Dave_R Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Hi all I'd like to join in on this with an Airfix Mitsubishi Zero. The Box... The sprues... ...and the tools. This is nice looking little kit that comes with Humbrol 90 Sky, 85 Black, 11 Silver and 29 Earth and a No. 2 brush. I'm more or less ignorant when it comes to Japanese aircraft, on the face of it that quite a limited choice of paint, but we'll see how it goes. In the spirit of the starter kit I'm going try to finish this by Sunday evening or sooner, and I'll be working on the coffee table in front of the TV. Back in 1974 when I was ten I would have been watching Saturday morning TV classics such as Stingray, Captain Scarlett, The Flashing Blade and The Virginian. In 2016 I'll mostly be watching Eurosport with Womens Biathlon this morning and nearly three hours of Milan-San Remo cycle race this afternoon and catching-up on with Sky Plus recordings inbetween - some things do change. I'll post a quick update in a few hours time. Dave. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadgaddad Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 I built one of these recently with my 6 yr old son. It's a nice little kit and fun to put together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_R Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 Hi all, Quick update. Fuselage halves. Cockpit. The limited research I've done suggests that the interior colour of Japanese aircraft was a kind of grey/green a bit similar to British Interior Green. There is no kind of green paint included in the kit, so I added some of the black to the Sky - and ended up with a close match to RLM02. Oh well, maybe Mitsubishi got a supply from the Reich Air Ministry to evaluate. With the canopy on it will hardly be visible anyway. Next, close-up the fuselage, on with the wings and tail and fill any gaps with tube glue and sand it down. Dave. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh65 Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Cockpit looks good, nice start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 A very therapeutic thing to do Dave. Paint it glue it and sticker it, job done - tick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg in OK Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Good start! Looks like this will be a good model. Greg in OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_R Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 Hi all, Thanks for the comments, here's the state of play now...... It's little bit hard to see but I've used the tube glue as a filler substitute. It should be OK, it ought to bond well to the plastic and be easy to sand down. I'm giving it a couple of hours now to harden and in the meantime I'll make a start on the undercarriage and prop. Dave. P. S. How unforgiving are close-up photos! my poor old eyes never spotted that dodgy trailing edge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specky Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Looking very nice Dave I'm also using the glue as a filler and as long as its applied in moderation, its working ok - but it just takes so long to dry! Cheers Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Good stuff dave. The one thing this GB is showing at the moment is inventiveness. Well done and all is looking good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_R Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 Hi all, Here's a quick update. Everything needs at least a second coat of paint. It brushed on fairly well, I added a few drops of the black and earth to the Sky to hopefully make it a little more like IJN Grey and thinned it a bit with water. At the moment that greenhouse canopy looks like the biggest problem - I have a cunning plan for dealing with it, but I'm not certain it will work. I'm taking a break now for a bit of lunch, and then back to it later this afternoon. Dave. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Good stuff well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_R Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 Hi all, Well, I can't spend anymore time on this today, (domestic stuff to do) and it's not quite finished. The canopy is the biggest thing left to do. I tried to do the greenhouse by deliberately over-painting the frame and then removing the excess with a toothpick when dry. It's been partially successful, but I need to finish the left side and then go back and re-do the dodgy bits. Easily the worst of it so far has been the decals, they kept curling up at the edges, zero settling into the panel lines and of course lots of silvering. The decals themselves are quite thick and not up to Airfix's best standards of decal. I'll finish this off by next weekend and get some photos done. Dave. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specky Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Nice work on the paint Dave , the blotchy, stained finish, deliberate, I'm sure (and I'm not being sarcastic) suits that colour particularly well. I'm putting off the decaling as long as possible in the hope that buffing with a cloth or old toothbrush, once its hardened, will put enough of a shine on it to give them a fighting chance Cheers Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_R Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 Hi Craig, The blotchiness was more fortuitous than deliberate. The paint wasn't fully dry and the water from applying the decals seemed to cause the black paint to separate a bit from the Sky paint and give that stained look. To me it looks a bit like it might have spent some time on the deck of a carrier getting soaked in salt water, so lucky really. Dave. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzio Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Thats looking really good, Dave. The staining looks really good actually, result there! Can't wait to see her finised. I might have to pick one of these up. Kind Regards Dazz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Nice work the staining sets it off well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazey Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Looks nice, Dave! I like the cockpit and the blending of colours. How was the fit of the kit? I also like how Airfix have included self-weathering paints in their starter kits. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_R Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 Hi Dazey, The fit of the kit was very good, no problems at all. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_R Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 Hi All, I'm calling it done now. I've touched up the canopy frame, added a couple decals, added the aerial and pitot and tried and failed to add some convincing stains. Gallery pictures to follow. Dave. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Nice! I like that a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjwomack Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 So jealous of your weathered finish- awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vppelt68 Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 That canopy looks soooooooooo nice! V-P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh65 Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 That looks great. Glad to hear it was a nice build, I've one in the stash which may get done later this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshiretaurus Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Great result, did the same kit a few years ago as strict starter kit OOB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Got to agree with the others - that really is a great result - a mighty fine looking Zero! Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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