The Atom Furnace: On the Bench: Aichi E13A1 Jake

This kit was chosen for a Group Build hosted by the Scale Aircraft Modeling with Detail & Scale group on Facebook. We have six weeks from breaking the shrinkwrap to judging, for any aircraft in the CBI / PTO theaters ~ 1936 to VJ Day.

I have selected a vintage 1/72 kit from Hasegawa, their Jake with catapult.

I wanted to model a specific Jake, floatplane #4 from IJN Cruiser Tone on June 4, 1942, delayed for 30 minutes due to catapult issues, and filing an incomplete report on detecting the American fleet.

The kit does not include decals for that particular Jake, so an online search found a sheet of PrintScale decals which included that notorious airframe.

The kit consists of 3 sprues of gray plastic aircraft parts, 3 sprues of gray plastic catapult parts, and one small sprue of clear canopy parts. It is molded closed, which I'll need to change. ;-)

This is gonne be fun

Stay tuned.

8/17 updates:

Kit canopy is molded closed, one piece. So many iconic photos of flyers in the PTO show them with canopies back....do I "open" it?

I can find no aftermarket details for this a/c, but I should at least be able to model the gunner's flexible gun, right? So, what kind of gun. Online research indicates a naval Type 92 mg, not to be confused with an Army type 92 ;-)

Anybody make one, or is it scratchbuild time?

I'm lucky in this case-the Type 92 was a copy of the British Lewis aircraft machine gun which it almost completely resembles.

That I can get....so it looks like the gunner gets a gun!

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In the mean time, here's modeling OCD Moment #1.

You never know where it will strike: what grievous inaccuracy will slip by, and what minute, secondary factor will lurch into view, and overthrow your carefully considered plans. In this case, thread.

The kit calls for it, to be used as a proxy for steel cable, on the catapult. In photo enlargements, no matter how I prepare, install, or paint it, it always looks like...thread.

You can't eliminate the Fuzz to my satisfaction. So what to do? Stranded wire? Hard to get a piece of a small-enough gauge, of sufficient length.

I'll make my own. Next time you're about to take a wall charger to the electronics recycler, don't. Crack it open and keep the transformer. It provides a near lifetime supply of fine gauge wire.

Downsides: it's copper, and it stretches. Looks great as a scale radio wire. Somebody bumps it. It stretches, never to be taut again. Or it breaks, in the middle. Start over. Also, it is coated with a lacquer to insulate it, which some paints struggle to cover. PSA Over. Back to work. Take three strands, tie a knot in both ends. Place one knot in a vice. Hold the other in a pliers. If you have aviation safety wire pliers, even better.

It's too fragile to use the normal way. Just cradle it with one hand enough to make taut, and begin turning it until.you get the amount of twist you desire. Give it a few gentle tugs to "set" the wire (so it doesn't curl or uncoil).

Lay out on your bench and hit with some grey primer. Let dry, paint as desired. Real cable for your cable.

Installed, it looks more "cabley" in close-up, no?

Starting to look like a catapult.

Construction was straightforward. The instructions were little more than exploded views, so frequent checking and test fitting are recommended. There is little flash considering the age of the kit, and only a few hideable ejector pin marks mar part finish.

Fit is good, but beware, there is little to go by to ensure you're assembling correctly - almost no helpful tab/slot indications. I'll prime in black and overspray in gray, leaving the dirt and shadows....

With the aircraft cradle added.

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Now let's take a look at the aircraft

Modeling OCD Moment #2: Panel Lines.

It's an older kit. Raised panel lines. Something must be done ;-)

In progress....

Thankfully it's 1/72 ;-)

Still, a lot of scribing, sanding, and Oops filling.

Done scribing for now. I'll be moving on to cockpit details next, including a mount for the rear MG.

But first, let's get some cockpit framing.

Now to fabticate a mount for the rear MG.

In the mean time, beware old decals. Some yellow, some tear, some take forever to come off the paper. And now this.

Front panel is a paper printout. Decal stuck better to the solvaset brush better than it stuck to the panel. Fatal problem for the decal. On the up side, the replacement is an actual Jake panel drawing.

More uses for stretched sprue:

A little test fitting

Now for some painting. Prime in silver; panel lines preshaded in black, Then IJN Dark Green over IJN grey. Phase one:

Once dry, I'll flip and do the other side.

While the aircraft is drying, I've blackened the catapult, before its final color of IJN Naval Gray.

And some preshading for the now-recessed panel lines.

The aircrew is prepared....

and the canopy attached

Time for some careful masking, then I can lay down the yellow recognition panels on the wings.

Note, the retracted portion of the pilot's canopy had to be fabricated because 1. The removed section is too thick to fit down over the remaining canopy, and 2. I broke it in half trying. :-(

Some clear sheet bent and cut will stand in nicely, as it is a simple flat panel piece.

Not so with the gunner's internally retractable section, which I will simply omit :-)

A little love for the Mitsubishi 14 cylinder radial:

Mask for color one:

Color one, done.

Color 2, Modelmaster IJN Green.

Color 3: Tamiya acrylic IJN light gray

Now I can continue assembly....

Finally, a floatplane!

Tomorrow, anti-glare paint on the nose.

Color 4: Vallejo acrylic German Grey, for a blue-black antiglare nose.

Now, some detailing and touch ups before decals.
Ready for decals.

WIP

Decals applied. Had to see how it looked on the cat.

The cat couldn't look factory new, so some paint was removed and grime added

Pontoons and radio wire rigged with stretched sprue.

Comin' at ya....

Matt spray completed, canopy unmasked, homemade pilot's retracted canopy installed. Now when will that rear MG arrive?

The Gas Patch Models Lewis Gun is (understandably) a dead ringer for an IJN Type 92, as it is a license-built copy. I left off the spent casing chute as I cannot see it in photos of Japanese use.