Hello folks, I thought I would share the other side project I was tasked with doing as I took a much needed furlough from the B-25. I was asked to build a beat up, well used, Zero that had seen better days. I chose the newer tooled Tamiya Type 32 Zero in the markings of 86 kill ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa of the 251 Kokatai based in the Solomon Islands in May of 1943. He was known as the “Devil of Rabaul” for his skill in flyng the Zero and was a flying mate of the legendary Saburo Sakai. His Zero is the subject on the box art, which I felt fit the bill nicely for this endeavor.
Tamiya suggests the plane was originally all Ame-iro (grey green) and dark green was then applied haphazardly on the upper surfaces in the field. I sought to replicate this and I wanted to experiment with extreme fading and chipping. Like my Fw 190, I continued to play with the liquid frisket technique. Paints were Tamiya XF-76 Grey Green for the Ame-iro and XF-13 JA Green. I left the belly tank in Alclad Aluminum to add some visual interest. I figured these weren’t always painted. I added an aerial wire only to find out later these didn’t have those, or even the mast for that matter…oh well.
The Zero was done pretty much out of the box except for photoetch seat belts. I also rigged the engine, as I do with all my radials. The “meatballs” were painted on and the rest were Tamiya decals. I had no issues. This kit is just wonderful. Perhaps they can give us an A6M2 Model 21 someday with this mold.
It’s a bit beat up for my personal taste, but I think I captured the look I was going for. It’s a war weary Zero that’s been baking in the South Pacific sun. It was definitely fun experimenting as well. My next one will be a pristine Pearl Harbor model 21. It’s already on the bench.
The faded worn paint is very convincing. Did you shoot the colors in various opacity and then blend them together with a thin coat? Is it pre shading? Post shading? Maybe both? Very cool.
LD, will you stop and let us all catch up?! Lol Another beautiful representation of a classic bird! The fading is probably the best I’ve seen. Tastefully done and really represents the oxidizied effects of the Pacific sun.
That plane looks exactly like it is supposed to. The South Pacific took it’s toll on everyone’s planes. I wish someone would do it’s Navy or Air Force counterpart from our side that looks that well worn. Very nice job.
Easy fix to get rid of the antenna, Joe! Sakai mentioned that in his book, but he was flying an A6M2 then. Not that I can weather as well as you, but it’s like I feel physical pain when I try.
Thanks! Indeed. It’s a process I call the reverse black base technique. On this one I focused on the green for the fading. I started with straight XF-13 JA Green then lightened it with varying degrees of XF-57 Buff With a mottling effect. Then I went back with straight XF-13 and mottled that focusing on panel lines. I just made it more pronounced on this one.
Very nice Zeke! Well done man! I especially like the cockpit, details and the chipping.
Colour modulation is also very nice! Maybe one more filter of the base colour over the top would benefit it even more to slightly smooth out the transition between the colors, but it might be due to lighting and does not by any means diminish the beauty of your model.
Thanks Nikola. Nope, that’s exactly what I was going for. A weather beaten zero. The green on this plane was field applied and sloppy in execution. I think I could have faded more actually.
