Kariki 117 Colour I3 and 8609 Colour 3-3 Tsuchi iro

The colour I3 from the Tsuchi iro (Earth or clay) colour set on Kariki 117 was once mooted as both the Zero colour and the colour of Pearl Harbour era B5N2 'Kates' (97 Shiki Kanjo Kogeki-ki 九七式艦上攻撃機  or 97 KanKo - 九七艦攻). The late David Aiken described the 'Kate' colour as 'Grey Poupon', alluding to the appearance of French mustard, but it was also described as 'khaki'. The degree of grey, green or yellowishness perceived in the colour has varied according to different visual comparisons but the 3-3 swatch from the February 1945 8609 colour standard has been deemed identical to the I3 which it directly succeeded. The Japanese Aeronautic Association measured L*a*b* values of the 3-3 swatch are shown below, unsurprisingly 'brown', together with visual comparisons made previously by Japanese researchers. 

The Ryôichi Watanabe comparison to FS 20318 seems anomalous and he described Kariki 117's I3 somewhat enigmatically in an article in Arawasi magazine (Issue 9, Apr-Jun 2008) as 'used as a second coat on Zero fighters and other aircraft, but there are several people who wrongly believe that I3 is ameiro (a light brown or amber colour)'. Did he mean a second coat as between the red oxide primer and 'grey' topcoat or as the topcoat itself?  The comparison to FS 34201 by Owaki-san takes us into Zero 'olive grey' territory.  

The question of natural metal finish (nmf) under surfaces on some Pearl Harbor 'Kates' has run long and in its 1/48 scale kits Hasegawa has variously depicted grey green or 'silver'. The late Jim Lansdale was of the opinion that the finish varied as the result of production chronology and that he had examined KanKo artefacts where the dark green was painted over nmf and others where it was painted over the 'olive grey' finish. He estimated that the last 200-300 KanKo produced by Nakajima up to August 1941 were probably in a factory applied overall olive grey scheme, implying that older aircraft already in service may have been camouflaged dark green on upper surfaces but retained nmf under surfaces. His extant sample of metal from the so-called 'Hospital Kate' did not have any primer and he had seen no evidence of any primer on the olive grey painted aircraft. Does that imply that they were possibly IJN Depot rather than factory painted after the olive grey paint was adopted for the Zero? In any event the olive grey appears to have been the warmer. more yellowish Nakajima colour. It was possibly patches of that paint showing through the dark green camouflage paint that gave rise to the idea of PH KanKo sporting 'brown' blotches on the green camouflage.  

Fuchida described the Kates as being camouflaged very roughly and hastily in green and brown (茶褐色 chakasshoku) with his own aircraft remaining 'bright' underneath, which is a little ambiguous but might suggest the aircraft was unpainted prior to camouflaging and that the under surface retained a natural metal finish. The problem with Japanese descriptions of 'brown' has been discussed before but chakasshoku appears to cover colours from dark reddish brown to yellowish brown or tawny.  The box art on the Nichimo Kate was based on his description but depicts a very dark brown. FWIW the paint on the 'Hospital' Kate is a slightly variegated Munsell 7.5 Y 5-6/2 which puts it into that familiar slightly lighter than FS 34201/16350 territory. Therefore the difference between I3 and the Zero-type olive grey is probably unimportant. One detail that is easily overlooked is that the amber/olive-grey paint was glossy whilst the dark green camouflage was duller or flat. 

A fabric sample from the 'Southeast Loch Kanko' had a layer of red oxide, a layer of aluminium and a top coating of olive grey. A piece of the rudder fabric had bright red over the olive grey layer. Jim Lansdale noted that according to Bob Mikesh the under surface fabric of a B5N amongst the approximate 50 manufactured by No. 11 Kokusho during 1939-40 was doped a blue-grey colour approximating Munsell 5 PB 6/1. That would be approximate to FS 36320, so possibly not the more neutral, dove grey of J3.  The pigments in 36320 as might be expected for a low saturated 'purple blue'  are rutile (non chalking) titanium dioxide (white), green shade phthalo blue, quinacridone red and blue shade carbon black. But in addition to the manufactured aircraft the No.11 Kokusho may have reconditioned or modified many B5N airframes from 1942 until March 1944 applying an unknown variety of paints. The B5N was also manufactured by Aichi from June 1942 to September 1943 with a run of approximately 200. Probably one of the most common pitfalls for modellers is to assume that extant paint examples from one aircraft represent all the others unvaryingly. Generally speaking Japanese modellers are much more relaxed and pragmatic about this.

The heading photo is from film footage of a Midway-era KanKo taking off and the lighter outer wings are intriguing. Is the lighter colour on this bird olive grey (or 'grey poupon'!) and was the darker green (?) camouflage applied on board the carrier with the wings folded?

Make of it what you will . . . 

Image credit: B5N photo web; Colour schematic © 2024 Aviation of Japan

The Nichimo E13A 'Jake' revisited by Michael Thurow ‒ Part 3

The history of the Nichimo 1/48 scale (ex-Marusan 1/50 scale) 'Jake' kit was the subject of Part 2 of 'Jake a Tale of Two Scales' way back in November 2016 here. Now Michael Thurow presents the third and final part of his impressive resurrection and improvement of his own, older build of that kit, as so splendidly realised in the heading image above. The previous parts 1 and 2 of his article are here and here. Over to Michael then:

The Nichimo E13A 'Jake' revisited ‒ Part 3 

Michael Thurow

The third part of my 'Jake' renovation story describes the final assembly and finishing of the model's main components.

Before painting the fuselage I asked advice from Nick regarding an amber grey variation for the E13A which I then tried to approximate with a home-made mixture that appears more amber than in Fig.12ff. Basic decals came from the spares box and the tail code was printed on clear decal film (red outline filled with white colour). A few extras are highlighted below -

The floats received prop warning stripes and indicators for the beaching trolley. I painted the underside dark grey, probably an anti-corrosive, that was not generally applied to 'Jake' floats but can be observed on a few examples (MM p.5, FAOW 207 p.12) and presumably on ZI-23 (ibid p.22). It lends a more elegant shape to the float which is a bit too deep for 1/50. Other details as described in Fig.13 -

The folded wings help to disguise the deficient chord at the wing root but caused an extra problem of spotting details on the few blurry pictures existent. My best effort is presented below. Even so, having a model with folded wings adds a special touch to my collection.

(4) Maru Mechanic (p.58) describes the stripes as drift marks. I'm not convinced because on photos (MA p.38) they appear straight and parallel and not angled like typical drift lines. They might as well be indicators for the leading edge tank or for the pilot to judge the float dimensions. Apparently not all early 'Jakes' were decorated in this way. (Dive angle indicators. Ed)

And here, finally, is the finished model -

ZI-22 was one of four Type 0 Reconnaissance Seaplanes aboard the tender Kamikawa Maru. The ship and her compliment of 'Jakes' seem to have participated in several offensive operations during the first six months of the Pacific War. FOAW 207 shows them floating at Saint-Jacques near Saigon in late December 1941 during the landing operation in Malaya (p.23). Carrier Operations Vol.II has them heading for Batavia on February 24, 1942 as part of the Java Invasion Force (p.29), and SPAW Vol.3 locates them at Deboyne Is. in the Coral Sea in May 1942 supporting the planned seizure of Port Moresby. The Kamikawa Maru soldiered on until May 29, 1943 when she was sunk by the submarine USS Scamp.

The beaching trolley is enclosed in the Nichimo kit as a bonus part. Some photos enticed me to upgrade it to a trolley-cum-work-platform shown here in more detail. With this picture I'd like to round off my seven months of involvement with this venerable kit. Thank you for your interest and for your kind comments.

References

CARRIER OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II, VOLUME II, DAVID BROWN, SHEPPERTON, 1974

TYPE 0 RECONNAISSANCE SEAPLANE, MARU MECHANIC NO.12, TOKYO 1978

IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY RECONNAISSANCE SEAPLANES, FAMOUS AIRPLANES OF THE WORLD NO.47, TOKYO, 1994 IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY SEAPLANES, MODEL ART NO.565, TOKYO, 2000

IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY SEAPLANES, NOHARA SHIGERU, JAPAN, 2007

SOUTH PACIFIC AIR WAR, VOLUME 3, MICHAEL CLARINGBOULD / PETER INGMAN, KENT TOWN, 2019

TYPE 0 RECONNAISSANCE FLOATPLANE, FAMOUS AIRPLANES OF THE WORLD NO.207, TOKYO, 2022 WWW.AVIATIONOFJAPAN.COM/2010/04/AICHI-E13-JAKE-INTERIOR-COLOUR.HTML

CORRESPONDENCE WITH NICK MILLMAN, 2019/2021/2023

With special thanks to Michael for this thoroughly exacted account of the resurrection and improvement of this older model - and how! A masterclass in how not just an older kit but an older model can be brought up to something beautiful to behold. 

Image credit; All photos © 2024 Michael Thurow 

The Nichimo E13A 'Jake' revisited by Michael Thurow ‒ Part 2

Michael Thurow's exacting renewal of his vintage 1/50 scale Nichimo (former Marusan) 'Jake' model with progress pics continues in Part 2. Over to Michael then:-

 The Nichimo E13A 'Jake' revisited ‒ Part 2 

Michael Thurow

Part 2 of my Aichi E13A project starts with the fuselage interior. The Marusan/Nichimo kit has nothing to offer in this respect. I was lucky to have purchased the resin 'Jake' cockpit set from Lone Star Models a few years ago. Unfortunately the moulds had worn out when my set was cast which made the parts a bit clumsy and undefined with lots of flash. After some scraping and cleaning, however, they provide a decent portrayal of the cockpit.

I changed and added a few details as shown. In particular, I replaced LSM's inappropriate P-51 style console on the pilot's left with an authentic controls quadrant, and the navigator's seat was moved forward by 3 mm to match the canopy frames.

Despite the widespread use of the E13A during the entire Pacific War photo documentation of its cockpit interiors is very scarce. The most pictures and drawings were published in Maru Mechanic # 12. Even so there is no image of the starboard cockpit wall, and both LSM's representation of the control boxes and my enhancements are largely speculative. The meandering heating pipe is however genuine.

For a powerplant I cannibalised the Mitsubishi Zuisei from my Tamiya F1M2 'Pete' kit which I had replaced with a Vector aftermarket engine instead. The Zuisei was the smaller brother of the E13A's Mitsubishi Kinsei 43. It is in scale for 1/50 and fits Nichimo's cowling nicely. The prop is an A6M2 unit from a model long gone.

In order to protect my previous work I rigged and finished the floats before completing the cockpit. On the original 'Jake' the wires had different grades (10 to 16 mm). I standardised on two sizes of Griffin Jewelry Wire. My rigging method is structural (vs cosmetic), i.e. the cables are pulled tight to reinforce the airframe, which is of course more relevant for biplanes than in this case. The Griffin material (steel wire coated with nylon) is perfect: It won't yield, bend or rip, reacts easily with CA glue, and the gunmetal shimmer looks like wire and not like thread.

How to make cable fairings

I use paper strips formed into a cone and cut to the required shape and size. This technique is very flexible, allowing for different sizes and shapes, flat or round, with large or small openings. Covered with several layers of plastic and/or CA glue the tiny pieces can even be sanded.

Back to the cockpit, which is now squeezed in with both sides closed. This was a tough job due to a very tight fit excerbated by outward bulging walls. Some puttying was necessary. I added more detail as per the following figure -

The canopy presented another of those challenges that slow down progress. LSM's vacu parts had blisters and fit poorly and the transparencies from my original build were not in good condition either. I finally settled with a combination of parts, cleaned up as much as possible - altogether not a sterling piece of work.

The powerplant, lastly, was attached with the help of support strips from plastic card. Some adjustment of the front deck profile was required (paper and putty) to correct the slope toward the windscreen. Carburettor air duct and oil cooler are slightly modified original parts, and for exhaust pipes I used custom-made pieces of electric wire insulation.

To be continued...

With special thanks to Michael for the details and progress pics of this challenging project. Part 1 may be found here.

Image credit: Heading box art © 1963 Marusan; All other images © 2023 Michael Thurow

The Nichimo E13A 'Jake' revisited by Michael Thurow ‒ Part 1

It is a delight to host this first part of an article on re-building and improving a Nichimo Aichi E13A 'Jake' floatplane model by Michael Thurow. It is still a matter of some puzzlement that a 60 year old 1/50 scale kit of such a significant aircraft widely operated throughout the Pacific War has not been superseded by a more recent mainstream or state of the art 1/48 scale kit. And the same goes for the Hasegawa 1/72 scale kit from 1971. There have been kits galore of far more obscure and even projected but never produced Japanese aircraft designs but sadly the IJN workhorse 'Jake' has been ignored, even it seems in vacform or resin media.  And even the Nichimo kit may now be gone forever! Over to Michael then:

The Nichimo E13A 'Jake' revisited ‒ Part 1

Michael Thurow

When I started my floatplane project earlier this year [1] I retrieved an aged Aichi E13A that I built in November 1991 for my 1/48 Japanese series. As more information about kits and models became available with the rise of internet it dawned on me that this was not the 1/48 scale claimed by Nichimo but Marusan's prehistoric 1/50 kit of 1963.

Now I wondered how I was to include this oddity in my new collection. One option would be to keep the model as built out of the box 'in the context of its own art form rather than a scale representation of the original aircraft' (Nick in his May post on the Ginga). But wouldn't it be worthy of a refurbishment? After all, there is no proper 'Jake' in this scale range.

Regrettably I missed the opportunity to take a picture of my original creation before I reached for the chain saw, and therefore can only offer a first view of the model in its dismembered state (with some modifications already in place). You can easily perceive why after a very few hours I wished I had never begun this experiment!

The advantage of working on a once finished model, however, lies in the easy perception of the kit's shortcomings. Step 1 of my project is focused on airframe shape and surface. Let's see what needs to be done.

Apart from many simplifications and inaccuracies there is a major issue with the actual scale (all measurements against a 1/50 scale drawing [2] in Maru Mechanic 12) -

Overall length: OK
Wing span: 5 mm too short
Wing chord: 5 mm too narrow
Tailplane: 10 mm too short and 5 mm too far forward (should be staggered)
Floats: 5 mm too long, a bit too wide and spaced 3 mm too wide (accurate for 1/48!)
Flaps: Wrong planform at the wing root and a broad gap at the bottom
Ailerons: too long into the wing tips

In retrospect, increasing the wing chord will remain the only flaw I feel unable to address. To avoid an untypical lathy wing aspect I'm planning to conceal it by folding the wings.

The bottom centre section demanded a number of detail improvements. Marusan's proposition was a little too artistic [3]. Note the tedious amount of inspection holes on the E13A.

At this stage I began debating with myself whether to try and move the horizontal tail back to its proper position. That would add at least another couple of days to an already complex project. Finally my loco ambition took over - what can be changed should be changed!

To round off this episode I scribed some more panel lines and refreshed the riveting. To be continued . . 

Annotations

[1] My first finished model, a Vought Kingfisher, can be viewed here.

[2] Maru Mechanic's dimensions and proportions were verified as accurate by taking ratios from two straight E13A profile photos as follows: Fuselage (from engine gills to vertical stabiliser) vs canopy length = 1.9; vs float length (less rudder) = 0.9; vs. overall height at rudder hinge = 3.5.

[3] An internal layout profile in Maru Mechanic (p.19) shows the bombsight stored on the port side of the observer's cockpit (photo evidence on p.29) and the recce camera on the starboard side. The larger floor window should then be to starboard as in the Model Art No.565 scale drawing.

With special thanks to Michael for sharing this interesting and useful article. A tour of the various Marusan and Nichimo Jake kit releases may be found here.

Image credit: Heading photo via Wiki; Box art © 1970 Nichimo & © 1963 Marusan via Michael Thurow; All other photos © 2023 Michael Thurow 

Nichimo 1/48 Ki-43-I Hayabusa by Dan Salamone

The Nichimo kit of the Nakajima Ki-43-1 Hayabusa 'Oscar', Japanese Army Type 1 fighter, in 1/48 scale built by Dan Salamone and expertly finished in a simple but very attractive scheme which shows the fine lines of the aircraft to advantage.  Built stock except for the addition of seat belts.

In Dan's own words:-

"1/48 Nichimo Ki-43-I, an original molding from 1977 which I bought at a long ago closed hobby shop for $3 back in 1995. It fit like a glove, and was a lot of fun to build. I used all Vallejo colors, including the metal colors. They perform well, but need at least 24 hours to cure between the primer coat, paint, other colors, and the varnish coats. There are a few good videos on You Tube that explain the process well. Lightly weathered as I wanted to highlight the simple and elegant look of the Hayabusa airframe. Markings cobbled together from various aftermarket sheets, Akeno flight school circa 1942. Proof that some of these older kits are still gems."

A gem indeed and its absence lamented. The mould does not appear to have made it to another manufacturer for re-release - yet. A pity, and it is to be hoped that a criticism of its shape and dimensions by a well-known and feted plans and micrometer pedant has not contributed to discouraging its continued sales potential. The Hasegawa Ki-43-I is certainly flawed in appearance and Nichimo's gem is infinitely better looking. In the absence of the Nichimo kit this most iconic of Oscar variants is not well served in 1/48 scale, or for that matter in 1/72 and 1/32 scale either. Nichimo's box art 'brown' scheme was much debated in Japan and ultimately refuted by some 'who were there', although it was commented that the dark green paint sometimes became more 'reddish' with exposure, a characteristic of chrome green applied in lieu of chromium oxide green where the chrome yellow pigment gradually decomposes the Prussian blue pigment over time, a phenomenon seen even with the dark green of some RAF jets into the 1980s. With special thanks to Dan for sharing these images of his superb model and for his patience for them to appear here.

Image credits: All model photos © 2023 Dan Salamone; Box art © 1977 Nichimo Co., Ltd.

Dinah and Jay Part Two - Building a Classic

Building a Classic: Marusan’s Ki-46-III  

by Mark Smith

Considering its 1961 origins, the Marusan 1/50 scale kit of the Ki-46-III ‘Dinah’ captured the airplane's lovely lines remarkably. It was a pace-setter, as in comparison most contemporary models of Japanese origin were mere approximations of their subjects.  When Tamiya released their 1/48 scale Ki-46-III in 1996, it was streets better of course, and a lot more fun to build.  The first time I took the Marusan Ki-46 to a model show at St. Louis in 1982 I was confident that at least I’d be bringing something many had never seen built.  When I went to find the right table for the model, Roscoe Creed had already shown up with the same kit beautifully built, and to boot, it was a Dinah in brown over gray, in 81st Sentai markings.  I talked to him briefly, and he admitted traveling there with the same thought.  So much for assumptions.

I remember a few details about it. It had been needing repair for a long time, but I finally got it back in one piece and, like the old Tamiya Myrt model I recently showed here recently, getting good photos of it for the first time brought back some of the building experience.  For the top surfaces I used a Humbrol paint color of those days, N17, which had been altered very slightly but I don't remember how. (N17 Brown was an IJN color in the Humbrol Authentics range available in the 1980s). The lower surface was Humbrol A/N2 Grey from the same range. All markings were masked and sprayed with Pactra paints. The Mattel Vac-U-Form toy provided thinner parts for landing gear doors and under-cowling air-scoops. 

The kit portrays an early -III with a single external exhaust pipe for each engine, which greatly limits markings choices. The separate cowl flap pieces in the kit, however, made updating it to a later version easier. By vac-forming them and cutting each flap separately they could be mounted in the opened position; whilst the thrust exhausts of the later model were made from sheet plastic. 

The windows were cut from clear acetate, and all other transparencies in the kit, though ‘Monogram-nice’, were re-created by vac-forming them.  This really made a difference for the nose landing light, for which a mold was made and vac-formed. The kit's raised panel lines provided nice guides to re-scribe them, necessary because the fit of parts in places left a lot to be desired. The Monogram 1/48 Zero provided the prop spinners, with prop blades grafted on from . . something. This does not really convince, but looks better to me than the kit parts. The kit’s engines were poor as well, and replaced with ones from a Nichimo Ki-51 Sonia kit.  The tailwheel unit was scratch built. 

Unless it shows a replacement aircraft with identical markings, a blurry photo seems to show that this particular aircraft of the 17th Dokoritsu Hiko Chutai was eventually converted to a fighter configuration with a 20mm cannon mounted obliquely on the spine, between the crew stations.  I didn't know this in 1981, working from the color side view painting in the Maru Mechanic book on the type which showed no weapon. But it couldn't have looked too different before the conversion. There are photos of unarmed recon Dinahs with the cut-down antenna mast modification as seen on the model. In any case, it was a necessary step for mounting a weapon directly behind. The antenna aerial is a casualty.

When I started this, I knew the crew stations here could be the key to making the model I imagined. My influences here were two modelers, Raymond Waddey, met around 1969 while in high school, and Adrian Evans, whom I came to know after returning home from college. Unlike me, both were true artists with a brush or a pencil; they had that flourish. To a teenager’s ‘How do you do this?!’ questions, Ray gave thoughtful answers. A couple of times he even brought materials to the chapter meetings and showed me how he did things. He helped me find a Mattel Vac-U-Form machine, and gave me some quality Grumbacher brushes (when he saw mine!) which I only wore out over years.  His models were all brush painted, which set them apart, but he had a method for avoiding brush strokes and blending colors I’ve never seen equaled. He was squared-away Air Force, crew cut and all. Ray later made a name as an aviation artist. I always liked his three-dimensional art best, though! He worked in 1/72, and worked wonders on old Airfix kits like the Blenheim and Hampden. He had the Pilot’s Notes for many of this subjects, all of them, and tried to include all the cabin appointments they illustrated. Along with sheet plastic, I think he worked with stiff paper to create odd angles and scale edges.

This Dinah model, however, came much later, and was particularly inspired by the work of Adrian Evans, a fine Dallas jeweler and goldsmith whose fourteen-carat work was created through ‘lost wax casting.’ Many of the tools and techniques of his jewelry work translated beautifully to plastic modeling. Watching him work at a jeweler’s bench, his eye and his hand were on great terms. If a customer wasn’t exactly sure what they wanted, Adrian would draw it until they were.  Not long after I finished this model, he had said, ‘you could be a jeweler if you wanted,’ and soon after he took me in as an apprentice in his shop, ‘The Goldbrick’, where I learned enough to eventually make my way as a goldsmith and stone setter, though never a custom jeweler in Adrian’s fashion. Like Ray, Adrian was glad to share his techniques, and always keen to try new ones, though much of it boiled down to hard work - staying with it, a bit at a time, until an assembly was built and fitted. 

The sprawling Crown Hobby and Toy was right across Preston Avenue from his shop.  Some days neither of us got much done by going over to Crown so that they wouldn’t either. (The Goldbrick was aptly named!) Many Texas aircraft modelers were either first inspired or newly inspired by Adrian's aircraft on display in the big showcase at Crown; among many quarter-scale masterpieces, the Fujimi A-6 Intruder, Lindberg F-11F Tiger, and his Aurora A-7 Corsair II, with its hand-painted snake on the tail for VA-86 “Sidewinders” were favorites and very strong ‘maybe I could do that’ magnets. 

I’ve lost touch with both men, though I’ve tried to find them. In any case, thanks Ray, and thanks Adrian, you are missed but your kindness is always remembered.

With very special thanks to Mark for sharing these images of his strikingly beautiful Marusan Dinah build - the painted markings are superb -  and the fascinating back story anecdotes of personalities and places. Allowing for scale the khaki brown finish is uncannily close to the colour cited by Noburo Shimoune as being factory applied to both the late production Ki-46-III and Ki-67.

Image credit: All model photos © 2023 Mark Smith; Box art via Web