N1K2-J build

[Guest]

Hello chaps,

Here's my new aviation build. I picked this 1/48 kit up on ebay very cheap (under a tenner!). I find that bargains on, 'the bay' are pretty rare these days, so very happy!

It's my second 1/48 kit and I hope to do it justice.

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[Guest]

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Here's where I am so far. I worked from photos of the original aircraft, a couple of which were in colour. I also used a little artistic license.

It's now sealed within the fuselage, 90% of it completely out of sight - shame that, eh?

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[stona]

It's now sealed within the fuselage, 90% of it completely out of sight - shame that, eh?

Yes,but you (and we now) know what's in there! Some nice work. I do sometimes wonder why I'm making straps for rudder pedals and the like

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Hope someone can help with this..........behind the N1K2 canopy, rear fuselage, there's a clear rectangular piece with oval ends to be fitted - what the hell is this, and is it supposed to be left clear? WWII photos don't show the correct angle well enough. Cheers

[yak face]

Beats me alex, all the pictures i can find dont show anything behind the canopy. If nobody comes up with an answer , just stick it in and paint it LOL!!! cheers tony

[stona]

Hi Alex,my knowledge of Japanese aircraft is pretty minimal but at some time in the past I acquired copies of more than 200 pages of badly photographed but beautifully drawn blueprints and plans for this very aircraft. I can't see anything on these that suggests any kind of clear panel in the rear of the fuselage. Maybe someone who knows more about Japanese aircraft will correct me but otherwise I'd go with Tony's advice above.

Cheers

Steve

[Vaughan]

Hi Alex

Great detail and yes it's out of sight but you know that you put the effort in and there's satisfaction in that.

Vaughan

[Guest]

Cheers, guys. I want to prime today so think I will just spray over it. I can always carefully scrape away the paint in that area if needed : )

[Guest]

Put it this way, if no-one on here knows what it is, especially Stona, who on earth can say there is anything wrong with what ever you decide to do with it!

Great price for a Tamiya 1/48th kit by the way and just goes to show that if you keep your eyes open you might just strick it lucky and get a bargain. Maybe if you could post a picture of the piece in question we might be able to suggest some 'educated' guesses?

[Guest]

[ATTACH]30986.vB[/ATTACH]I'll go one better, Richard....I found this photo online. I'm not sure if it's copywritten, so I've just put the 'conversational purposes' tag on. Can you see it? That's the clearest shot I have and I have literally 100s of shots of this aircraft, most of them WWII vintage, and no angle shows it better than this.

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[Guest]

P.S. It's a Hasegawa kit. And you're right, it's so hard to find a bargain on ebay these days, so this was a lucky find.

[stona]

Despite Richard's undeserved praise I really don't know much about these Japanese macines! I'd love to understand them better but I just don't have the time,or money for all the expensive references I'd soon discover I "needed" :sad:

It would be a slippery slope,next the Sovietshno:

However does that clear piece look to be sitting proud of the fuselage in the photo posted? If it does then I think it is something modern. It is inconceivable to me that Japanese (or anyone else for that matter) would not have either made it fit flush or faired it.

Honestly I have no idea what it might be.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

All I can add is this:

If it's clear then it's for looking through. If it's for looking out then it could be a camera port, but you wouldn't expect that on top of the fuselage so perhaps for weather observation. Clutching at straws I know.

If it's for looking in then it must be for looking at something that you need to see regularly from the outside without having to remove covers etc. How about a fuel gauge or something to do with the status of the engine?

Only chucking thoughts into the ring to generate further ideas.

[stona]

I've seen pictures of the one on display in Japan and one of the ones in the U.S. (not sure which) and can't make this panel out on either.

On more familiar ground some german aircraft used clear panels over certain direction finding and radio devices (Peil Gerat EZ6 for example) but the one on this aircraft doesn't look big enough.

Steve

[Guest]

Thanks for the ideas, Steve and Richard. I reckon some sort of inspection window too, although it still seems a little peculiar to me. Still, I'm sure the designers knew what they were doing, after all, this was one of the Navy's best fighters. : )

I've had a good look through photos and it seems this clear part is on some N1K2 a/c, but it's impossible to say if it's on all.

I've read everything I can find and no mention of it anywhere. I finally looked at models built by those who specialise in Japanese a/c, and many have the 'offending' piece showing.....so I decided they know something I don't. In fact I've already primed and used some liquid mask to protect the clear panel.

As a side note, there were also many scale models of the same aircraft with no sign that the panel had ever exisited on the rear fuselage............very strange indeed!