1/48 J7W2 V2 construction

Katya Hodgson
Finally getting on with this!

Nathan Dempsey
Oooh a jet powered Shinden. I'm aboard.

Katya Hodgson
Happy to have you along! Still not quite decided on the camo scheme yet, and i'm not looking forward to messing around with poorly fitting resin air intakes...

And I also haven't managed to decide whether to add the drop tank or not.

Nathan Dempsey
I need to pick up one of these kits. It would fit well in my Luft '46 collection.

Katya Hodgson
This particular version got re-released recently, that's how I got it. Watch out for customs fees though!

Both versions of it actually include Luftwaffe markings, so if you did want to emphasize the "Luft" in Luft '46 then you could go that route. 🙂

Nathan Dempsey
Interesting! I dont know if I could bring myself to do that though. The rising suns look too good on this unique bird.

Katya Hodgson
I agree! 🙂

Katya Hodgson
That's all the cockpit stuff done, it's ready for assembly now. It's quite basic, but it is a rather old Hasegawa kit, so I did the best I could.

Bart Goesaert
looking good, one of the most beautiful aircraft ever designed...

Katya Hodgson
I agree Bart! I only hope I can do it justice this time. 🙂

Katya Hodgson
Cockpit is installed into the aircraft, and the fuselage halves are joined!

Next I get to have fun messing around with resin air intakes...

Bart Goesaert
Do you have pictures of your first try?
Will you also try to rescribe?

I have the previous version in my stash, are the resin inlets that bad?

Katya Hodgson
Theres some pictures on my WT.live page of my first try, if you want to look here:
live.warthunder.com/user/Comrade_Katya/
(just type #j7w2 into the search bar when on my profile)

I have never done rescribing before, so I don't think I will risk it on this. I do plan to try out a technique with a pencil to highlight the raised lines though.

The resin engine nozzle fits pretty well, and the actual INTAKES aren't so bad, it's the... band? That fastens the intake onto the fuselage itself that fits terribly. What i'm considering doing is cutting the intake off the resin band, and using the band of the plastic part instead, as that seems like it would give a better fit.

Bart Goesaert
that first one looks nice BTW.. rescribing is a lot of work, but can be a real help... it's one of the reasons to keep putting this project aside... looking forward to the painting stage

Katya Hodgson
First one is a lumpy mess, I had no airbrush back then and just brush painted unthinned enamel paints, this one should be a huge improvement.

I just don't know how to rescribe, and I don't know if I could be neat enough... I hold out hope for a new J7W2 kit with recessed panel lines and modern detailing in the future though!

As for the painting... still not decided, I was thinking maybe an NMF finish might look nice? I would do the box scheme, but i'm not sure how to get the neat "wavy" pattern that separates the underside and the upper side.

Nathan Dempsey
Katya, I just noticed that the kit is listed as a night fighter. Are there radar aerials included?

Bart Goesaert
too bad Zoukai Mura only provides this option in their 1/32 kit, but not for 1/48... these are costly, but boy what a joy... (zoukeimura.co.jp/en/..ws48_01_shinden.html)

Katya Hodgson
Nathan, nope no aerials or anything included, it's basically identical to the other version of this kit, just with slightly different marking options.

Bart, yeah, i'd quite like to try the 1/32 kit someday, but ZM kits honestly terrify me...

Bart Goesaert
why, the part count? fit and detail is excellent. Consider subassemblies like engine etc as a separate kit...

Katya Hodgson
It's the part count and the fit that worry me.

Bart Goesaert
Fit you don't have to worry about... Part count -> true, but with some changes you don't have to implement all... Build the engine separately, and show it next to the model... Divide and conquer

Katya Hodgson
It's something i'll have to look into at some point. I'd definitely love to do one with the jet engine conversion kit though. 🙂

Katya Hodgson
So, I fitted the resin jet exhaust and after some modifications, got a reasonable fit for the resin intakes, they'll still need a lot of filler, but its much better than last time. Also properly glued on the wing assembly, and the nose cover with cannons.

Bart Goesaert
Looking good...

Katya Hodgson
Yeah, the fit on the intakes is still not great, but it's better than it would have been without my modifications. I'm sure I can fix it with a generous application of filler.

Nathan Dempsey
Looking good. Appears as though you made those resin bits fit quite well.

Katya Hodgson
So I have added the filler, no more cracks, and I now have a good fit for the resin parts!

Katya Hodgson
So I assembled the rockets and their launch rails, and the drop tank, and I also masked and fitted the canopy.

Had to resort to masking the old fashioned way, I just couldn't find any pre-cut masks anywhere, so it may turn out less neat than normal. 🙁

Bart Goesaert
Well, I regurarly check the result with my camera, just take a pic, enlarge it and be critical (not like me, or you won't finish anything)
So tape looks good, except on two panels...

Katya Hodgson
It's nearly impossible to get it right with tape... the shapes are so tiny, it just works out nearly impossible. 🙁

Bart Goesaert
you can highlight the edges for better visibility by applying the tape and rubbing it slightly with a pencil...

Katya Hodgson
I'm sorry, I don't really understand.. 🙁

Bart Goesaert
bit the same way as they show in movies to show the writing that has been printed on the next sheet...
Youtube Video

The higher lines of the frames become more visible like that

Katya Hodgson
It's not the finding the edges, it's the actual masking...

Katya Hodgson
Sprayed the canopy "interior" colour, primer is up next. Had to stop for now though because the sun makes it too hot to work in the conservatory.

Katya Hodgson
Well after a brief halt as I acquired a new airbrush, regular service is resumed! I just finished the top side priming. 🙂

Katya Hodgson
And that's the priming done! I swear that was the longest it has ever taken me to prime a model.😉

Katya Hodgson
Top side base coat on. 🙂

Bart Goesaert
looking good... will this be a bare metal one?

Katya Hodgson
Yep, just finished the silver base coat, next will be to mask off and spray various panels in different metallic shades. 🙂

Nathan Dempsey
Oooh shiny! I like it 🙂

Katya Hodgson
Thanks Nathan! I hope it turns out ok. 🙂

Katya Hodgson
A lot of masking with this one...

Katya Hodgson
Just finished painting the engine section, i'll be moving onto the forward fuselage and wings next. Had to repaint part of this after paint leaked under masking tape...

Katya Hodgson
This could be my last update for a few days, as I will be away from home until the end of Wednesday next week, but here's what I have been up to. I masked off most of the model apart from certain panels, and then sprayed over with a much darker Humbrol aluminium spray, once I remove the masking, the model should have a lovely panelled appearance with different shades.

Katya Hodgson
And here we go, last update before i'm off, just to show off the panelling!

Bart Goesaert
Looking good

Treehugger
Well done for not having knocked off that pin that is seen on the eh starboard wing (right side). 🙂 (And also keeping on that other thing sticking out from under the fuselage.)

Katya Hodgson
Well, I managed not to knock off the wing pitot, but both of the underfuselage antenna have been knocked off at least once. 🙁

Jean Pierre CULIS-FERY
Même si pour ma part je préfère la version à hélice, ton montage est plutôt sympa. Cordialement.

gorby
That's looking very good so far. I always knock the antenna and the pitot off, that's why I don't attach them until the end of the build now. A lot less frustrating.

Gordon Sørensen
Great looking NMF, Katya! Nice variation of the metal tones.

Katya Hodgson
Jean, Merci!

Gorby, I probably should have left them off yes, but I always worry about attaching them later and getting the paint colours right...

And thank you Gordon! It's not quite done yet, sadly it looks much rougher in reality than in the photos.

Katya Hodgson
Well i'm home, so it's back to work!

Finished all the metallic panelling now, and I painted the anti-glare strip, as well as painting in various small details and the lights. Next up are the yellow wing marks, and the landing gear!

Katya Hodgson
Well that went better than expected, wing marks came out just about perfect! Although I think the yellow is a bit off, oh well!

Bart Goesaert
Looking good, the dark panels at the back can these be toned down a bit?

Katya Hodgson
Bart, what do you mean by toned down, if I might ask?

Also, just sprayed the Aotake into the landing gear bays, keeping my fingers crossed the masking doesn't leak!

Katya Hodgson
It worked! Much darker than it should be though... oh well.

Slavo Hazucha
Nice work on the metal finish and toned panels.

Nathan Dempsey
The wheel wells came out crisp.

Katya Hodgson
Thank you Slavo! I used up a lot of masking tape working on it... I hope the decals go on fine over the top!

And thank you too Nathan, I was very worried about the paint stuff leaking under the masking, but it worked very well. I'm a bit disappointed by the colour though, it's far darker green than it should be for Aotake...

gorby
It may be a little darker than some modellers use, but Aotake wasn't an exact colour. Have a read of this:
roncole.net/blogs/ro..rcraft-aotake-paints

So your colour is well within the colour range. I think it looks very good.

Katya Hodgson
Well.... maybe it's ok then...

This is supposedly "Aotake Trans. Blue" at least that's what Vallejo call it, it looks much darker when it's actually airbrushed on though, typically I would use faded emerald green...

Katya Hodgson
Working on the landing gear, and found the missing rocket! 🙂

Katya Hodgson
Landing gear assembly is in progress! I'm just waiting for the wheels to dry. 🙂

Katya Hodgson
The landing gear is on, and it stands! Did a much better job getting it straight than last time I made this kit, I'm not sure if it's perfect, but it's good enough!

Katya Hodgson
The decals are on! I'm going to leave them overnight to dry, and then do the final clearcoat tomorrow. In the meantime, i'll finish painting the air to air rockets!

Nathan Dempsey
Looking nice Katya 🙂

Katya Hodgson
Thanks Nathan! I decided not to go too crazy, and mostly stuck to the kit decals. Only added a couple of extra small ones.😉

Katya Hodgson
There's the rockets and the drop tank! That's just about it now, all it needs is the final clear coat and the rockets and drop tanks actually attaching. 🙂

Slavo Hazucha
Nice! Your skills really are progressing, must be fun to see how things go better with every model 🙂

Katya Hodgson
Thanks Slavo! I actually built this same kit in June last year, i'll be taking some comparison photos with both to show the progression.

Katya Hodgson
Should be done very soon now! Just waiting for clear coat to dry. 🙂