Lancfan's Nakajima A6M2-N Rufe ***Finished***

[lancfan]

This will be where my Jo-Han Nakajima Rufe kit will take shape. Here are the obligatory box and sprue shots.



David.

[lancfan]

This kit has very good engraved surface detail but has a very basic and dated lack of cockpit detail, I will correct this with DIY resin copies of the interior detail from the Airfix NT Zero kit. I started with the sidewall details- this shot shows a finished side, the mould and the untouched opposite fuselage half.


Here are the silicone and plasticene moulds, the fuselage halves taped together and the finished DIY cockpit waiting to be painted.


David.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Is that maroon/purple/??? color standard for the Rufe ?
I ask because I have a Guillow's balsa kit of that and they provided a similar color tissue for it -- and that's what the boxart shows.

[lancfan]

They thought so then John but not now, current thinking seems to be that a very dark green was used.

David.

[Gadfly]

Looks good so far

[JohnRatzenberger]

Thanks, David, makes a bit more sense.

[jssel]

Good start David.

[lancfan]

Having been trimmed down to fit snuggly inside the fuselage and then painted the DIY resin cockpit was now ready for assembly.


The fuselage has been assembled and left to dry, the next step will be to cut away the kit engine cowling which is badly shaped and replace it with a spare A6M2 cowling included with the Hasegawa A6M5 kit.


A plastic card firewall was fitted to the exposed void left by the removal of the cowling and the kit engine was fitted to this with spacers from the spares box to correctly position it within the cowling.
[imghttps://photos.smugmug.com/Unofficial-airfix-modellers-forum-images/i-MGcbRn6/0/177df3f3/M/Rufe%2007-M.jpg[/img]

The kit engine was then painted and the wings were fitted to the fuselage, the Hasegawa cowling was then glued in place after the cooling gills were cut away.



David.

[iggie]

Very nice work David, and the cockpit is superb

[lancfan]

The basic airframe has now been assembled, it's time to paint !


David.

[lancfan]

Cheers iggie.

David.

[Gadfly]

Looks good interested to see how the painting process goes

[DazDaMan]

Looks good so far!

[Kevan Bailey]

You're doing a brilliant job on this. I loved Jo-Han kits; I had the Heavenly Hearse.

[JohnRatzenberger]

My first 'Zero' was an Aurora kit, came in yellow, probably not painted.
My second was a Monogram kit, I think, but whatever it was, I carved a float and made a Rufe using info from RAF FR.
Long ago, but I can tell from yours that I probably had the rear strut wrong.
Carry on.