discussion Zoukei Mura Hs129B-2/ RIII, 1/32 scale.

[scottie3158]

Looking very nice.

 

[outrunner]

Looks like a superb kit.

Andy.

 

[tr1ckey66]

Looking good Barry. The cockpit looks the biz and the kit itself looks excellent quality.
Paul

 

[BarryW]

I have cemented into place the fuselage sides. Here are a few pics.
View attachment 436064View attachment 436065View attachment 436066

The instructions say to have attached this below to the tail before cementing the sides but it is easier and less vulnerable to do this with the sides together, after the joins have been sanded.

View attachment 436067

The tail wheel pieces can be painted and attached as a final fitting.
View attachment 436068

 

[BarryW]

Well the modelling room has finally been measured up for shelves…. I will see what the cost is next week…..

In the meantime, some more progress.

Below I attached the cockpit to the rest of the fuselage. You can see why I held off on this until now because it would otherwise have been vulnerable while sanding seams.
View attachment 436171

I also painted the tail wheel assembly ready to weather.
View attachment 436172

 

[adt70hk]

Coming on very nicely Barry.

ATB.

Andrew

 

[BarryW]

The just arrived, 1 Man Army paint masks. Fortunately the masks I bought previously are generic and will get use on other projects. I could not resist getting these from this new company as they include fine, small detail, stencilling and not just the main markings. Good bye completely to decals….

View attachment 436173

They provide very detailed instructions
View attachment 436174
View attachment 436175
View attachment 436176
View attachment 436177

The individual stencils are numbered on the sheet.
View attachment 436178

I will demonstrate their use in the thread. The Zoukei Mura decals are really quite decent as was shown with the i.p. but no decal can compete with painted markings….

 

[BarryW]

I have sprayed the rear of the cockpit RLM02 as this area will be visible. I still need to apply a wash along with dry brushing some metal powder to show wear and chipping.
View attachment 436180

Below the tail wheel after dry brushing first the inner wheel with metal powder and the tyre with Earth pigment to give it a browny dusty look.

I have also got a floor section ready.

View attachment 436179

When I have tied up a few detail here it will be onto the wings.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Barry
Great, neat, well thought out progress. Hope the shelf cost is reasonable. I'll look forward to seeing how the masks work out. Masks certainly give a better finish than decals most of the time.
Jim

 

[adt70hk]

Coming on very nicely Barry!

 

[BarryW]

The engineering of this kit is a thing of beauty and the instructions could not be better.

I did a fair bit of light sanding of the wing spars before fitting, not because of poor fit as such but I am aware that tolerances are tight. It is important not to try to force fit anything, if a part sticks just sand it lightly. The spars slid into position beautifully.

View attachment 436253

Then on to fit the fuel tanks and other wing internals

View attachment 436251

With this kit it really is important to look at the instructions. How many of us would just cement the fuel tank halves together? If you did there would be an issue. The bottom need to be slid into the wing position first and cemented in place, for the top to then be dropped in on top.

View attachment 436250

View attachment 436252

View attachment 436254

I found how useful it is to use a combination of extra thin, quick drying cement and a slower drying one. Then I notice, after completing the wing, that ZM themselves point this out in the next section of the build….
View attachment 436255

These meticulous instructions are a joy.

 

[BarryW]

Just to say that I will not have any open panels so that detail won’t be seen hence my not painting it. You could leave a lot of this out, of course, but including it gives the model a satisfying heft and some added rigidity.

What I really like about ZM is how the engineering really gives you an appreciation of how the actual aircraft was designed. Also thanks to the instructions you know exactly what it is you are working on, it is not just a matter of cementing C1 to C4!!!

 

[rtfoe]

The engineering of this kit is a thing of beauty and the instructions could not be better.

I did a fair bit of light sanding of the wing spars before fitting, not because of poor fit as such but I am aware that tolerances are tight. It is important not to try to force fit anything, if a part sticks just sand it lightly. The spars slid into position beautifully.



Then on to fit the fuel tanks and other wing internals



With this kit it really is important to look at the instructions. How many of us would just cement the fuel tank halves together? If you did there would be an issue. The bottom need to be slid into the wing position first and cemented in place, for the top to then be dropped in on top.







I found how useful it is to use a combination of extra thin, quick drying cement and a slower drying one. Then I notice, after completing the wing, that ZM themselves point this out in the next section of the build….


These meticulous instructions are a joy.

Instructions look fantastic but engineering for this kit perhaps a bit disappointing... five visible ejector pin marks in the cockpit is really surprising. It is though, a very full assembly that warrants open panels to show off the interior. They should make another option without too much interior with less cost to build an all closed version.
Build is looking good so far Barry, have you aligned the front nose yet as the picture shows the gun ports on the side cheek a little askew.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[BarryW]

Instructions look fantastic but engineering for this kit perhaps a bit disappointing... five visible ejector pin marks in the cockpit is really surprising. It is though, a very full assembly that warrants open panels to show off the interior. They should make another option without too much interior with less cost to build an all closed version.
Build is looking good so far Barry, have you aligned the front nose yet as the picture shows the gun ports on the side cheek a little askew.

Cheers,
Richard

Personally I find nothing disappointing at all on the engineering. There are few visible ejection pin marks, those that are, are shallow and easy to clean up. I don’t agree about an option without the interior, simply because the cost is not in the plastic, so producing another version with missing parts would not save much and so would be pointless. I speak as someone who does not do open panels.

Thanks for pointing out the nose gun port but it is not an issue as I left it with some ‘play’ to ease fitting the ‘skin’ and it had clicked out of position just before I had taken the photo. It is now clicked back in, at least for now!

 

[adt70hk]

Coming on very nicely indeed. That really is looking very, very good indeed

Those instructions do look the business too.... Almost a work of art in themselves....

ATB.

Andrew

 

[BarryW]

I have fitted the undersides of the wings. Only a minor issue with a piece under the fuselage, a little light sanding was needed. It was useful to have left a little ‘play’ in the rib sections.
View attachment 436395
View attachment 436396
View attachment 436397
View attachment 436398

 

[Jim R]

Hi Barry
Coming together a real treat. Having the cockpit completed and presumably prone to damage it must be awkward to work on the underside, model upside down.
Jim

 

[BarryW]

I have attached the undercarriage. Beautifully engineered.
View attachment 436414
View attachment 436415
View attachment 436416

 

[Gern]

Looking good as usual Barry.

With regard to the level of internal detail, lots of armour kits now come with full interiors which can only be seen through hatch covers etc. I see no reason why aircraft shouldn't work the same way.

 

[Dave Ward]

Barry,
I can certainly see now why Zoukei Mura models are priced the way they are - those internal wing structures are impressive!
Dave