Posts by g force

Danke. Es wurde auch sehr angenehm.

A bit more progress on the canopy...the front of the cockpit canopy now complete.

Some images of the rear canopy section cut out and glued to the fuselage.

More progress...this time beginning the cockpit canopy assembly. This is very difficult and precise work. I have done a few, but each time I try a slightly different technique to see what works best. For this one, I decided to cut out and glue on the exterior frame first to the vacu-formed canopy, then cut the clear plastic. This seemed to work quite well, and made for cleaner, easier handling. Any tips from the pros would be welcome here...

a couple more photos...

Well...after a LONG hiatus from this build - it is back alive, and I hope to be finishing it soon. I was a bit rusty with my modeling skills, but it came back in no time. I had forgotten how much fun I was having with this one. So, I decided it was time to put together the propellors/airscrew assembly.

Here is more progress on some of the exterior detail.

Well, I just felt like building the machine guns - so I started with the starboard 20mm cannon on the wing. It's a very small thing tightly wrapped around a brass wire. Not the easiest, but quite satisfying!

And the landing gear is complete - attached to the aircraft. The Hayate can now stand up on legs!

And now to complete the landing gear...

I formed the shape of the undercarriage legs (following the provided template in the kit) out of .8 mm brass wire. I then tightly rolled the paper leg parts around the brass wire to form their cylindrical shape, glueing as I went.

The shock absorber links were the most difficult part of this assembly, because they were tiny parts made up of more even tinier parts. My eyes hurt afterwards, but they are done.

I painted the internal shaft of the shocks with a chrome paint to give an illusion of stainless steel, and finally glued the wheels and landing gear coverings in place.

Now, to give the bird its newly constructed legs...

Ok, back to the main landing gear. I made the wheel/tire assemblies in the following steps:

1. cut the disc shaped elements from the laser cut frame sheet.
2. laminate them together in the proper order
3. I then mounted the wheels to a dremel tool and spun them while sanding, to remove the "stepped" look.
4. I then coated the sanded wheels with CA glue and let it dry to harden them and eliminate the "fuzzies" from the sanding process.
5. I followed up with a final sanding with fine grit sandpaper.
6. then, 2 coats of matte black acrylic paint.
7. the wheel covers themselves were then glued into the tire elements.
8. a light coat of clear acrylic spray was applied.

After preparing and cutting out the main landing gear coverings, I decided to go ahead and build the rear landing gear assembly in its entirety. There were a few small parts to cut, shape and glue -but surprisingly, the most challenging part was sanding and shaping the rear wheel itself. These little bits of detail on the exterior are what start to really bring the aircraft to life.

I figured it was about time to start working on the landing gear so the Hayate can stand on its own legs. I begin here with the landing gear covering elements.

Here are some photos of the control surface assembly attached to the wing.

I have continued with construction of the control surfaces, moving on to the wings. This part was not too difficult, except for the very tiny elements that make up the control mechanism - and its tiny curved coverings.

Here are some images of the completed tail rudder on the aircraft.

More photos of the tail rudder construction. After the internal frame was assembled, I formed and glued in place the upper section. The lower section was far more difficult to shape, but with a little patience it came out pretty satisfactory. This element had another "cut out after glueing" portion, which really helped to hold the shape before and after cutting.

While construction of the engine will be ongoing, I decided to build the tail rudder. I love the Japanese writing on this part, and it gives me joy to see it come together - it gives the aircraft a unique character.

Quote

Originally posted by Ricleite
Great work, g force!!! A real joy to follow 8o. If Im not mistaken, you made the engine cowling detachable. Is that part of the kit or is it an extra?

To be honest, it is not clear whether or not the cowling is intended to be detachable in the kit's instructions. My guess is that it needs to be glued in place, however I am trying to figure a way to make it removable (unless my construction of the engine results in something flawed - in which case I will permanently affix the cowling). Part 41 is meant to have the radial engine crankcase glued to it, and then the cowling slips over this (such that the white ring inside the cowling aligns with the edges of part 41).

Here are some shots of the engine assembly - started and in progress. stay tuned...

So I figured I would go ahead and begin building the radial engine. There are MANY very small and repetitive parts, so I anticipate taking breaks and working on some other assemblies while the engine is in progress. Here are some shots of instruction diagrams and uncut parts.

More images with air intake attached to engine cowling...

I decided to go ahead and complete the engine cowling by constructing the air intake scoop and attaching it to the cowling. This was not the most difficult part of the build, but did require some very careful cutting and shaping due to its small size.

Built and added the head restraint. You can also see in the pics that I am enhancing the weathering a bit by adding some carbon streaking from the engine exhausts and machine guns.

More progress photos. The fuselage skin around the wheel wells and wings is complete. Strangely, this has been the most difficult part of the model so far. It requires near perfect shaping of some TINY parts - so my execution is far from what is required, but it will do.

Well, not much progress on the KI-84 lately, as I have been busy with many other things. I did have a moment to sit down and make a few cuts, so I decided to begin tackling the remaining fuselage skinning - and definitely not the easiest part.

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Originally posted by YY DAD
Hi,

What a clean work! I like your building.
BTW, I was told there is a error on this model on the bottom skin of main body. A part is shorter than it is supposed to be.

I will keep my eyes open on your building.

Best regards,

YY DAD

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Thanks! As far as an error goes, I think I know what you may be referring to - and it is not a design error, but a builder error. The wing coverings are meant to fold over and the trailing edges should overlap by about 2 mm, instead of joining flush. This is intended to replicate the wing flaps in closed position - and is clearly defined in the building instructions printed in the kit. If you join them flush, you will then have a 2 mm gap on the underside where the fuselage parts meet. This is how exact the parts on a Halinski model fit together. I did not overlap the trailing edges quite enough on my model, and there is now a slight gap on the underside of the fuselage - but nothing too noticeable.

The tail section is now complete, so I have attached it to the main fuselage section. Now it is looking like an airplane!

I have now assembled the left horizontal stabilizer and attached it to the tail section.

The front covering is then attached to the main aircraft fuselage. Because the transition between the two is an extreme change in angle, I attempted to apply a slight "curl" around the outer edge of the front covering - thus making the curve appear smoother and more gradual. This was done with a small burnishing tool against a rubber mat.

The next stage in the build progress is the completion of the fuselage front covering (aft of the engine/cowling). The front section that the engine attaches to is a concentric tapering shape that required careful shaping around a series of oval formers.

I have continued the model with the front section enclosure, and underside wheel well enclosure. Just some minor progress, but here are some photos.

More progress...

Excellent build! And very high quality photography documenting it. I am looking forward to seeing how this one turns out. So far, a very high level of skill is being demonstrated here.

Danke!

Thank you, and keep watching for more...

A bit more progress. The central portion (cockpit section) of the plane's fuselage is now glued to the wing construction - so things are beginning to take shape. It is at this time that you can begin to see what fits well and what doesn't. Some small gaps exist, so I will need to perform some final retouching here and there on the seams with a bit of paint.

The exterior cockpit covering is now glued in place (and the correct place!), and I am as happy as I could expect to be with the results. Now I can breathe easy and proceed. This part of the build is really fun, but it is also very stressful.

I first cut out the exterior covering of the cockpit, and colored the edges. Next, I butt-joint glued the rear portions together to make a complete piece with only an opening for the cockpit. I then pre-shaped the part and dry tested the fit. Ok. Now for the most nerve wracking part...

So, the cockpit side walls are now complete and the cockpit is closed up. It was sort of sad to cover up all of that detail - but at least the instrument panel and seat are still highly visible! The next step will be the exterior skinning of this section of the fuselage..

The seat, belts and instrument panel are actually made from Eduard photo-etched parts. Initially, I had only intended to use the photo-etched instrument panel to improve upon the one printed in the kit - but I couldn't help myself, and decided to make other improvements with the lap belts and seat. Some may consider it "cheating", but I really wanted the cockpit to be a showpiece.