After a long time, I intend to build a 1/144-scale airplane plastic model. It’s Arii’s type-two large flying boat so it could be pretty big. This kit from Alii has been sold for quite a long time, so many people probably made it.
Well, I bought a new product, so even if it has some stock period, it has not deteriorated. The decal is beautiful, and the quality doesn’t seem to matter. A big kit for 1/144; it doesn’t seem to have that many parts.
There was no detailed work, so the left and right fuselage parts were glued together. When it is mounted on a trolley, there is a place to drill holes in the parts.
It carries four propeller engines.
Even bonding to the main wing and fuselage did not create such a large gap.
(2023/01/15)
The assembly is almost complete with delicate parts. Even at a 1/144 scale, it became pretty large.
There are many tiny canopies. I think it’s enough for about three zeros. And I decided to mount two torpedoes.
Masking was a lot of work because there were many canopy frames and six canopies on the aircraft’s front, back, left, and right sides. It’s probably more work than assembling a plane.
The inside of the cockpit and gun seat are not reproduced so precisely. A slight degree of visibility through the canopy, so I painted it with the interior colors of the fuselage, and the seats are painted brown.
I painted the machine gun black because I attached the anti-aircraft machine gun from the inside and glued the canopy together. All connections were good except for a gap of about 0.2 mm at the back of the cockpit canopy. I think it’s getting more like a giant flying boat.
(2023/01/17)
The pulleys on the underside of the fuselage were glued together. It will probably be tough if I forget to make a hole to fit it in. The pulleys installed in three places will be stable when decorated, which is nice. A thin thread is stretched around the reinforcement of the float attached under the main wing. The thread is inserted into pre-drilled holes and fixed with instant glue. It’s scary because the thread is coming out halfway, making it a perfect play target for domestic cats. The line used was No. 0.5, used when fishing small fish. It’s a regular black line.
Looking at it again, I don’t think there was a need to make such a big hole. The holes could be filled with jelly glue.
Usually, I finish the basic painting and decal pasting before I attach the antenna wire. I worked on stringing around the float this time, so I attached delicate parts and then strung the antenna wire.
I airbrushed the yellow areas and the cockpit interior colors.
A primer in black. It might not be necessary because it is a dark basic color this time, but it has become a routine.
(2023/01/22)
Masking work on the bottom of the fuselage. It takes longer than I expected.
It would have been easier to paint and mask the top dark green first. But in that case, I have to mask the side of the plane, which is quite broad.
I blew white on the top to give it some contrast.
But I blew the dark green pretty thick, so it didn’t feel like a gradation.
(2023/01/24)
The Arii Type 2 large boat is now complete. This kit had a lot of burrs, and it was hard to put together. Even at a 1/144 scale, it’s reasonably large.
It has a long range of about 7000 km. This range is from Tokyo to Hawaii or so. We had a lot of time on duty, so we had a bunk and a rest area. The maximum bomb it could carry was two tons. 60 kg x 16 or 250 kg x 8 or 800 kg x 2 or aerial torpedoes x 2.
Because it is a large aircraft, there are many crews, with the maximum being up to 13. No wonder many molds look like windows in various parts.
From the beginning, the clear parts, such as the gun seat and cockpit canopy, were somehow masked to keep the clarity. Many other molds on the side looked like windows, so I painted white and then silver. I painted the part that I thought would be a window like that.
The marking is 801 Naval Air Corps. The Yokohama Naval Air Corps was renamed the 801st Naval Air Corps in November 1942. The Navy’s first flying boat unit engaged in oceanic reconnaissance and patrol activities. At one stage, they even went to patrol around Rabaul.
In this work, two 800 kg torpedoes were mounted. The float is made with extra tension wire for increased strength.
Alii’s manual is pretty rough, and there are no instructions for painting the details. I painted some parts after deciding the color on my own judgment to see if it was like this.
Halfway through, I wondered if the canopy masking got messy, but when I finished it, I was glad I worked properly because it was colored in its way. A sharp design knife is more efficient for fine masking. Next time, I’d like to work on the whole thing more carefully.
(2023/01/26)
