A7K Jinpu-Kai?

[sotoolslinger]

Well this is not only excellent but we are all very glad that you are back after such a long lay out. :party:When you first started posting your awesome stuff I did not realize that it was all done so far back .
So glad to have you here

[Brian da Basher]

Looks great, Sequoiaranger! Ready to cause mayhem all across the Pacific! Love your work on the wing folds!

Brian da Basher

[sequoiaranger]

The photos I took before this had the Jinpu-Kai closer to the camera, and made the Shiden-Kai look puny. When I photographed them the other way around just now, the Shiden and Jinpus looked the same size. Perspective is a funny thing. Anyway, here are two more pics, one a top-view so you can compare the sizes/outlines, and a nice belly picture, too. For these pics, I put the LG doors and prop spinner on the Shiden so it didn't look so bare, and also creates more similarity of the "brothers-in-arms".

[sotoolslinger]

Both are just too bad arse

[sequoiaranger]

As usual, once you put the first primer coat on, the little imperfections just GLARE back at you! I know I have some un-anticipated PSR work to do, and some things I will just have to leave as-is and shrug off as a good modeling sport. However, the basic shape and form of the project is at hand.

Hint: dark plastic hides imperfections more easily than light-colors. I can't believe I missed some of these things!

Anyway, I present three views here for your viewing. I have my "painting dummy" Shiden-Kai already outfitted in the final camo colors, but I won't post it--my Jinpu-Kai will be done soon enough (coupla weeks). **I** think it looks mean, hot, and powerful!

[noxioux]

That's looking very good.  First rate!

[BlackOps]

Not sure how I've missed this one but it sure is nice. The amount of work you've put into it seems to have paid off. Can't wait to see this once it gets it's official paint job.

[sequoiaranger]

WOW. This has really come together the way I wanted it. Though I still have several things left to do, I am just excited about the LOOK of the beast! So this is a perhaps pre-mature sneak preview of the not-quite-completed Jinpu-Kai.

The main top color is a home-made sea green, deliberately much lighter and turquiosier (is that a word?) than the official Japanese "N2" green, but I *LOVE* it! The "blotch" camo is reminiscent of German mottling. The base/underside color is much like "Sky Type S". (I had just painted the anti-glare panel prior to decalling--I have yet to put on the yellow wing-leading-edge markings, and a few other things.)

The markings are for Sugita's (real Japanese Ace who flew the Shiden-Kai) personal plane. Markings aft of the antenna are Sugita's real ones (however, JMN's will note that the data plate under the horizontal stabilizer-hidden in these pictures- is one number off Sugita's actual plane data). The markings forward of the antenna are fictitious, but I found a set of kill markings with the same shape as the flag-like rising-sun motif, so I couldn't let that go by. Sugita was one of the IJN's most skilled aces, but never flew off a carrier. THAT's GONNA CHANGE!

The last photo shows the raison d-etre of the model--the folding wings with the Ki-15 "Kamikaze" wing-tip markings that would thrill the Shinano's shipmates as the plane approaches the flightdeck via the elevator.

I am going to put the full backstory and photos on a webpage in a new section of "Furasahita's Fleet" that I am in the process of creating--"Furashita's Air Fleet".

[Jschmus]

I love it!  And new material for Furashita's Fleet, you say?  Outstanding!

[Brian da Basher]

Love the paint scheme, SR! One of the best Japanese schemes I've seen! The wingtips are the icing on the cake!

Brian da Basher

[frank2056]

I love that blue, and the mottle. Great job!

[Sisko]

Wow nice stuff!!!!

[BlackOps]

     I think that about sums it up!

[lancer]

Fantastic and beautiful...Superb colour scheme..

[sequoiaranger]

A little long-winded, but...

Anyone who makes models gets those times when "Ahhh"! goes to "Arrghhh!" and back again as the model develops. I am sure there are some of you out there who agree with me that there is a spirit of purposeful malevolence in the hearts of inanimate objects that are determined to make our lives more miserable and complicated.  They come in many shapes and guises, but are always lurking, waiting to strike. My latest jinx was masking tape.

I was overjoyed (that's a SURE recipe for looming disaster) when I removed the masking from my Jinpu-Kai's cowl and saw the nice, crisp shape of the black anti-glare panel. SUCCESS! The low-tack masking tape that I had cut to shape had worked PERFECTLY. There was no paint creep under the tape, and the tape had come off easily without taking the underlying paint off. I had inadvertently allowed some of the tape to stick to the wing Hinomaru decal, but my alarm was diffused when the tape pulled off from the decal without any ill effects. It was a complete success. I was looking forward to doing something similar with the wing leading-edge yellow-orange markings.

AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Those maskings were more problematical, as there were lots of tight spaces to mask off. I saw, once again, the masking tape cling to the wing Hinomarus, but was too busy elsewhere to care. After all, they came off easily once before. When the complicated masking was done I got out my color (which I call "Lifejacket"—an orange-yellow) and tried to spray. Tried to. For some unknown reason, the paint had oddly coagulated and choked my airbrush. Thinning only made the already-thin parts thinner and did nothing for the blobs. So I slathered some non-diluted paint on by brush instead. Poor coverage---streaky and blobby—resulted. I tried to get the paint to behave, but eventually figured I would have to re-do the color with new paint anyway, so I made a new batch (the old "Lifejacket" paint was 15+ years old) that perfectly matched the old stuff. But I had taken the old masking tape off and, TO MY HORROR, saw that it had attached to the fragile, rare wingtip rising sun decal, and had RIPPED IT OFF in shreds when the tape came up!!! Then...the tape stuck to the Hinomarus ALSO ripped them to shreds! Then I saw that the brushed-on paint on the wing roots had seeped under the tape in many places, so I would have to re-paint the main wing color. THEN I noticed that I had inadvertently broken the antenna off while handling the plane AND has somehow gotten "Lifejacket" paint (now dried) on the cowl bottom, which would ALSO have to be re-painted. That was SEVEN mistakes that needed correcting before I could move on to progress.

ARRRGGGHHHH! I would bet that this utterance would not need translating if said in a foreign country, either. Seems universal.

JEEZ! I had really gotten myself into a hole! All this was late at night when I wanted to just get "one more thing done" before going to bed. I was so hopping mad by the turn of events that I fumed and slept poorly. I wasn't anywhere near just dashing the model against the wall, but I knew I had to wait until I cooled down and had some sleep before trying to UN-FUBAR my multiple FUBARS.

The next morning I sadly ripped up what was left of the Hinomarus and rising sun decal. I had an inferior spare rising sun decal (that tapered too suddenly to fit the wing where I wanted) that I placed farther out on the wing, overhanging a bit, and just carefully snipped off the "excess". Though the Hinomarus I had chosen could not be duplicated in size or color from my collection, I settled for larger ones from the same color batch. I touched up the wing color and under-cowl color and found an antenna. Then I made some "mask" out of 3x5 cards that I cut to shape, and used the new "Lifejacket" color to spray the wing leading edge. It all came out good. Peace was restored.

Then I pondered how to get a nice line around my spinner to match the leadership band on the fuselage (a thin red line bordering an orange-yellow stripe). That's when I hit on the variable-speed drill idea that WORKED and produced a beautiful three-tone spinner (see "Hints and Techniques" thread).

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The cycle was complete.
............................

To Lancer, BlackOps, Sisko, Frank2056, BdB, Jschmus---thanks for the comments and encouragement.