SPA Modeler

I have been working on this one for a while. Made the masks for the canopy. There is a very complex interior which took some time. The instrument panel decal was really difficult to get to conform over the panel, though I did not hit it with Tamiya Extra Thin, not worth the risk given how hard it will be to see. Unlike many of the Japanese models such as the B5N with small cockpit openings I have built a lot will be seen of the cockpit areas through even the closed canopy though there are parts build it open or closed. I had a bit of trouble with getting the cockpit parts in place well enough to get the fuselage seams that but that worked out OK. I did have some trouble getting the wing to fit up to the fuselage as there was some interference to work out with the bottom of the cockpit parts and some trimming was needed at a flange at the front of the fuselage. More trouble with this one than any other Hasegawa 1/48 scale kit and I have built a few. Perhaps I am having concentration issues due to medical treatments that are keeping me from thinking critically enough, though thankfully my tremor is back to my normal so there is some good.

Nice work John. I have this kit as well. Excellent interior. Hope to build it one day. It's on the list, but it's way down there if you know what I mean. Looking forward to seeing your finished build.

Beautiful work!

You're getting there, John

That's looking very good John, despite the issues it's given you.

Glad to hear you're on the mend.

You are of to a very good start in my book!

Very nice!

I photographed all the open canopy parts from multiple angles and with a ruler in the picture. The pictures were imported into Autocad where they were resized. The areas to be masked
were drawn over the photos and a dxf file from that work was used to cut the masks using a Silhouette Cameo Vinyl Cutter. I use Tamiya Masking sheets, much better to
work with than Oramask or other vinyl materials. There were a lot of individual window panes. Many of them needed adjustment after trial fitting, but that's the only way to get it right.



And just like that its all done. This is a well engineered and very detailed model. The canopy parts were all properly sized so they all nested properly in the open position, allowing a nice view of the interior detail. The landing gear fit positively including the four doors on each side and the tires had flat spots.



Separate cowl flap parts were supplied, one in the open position and the other closed.



The exterior base colors are Gunze C15 and C35, Mitsubishi Navy Grey and Nakajima Dark Green. I was going to do an aluminum undercoat but the new bottle of Alclad II had something
wrong with it and it actually etched the upper wing panels. I wiped it off with Mr Leveling thinner and settled for the monochrome green of a fresh paint job.
First time I have had an issue with Alclad ALC-101





I painted on the wing walk lines, but used decals for the minimal markings.









With the Tamiya 1/48 Ki-46III Dinah, another Japanese Recon airplane. The Myrt was a large airplane, the Dinah relatively small for a twin.

Geat looking Myrt John. I always liked the shape of this particular aircraft. Did you ever figure out the cause of those fit issues?