Voir et Savoir 56 - J2M2 "Raiden"
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Had this box for a while. Let’s crack it open.
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Two planes. Two little sprues.
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A quick dry fit. They go together easily enough.
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Now to fill in the wheel wells. These kits are obviously not meant for wheels up.
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The wells were so thin, I decided to just cut new covers out of sheet styrene. Much easier than trying to cut/sand the kit parts into submission.
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And, there we go. These handy wooden chopstick rests made a nice base. All I have to do is cut out a slot so I can add a micro USB plug.
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A bit of putty and we're off to do some sanding.
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DC motors are all wired up and ready to go.
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After some careful glueing, the motors are now in place.
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And... it works!
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This one works too. Always a good idea to keep checking the functionality. If it breaks along the way, it pays to know when, where and how.
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Now for some cockpit details... including pilots.
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Cockpits painted, pilots comfy in their seats.
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Tiny little canopies masked and ready to go.
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Am I wasting my time doing under-shading? Maybe... we’ll see.
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First coat on... more needed.
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Top side done. Looking better now...
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A bit more creative masking. I almost never use blue tack for masking, so we’ll see how this goes.
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Missed a few spots, so we’ll need a bit of touch up.
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Second round of blue tack masking... will this work?
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I'm not quite sure how I feel about the result... but here we are.
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Now that the painting is done, time to attach them to the bases.
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Now for a panel line wash, some weathering and decals...
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Decals on... I bet you can't tell (from this angle) that I broke a wire inside and had to do open heart surgery, can you? And you never will... 😉
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All that's left is the decal for the base, and we're done!
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Komentáre
1 3 February 2020, 23:56
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I was just itching to build something with a propellor... so here we are.
5 February 2020, 22:56
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Best wishes for the new endeavours in the "crossover" Voir et Savoir series... (he he, I always smile at how you jump from one thing to another! 🙂 )
6 February 2020, 01:02
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Thanks Alex. I like to switch things up regularly, that way it keeps it fresh. I have several builds on the go at any one time, but sometimes I just get hit with some inspiration and decide to go with it. 🙂
6 February 2020, 01:10
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... and, on top of that, you have also sudden urges to retro-fit old, already completed projects with USBs, and motors, and light and sound and what not... man, your drive is inspiring! 🙂 Keep it up, Greg, you spread good vibes!
6 February 2020, 01:15
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Well, the drive to retro-fit my already completed Area 88 1/144 projects was mainly because I was sick of worrying about them flying off the shelf. The USB cords were getting in the way and then acted almost like a strange boat anchor, which made them a hazard.
6 February 2020, 01:19
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Oh, yeah... THAT's why propellor motors are tricky. I forgot that trying to get a hole drilled perfectly in the centre of the prop shaft is nearly impossible. When I finally got it as close as possible, I realized the plastic shaft itself wasn't centred perfectly on the prop anyway. So, once again I cut everything and squeezed the motor into place so that the motor shaft can connect directly to the prop itself. I got them all glued in the right place though, so I'm happy.
7 February 2020, 00:46
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5 V for the motors ? An spinning propellers , OK ,. but have you also pilots in the cockpits ?
7 February 2020, 08:44
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Yes indeed, Erik. I've got the small DC motors in place and the props spin like a charm. As you can see from the latest pic, I've also got pilots standing by. Now what I need are some painting guides for the A7M2 that seems to have tagged along on this J2M2 build. I think the Tamiya JN Green will be fine, but what colour is the underside? Preferably in Tamiya acrylics.
7 February 2020, 14:53
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Cockpits detailed, canopies on and masked. Guess it's time for painting!
9 February 2020, 22:30
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Thanks guys! They're coming along, but now that we're just painting things are moving both quick and slow. Each coat of paint at 1/144 is over pretty quick, but the drying time is the same. Idle hands soon grab for another box...😉
10 February 2020, 22:32
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... wait, wait, wait... there's still a crucial question left unanswered - how can you build a model (the A7M2) without it being specifically assigned to a particular Greg Baker collection / project?!
10 February 2020, 23:51
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You made me laugh at my own quirk, Alex! Yeah... after a moment of crisis regarding the classification of the A7M2 in my project family, I simply decided to expand the concept of Voir et Savoir. There's a bunch of planes, such as the F4U Corsair for example, that Hergé tragically didn't include in the Voir er Savoir series. So, this way I can simply build whatever I fancy, however I feel like. 😉
I updated my blog (strobez.ca/wp/index...-144-scale-projects/) and put together a list of other planes that are more or less available in 1/144 scale to act as a bit of guideline. I'm still figuring out how to include a Caudron C.714 on that list though. 😉
11 February 2020, 00:58
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🙂 Both your "quirk" about proceeding within well-defined collections and projects AND the need to break the rules sound very familiar... Keep on doing your thing, Greg, and having fun - it's inspirational and spreads motivation and good vibes... PS.: I think... You're Gonna Need a Bigger showcase...
11 February 2020, 01:46
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Getting close to done. Weathering and decals to come. They're all wired up and spinning like they should.😉
15 February 2020, 16:56
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Famous last words. I got the decals on and just as I was putting the final touches on the A7M2, the support pole broke. While trying to get it to sit back inside the fuselage, I managed to snap one of the wires on the inside, next to the dc motor. So there was nothing to do but open up the patient and to a quick by-pass surgery. It was a terrifying game of "Operation"... don't touch the sides of the 1/144 scale fuselage, while soldering two tiny bits of wire together. Luckily, I was able to pull it off and the patient lived - albeit with a bit of a scar on the right side. At least that's the backside of the display pose.😉
I also managed to stick my fingers on the still wet base decal for the J2M2. What a stupid mistake! I spent 10 minutes carefully sliding the homemade decal in place, got it done and then put it aside to dry. Then, not ten seconds later! I grabbed it by the base and stuck my thumb right in the middle of it. A pain in the ass to reprint, but a mistake that's easily recovered from I guess. I will say I love my new 1/144 scale rigging thread. The radio antenna went on like a breeze and looks perfect.
17 February 2020, 15:36