Kawanishe H6K Type 97 'Mavis' by Hasegawa

Steve Wilson
Very methodical start.
Will it stay like that??? if no! how long does methodical last??? 😄 😄 😄

Aghis Barberopoulos
Aah, Mavis! I will follow your progress in this, it is an aircraft I would have liked to have built for a long time now, but never got the kit...

Kelly Wellington
Heh...it has to wait for the backup on the workbench to thin out. The Twin Otter and the Kingfisher are going out the door with the older 'Rufe' buildout. First step was to rescue the propeller blade which had broken off and glue it back (successfully accomplished). Only then did I actually notice the my assembly instructions are in Japanese text ONLY. No English. There don't seem to be any paint color instructions, either, even in Japanese. I'm using the metallic bird's egg blue for interiors!!!

Kelly Wellington
My first Hasegawa kit.

Kelly Wellington
I paid through the nose for this kit, thinking it was difficult to ge ahold of....I was disabused of that when I picked up a second kit, in shrink wrap, for a ridiculous song (less than $15). I think it is a stylin' rig...a 30s stylin' rig. I understand it was a slow-moving target later in the war and 'Emily' was a distinguished, more utilitarian, and not nearly as 'stylin'' of successor in the flying boat department of the IJN.

Kelly Wellington
I just added the outer control surfaces on the main wing and did some testing with the IJN green. I've had a huge headache with a warped inner portside aileron. I joined the wing pontoons before threading the cable out, to do it the easy way. I still haven't tried the difficult way....that awaits me. I left the overhead console out by not remembering to glue it to the interior ceiling of the canopy before gluing the canopy on. And I still have the main struts to add.

Muddling through....

Kelly Wellington
The wing has been attached and the struts are all on...A doublecheck will need be made soon on the struts, but the worst has transpired, as can be seen by the pic. It ain't perfect...the slight tilt on the fuselage attachment to the pillar struts caused the extension struts to be too long by a millmeter on one side and too short by the same amount on the other side. Eh...

I'm not particularly pleased with my half fast fix of the rigging out on the wing floats...too slack, they are. Had my Japanese skills been up to snuff, I might have caught this assembly detail...but I realized it after the floats had been closed up. So, I attached it the hard way: gluing the 'cable' (silk floss) to the outside at the hole. Mixed results...knowing how to have done it would have helped immensely. I have another kit of this....I'll know better next time.

Kelly Wellington
Assembly complete. Ready for decals.

Here's a question....I have painted all the parts which call for a color other than the base color of the plastic, which, as it turns out, is the 'right' color green for the Imperial Japanese aircraft livery. At least it matches, to a tee, the IJN green from Model Masters, the line of enamels I use. So, I've covered sanding spots and other oafish gluing mistakes with the green paint on green plastic. I see no need to paint it, but I will be ruining the 'gloss' of the plastic by applying, first, a coat of Future, and then, a coat, or more, of Dullcote. I'm presuming that a coat of IJN green over the base plastic green is not necessary and the Dullcote will do the job on the Futurized unpainted plastic...'zat right?

Dave Flitton
Well done!!

Kelly Wellington
Seabreeze aging is what is needed. Time to move to the beach.

Roy McKenzie
looking good Kelly.

Kelly Wellington
ARRRRRGH! Fragile decals. I got three of the four hinomaru on before the topside port one buckled and fractured in the process of sliding it off the sheet. The smaller side hinomaru, and the tail numbers, were all dead losses and I didn't even attempt. As it is, I've the one with fragments missing. Eight total decals and I managed three. Crud.

Roy McKenzie
That bites. So what's your plan?

Kelly Wellington
Look at aftermarket offerings and let it rest for the time being. If need be, I can paint touch up on the battered but already applied hinomaru, but at this point, I'm not Futuring over what is on. If I can get replacements, I assume I can strip what I have on (maybe just the two on the tops, as the underwing hinomaru went on just fine) and start over with the decals.

Kelly Wellington
All part of the learning curve for this novice. I'd heard about 'fragile decals' but never before had I had the problem of the decal breaking up in the process of application. And, with a Hasegawa kit....old, warrant you, but still....