Here’s my entry for this theme’s contest, a 1/48th Combat Models H6K Mavis. (I repeat in case you missed that: Mavis in 1/48, vacuform)
A large vacuform with a 38 inch wingspan, it was constructed in the usual manner. The biggest challenge was obviously the wing struts. There’s five different sizes of brass and aluminum tubing. Each piece was carefully flattened in a vice to roughly airfoil shape, then the crease down the middle filled and sanded to get the final contour.
Building the fuselage and wings, I had cut and reinforced slots in the plastic. Each strut was made longer than needed, with the excess flattened further into a tab that fit the slots. When everything was epoxied together, along with the steel bracing wires made a strong assembly.
The hinomaru and tail codes came from the remnants of a 1/24 Bandai Zero decal sheet, everything else is painted, although I did empty the spares box of all my double red-stripes for the props!
And I’d also like to thank George for his invaluable assistance as my Mavis references are rather sparse, providing many helpful photos including one that showed this scheme for the 801st. Someday I’ll build my 1/48 Emily to match in the later numeric codes.
I may not have the BEST model, but I think I’ve got the highest “degree of difficulty”!
A large vacuform with a 38 inch wingspan, it was constructed in the usual manner. The biggest challenge was obviously the wing struts. There’s five different sizes of brass and aluminum tubing. Each piece was carefully flattened in a vice to roughly airfoil shape, then the crease down the middle filled and sanded to get the final contour.
Building the fuselage and wings, I had cut and reinforced slots in the plastic. Each strut was made longer than needed, with the excess flattened further into a tab that fit the slots. When everything was epoxied together, along with the steel bracing wires made a strong assembly.
The hinomaru and tail codes came from the remnants of a 1/24 Bandai Zero decal sheet, everything else is painted, although I did empty the spares box of all my double red-stripes for the props!
And I’d also like to thank George for his invaluable assistance as my Mavis references are rather sparse, providing many helpful photos including one that showed this scheme for the 801st. Someday I’ll build my 1/48 Emily to match in the later numeric codes.
I may not have the BEST model, but I think I’ve got the highest “degree of difficulty”!
- Mark Jahsan -
10 comments:
Hello big fella! This is beyond mere kit assembling.
Although there is a lack of fuselage detail, especially in the nose, that is the shortcoming of the kit and not the modeler. Great job! I am curious as to what paint color you used for the exterior. It looks like the color I need for a current project of mine.
I vote 4.8
Wind Swords
Impressive model !
You have to be very passionate and the family should be very supportive to agree keeping that huge bird in a home ;)
It's a hard time to get realism on vac-form airplanes.
4 for the difficulty of the subject.
A great modelling job ,especially on a vacform The rubbing down that must have entailed ! Nice job on the rigging/aerials too.
Well done a good build. 4.7
Where do you display such a beast! It must be very impressive no matter where it is, well done! 4.5
A gigantic modelling effort! It must have been difficult to get stability into the frame. Nice job on the struts and rigging.
Although it's hard to show off detail on such a large plane drawing panel lines (e.g. with a grey pencil) would have added even more life. Extra points for the exotic subject - a 4.5 overall.
Perfect. 4.8
Couple quick things:
Paints were Tamiya IJN green/grey.
And for Michael Thurow: I did draw panel lines on the wing & fuselage, you can see some under the cockpit in photo six. I'm still learning how to work with the light tent, my pics are still a little washed out.
What an impressive beast is this ! Knowing that it is a vacform plane, makes it even more impressive, building and finishing a model in this size. Great job on the rigging. Maybe a bit more variation in the green paint would have add some "depth" on the model.
Thanks for showing.
My vote: 4.7
Mark's model is absoluetely stunning considering the difficulty of the kit. A little bit more weathering and a more prominent wash would make the model stand out more. Perhaps the photos don't do justice to the model? 4.7
Good job on such a tough kit.
A touch of weathering would go a long way though. 4.4 Good!
-ArchFluffy
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