This box is in exquisite shape. It looks and feels literally brand new when it is, in fact, just as old as I am. When I received it, it was still wrapped in the original shrinkwrap, although the wrap had split some along a side. No impact to the condition of the box, no crushed corners, no deteriorating print.
I am a sucker for these old Revell (and Monogram) kits that contained inserts such as this Apollo pamphlet. I have an entire folder full of such things that I keep in my safe, along with the Shep Paine diorama booklets that were included in 70’s-era Monogram releases - my kids are going to go through that some day and wonder what was dad keeping these things for.
But as you can see, there is not a lot in the box. Maybe 30-40 parts total. Having built the 32nd scale Tamiya kit, it is easy to see that this is not even in the same ballpark, but then again, I didn’t expect it to be. These Revell kits were great for their day, but for some reason this is one that I don’t ever recall seeing on hobby shop shelves in the Houston, Texas area when I was a kid. I’ve never before built this release.
So I turn my attention to the parts, and the first thing that stands out to me is the pilot’s seat. Oh, this kit includes the typical two-part pilot figure that has always been basically unacceptable for use. The seat should have several lightening holes in it. Photos of the actual seat don’t match this seat configuration - the back should simply be a piece of metal with no side supports as are molded into this part. I will go ahead and use the kit part, with the modification of drilling the lightening holes [I actually don’t know if those are lightening holes such as you’d find on a structural part of the wing or fuselage, but I’m not sure what else to call these holes, eh, maybe just holes?].
Revell are very potent at making kits with very little parts ! On the other hand, we end up with protuding bits that can break easy. Nightmares with the 1:48 Spit…
Can’t wait to be able to build 1:32s myself
Have fun with this one !
Regarding my speed at starting a new build … my wife is a tax accountant, so we’re not seeing much of each other for the time being. Might as well get started.
Yes, I will build Godzilla while doing the Zero, but whether the big green guy is part of the GB remains to be seen (i.e., if the kit is added to my entry for the GB).
This feels like a lot of progress in a short time, but I’ll point out the simplicity of the kit and that there is quite a bit left to do even with all that I have done this afternoon once I was done with the work day (stuff like awful seams to fill, a little more interior paint work, assembling the main components and filling any seams, prime paint, then the final paint job).
Basically, I finished the cockpit and engine and then assembled all of the primary components or those parts that need to be primed.
Cockpit - I included a set of 3D decals by Eduard for the seat belts. I thought I had a set of IP decals in 32nd scale, but all I actually had was 48th scale, so I just used a silver prismacolor pencil to highlight the bezel details. I used some AK Interactive Real Color paint markers to pick out some of the additional details, and painted the gun breeches gun metal.
Engine - The crankcase got a coat of gun metal and then a highly thinned light layer of metallic blue, which some sources indicate would be appropriate for a Zero’s engine. Whether accurate or not, I do actually like the look.
I remember seeing several releases of this Zero, but never have built one of them myself. My friend a couple of doors down built the Baa Baa Blacksheep issue of this kit. I’m gonna live vicariously here through your build of this one Very nice start.
I never got that Baa Baa Black Sheep Zero, although I did build the accompanying F4U Corsair. That show back in whatever year it was, 1978? was must-watch TV for me at age 10-11. At the time we were living with my maternal grandparents. My grandfather would sit in his recliner and watch with nary a word, but on occasion I remember hearing him making sounds of some gutteral sort. This is a man who, 13 years later, would inform me that I was never again to park my brand new Toyota in his driveway.
Like many men of his generation, he was pulled away from a very young family due to 7-December-1941. He maintained a hatred of the Japanese for the rest of his life.
On the day of the driveway incident, I got to sit with him and talk candidly. Our family’s heritage is German. I asked him pointedly if he had been sent to Europe to fight the Nazis and I had parked a BMW in his driveway, would he have had a similar response. He thought he would have, so it was a consistent answer that told me it was less about the Japanese than it was about what it did to him personally with the impact to his early family life with the daughter who would later be my mom.
Today I got some unexpected time at the bench. I took a certification test for Github Copilot - timely in that I am starting work on a project next week that will use this tech heavily, so I guess I get to add AI Software Engineer to my title now. I sat in the online queue for enough time to let me get the Zero’s airframe put together.
The fit of the tabs on the stabilizers was incredibly tight. The wing fit okay in some areas, but absolutely horrendously in others.
I’m also thinking about sanding down all those rivets, not sanding away, but just lessening them. I was going to do a physical comparison against my Tamiya Zero to determine if that one feels like a bumpy road when running your fingers over it.
I spent most of the day at the bench, so was able to make considerable progress. The first thing I did was spread some sprue goo into those wing root gaps. It turned out that my goo didn’t melt very well - not sure if I needed more Tamiya extra thin cement - but it didn’t spread very well. I only did the top side gaps on the wings and stabilizers, and after it had some time to cure, I sanded it down to smooth it out as much as I could. I then sanded the overall airframe to knock down the rivets. They are still present but aren’t as “tall” as they had been.
Next I masked the clear parts with heat tape, which has become my preferred method of masking canopies. It is translucent and easy to cut (although I recommend using a new knife blade). In my previous use on the B-50, it didn’t bleed any paint to the underlying clear surfaces; hoping this will be the case again.
Something I’ve started doing on larger scale kit is adding tightly wound copper wire as part of the antenna rigging. I did this on a 24th scale Hellcat to great effect. I think it will be appropriate for the Zero, although I can’t state as fact that it is accurate. It does match what I see in the box art.
The canopy and windscreen fit pretty well, although I did have a bit of trouble getting the rear section over the antenna rigging attachment. On this kit the mast must be installed prior to placing the rear canopy section. I had attached the copper wire before installing the mast.
Finally, I got started painting with a coat of grey primer. I have used Stynylrez since 2016 and have never had any issues. Until today. Even though the bottle says it does not require thinning, and I have never thinned it, the primer sure acted like it was clogging the airbrush. I still didn’t thin it, but upped the psi to force it through. Then I stripped that brush down and soaked the nozzle and needle cap to hopefully clean them thoroughly.
I then mounted another airbrush to paint the cowling IJN Black-Blue, and the drop tank matte aluminum.
Between shopping for a new mattress, cooking dinner, and doing some house cleaning, I had time for only some modest time at the bench, modest on the order of 20 minutes or so. But I didn’t have much more to do than to prep the Zero’s markings. I have a set of Montex Masks that includes the hinomarus and other markings.
So I sprayed the areas where markings will be, or where there is high traffic of pilot or ground crews, with aluminum. Then I sprayed the rudder flat yellow. The location of the hinomarus got flat red, as well as the “no step” area on the upper wing above the flap wells. All of this is going to cure over night, or until I can get back to the bench, when I will apply the markings masks.
Once I complete that, I will likely spray more aluminum to coat over the overspray of red and yellow, then proceed with the Zero’s camouflage scheme of ash gray underside / dark black green topside.
I was thinking, wow you’re moving fast on this… you’re almost ready for basic exterior paint! I remember being able to build a model like this type in a day… not very well, but construction was done that day. No seam filling or other such niceties. Your Zero is looking great!
This was a very easy, mostly trouble-free build. My build is not without its warts. It’s likely that I’m the only one who sees them, though. I was disappointed with the results of the chipping. I had painted an undercoat of matte aluminum then put the IJN black green over; after I tried chipping with a sharp point, but all I really felt like I saw was dull metal. The chipping in the final result was achieved through the use of an AK Interactive Real Colors paint marker. IMO it is now too bright. I had hoped the wash and other weathering might dull it but that didn’t happen.
There are no exterior decals on this Zero - all markings are paint through the use of a Montex Mask set. The heat tape I am using to mask clear parts performed flawlessly. There is a Flory wash and Abteilung oils to effect the remainder of the weathering effort.
For its day, I imagine this Revell kit was a fine kit. I don’t recall ever seeing it on shelves as a kid, so this was my first effort at building it. It can be had for much less money than the Tamiya A6M5, but then with the Tamiya you get a far more detailed kit. I built that Tamiya kit about a decade ago, so now have two 32nd scale A6M5 Zeros in my collection.
Ahhh that’s the worst! I hate shopping in general, something like mattresses I just go with the “ whatever the wife likes” rule. Way quicker, less arguing, and I can fall asleep on broken glass so I’m good with anything really.
That’s my normal approach to shopping as well. But in this case, I’m driving the purchase for a new mattress. Our current mattress is 20+ years old. I’m not sleeping well; I wake up every night at roughly 3 or so, then sleep fitfully until it’s time to get up for work. I’m hoping this new mattress will solve that problem.
Very nice start.
