Shar2 Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 21st Kokusho A6M2-K Zero Fighter Trainer 1:48 Hasegawa History Whilst the Japanese Zero naval fighter is known the world over, it’s not so well known that there was a 2 seat trainer variant. The A6M2-K was designed and built at the 21st Naval Depot at Sasebo Naval Arsenal and was also built at the Hitachi plant in Chiba. The design was based on either a standard Model 21 or Model 22 A6M Zero. The conversion required the front cockpit be moved forward, and the new cockpit for the instructor to be fitted behind. This included a full instrument panel, and full dual controls. The instructor had a full sliding canopy, but the students cockpit was open with only small doors either side to aid accessibility easier. Two strakes were fitted either side of the rear fuselage to assist in spin recovery. The type served as a transitional trainer from the beginning of 1944 and were also utilised as target tugs trailing streamer type targets from pods beneath the outer wings. The A6M2-K used a larger fixed tailwheel than the standard aircraft and also had the outer gear doors removed to save weight. The Model Originally released in 2011this kit is still fairly new so naturally the moulding is very good. The finesse on the details such as rivets and panel lines is very nice indeed. There is no sign of flash and only a few moulding pips, plus no sign of imperfections on the review example. The instructions are well printed, clear and easy to read. Rather unusually the kit comes with two complete fuselages. The first is a single seater, and shares the sprue with the standard engine, cowling and propellers, whilst the second is the twin seater and subject of this build along with the interior required to build the trainer version. In fact you will end up with a lot of parts for the spares box once the kit has been built. The build begins with the assembly of the two pilot figures, each with separate torso, (with head attached), legs and arms. Next up is the cockpit or cockpits in this case. The single piece floor is fitted with a bulkhead, seat, seat supports, rudder pedals, joystick and instrument panel for each pilot. On the trainees’ instrument panel the gunsight and upper machine gun breeches are attached. As is usual with this type of kit from Hasegawa the sidewalls are separate and go to form a cockpit tub when joined to the bulkheads and floor. Before fitting the port sidewall though, two consoles need to be fitted, one for each cockpit. The completed cockpit assembly is then fitted to one half of the fuselage along with the tail wheel bulkhead and single piece tail wheel/oleo. The fuselage is then closed up and the upper forward decking attached and fitted with the machine gun barrels, whilst the rear decking is attached aft of the rear cockpit. The Sakae engine consists of engine mount, the two cylinder banks and the crankcase with connecting rods. When assembled it is fitted the fuselage and covered with the single piece cowling. The engine exhausts are then attached as are the horizontal tailplanes. There are optional tail cones, the normal solid type and an open tubular affair, which looks like it should be part of an anti-spin chute arrangement. The two upper wing sections are glued to the lower single piece item before the aileron trim tab panel lines are filled and sanded as per the instructions. A number of location holes in the lower wing also need filling and the trim tab actuating rods need to be removed. The completed wing is then fitted to the fuselage, followed by the lower engine fairing, with oil cooler, the cockpit role over bars and anti-spin strakes. The separate navigation light lenses are also fitted at this point, as are the aileron control horns. The main undercarriage consists of single piece wheels/tyres, oleo and outer bay doors, which can be left off as these were often removed to save weight. The undercarriage is then fitted into position and the outer doors attached, again these can be left off if required. The target streaming units, which look like rocket launchers in reverse, are made up of the two halves of the tube and capped off either end. They are fitted to the pylon, which is complete with separate sway braces and attached to the outer wings. With the model now standing on its undercarriage the pilots can be fitted and the four piece canopy arrangement attached. It is possible to pose the rear cockpits canopy open and the aerial mast is fitted to the fixed centre section. Lastly, the three individual propeller blades are assembled to the back plate, the spinner is then added and the completed propeller is fitted to the aircraft. Other than painting and decaling, the build is complete. Decals The decals from the latest batch of Japanese aircraft kits from Hasegawa have been pretty good, and it’s no different with this kit. Well printed, with thin carrier film, they are in good register and nicely opaque. Only the walkways on both wings and the identification numbers have any significant visible film, but on a nice glossy finish this shouldn’t silver too much. There are three aircraft for which markings are provided. All are from the Tsukuba Flying Group and both are in the distinctive and very colourful orange and black scheme, and are aircraft numbers 401. 407 and 415. Conclusion This is certainly an oddity I hadn’t heard of before receiving the kit and researching for the review. It will look great amongst a collection of Japanese aircraft, and in such a bright scheme it will certainly stand out. This will make a nice mojo lifter or weekend kit to while the hours away, and should turn out to be a fun build. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 This machine is far removed from my usual subject areas but for some reason I've always wanted one. Interesting review Dave, thanks for taking the time to share it with us, good to hear the decals are improving as it's been many years since my last experience with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shar2 Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Thanks Col. You also reminded me to actually add the decal photo. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Thanks Col. You also reminded me to actually add the decal photo. No worries Dave, glad to be of some use, nice to see there is three different aircraft options even if they are all basically the same scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Cool, never knew there was a 2 seater, now I want one! Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Nice! I've missed this edition, but it appears that there will be a re-pop very soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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