Val Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Hello! So my Lancaster, Gnats and 727 have been on hold while I've been moonlighting on another site doing a couple of group builds... sorry! But here's the first completed build for a while, a Mitsubishi Zero. Kit manufacture: Airfix Scale: 1/72 Type: Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero Extras used: Quickboost resin seat, Eduard mask set. Paints and colours used: Citadel Mithril Silver (prop, undercarriage), Citadel Chainmail and Boltgun Metal (base coat for chipping), Tamiya XF-71 (cockpit), XF-76 (underside), XF-70 (top colour), XF-17 (engine cover, props), XF-85 (wheels), Tamiya X-13 (wheel bay), Tamiya XF-3 (yellow bits), Tamiya XF-2 and XF-7 (roundels), Vallejo Polyurethane Primer, various Vallejo colours for detail. Clear coats were AK Gauzy Shine Enhancer and Tamiya Matt Coat, washes were Flory Grime wash and AK Engine Grease. Streaks added with burnt umber oils and Tamiya weathering set. The kit itself is good. Fit is generally excellent; basically no filleriller with the exception of the wing roots. You might get away without this with a bit of sanding etc. Detail is good. Not brilliant, but not poor either. Panel lines, in my opinion, are acceptable depth. Some areas, like the engine, I thought were really sharply detailed, as is the cockpit although you are unable to pose the canopy open OOB. Rivet detail was added by myself, and I was pleased with my first attempt. Decals are very good, although there aren't many and I masked and painted the roundels myself. Problems with the kit are, as ever with Airfix, soft plastic and large sprue gates which means care must be taken with part removal and cleanup. Overall, very enjoyable. Oh yeah, I beat the heck out of the paintwork, so if you're not a fan of over-weathering, look away now! I did exactly what you're not supposed to do and used imagination and other builds as references as opposed to actual photographic references. Fun it was, though! Comments, tips and feedback as always greatly appreciated. Oh, and apologies for my photography work! g So there we go, thanks for stopping by, Val 29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Very nice Zeke, Val! I think the weathering looks good - those Japanese birds, going by actual photographs, got pretty beat up by the weather. Regards, Jason 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vadim Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Great finish. I like tough weathered models and your zero really delivers it. The only thing I would try, while making pictures, to close an apperture as much as possible to have a better depth of field. Alternatively you may use image stacking software. With a bigger dof your model would look like a 1/32 scale because of really great finish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celt Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 A very beat up looking Zero,well tidy mun. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry c Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 A very nice job of weathering, however, I believe that plane is from a training school and I suspect the students would be hard at work keeping the paintwork bright and shiny. I love the rivets and the wear on the roundels. Garry c 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
condor1 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Really nice one Val, lot of detail and elbow grease . The chipping and weathering are superb. Now I have to agree with Vadim the pictures can be improved. Use more light, lots more, dont be shy about light. Go to the higher f stop possible to get a deeper field . Finally edit your shoots, play with different adjustments and crop your frame tighter.. Back to the model, congrats , well done mate Regards Vultur Gryphus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Looks great, the weathering and chipping makes it look very busy. I share your view on this kit, typical Airfix quality. For the money you can t complain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 8 hours ago, Vadim said: Great finish. I like tough weathered models and your zero really delivers it. The only thing I would try, while making pictures, to close an apperture as much as possible to have a better depth of field. Alternatively you may use image stacking software. With a bigger dof your model would look like a 1/32 scale because of really great finish. Cool, thanks for the tips. I've got a Tie Fighter and a Mustang nearly finished so will try to improve the pictures when they're done with your tips 5 hours ago, Garry c said: A very nice job of weathering, however, I believe that plane is from a training school and I suspect the students would be hard at work keeping the paintwork bright and shiny. I love the rivets and the wear on the roundels. Garry c Thanks Ahhh... didn't realise that! Yes, you're quite right, would probably have been kept very clean! 2 hours ago, condor1 said: Really nice one Val, lot of detail and elbow grease . The chipping and weathering are superb. Now I have to agree with Vadim the pictures can be improved. Use more light, lots more, dont be shy about light. Go to the higher f stop possible to get a deeper field . Finally edit your shoots, play with different adjustments and crop your frame tighter.. Back to the model, congrats , well done mate Regards Vultur Gryphus Thanks for your kind words and your tips. I will try your suggestions to improve the photos on the next completed build 2 hours ago, BerndM said: Looks great, the weathering and chipping makes it look very busy. I share your view on this kit, typical Airfix quality. For the money you can t complain. Agreed, it's a decent kit overall and more than worth the money for a bit of fun! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 That's a beauty. The rivet detail gives it the look of a 1/48th model. As to the weathering I think it looks spot on. I don't know what is was about IJN paint but it clearly wasn't meant to last. The painted on Hinomaru look excellent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildeSau75 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Very nice build of a heavily war weary bird. Cheers, Michael 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry c Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 The early war Japanese Navy aircraft have a red-brown primer and good paint though prone to fading. The Army aircraft were painted in the field with no primer and are famous for chipping. Late war Naval aircraft have no primer from the factory and also chip very easily. As this aircraft is an A6M2 it would of had primer and held paint well. To me, chipping on an early Zero is like a red crowbar in a Spitfire. rant over Garry c 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 6 minutes ago, Garry c said: The early war Japanese Navy aircraft have a red-brown primer and good paint though prone to fading. The Army aircraft were painted in the field with no primer and are famous for chipping. Late war Naval aircraft have no primer from the factory and also chip very easily. As this aircraft is an A6M2 it would of had primer and held paint well. To me, chipping on an early Zero is like a red crowbar in a Spitfire. rant over Garry c Thanks for the info, I shall keep that in mind for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 27 minutes ago, Meatbox8 said: That's a beauty. The rivet detail gives it the look of a 1/48th model. As to the weathering I think it looks spot on. I don't know what is was about IJN paint but it clearly wasn't meant to last. The painted on Hinomaru look excellent. 14 minutes ago, WildeSau75 said: Very nice build of a heavily war weary bird. Cheers, Michael Cheers guys! I certainly had a lot of fun with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince1159 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Beautiful build Val,one thing you could do is try taking your photo's outside if you can you can't beat natural light... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 1 hour ago, Vince1159 said: Beautiful build Val,one thing you could do is try taking your photo's outside if you can you can't beat natural light... Thank you! Yes, I will try that, thanks. Mind you, I might have to wait a while as |I doubt I'll be seeing the sun again until March!! #BritishWeather 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelglue Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Wow that's just incredible. The closer you get the more stunning it is to look at! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darby Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 That'll do for me. I'm also envious of the fact that you have Citadel Boltgun and Chainmail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREG DESTEC Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Great Zero Val. I really like the finish. cheers Greg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 2 hours ago, GREG DESTEC said: Great Zero Val. I really like the finish. cheers Greg Thanks mate 7 hours ago, Darby said: That'll do for me. I'm also envious of the fact that you have Citadel Boltgun and Chainmail. Cheers! Yes, that stuff is lovely! I've got to say the new Vallejo metal colour stuff is excellent too, although not sure what it's like to brush. 7 hours ago, modelglue said: Wow that's just incredible. The closer you get the more stunning it is to look at! Cheers mate, you're too kind 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Superb build and finish Val,outstanding paint and weathering 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 32 minutes ago, stevej60 said: Superb build and finish Val,outstanding paint and weathering Cheers mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 (edited) 1/72nd you say? Wicked! Really like the rivets and weathering and you really can't beat painted markings. I am impressed with how delicate the weathering is on such a small model - very easy to go OTT in that scale. Nice one! ATB Rick BTW which part of Norfolk are you in? Edited December 16, 2016 by Spad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 16, 2016 Author Share Posted December 16, 2016 8 hours ago, Spad said: 1/72nd you say? Wicked! Really like the rivets and weathering and you really can't beat painted markings. I am impressed with how delicate the weathering is on such a small model - very easy to go OTT in that scale. Nice one! ATB Rick BTW which part of Norfolk are you in? Cheers Rick! It's the first time I've tried to paint on the roundels; it worked really well in this case as the aircraft is so beaten up, but I now know exactly how accurate I'd have to be on a better maintained aircraft! Had a touch of bleed though on the fuselage too due to the more complex shape. I'm in Harleston, between Diss and Bungay in South Norfolk! I guess you can't be too far away from me!? Val 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Hi Val, impressive looking Zero and you sure put a lot of work into it! Superb! As a training plane, the underside may have been yellow-orange... a matter of taste, I guess, in the absence of a color picture. For your info, a photo of that Zero shows the underwing Hinomaru sporting a white border. Cheers JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark4700 Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Fantastic finish. Love your Zero 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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