H8K-2 Emily 1/72

When I suspected the PE I purchased was for the newer tool version of the kit 🙁 

When I confirmed the PE I purchased was for the newer tool version of the kit 🙁 

Cockpit (hah) 

R&D to discover that you can use this stuff to make small cockpit windows and lenses! 

Because there are no mask kits for the greenhouse cockpit, nor the turrets. This was 3M tape, I soon went to Tamiya tape and pre-purchased masks whenever possible. 

More sanding and putty can correct any poor fit... right? 

Just how much tape? LOTS. I spent about 12 hrs doing this masking. 

What happens when your primer doesn't stick. In this case neither Model Master's nor Vallejo would stick. I then ordered the big guns - Tamiya rattle can Laquer. Lesson learned. 

The guilty parties 

And how I tried to wash the acrylic primer off. However, I then made a mistake by using Laquer thinner to finish the job. Bad idea, that old plastic just couldn't take it. 

Poor fit included the two fuselage halves. But, given how you had to align the cockpit at the same time... My trick was using the white glue to temporarily hold the deck in place (it is flexible for a while) then use a combination of Tamiya and SuperGlue to get the cockpit together. I didn't succeed at doing all of it at once. It's too big. So I had to glue it from one end to the other. that worked. Also, I had to gouge out the female alignment holes as they were all off by up to 1mm. Otherwise the two halves wouldn't align. 

Speaking of fit. The greenhouse cockpit and the fuselage didn't quite line up. Too much sanding of the halves to get them to line up? Maybe. This is where the Testers and Squadron putties came to play. 

I gave up on the original approach and realized that the cockpit was deformed. So my 2nd try involved this horrible jig in an attempt to minimize the putty needed. It worked. 

Prior to that 2nd attempt. I don't recall what I used the Milliput for at this step, I did use it later (see below). 

And the much reduced putty applied for the 2nd (and final) attempt. 

Now about that poor fit. Getting everything lined up was fun. Superglue for the male connections into the fuselage wasn't going to be enough and there were huge wing seams (even after lots of sanding and filing). My solution follows. 

Taped off the parts I wanted to protect and put in Milliput and then the Squadron putty. 

Then primed properly. Note the smaller windows are blank. There is no real interior anywhere but the cockpit so keep it simple. Those windows get added at the end with the white glue. 

Masking the yellow leading edges. Turns out I didn't do an adequate job of securing the paper, should have used 2" blue tape and not paper. Lesson learned. 

Poor molding, but Milliput saved the day! 

Now just having the best masking tape doesn't mean success. 

Far from it.  

Second try 

Turned out "better" but not "great", but "good enough" 

Showing the final paint, weapons, and hinomaru (purloined from a previously mistakenly ordered set of 1/72 hinomaru). 

And those floats.... wires in the middle (copper)  

And thread external. Since then I've moved to EZ line (clear) with permanent markers to color. 

And remember the bit about using the white glue for the windows at the end, you bet. 

And unmasking of the glass. So I have since purchased anti-static wipes to reduce the dust that is attracted to windows. And yes, I do use Future before I do anything to the canopy parts. 

Completed and on the shelf. 

And those radar antenna (yes the Japanese had a few radars and the Emily was one of the few aircraft big enough to carry them). Well, when I cut them from the sprue, I cut off the mounting pin 🙁. Super glue worked, but what worked best was super gluing a new pin to the antenna base, letting that dry, then inserting and gluing the spliced part into the hole. 

A close-up of the nose. Not a contest entry but what a ride!