Hi All,
I'm violating one of my cardinal rules here, by starting a new project while I'm still working on another. HOWEVER, I am on vacation in Brasil and I needed something to occupy my evening hours when my wife is spending time with her family (in Portuguese). So, I grabbed some tools, glue and a kit and took them with me. I'm going to be working on DML's Type 2 Ka-Mi amphibious tank.



I also have a set of magic track, so I think it will add to the model nicely.

First nights of any project rarely have much to show for themselves, but here's the results of tonight's work:




I'm only going to be here for about a week, so I don't expect to complete the build. But, I should make some decent progress to the point it will be ready for the AMPS show in April.

Regards,
Georg

Georg,

I look forward to your progress. I try to do my modeling while escaping from game shows and the hallmark Channel!

Hi All,
Fred, I have a dedicated room in my house for modelling, with no TV! So if I want to watch something, and the Mrs. is watching Hallmark, I'll sit and watch too. It isn't like it isn't disturbingly wholesome.
Anyway, the build progresses. Finally things are starting to look like an actual vehicle. It's baby-steps, I know, but forward progress, nonetheless. What really makes me scratch my head is DML's commitment to includes parts that will not be seen EVER! I dumped those, since I think this one may end up buttoned up, but I'm not sure. Here's last night's progress:



More later.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
There usually is a critical mass that project reaches and it really hits its stride. I believe I am there! The model is seriously over-engineered, but does go together with the minimum of fuss. Although care should be taken with the engine decks.



One of the engine deck hatches is going to need a spot of putty. I also replaced the grab handle that fell off.





I needed to "massage" the holes for the muffler as they did not quite line up.



I hope to do some more on this project while still on vacation. I've got a couple more days here, so stay tuned!
Regards,
Georg

Hello Georg!
May be my Ka-Mi build log will be useful for you.
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/192557&ord=&page=2

Hi All,
I had some time this morning to work on the Ka-Mi and here's the result. An almost complete front float. The fit was good, but not perfect, requiring some Mr. Surfacer to fill the gaps.





I was worried about the guard on the float, but with some careful cutting and sanding, it turned out fine.



The fit of the rear plate on the front pontoon needed some love to fill the gaps, but nothing too terrible.



This is an idea I have for a vignette. I'm planning on showing a vehicle knocked out just coming over the seawall in New Guinea. Any thoughts or comments? I may include a figure just show how small the tank actually is.



All for now.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I'm going to be heading home from vacation tomorrow. So, I probably won't be posting anything on this project for a couple of days. I think that since I have momentum going on this one, I am going to continue with it and put the Sherman build on hold.
I should be back later in the week.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
It is later in the week! Thanks to a relatively painless (if long) trip back from Brasil and a serious snowstorm in the northeast US, I had some time to work on the project. Here's last night's progress.
First up was the front mounting brackets for the front float. Nothing too exciting, but progress nonetheless:



I continued the same theme on the rear. On this part, however, I plan to have the rear float still attached.



Speaking of the rear float, I began serious work on it, getting most of it together.







There was one mishap, which may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. I damaged the front rail on the front float when I was sanding some seams. I put it back together again, but it isn't perfect. So, I'm going to have show it damaged on the model.



That's all for last night's progress. I'm off to do more work on it tonight. See you tomorrow!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
Not a huge update, but progress continues! I pretty much got the rear float done, although it may need some more putty on the one end. I thinned the rudders so they didn't look so chunky.






I also got the engine vent "stack" done, although it too may need some putty on the base. I also need to add some detail to the machine gun mount. This is the one off of the turret, as I dropped the correct part and can not find it!



All for now. More tomorrow.
Regards,
Georg

that is a cool build.keep the pic comeing.great work.

Hi All,
Roy, thanks for the kind words. I got over to my LHS on Friday and was able to pick up the following items:



Upon further research, I found that the only time the Type 2 was used in amphibious assault role was in Leyte in late 1944. So, I have to see if any USMC units were present. So, I may have wasted my money on the Marine figures for this build. We'll see.

In order to build a palm log sea wall (say that ten times fast), I'm going to need: palm logs! So, I got ready to cast some form the Verlinden trunks. Here's the two in my Lego mold box:



I used the following product for the rubber. It's re-usable and can be liquefied in the microwave! I've used a couple of times before, and have been impressed with the results.



Here's the mold once it got pulled from the box. They kinda look like giant earthworms.



With that done, I'm going to need to cast a whole mess of these things, so I have enough for the wall. I'll keep you posted.

Moving along, I began work on the turret and after the first session, I had the following together:



The fit is really good and while very over-engineered, it goes together just as advertised.





So that's it for today. I'm going to try to get another build session in tonight. With luck, I'll have a couple of tree trunks cast and get the turret further along. See you tomorrow!
Regards,
Georg

Hey Georg she is coming along great looking forward to see how the Palm tree trunks turn out and also how you do on the rigging on the pontoons, really an awesome build log.

regards

your friend

HORST

Hi All,
I finished the Ka-MI last night. I also spent some time getting the base together. I'm going to us e photo frame and the masonite board as the base. I used expanded foam to rough out the groundwork and then probably either Durham's water putty or paper mache to cover it.





I think the sea wall will articulate the suspension nicely.



I have a few bits of expanded foam out on the "beach" area of the base in order to give it some interest.



Finally, the log wall. All of these were cast from the mold I made of Verlinden palm trees. They needed some cleaning up, but otherwise will do the job nicely.



I'm going to try to base-coat the model and get the markings sorted out. I might even get the ground work done. More tomorrow.
Regards,
Georg

Wow.........I am really looking forward to watching this come together. It looks very neat so far.
Thank you for sharing!!

Looks good Georg, going green or grey? Thanks for the tip, just ordered a big tub of Composimold on amazon.

BGC,
As far as I have been able to ascertain, the Type 2 Ka-Mi's were only used once in an amphibious assault. This was against American troops on Leyte in 1944. By this time, SNLF tanks were painted IJN Green. So, I'm going with the green (courtesy of Tamiya).
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I was able to get the Ka-Mi into the spray booth last night and get a primer coat of Tamiya XF-27 Black Green on it. So far, so good. With a little luck, I'll get the model painted tonight.









All for now.
Regards,
Georg

Nice work Georg.

Hi All,
Horst, thanks for the kind words. I was able to get some more painting done last night, using Tamiya IJN green and buff. I think I've finally gotten the hang of the Harder and Steinbeck airbrush I bought last April at AMPS. Needless to say, I am impressed! now I just have to up my game to be as good as it is!









I added some Tamiya Buff to the IJN green to lighten it up a bit. Here's how it turned out:









I'm going to need to do some final assembly (with the hatches) and some detail painting (the roadwheels, return rollers, muffler and machine guns) next. I'm also going to need to airbrush the muffler guard. More tomorrow!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I was able to get more work done on the project and these steps were significant. First, I got a base coat on the palm logs for the sea wall:



This evening after all the snow shoveling was done, I got to work further. Tonight's work was two-fold. First, I was able to get a gloss coat on the model in order to decal it. I won't bore you with pictures of a shiny model. Second, I began work on the groundwork for the base. I finally figured out what to do with all the shredded paper from my shredder: use them as paper mache for model bases!



I made a mixture of water, white glue and paint (in this case, a light tan to look like beach sand)to provide the adhesive for the paper shreds.



After the paper mach was spread and the excess water/glue/paint absorbed off, I sprinkled the area with some sand from an ancient Custom Dioramics rubble set. Here's what that section of the base looks like:



I'm not sure how I'm going to cover the other part of the base just yet, but I think this needs just a little touch-up to be perfect. Just as a side note, I pressed the tracks into the groundwork, too. More tomorrow.

Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
Not a huge update tonight, but significant by all accounts! First off, I was able to get decals on the model. I was able to find numerous pictures of Lt. Itho's tank that got ashore at Oromoc in Leyte. Another tank, number 652 also survived the swim to shore. I was not able to find any pictures of it, so that's the one I went with! I made up a set of appropriate markings on my Alps printer and applied them with diluted white glue to remove silvering.



I took a small liberty and used a larger version of the vehicle number on the back of the engine intake stack (sorry it's a little out of focus).



I moved the numbers slightly from "651's" location.



Second, I did some more work on the base and groundwork. I used paper towels this time with white glue and brown paint (in case there is a gap in the groundwork). I'm going to let that dry overnight before doing anything else.



See you tomorrow!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
The base has really turned into a multi-media event! I ended up using the paper towels for the groundwork. But in order to secure the sea wall, I used celluclay. Finally, I used the rest of the celluclay, some plaster Spackle and some paint for the groundwork. I think it looks good, but it might need a second layer.



Here's a close-up of the wall. It's going to need some weathering to look right.



I was also able to seal the decals with some clear gloss. So, I'll be starting with the first filters and pin-washes this weekend. Stay tuned!
Regards,
Georg

interesting model

looking Forward to the updates

It looks very interesting, I'm curious finals. I will track the progress of work.

Paweł

Hi All,
These photos were taken on Sunday, so there is more progress that I have not documented (coming soon). I was able to move the base along significantly over the weekend.



I did some drybrushing on the "land-side" of the base. This will get some vegetation so it doesn't look so stark.



I began work on the pin-wash of the vehicle. Here are the drive sprockets and idlers. I added some sepia oil to the mix to thicken it a little and darken it to add some more contrast.



I then moved to the turret:







The front float was next:







I did some work on the lower hull, but that is not finished yet. Also, I decided as to how to deal with the tracks. More tomorrow.
Regards,
Georg