Type 2 Ka-Mi |
| By Michael Bedard |
| Started: | Nov 30, 2007 | | Updated: | May 16, 2008 |
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I was shipped this example by Airedale some time ago. A renewed hull was also shipped to me from whence I have started the kit. I reviewed the kit some time ago for track-link also. Since I did the review I have come across some parts that need to be addressed in the build that I will point out in the BLOG. I feel very fortunate to have this kit and will try to do it justice. This is one vehicle I would love to see in plastic but probably never will. Reference that I use will be also pointed out along with the build. |
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| Warped piece | May 16, 2008 |
| I would really like to see the current casting of this kit. The master is brilliant but once again casting problems are plaguing my example. This shows the steering for the rudders. It is warped, broken and filled with small air holes. A very delicate and important piece. |
| Suspension Finished | May 11, 2008 |
| This picture shows the completed suspension painted and installed. At this point a dullcoat has yet to be added. If you notice carefully almost all the rivets and bolts have little holes. These are air bubbles from the casting. I was too lazy to fill them all because of the vast number. A better modeler... more |
| The WASH | May 5, 2008 |
| And I'm not talking about dirty clothes. I for one still cling to the old wash and drybrush technique even though the pre-shading using an airbrush is really inn vogue currently. The basis is sound. The idea of a wash is to darken low areas and around protrusions to dramatize the effect of shadow.... more |
| Nasty Air Bubbles | May 1, 2008 |
| I was given one of the first kits that Airedale put on the market. It is quite evident the master was very well researched and parts made extremely well. As stated earlier the main problem with my sample is the casting. Some parts were just unusable. Here the drive shaft for the propeller had to be... more |
| Drybrushing | Apr 27, 2008 |
| I am still an advocate for using washes and drybrushing. I know the latest trend is to use pre-shading but I like to stick to this old method. I used Winsor/Newton lamp black for my wash on this project. The idea of using a wash is to darken or enhance the shadow parts of the model. Models are seen... more |
| Painting the Suspension | Apr 24, 2008 |
| Here is the start of painting the suspension. For small pieces I use 3M Painter's tape doubled over and stuck to a paint stirring stick. The painter's tape is low tack yet strong enough to hold pieces while using an airbrush. Also unlike the double stick carpet tape i used on the M8 parts... more |
| Filling the Hull Bottom | Apr 18, 2008 |
| Because of the large area on the belly of the hull needing filling I used plastic card to fill in the space. The area is oddly shaped so the transition edges are filled with epoxy putty. I don't have reference of the bottom so I don't know about drain plugs or access ports. I may use the Italaerei... more |
| Filled Wheels | Apr 13, 2008 |
| Here is the air-bubble filled and shaped with epoxy putty. As mentioned earlier the epoxy putty can be shaped and little if any sanding is needed once the putty is hard. |
| Filling the Holes | Apr 9, 2008 |
| Pictured here are the materials I use to fill air bubbles and casting deformities in resin kits. The Airedale kit has its share of parts to fix. Newer kits are being cast better by a different company. Nonetheless, I still have to fix the kit that I have. I use epoxy putty because it doesn't... more |
| Pontoon Fixes | Apr 5, 2008 |
| Pontoons were not as well fitting as the hull. As seen in this picture some areas will have to be sanded down and filled. Also notice the air bubble that needs to be fixed on the right side pontoon. |
| Lower Hull Fix | Mar 30, 2008 |
| The lower hull has a large space that needs to be dealt with. The first kit that was sent by Airedale had a complicated upper hull and some of the suspension axels were missing on the lower hull. The redesigned parts were sent to me for the BLOG. The assembly is far simpler and the missing detail is... more |
| Suspenion problems | Dec 3, 2007 |
| Casting on the Airedale kit is far from perfect. The suspension is flawed with many air bubbles that have to be fixed. Over 50% of the suspension pieces need to have the air bubbles fixed. This is an example on one of the road wheels. |
| Boxtop | Nov 30, 2007 |
| The box art is not up to a lot of other resin kit companies. I'm not sure if this is how it is boxed or just the example that I was sent. I have started the kit but want to get a little further before posting any new chapters. |
