This is my first build in what I’m calling the Year of the Axis Warbird (plan is to build only German, Japanese or Italian subjects this year). The kit is a superb release from Tamiya dating back to 2001. I had my eyes on that kit when it first came out for a number of years, and finally bit the bullet on it back in 2005, so it’s been in my stash for a good number of years.
The kit’s awesome box art has been staring at me from front-and-center of my stash for a long time, so when I decided on this sequel to my 2017 Year of the Allied Warbird, this one was a natural first choice.
I started this build very early in January. I lost a bunch of time at the workbench for very good reason - the passing of my dad on February 17. He was my hero and he was the best man I ever had the privilege of knowing. He also is the primary reason that I even know of this hobby, having bought me a Monogram P-40B at the tender age of 3. He spent time with me growing up, helping me to learn how to build models or taking to see real warbirds at museums such as the Naval museum in Pensacola, or at airshows that the Confederate Air Force put on from time to time.
Here is a photo of me with my dad circa 1978, me holding a Monogram SBD Dauntless kit that I had built, and both of us sporting some really horrible 1970s attire and hair cuts.
I’m dedicating this build to my dad.
So on to the kit. This thing has a bunch of working features. The flaps are moveable. The landing gear struts have tiny springs in them that give them a “bounce”. The smaller gear doors are actuated on tiny pieces of metal. The tail wheel and arrestor hook can be moved by way of use of a tiny little tool that Tamiya provides. The ailerons are moveable as well.
Online build reviews I found included a lot of comments about frustration with the gear door actuators. I actually had no problem in this area. But apparently I put glue on the rear wheel prong (a part that the rear wheel structure slips onto) when I should not have, so that rear wheel does not move one iota. Today, during final construction, I went to attach the main struts, which requires you to place a screw in through the upper wing (beneath the part of the wing that covers the wing guns). The tolerance was incredibly tight, and I managed to dislodge the gear doors, one of which is a small PE part that predictably vanished. After a search that included the eyes of my wife and my daughter, I gave up and decided my Zeke could have simply had that part shot off by a Hellcat. Looking closely at the starboard gear, you can see there is a missing panel from the gear doors.
One further issue, once I managed to get the screw into place and everything was done, I noted that one of the struts was not tight and had moved 90 degrees. By this time the part allowing for access to the screw was glued in place (I had decided that I was never going to retract these gear), so I was left with only one option - to put some glue onto the strut itself to keep it in proper alignment.
Other than that, this kit falls together in typical Tamiya fashion. It is a work of engineering marvel. Wing parts, stabilizer and rudder parts, and the drop tank pretty much snap into place. The kit comes with a fret of overly thick PE, vinyl (?) tires and brake lines, and even includes a length of antenna wiring.
Paints are a mix of Tamiya acrylics and Model Master acrylics. I did some very limited salt chipping along the wings, and supplemented that with a silver pencil during the weathering phase of the build. Clear parts are attached via Bondic rather than clear glue - really impressed with that stuff.
My next build has actually been in my stash for longer than this Zero. It will be Monogram Pro-Modeler’s Ar 234C-3 in 1/48.