IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY ATTACK AIRCRAFT AICHI M6A1 SEIRAN TAMIYA 1/48

It is Seiran, an attack aircraft carried in a submarine. It was completed in September 2015.

I make the special attack aircraft named Seiran which is released from Tamiya. The Imperial Japanese Navy developed it with the idea that airplane stored in a large submarine and attack secretly.

The cockpit, pilot and the assistant? Bomber? I made them. Tamiya’s figures in all plastic models are very nice quality in whole. There’s no choice but omit them.

The dolly (cart) is attached in this kit. It was rare, I assembled it at once. A float is carried here and seems to move rumbling.

I assembled two floats earlier to check whether they got on the dolly properly. I set up a weight in one of the floats to keep balance to prevent overturning. This airplane looks balance behind very much. It is 800 kg bomb standing to the left.
(06-August-2015)

Oh, What a coincidence! When I uploaded this Seiran in this HP, the next day I heard a news that I-400 class submarine sinking in Nagasaki offing was found. Because 70 years pass, I think this ship has intense corrosion and worthless, if a condition is good, it is good information. The I-400 was the mother ship of Seiran, and the airplane wings were folded and 3 planes were stored like this Tamiya’s leaflet. I wonder the pilot’s feeling of living in a submarine…
Such a detailed commentary is written on an assembling manual of Tamiya. It is splendid. It helps our motivation of building well.

These 2 pilots are completely same mold. I drew a mustache on the pilot face. I made a difference with navigator without mustache. Oh, the eyes are similar.

Maybe I could paint like the pilot of IJN somehow.
Recently, even a Japanese could not answer the day of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I suppose the history education should be taught from after the Meiji Restoration to postwar period first and the last is four major civilization, if there’s no time to teach all programs. By the way, Hiroshima is on August 6, 1945, and Nagasaki is on August 9, 1945.
(09-August-2015)

The cockpit color was designated as XF-22 RLM gray in TAMIYA Color, I would like to paint by lacquer Mr. Color, so the Japanese Navy fighter cockpit color of number 126 (Mitsubishi Planes) was mixed with RLM02 gray with number 60 about half-and-half for now.

The propeller canopy is available from two kinds with a point being round and the sharp. I didn’t know about it so well anyway, I chose the sharp one. My impression of the body is very slim and smart, it is considerably stylish.

The back is like this. As for the assembling before the painting, here will be a limit. The next step is painting.
(27-August-2015)

About the painting of the canopy frame, I drew in freehand without the masking this time. Maybe I need to repaint a little later. The freehand drawing makes me some pressure.

The pitot tube of the kit mold is dull, I made it by myself by the brass pipes. I was finished in a good taste. I was going to use the part of plastic parts, it’s broken and all was remade by brass.

I use the glue named Pitmult-2, this is the water solubility and can be stuck and peeled off, for gluing the canopy and the body. Honestly speaking, I didn’t like it. It was poured the liquid like thinned with water at the adhesive point. I had a trouble around the canopy was sticky and clear windows were tainted, usual plastic glue is better for me.
(10-September-2015)

Before entering the whole painting process, only a canopy is masked.

It is a painting, the bottom and float bottom fuselage will be inking without especially fading effect. The dark green upper area When a body color of dark green puts the light and shade here and there.

Also a propeller and dolly were painted with an airbrush. This dolly seems to take time and effort.
(2015/09/13)

As shown in the picture , it is not a very good way to paint the masking sol to a large area. But I carried it out.

I’ve airbrushed the panel line in dark green.

I blew the light and shade lightly, and the basic painting is completed. Oh, I want to glue legs together early.

Dark green and bright off-white border was made boundary that clearly. Moreover, it is the boundary of a random curve.

Depending on the taste, but I feel that’s random in the crisp line unnatural to somehow Japanese fighter airplane. Because I could not start it again if I put the decal of the nationality mark, I repainted that there is some gradation.

A decal was a little old, and a white part was easy to break. Red and yellow were quite robust and I needed strong decal softener to stick on the curved surface. It’s almost completed.
(2015/09/16)

The Seiran is the special attack airplane which can be equipped with a 800kg bomb. This airplane could be stocked in a submarine. 28 planes were produced by the end of the war. There was also Panama Canal bombardment plan, but couldn’t participate in the actual fighting and met the end of the war finally.

It’s a classified weapon, so it wouldn’t become dirty so much. It has been completed as neatly as possible.

It’s easy to imagine the Seiran’s size compared with the AA battery, it’s quite large airplane. Because there are two floats, I feel it’s big.

I finished dolly with the very different color from making comments. I imagined a center pallet becoming dirty with machine oil in black.

The black parts are rubber, dark brown is iron parts. Brown area is the wooden part.

Wrinkles have been left in a decal of the Rising Sun. After putting decal softer, twiddled one would be bad. I made it a little flat by sand paper and applied red again, but complete recovery would be impossible.

This could be stuck tight. After all, should I not have moved it?

The antenna line is made of metal. At the antenna pole on the cockpit, I have been damaged after completion. It was attached again, so the one stuck tightly has sagged for a short while. It’s very regrettable.

Moreover a drill was used to fix an antenna pole again, so a chip is in the cockpit. It’s trouble to the next from the next as a domino was being lined and it was knocked down by the way. A chip was falling finally, but building works around here needs scrupulous attention.

I can see the faces of the pilots well because I polished the canopy. I like this part.

The body underside is light gray. I did the inking and washing lightly.It is a big body.

Well, is the painting of some sashes warped? I imagine that the corner of the window panes is dirty with sea breeze by operation on the ocean, and salt attached.

I blew in black around the engine exhaust.

There are some points of trouble, on the whole, it is a reliable aircraft with good looking.

A decal of a nameplate under the tailplane was broken into pieces actually, I borrowed one piece from Zero fighter of Tamiya in my stock. I do not understand that I look hard and approach and do not see it.
Because a letter is so small and not readable at all when I look hard to close near, It’s no problem.

That it’s unexpected, painting of dolly took much time.

Yellow decals have uneven coloring, I painted over several times to unify the color tone.

It is the first time building of the seaplane. Fitting of a part is good and also have a tremendous impact. There is a feeling of satisfaction very much when completed.
(18-September-2015)