Area 88 1/144 - Kamikaze (Cessna + Zero)

[strobez]

Now that the Locust build is completed, I decided to put off the DC-10 build for a bit longer and complete the Kamikaze dual-build, while I've still got these little motors figured out.

The build is inspired by a scene in the Area 88 manga where Mr. Tsugumo, the president of Yamato Airlines, flies his Cessna 172 to a vacation spot and reminisces about his earlier days as a Kamikaze pilot. 

I'm still figuring out how best to depict the THEN/NOW aspect of the build, but it'll feature a 1/144 Zero from Sweet and a partner Cessna 172 from F-Toys.

So let's get started...

Here's the box/sprues. Even though the F-Toys kit is painted and partially assembled as a snap-tight, i'll be rolling it back to base parts and glueing, putty, sanding and painting it.



Okay... the flat-ish engine cowling is going to make for a very tight fit for the dc motor.  Nice to find the major challenge right off the bat, and I'm glad I didn't try to assemble first and insert the engine afterwards like I did on the T-6 Texan.  No chance of that.



The guide pins are huge because it's a snap kit, but luckily it un-snaps easily enough.  I think we can do a bit better on those seats.



The inner cowling is about as thin as I can make it... but it's still going to be a very tight fit!



Since I can't quite get it thin enough to put the motor in the right position, I need to move it back a bit and extend the shaft.  Drilled out a 0.6mm hole in a 1.0mm bit of styrene to do it.  Might be a bit long though...



Put it all together... and it fits! Yay!



Now to get started on the interior. Painted the seats black and then tried to hide some of the wires along the side wall.  So far, so good...



Well, that didn't last very long.  After using a resistor to lower the motor's RPMs down to a more manageable rate, it's now so sensitive that the least contact will stall the motor and keep it from spinning.  That makes the tolerance in terms of placement VERY tight.  So, of course, while trying to glue the motor in place "just so", I ended up having a bit of CA glue leak out a hole and stick my finger to the tail... and then glueing the engine just ever so slightly out of alignment.

Sigh... then I put a large gash in the underside trying to pry the whole thing apart...



I guess I was planning on sanding it anyway, but having to deal with a gash, popping through the engine cowl, a seam that looks like I ripped it apart with my teeth, a gouge and a fingerprint glued into the rear of the fuselage, and a crack in the tail about halfway from the top... well, it was a bit more than I bargained for.



Well, after some very careful sanding... I think I can salvage it... but just barely.  If anything else major goes wrong, I may have to head to eBay for a do-over.  The windscreen is also a bit of a problem.  Given the snap-tight nature of this kit, there are four clear posts on the canopy that hold it in place.  The problem is they are very visible through the large windscreen.  I cut them off, but we'll see if that helps or not.



Since this kit was partially assembled, I thought it was going to be the easy half of the duo-build project... maybe not. 

[NARSES2]

I am seriously impressed 

[loupgarou]

I am seriously impressed 

May I propose a nomination to the  "von Sacher-Masoch Trophy" for the Strobez jobs? 

[zenrat]

I have found that when one intends to snap and de-snap a snapper it pays to sand the male fittings or drill the female ones.
Bit late now huh?


Make sure you dynamically balance your drive shaft extension.  You wouldn't want the build destroyed by excessive vibration...

[strobez]

I am seriously impressed 

May I propose a nomination to the  "von Sacher-Masoch Trophy" for the Strobez jobs? 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

That made my day... and I already had a pretty great day as far as adding to my stash is concerned...

[strobez]

I have found that when one intends to snap and de-snap a snapper it pays to sand the male fittings or drill the female ones.
Bit late now huh?


Make sure you dynamically balance your drive shaft extension.  You wouldn't want the build destroyed by excessive vibration...

Well, I just remembered the birth control talk my mom gave her three teenage sons and avoided any issues of copulation (and de-copulation) by cutting off all the male parts...

It wasn't hard to remember... a chat like that sorta sticks with a young lad... even 30 years later...

As for the shaft extension (snicker), it's actually pretty minor. I just need enough for the propellor cap to attach to, but I gave myself plenty to spare... just in case.

[TheChronicOne]

Neato!!!    More Cessnas around the better. 

[strobez]

Thanks Brad! I agree.

After some of the earlier challenges, I decided to take a bit of a break from this one, but I'm back at it with renewed energy.

As a snap-tite kit, the fit is quite good, but there was still quite a ridge where the wing meets the upper canopy.  So putty and sanding to the rescue.


Time to get the pilot and passengers. The Cessna cockpit is very tight, and there's half a DC motor sitting in there, so I had to relieve Shin, Ryoko and her father of some unnecessary bits... like arms... and legs... and some part of the lower torso to fit around the wires.

[NARSES2]

I keep having to remind myself how small this is   

[strobez]

Since the Cessna seems to have taken a turn for the worse, including losing the propellor I so diligently tried to install into an impossibly small engine cowling, I've decided to take a step back while we wait for reinforcements.  In the meantime, let's turn our attention to the other half of this build... the Zero.

I really couldn't resist this package... so Sweet.



Small sprues, but packed with a lot of detail.  Very fine indeed.



Got the cockpit painted green and the fuselage halves glued together.  Luckily there's plenty of room for the engine/motor.  The cockpit is far enough back and the cowling is nice nd big and round.



I'm just trying to figure out if I should use the kit's prop shaft or try and drill through the engine block interior to allow the motor's shaft to reach the propellor. The first option is easier, so we'll try that first, but it's nice that option B also seems relatively reasonable.

[strobez]

Long overdue for an update...

So I got the tiny motor installed.  Much easier on the Zero than on the Cessna given the proportions of the engine compartment...



Pilot painted  - complete with a bit of white wire to act as a "Kamikaze white scarf" and placed in cockpit and some black paint put down.



Canopy masked and first coat of aluminium applied... it's pretty shiny, but I think that's more the camera and the paint before a light buffing.  I find buffing the Tamiya acrylic a bit flattens down the high spots and dulls the disco ball shine effect.  In the end, it'll mostly be covered anyway, so that won't really matter. 



A coat of future and some hairspray and the underside is painted in that lovely Japanese light green/grey.



Well it's green. Of course, due to the hairspray, the tape on the underside took off a big chunk of the light green/grey coat... sigh.  Oh, well, that can be fixed easily enough.



Did I go overboard on the chipping? I always go overboard on the chipping...



Now the question is do I paint more? Or add decals? Hmmm...



Obviously, I paint. But first I mask!  Yes I know you're supposed to mask the bits that AREN'T supposed to be painted.  After my experience with the Tamiya tape lifting the paint (due to the hairspray underneath) I masked off the area for the red circles and gave everything else a coat of Future to protect it.  The tape dots provide reference points for the negative space masks and also preserve the paint lifting properties of the hairspray for a multi-layered look... I hope.



Some extra chipping to expose some bare metal under the red dots and the masks applied.



Red paint on. I should've been a bit more patient to chip away some red, but I wanted to see if it was going to work.  Nothing a bit of light sanding won't take care of... I hope.

[zenrat]

Hard not to go overboard with the chipping in that scale.

Looks good to me.

[NARSES2]

Hard not to go overboard with the chipping in that scale.

Indeed and that's a very good example of how it should be done 

[strobez]

Thanks guys. It might be a smidge too much, but it's my best chipping work so far I think.

I decided to be a lot more restrained on the chipping on the underside. That's partly because it's much harder to see on the light paint. It looks too scratchy I think, so I actually repainted a few misbegotten chips.



I also pleased that I successfully got the white stroke around the red side circles on. I kinda cheated and only painted the (slightly too large) white ring instead of a circle on top of a larger circle. I knew I ran the risk of misalignment and gaps/overlaps, but I seem to have hit the mark on both sides. They're not quite centred, but that more on an issue with the red dots than the white ring. I also had a tiny bit of white overspray, but nothing a bit more chipping couldn't solve. 

Still a bit more fiddling to go, but it's close now... and I checked to make sure the prop still works. Thank the modelling gods it does. That's all I need now is a lose wire...

[Old Wombat]

Not really too much, Japanese aircraft lost their paint at an incredible rate.

Looks right!