Well, here is some photos of my first completed kit, 1/48 Tamiya A6M2 Zero, after a very long hiatus away from modeling. A lot has changed since I last built a kit so I tried a variety of new techniques here. Thus, she’s a bit rough but I had great time building her. During my time away from building I did build up a sizeable collection of kits, tools and reference material. But it was finally time to put the rubber to the road.
About the build. The kit is OOB except for some Eduard PE seatbelts. I used Tamiya acrylics all around. The cockpit is XF-71 Interior Green and the overall camo. is XF-76 IJN Grey-Green. When I began the build I was in a place where I was unable to set up my airbrush (Aztec 340), compressor and spray booth. Thus, the cockpit, landing gear/wheel wells and engine, prop and cowling are all hand painted. I then moved and I was able to finish up with the airbrush. The upper wing root required the majority of filling and sanding. This and rescribbing panel lines, I discovered, is where I need to fine tune my skills along with others.
After spraying the paint scheme I sprayed on an overcoat of Testors glosscoat. Decals and sludge wash on the panel lines were applied. I then sprayed on Testors dullcoat and finished up with some weathering with Tamiya Weathering pastels and paint chipping with a silver pencil.
I welcome any feedback as I am only here to improve my modeling skills.
I would just like to say that I am grateful to all of you on this forum because much of what I did here I picked up from you all on the forum and from my FSM subscription.
Looks real nice for a first build back…[;)]You can see the rust flying off of your skills…very nice job on the weathering…most important…WELCOME BACK TO THE HOBBY!!! I think many here can relate to you…I myself left the hobby for many years and am really happy to be back and this forum plays a big part when it comes to enjoying it.[#welcome]
I’m working on this same kit under the same circumstances (the long hiatus part). School has kept me very occupied in the last several months, but I’m making progress. Mine is also largely OOB, except for the Tamiya PE kit and some custom work on the engine and landing gear. Hope to post pics of the completed model soon.
Welcome back to the hobby, Joe, and I agree with the others, nice job on your return piece!
I had the same impression as others have pointed out, as I browsed through the pics, and that is, I really like the subtlety of the weathering, it’s not overdone, especially as far as the panel lines are concerned. I think too often, those are over-emphasized. Your bird looks like a well-weathered veteran, in my opinion.
It’s good to see your attention to detail, like the missing radio mast. Many modelers have included that, because the instructions said so. When in reality the A6M’s at Lae had their weighty, unreliable radios removed.
Welcome back to the hobby. Its one of those that stays under your skin from childhood. For your first build back its a cracker and i look forward to see your next. Any ideas yet?
Thank you all for the compliments and more importantly the encouragement!
Guy - I just “cut the bag” on the Hasegawa 1/48 Hawker Typhoon Mk1b. Always loved the looks of the Typhoon and also figured I’d up the ante with a bit more complex camo. scheme. My long range projects are Monogram 1/48 PBY-5A Catalina, Tamiya 1/48 F4U-1D Corsair and Academy 1/48 Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon. My father was a flight instructor (Corsair) and ferry pilot (Catalina) out of Pensacola NAS during WW2. He loved both of these planes. I believe he had a special fondness for the Catalina because he could haul more beer. As far as the MH-53E Sea Dragon goes my older brother(retired USN) was commander of HM214 for a few years and I was estatic to find a kit of his squadron that I could build for him. That one will definitely take me awhile cause I let out a resounding “HOOO MOMMA” when I opened the box and saw the number of parts and the size of that beast.
Your Zero looks nice. But what kind of camera did you use to take your pictures. I know nothing about cameras but I’ve been looking to pick one up just to take pictures of the models I build.
A bit rough? Looks great to me. I also like the weathering, especially the wear showing under the cockpit and on the wing root from the pilot entering/exiting.
Nice looking Zero![tup] I really shoud get around to mine one of these days…in fact, I should get around to any kit![:-^] Bench time is hard to come by these days.
Oh, yeah…don’t forget to call Terry![:D] (see 1st pic)(sorry, I couldn’t resist…it’s the smart a** in me)[:-^]
Joe - Very well done! Though it looks like one of them Japanese fellas had a little too much saki when he painted that fuselage band. [;)] Looks great nonetheless!
Can’t wait to see the Typhoon. Never built the Hasegawa version but it sure looks nice.
You mean the part that has the antenna wire running to the tail? I’m building this also, and wasn’t aware that it should be omitted in the name of accuracy.
Joe, Looks like you haven’t missed a beat. The construction, finish, and weathering look spot on to me. A couple of questions. There’s a blue hue in the wheel wells, is the interior some type of blue color? Honestly I’m not very familiar with Japanese aircraft. Also how do you like the Tamiya weathering products?
Thanks once again to you all. Sure makes me feel like I’m headed in the right direction.
Let me addresss some of the questions you’ve asked:
Khalee2 - I simply used my Kodak Easy Share. I’ve been rather happy with it’s versatility
Jeremy - Yeah, That fuselage band is the kit decal and turned out to be my biggest bugaboo on this build. I used Micro Mark setting solution and softening solution, which I believe are actually Badger products. Anyhoo, despite all the setting sol. I used she grabbed in place. I contemplated painting over it and decaling another aircraft but I stay with the off- centeredness of it to remind me that patience and practice are virtues. You know, I was not really pleased with the Micro Mark setting solution but their softening agent on the other hand worked extermely well. After 24 hrs those decals settled in very nicely.
Tom - Yeah the wheel wells are metallic blue and the cockpit is IJN interior green. Now, I should point out that I did a good bit of research on this, and Japanese aircraft in general, and their seems to be a good deal of uncertainty on the actual color of Aotake, which is the protective coating the Japanese used. References indicated that it was anywhere from metallic blue to metallic green and anywhere any between. I chose blue as it was readily available to me. On my next IJN aircraft I may try the metallic blue with a coating of Tamiya clear green and see how that turns out. Also, I found a bit of debate on cockpit colors, whether it be Mitsubishi green or Aotake. It seems that it really depended on who manufactured the that particular aircraft i.e. Mitsubishi vs Nakajima. I suggest utilizing available reference material and the very knowledgable folks here on the forum. I actually liked using the Tamiya wxing kit. Their a “wet” pastel and apply really well with practice and hold up to handling after applied as opposed to regular pastels. The drawback I found was “washing” them off if I made a mistake or over did it. I did not find a suitable method for this. Maybe someone on the forums has some advice on this.
Thanks again for all the feedback and the oppurtunity to chat on my build and modeling in general. Joe
From all versions? I’m building the Tiger Corps, Kagoshima Base version circa 1944. The one reference photo I saw doesn’t appear to have the radio mast present.
I would think Sakai’s reference would only specifically apply to the A6M2 at that time. I would not conclude that it applied to all later Zeros at all. Photographs as usual are the best proof.
IF you are building an A6M that was based at Lae. I can’t vouch for the A6M’s based at Rabaul. Many Zero’s kept their radios and radio masts, particularly carrier based. As always, find reliable reference, especially photos.
