Zero Hour - Now With Added Pics

[Foxbat]

I hope that subjecting this build to public scrutiny will actually make me finish it - the shelf of doom is rapidly becoming the workroom of doom.

It in this case is the Airfix A6M2. I've also got their Aichi D3A Val [1] on the go, so that may feature in the background from time to time.

In an effort to up my game, I'm going to use Techmod decals and Eduard canopy masks!! There are 3 spare schemes on the decal sheet so I've also got a Hasegawa A6M2/A6M5 combo on the way from Hannants to use one of them and add a little variety so one way or another this will turn into a Zero-fest.

Pics to follow when I'm back home and can upload them.

Andy

[1] Done entirely from the box with a toolkit comprising a scalpel, some glue and 2 paint brushes. Proper old school, and top fun.

Edited October 2, 2013 by Foxbat

[Foxbat]

Well I'm a ham fisted so and so tonight. While I was editing photos I managed to knock over a new bottle of liquid cement.Fortunately the oilcloth over my desk plus my mouse mat and mouse caught most of it. The work room has been closed until the atmosphere is less than 50% glue.

Lap top to the rescue...

First up, the Val. I looked for the thread where I asked for colour advice on this and discovered my quick build for a laugh has now been going on for 5 months. Eek!! Progress to date (Fortunately that canopy hides the total lack of interior quite well):

Airfix have come on a bit since 1964, and the Zero's cockpit is a thing of beauty, even after I've had a go at it I've chosen this pic because the snapped and repaired joystick is least obvious from this angle:

The interior fuselage walls have some lovely detail which takes paint very well. You can't really tell though as I buttoned everything up THEN tried to photograph it. Muppet!! You can get a bit of an idea here though:

I've made more progress, but the pictures will have to wait until I can get back into the office.

Edited October 2, 2013 by Foxbat

[modelglue]

That looks great! If it weren't for all the Hasegawa and Academy kits sitting in the pile I'd buy one.

[Foxbat]

A bit more done at the pointy end. Machine gun breeches added to the nose piece and the whole lot added to the forward fuselage. Engine on and given a standard aluminium/black wash paint job. The tail planes and rudder are also on but out of shot:

That didn't last long, as my thread asking for colour advice turned up a picture from Murph which inspired a quick repaint - black cylinders, natural metal pushrod tubes and heads, and grey crankcase:

Following advice from Nick Millman, I mixed up some not-quite-black and slapped it onto the cowling and rear cockpit decking. The latter uses the cowling colour with a dab of light grey to lighten ad dull it. I've also tidied up the headrest and painted the pad leather.

These are the decals I will be using. The Airfix decal sheet has pretty comprehensive stencils, but the Hinomaru are way too scarlet. I think these are much better. Two of the schemes are repeated in the Hasegawa 'Super Aces' combo which arrived today, so I can pick and mix to get a nice looking aircraft belonging to Tetsuzo Iwamoto.

More later in which I will namecheck some other people who have been very helpful..

Andy

Edited October 5, 2013 by Foxbat

[Val]

Looking great so far

[Winenut]

this looks great. I've got the same kit in the stash and look forward to having a crack

[Foxbat]

I went a little off piste with the next bit. Airfix would have you add the cowling to the fuselage THEN add the wings. Test fitting showed there was nothing positive for the cowling to align with which meant potential problems later, but if the wings were put on first, then the forward wing root/intake fits the back of the cowl like a glove and gives perfect alignment. If you're a brush painter I would advise leaving the cowl off until the main airframe is painted. If you're an airbrusher, you could probably also leave off the engine and save a load of masking.

So, the wings - make sure you are gentle when you clean up mating surfaces and test fit as you go. Also make sure you remember to clean out the cannon ports and the hole where the pitot will go before you glue the wing halves together. If you don't (like I didn't) you'll have to drill out all the holes. Then make good the big hole in the leading edge where your fists of ham reamed out way more than you intended:

That done, the fit is really very good. I added a light smear of filler along the upper wing root, and a tiny bit to the aft under surface wing/fuselage joint where I'd been a bit heavy handed cleaning up the parts. Even my butchery can't hide the fact that the fit here is streets ahead of most kits I've built before.

The hole to mount the drop tank was a bit of a pig to carve out. It looks a mess now, but it will all be hidden when the tank is in place so no worries. Tail planes mount on a tab the traditional way, so need an eye keeping on them as they set to ensure alignment is still OK. After they set I slapped a quick dab of primer over the join, and I don't think they'll need any more work. I ran a sanding stick over the forward edge of the separate rudder so I could glue it on at an angle, because, well why wouldn't you?

Just discovered the great glue spillage of last week melted my keyboard to the oilcloth. That was a tad unfortunate but does help explain the fumes. Puters and modelling; just say 'No' people.

Andy

Edited for more spelling mistakes than a week's worth of Grauniads.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Foxbat

[chrisrope]

I'm doing one of these, the one from the starter set picked up cheap from The Works. I tried my hardest to be neat with the drop tank cutout but mine looks exactly the same, good job it will be covered.

I'm at roughly the same stage though my canopy is on. If you value your sanity, get the Eduard mask. I'm so glad i did and I like masking canopies but I didn't fancy doing this one.

Look forward to the next part

Chris

[Foxbat]

Cheers Chris. I have the Eduard masks, but as a first timer I'm putting off using them. I hope they're reusable - I've got another three Zeroes in the queue.

[Foxbat]

A quick question (pics later): How can the same paint from the same bottle laid onto two lumps of grey plastic from the same manufacturer come out so differently? Tamiya XF-76 on an Airfix Val is an inoffensive nondescript grey-green. The same paint on an Airfix Zero is mushy pea green that's trying its best to be RLM02. Neither colour is within a country mile of the colour of the Tamiya lid. I can only think that one of the palette, brush or water I used carried a Vallejo contaminant into the Tamiya topcoat and changed the hue. has anyone else experience of this and can offer any clues?

Not sure whether to repaint it or live with it because I'm not entirely sure what the elusive real colour looks like anyway. Opinions from people who know would be useful later after I get some pictures up.

Bah!!

[Foxbat]

A picture is worth a thousand words:

One pot, three colours. I've still no idea what I managed to do to get that green. The question now is, do I persevere, or repaint?

[Col.]

Oh No idea why other than it needed another stir perhaps? Either way I'd go for a recoat to avoid it sitting taunting you once finished. At least Japanese paint of this era was very localised in manufacture so a minor difference can always be put down to that

[Foxbat]

Saved!!

This picture illustrates a potential advantage for we hairy stick wielders (depending on your painting style and preferences) - Tamiya acrylic is a pig to use straight from the bottle. It really doesn't want to cover and gives a very patchy finish. This is A Good Thing [tm]: slap on a base coat of neat paint, using it like it is the Humbrol enamel of old. Give it plenty of time to dry then build up the colour with washes. Bingo, self weathering paint. You can see different version of this above. All those hours with Games Workshop's finest finally pay off

[Foxbat]

Dear me, is that the time? A quick update: I've slapped on so many coats of paint and varnish trying to get an even colour that the panel lines are now looking quite Hasegawa-ish.

So, time to add a few decals before the thing just becomes a solid block of paint. It's my first time with Techmod and it's been a steep learning curve. The come of the backing paper in 2 seconds flat and give you a while before they stick solid. Once they have stuck though they seem to go very brittle and any further attempts to put them in the right place sees them start to shatter. No problem in the main, but the forward fuselage stripe is now 50% decal, 25% skin and 20% swearing. Where the other 5% went is anyone's guess.

So pix or it didn't happen right?

This is the quite good side:

And this is the side that will need some repairs:

Now I just have to gird my lions, waft the detail brush over it and then attempt some stencils. They're a bit like Zulus - there's fousands of 'em and they don't look friendly

Until next time.

Andy

Edited December 9, 2013 by Foxbat