forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Under Construction => Topic started by: Old Man on July 18, 2013, 08:53:53 AM
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This is not quite a Great War subject, but it is pretty much a great war type. I have recently gotten bit by a Japanese bug, and one of the projects started in consequence is this, a Roden N.24 to be done up as a Japanese Army machine. I intend to finish it as an early example, built at the Tokorozawa Arsenal in 1920 and fitted with an 80 hp Le Rhone.
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4652_zps02c32e98.jpg)
This is the basic interior structure. It is a mix of photo-etch from Tom's Modelworks (seat back, foot slides, 'throttle' and rods), scratch-built bits (the tube frame, and the backing for the throttle, and the aileron rods off the stick), and kit pieces (rudder bar, stick, seat bottom, and rear seat support).
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4664_zps711ee79a.jpg)
Here is the finished interior in place. The front of the fuel tank is scratched, the vertical piece between the foot slides (a combination ammo box and collector for links and brass) is from Tom's Modelworks. The gauges are scratched, with bezels from the photo-etch set. Seat-belts are foil from candy. The vertical rod is the aileron actuator, slid through a hole where the kit piece for this part is intended to go. The external portion will be trimmed, but passing this through the hole to engage the pieces going to either side from the stick let me be sure the angle was right.
Here is the fuselage closed and lower wing attached, with looks into the cockpit....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4666_zps04640915.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4670_zps64867ead.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4673_zpsbe772e4e.jpg)
The lower wing to fuselage joint needed a bit of work. Before I did the interior, I tacked the fuselage halves together with a couple of dots of CA gel, and did a bit of trimming and dry-fitting on the mating surfaces. An excellent fit can be easily gotten this way.
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Excellent progress Old Man! Lovely work!
RAGIII
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A fascinating subject OM. I have always been interested in Japanese aviation, but mostly in the 1930s and wwii. The earlier period sounds interesting.
At the risk of leading myself down yet another modeling trail, can you give us a little more history on this particular aircraft and Japan's use of foreign trainers during the post-wwi era? I was had not been aware that Japan used license-built French designs in the 1920s, but why not? Italy and Russia built Nieuports during the war!
Thanks for sharing this interesting project with us, and for expanding my horizons. ;D. My build list just keeps getting longer! ;)
Regards,
Bob
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Excellent progress Old Man! Lovely work!
RAGIII
Thank you, Sir.
I am hoping to get this one done at a fair clip. It is a nice little kit.
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Hello Old Man:
WOW! In 1/72nd no less! I have this in 1/32nd and am stalled due to the poor design and fit. Your work is inspiring and I may just yet tackle this bird. Looking forward to your next update.
Best
Mark
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A fascinating subject OM. I have always been interested in Japanese aviation, but mostly in the 1930s and wwii. The earlier period sounds interesting.
At the risk of leading myself down yet another modeling trail, can you give us a little more history on this particular aircraft and Japan's use of foreign trainers during the post-wwi era? I was had not been aware that Japan used license-built French designs in the 1920s, but why not? Italy and Russia built Nieuports during the war!
Thanks for sharing this interesting project with us, and for expanding my horizons. ;D. My build list just keeps getting longer! ;)
Regards,
Bob
I am far from expert on it, Sir, and was fortunate to lay hands on a copy of 'Arawasi' magazine, which had an article on the Ko-3 that went into some depth on it.
A French air mission to Japan in 1919 had great influence on the Japanese Army; so did the reports of several Japanese officers who had served with the Aviation Militaire in France during the Great War. Both the SPAD XIII and the Nieuport 24 were ordered from France; more SPADs than Nieuports but arrangements were made for the Nieuport to be built under license in Japan. The Nieuports were initially built with 80hp motors for training, but in 1922, deliveries of Nieuports with 130hp motors began, and these replaced the SPAD XIII as the front-line IJAAF fighter. I do not know why this seemingly retrograde decision was made. A fondness for manouverability is sometimes suggested, but favoring home industry strikes me as a likely reason, along with possible problems of continued availability (no one was making SPAD XIIIs any more) and servicing difficulties (the geared Hispano motor was notoriously fickle).
The Ko-3 was replaced as a front-line fighter in 1924 by the Ko-4, a license built version of the Nieuport-Delange Ni-D. 29. Six hundred of these were built, by Nakajima, more, I think, than were produced in France. These were still the predominant IJAAF fighter in 1931, when the Mukden Incident was contrived, and some saw combat use in Manchuria. The Nakajima Type 91 parasol and the Kawasaki Type 92 biplane replaced it starting in 1932.
Over this same period of the 1920s, the standard IJAAF observation/light bomber type was the Salmson 2, built under license by Kawasaki and by the Tokorozawa arsenal, to a total of at least six hundred, and possibly up to a thousand. These also saw much use as trainers.
The Japanese Navy took its air advice from the English, and a lot of its early equipment derives from the Gloster company. They did, however, employ the Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 two-seat monoplane float-fighter in quantity.
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Hello Old Man:
WOW! In 1/72nd no less! I have this in 1/32nd and am stalled due to the poor design and fit. Your work is inspiring and I may just yet tackle this bird. Looking forward to your next update.
Best
Mark
Thank you, Sir.
This is not up to the standard of the Eduard N.17 so far as fit is concerned, but it is not a bad kit by any means. I have made peace with the understanding Roden kits will never build nearly so good as they look like doing when you open them, and it is oddly liberating. As they say: "Expect little, and you will have more pleasant surprises than bitter disappointments."
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Thank you for another superb history lesson, OM. I like how you research your projects. Excellent job on the cockpit. I look forward to the next update.
Cheers,
Bud
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Thanks so much for the history, OM. You've inspired me to do some additional research on my own and have a go at some of these 'tween wars Japanese aircraft in 1/32, although they will be a fair way down my build list. :D. Thanks again!
Regards,
Bob
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Interesting history OM, thank you.
Looking forward to seeing this beastie develop!
Andrew
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Excellent work so far OM on your current project, the pit looks very nice, and thank you for the very interesting history.
Des.
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Good job, OM! The cockpit is great, especially in 1/72. That in itself
is pretty amazing. Looking forward to the rest of the build.
Best Regards,
Ernie :)
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OM,
Excellent first progress my old friend. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this beautiful little Ko-3.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette
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Thank you very much, Gentlemen!
I was fortunate to be able to acquire a copy of the Arawasi magazine with the article, it is out of print. Until I had that I did not know very much about the type, beyond that it existed....
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More work on this, my friends: it is coming along pretty well.
The Roden kit includes a decent LeRhone, but it is of the higher power type with all its works behind the cylinders. I had a spare from an Eduard N.17 kit, with a front manifold and cowling as well, but the outer circumference of the Eduard cowling was a hair too small for the Roden kit's nose, and so could not be used. I decided to work the Roden LeRhone into an 80hp motor, and use the kit's cowling pieces. I thinned the cowling interior before and after assembling its pieces, and enlarged the cowling's vent cut-outs (these were positioned so that, when a cylinder was expelling exhaust and oil, its head would be where a hole was).
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4734_zps64ecd69a.jpg)
The Roden LeRhone fit a little loose in the original thick cowling, so after removing the 'works' in the rear, I sanded flat the tops of the cylinders and add a disc of 1.5mm rod to each to make them longer. I dressed this up with a bit of square .25mm rod across the top (to represent the dual valves), and a bit of square .25 rod in front of this, only half-way across the top (to represent the revolving valve actuator). Lengthening the cylinders put the spark plugs moulded to the piece too far from the top, so I trimmed them and replaced them with bits of round .25mm rod. The fuel feed pipes are from .5mm round rod; the push-rods are 34 gauge beading wire; the ignition wiring is .004" brass wire.
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4688_zps707dfffd.jpg)
Here is the motor painted:
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4733_zpsd18a9871.jpg)
All these pictures are very much magnified....
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Here is are the larger pieces: the fuselage and lower wing with tail surfaces attached, and the upper wing with interplane struts attached, all under primer:
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4739_zpsa32b4a64.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4743_zps34f66e7e.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4746_zps82ced4a5.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4748_zpsba8ca2e7.jpg)
Everything fit well enough, though it is a good idea to trim the fuselage a little where the horizontal tailplane seats, and also wise to trim the locating pegs down on the interplane struts.
I am going to leave this to rest about a week, to be sure the primer dries down properly. I ran out of my usual Tamiya white, and my local shop, it turned out, was it of it too. What I am using here is an elderly can of Floquil figure primer. It seems to have a tendency to get a bit tacky when handled after seeming, to all appearances, and to initial touch and handling, quite dry. So I intend not to touch it at all till next Saturday or Sunday, which I expect will do the business....
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Fantastic work in the engine OldMan, really amazing what you did being all so small.
Cheers
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That engine is brilliant, OM. You're doing a fantastic job, Sir.
Dal.
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The airframe looks terrific as does the engine. I remember that figure primer! I used to love using that stuff. You are wise to let it dry thoroughly!
RAGIII
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Thank you, Gentlemen. The motor was kind of fun; I have not done something like that in a while.
The maddest bit of engine work I ever did was this....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_3860.jpg)
A pair of Armstrong-Siddeley Jaguars; there were about a hundred fifty bits of plastic added to each of the pair.
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The airframe looks terrific as does the engine. I remember that figure primer! I used to love using that stuff. You are wise to let it dry thoroughly!
RAGIII
Thank for the first-hand report on the primer, Sir. It seems to be shaping up all right, but I am still not going to touch it before Saturday at the earliest.
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Well, she's silver now, Gentlemen...
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4837_zps06d548f7.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4839_zps6c78b313.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4841_zps320ff35d.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4843_zps335f2a27.jpg)
Cowling fit was a bit off, but I expect this owed to cleaning up the seam where the two cowling pieces join: interior fit was good, but the fuselage was a bit wider than its outer diameter, especially the lower portion. Dealing with this pretty much required removing the moulded on panels; they will be replaced from the Tom's Modelworks fret. The motor lost two actuating rods during this (look at the lower cylinders closely): these have been replaced after the pictures were taken. Cowling retainer band is a strip of heavy foil.
The substitute primer had dried hard, at least, but had a grainy texture even after extensive work with the 3000 grit pad.
Finish is an initial coat of Tamiya spray silver, followed by a craft acrylic silver tinted with white, and heavily cut with future. Later, plywood and metal areas will get coats with a different tint....
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Outstanding work thus far, OM!
Cheers,
Bud
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Oh yeah... silver on a golden work!
Very nice update.
Cheers
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Your skill at this scale is admirable Sir. I am always impressed
by your work. Good one OM 8) Long may you continue
All the very best
Dave
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Very nice. I had completely missed this thread until today. I wonder how many V strutter Nieuports were built worldwide. It seems like all of the world's air forces used them at one time or another.
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Beautiful Silver Dope Finish!
RAGIII
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Lovely silver finish OM, I can see another gem in the making.
Des.
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Thank you very much, Gentlemen.
The 'vee' strutters were used very widely, but I have no idea on total figures. Most were built in France, though; so far as I know, they were built on license only in Italy and Russia and Japan.
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Further progress here, Gentlemen....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4922_zpsa7cf10cf.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4923_zpsfbf0de8a.jpg)
Most projects will run onto a spot that is all at once small, maddeningly difficult, and essential. On this, it is the windscreen, tucked away inside the inverted vee of the rear cabane trestle. I had only seen this pattern of windcreen on RFC Nieuport Scouts before, and thought it peculiar to them, but the Arawasi article has several photographs clearly showing the windscreen to be of this pattern. It is very different from what usually appears on French Nieuports, and I am wondering if perhaps it was a general export pattern.
Doing it was complicated by the vagaries to be expected in a Roden kit. I have learned to approach these with a wary expectation of ambush, and viewed in this light they do not disappoint. I had to do a good deal of trimming at the top of this piece, and a little bit at the bottom of its legs, to get it to fit properly, and always with awareness the plastic could crumble at any moment. But this had to be done before fitting pieces inside the thing. It took about three hours, a fair amount of which was spent re-placing clear bits which, after trimming and apparently fitting well, fell out of place into the black hole, which is especially voracious where clear strips a bit less than a quarter inch long are concerned.
But that hump has been got over, and I expect things to move a bit more quickly now.
The brass bits showing are the inspection hatches from the Tom's Modelworks set.
A bit of color has also been added, with wood tone on the interplane struts....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4925_zpsbe7c6985.jpg)
Finally, just for a lark, a test-fit with the upper wing resting in place....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_4928_zps2d7dd7c1.jpg)
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Looks even better as a biplane! Your subtle silver shading is excellent and really shows in these photos.
RAGIII
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I agree with RAGIII, Nice work on the silver finish. I've seen that pattern windscreen on Italian Nieuports also.
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Got in some more work on this, Gentlemen.
Pretty near finished it, in fact....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_5071_zpsd2fe2b23.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_5073_zps94676718.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/IMG_5075_zpsaf2915e2.jpg)
Some bits of detail and finish repair had to be done on the nose before putting the upper wing on. These were advanced trainers, and often used for gunnery training, so the Vickers was often fitted.
The upper wing went on very nicely (though as you can see I had to do a bit of clean-up at the apex of the rear cabane inverted vee, and the spot still needs a lick o' paint). I added the front cabanes after the wing was on; they needed a bit of trimming.
I like the Rising Decals set very much, the decals are good quality and go down extremely well once in place.
I did have a bit of a problem with the tail numbers, though. They made the mistake of assuming what was on one side was the same as the other, but in photographs I have seen, it is pretty clear that on the port side is type and weight, and on the starboard side is location and something else. The sheet includes decals for two examples of the Ko-3, one with type and weight for both sides, and one with location and something else for both sides. I swapped these around, but when I went to put the separated '23' down, it rolled up on itself as I slid it off the backing, and froze. So I had to make new numbers for the tail, and the font I had available in dry-transfer gives numbers that are a little wider than they ought to be, though they are the right height.
Photographs which do show the underside of the lower wing of these machines reveal the serial number there. It is not always in the same position, but one such photograph of an early 80hp type shows the number in very close to the wing root.
Next will be putting in the rigging, adding the aileron cranks and propeller, and the usual bits of touching up....
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Hello Old Man,
This is a wonderful build Sir. Based on thoroughly investigations like a historian. Secondly extremely well build and very inventive solutions. The silver looks great. Many congratulations!!
Kind regards
Patrick
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Once again I must say your work in this small scale is amazing! Coming along beautifully! I am looking forward to seeing the rigging!
RAGIII
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Great stuff, OM. I'm looking forward to seeing her all rigged. Nicely done!
Cheers,
Ernie :)
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A very striking aeroplane with her silver paint and red decals, the rigging will finish it off nicely, looking forward to seeing the completed model.
Des.
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Great job OM! I love seeing these aircraft in nontradtional markings from other nations. She looks fantastic! ;D
Regards,
Bob
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Thank you very much, Gentlemen.
I cannot recommend too much the Arawasi site and magazine for information on Japanese aviation topics.
I am a little surprised by how well, just in artistic terms, the muted silver and bright red works as a color combination. It is a look indeed....
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Very nice model Old Man.
Fine 1/72 modeling indeed.
Cheers
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Truly lovely, OM!
Cheers,
Bud