flattop" Campaign: a D4Y "Judy" diorama
- Aircraft is from Fine Molds
- Japanes Carrier Deck Base is from Eduard
- Figures are from Hecker & Goros, Tamiya and Fine Molds.
- I used mainly Tamiya Acrylics and Future for the Plane and the base.
- I used mainly Prince August Acrylics for the figures.
The Fine Molds kit is nice but the canopy gave me problems. I had to vacuform a new pilots hood... not bad at the end as the cockpit details can now be seen The kit's decals were also unusable so I painted the "Hinomarus" using masks and added numbers on the rudder using spare ones. The decoration, though representative, is therefore fictional.









I didn't wanted to weather the Aircraft too much. In fact there is almost no weathering apart from the exhaust stains. This is probably the cleanest plane of the Imperial Japanese Navy! :-) I hope you still like it...

Jean-Luc

Hi Jean-Luc,

That is a good looking diorama. A beauty of a "Juty" too (-tee). :-)

I would not worry about the plane not being weathered much. IMHO the Judies were pretty new to carriers; sure, there were 4-6 at Midway, but by the time they were supplanting Val, IJN carrier ops were limited. I surmise that they were new enough, and not used enough, to show much wear-N-tear.

Hi Jean-Luc

Wow! She's a beauty! I particularly like the way the deck's turned out - it gives me hope for my own Eduard decks. I'm sad to admit that I haven't even started my comparable Hellcat scene for the Flat-Tops campaign yet...

All the best

Rowan

Judy, Judy, Judy she's a beauty

Hi again Jean-Luc

I forgot to say - it's really great to see a FineMolds kit! I've got several on the shelves and I think they're great - they've got some really interesting subjects in their range, so nice to see them get a bit of fresh exposure. They're often pretty expensive in Europe, but check out HLJ and they're comparable in price with Hasegawa and Tamiya.

All the best

Rowan

That is a real beauty Jean-Luc. Nice to see a clean Jap plane every now and then ( i really must do one :-)).
Is the base in one piece and what colour did you use for the wood?
Andy (++)

Hi Jean-Luc

I like the job you've done on your Suisei. Personally I think you've got the weathering right. Carrier aircraft spend a lot of time below deck. As a carrier launched dive bomber the Judy first main battle was the Battle of the Phillipine Sea, better known as the great Marianas turkey shoot. After this battle Japanese carrier aviation was virtual none existent.

David

Hi Jean-Luc,

Great looking Judy you have there. The base and the figures give it that extra touch. The vacuform canopy is a nice addition, and is a must to see any of the interior.

See you at the dog-fights.....

Frank

Hi again Jean-Luc! I'll again give you a big thumbs up in this forum as well as over at Model Shipwrights, mate! Fantastic Judy, fantastic entry! Thanks to all of the wingnuts for joining us salty dogs on this excellent campaign!




It's OK Rowan, we still have a couple more months of build time left on this one...or did I hear a nomination for an extension? :-)

~Gunny

Hi all!

Thanks a lot for your nice comments! Happy you like the model and I didn't made to many cock ups!

Andy, the base is in one piece. There is a picture of it unpainted in the "Flattop thread" at Model Shipwrights. I brush painted the wooden part using Humbrol paints to have a less clean surface. From the box, the base is too "even" and sterile. Then I drybrushed and washed it to reveal small imperfections you can probably find on wooden decks. The Grey elevator was airbrushed to have another texture as the wood. Then I made the "panel" lines using my smallest brush and dark Brown Tamiya paint mixed with future. It took me a few sessions!

I completely forgot to thank Roderick and his Wife (did you mentionned her name already?) for the translation job on the Japanese instructions! This was of great help for painting the model and the pilot figures. Give her a big Kiss from me Roderick... a French Kiss of course!

Jean-Luc

hi jean-luc, thats a really nice dio you have there, and i must say, as a painter by trade the job you've done on the wooden deck really caught my eye, and overall captures the spirit of a plane being sent off on a mission. nice one!

As usual jean-Luc, very well done, that deck is very realistic looking.
Although I have started my Fairey Firefly for this campaign I'm way behind
Mal

Great job as usual. I especially like the carrier deck. Will check out the unpainted picture and then might have to try to get one myself.
Leon