Mitsubishi Zero PK-4 - Finished

[John]

This has taken a lot of finding, but it was worth persevering with as it's the first ever Matchbox kit I built way back in the Summer of 1972:

 

 

None of the regular sources of old kits had one in stock so I had to keep an eye on Ebay, where I was fortunate enough to track down an example in the original lid and tray box, just like the one I had all those years ago. This one is currently winging its way to me but it goes straight to the top of the build pile when it arrives.

 

John  

[stevej60]

That's made my day John,great to see this one turn up willbe following!

[Rabbit Leader]

Yet another kit that I thought we'd never see on here, so I'm also a little chuffed to see this proposed build posted. 

To think that this classic piece of plastic in original top opening box will actually get built with as much enthusiasm as a 10 year old is what this GB is all about - going back to basics and having fun.

Well played John.. will watch on from afar.

 

Cheers.. Dave    

[Rob G]

I'm sure that you'll do a better job of it than I did! It will be great to see this classic again; are you going to leave  the tail hook movable?

[glatisant]

Indeed, first kit I ever got was the Frog Zero. The first Matchbox kit I ever got was a Zero. Classics!!!

[John]

I'm really happy to have found this little beastie - it really takes me back!

 

In the early 1970s my mum worked in the local technical college but her post was term-time only so during the summer holidays she did holiday relief for a number of local companies. I was 10 in the summer of 1972 and she was working in a shop in the town, essentially a big newsagents and book shop. One afternoon she came home and handed me a box with a painting on the front of Zeros over Pearl Harbor and that most familiar of trademarks to little boys of my generation - Matchbox. Inside the box was a revelation of coloured plastic! I already had a big collection of Airfix and Revell kits - FROG was hard to come by in my home town for some reason - but this was something new, it was orange and white for a start:

 

 

 

The canopy was crisp:

 

 

2 markings options:

 

 

and if you wanted to take advantage of the coloured plastic, there were mini-paint plans for detail work:

 

 

 

Even the instructions were printed in colour, unlike the black and white Airfix and Revell efforts:

 

 

Finally - the ultra-cool Matchbox stand and neat transfer sheet:

 

 

All this  for only...

 

 

This is a very early issue of the kit, in the lid and tray type box without the cellophane window that became common a bit later.

 

45 years ago...

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stevej60]

Love that orange plastic!!!!

[Arniec]

I think you will need some sunglasses to build it.

And those fond memories from your youth are so recognisable.

 

Good luck with your build.

 

Cheers,

Edited December 10, 2017 by Arniec

[John]

I'm fairly confident that this was the total of my toolkit, along with a pair of scissors and a nail file, the last time I built this kit:

 

 

I do remember heading out to the garden hut with a pot of my dad's Humbrol Gloss Black paint for things like the propeller blades, guns and tailwheel. With that done the Zero took pride of place in my collection.

 

Let's see if we can do a bit better this time. The build will be OOB but model is actually very simple and fits beautifully, so it has gone together quickly with the help of Tamiya Extra-Thin cement:

 

 

 

At least I've got a bit more paint these days. The inside has had a couple of coats of Humbrol 158 Interior Green. Still on the sprue the seat has had a coat of 56 Aluminium and the rear of the propeller blades are 100 Red Brown. I'll be putting the pilot in and he has had a preliminary coat of 94 Brown Yellow.

 

 

The cowling has had an undercoat of 15 Midnight Blue and the engine is 53 Gun Metal. I'll probably keep the cowling seperate until the end of the build.

 

The arrestor hook moves.

 

More soon.

 

John

 

 

[Rob G]

That's looking pretty good. As I recall, mine wasn't orange, it was a darkish brown and a sort-of-but-not-quite duck-egg blue - a very pale blue/white colour.

 

Well done on the arrestor hook. It's the little details that make a build, y'know.

[Ventora3300]

Excellent build so far - I'm interested in the thin cement - do you paint it on the surfaces to be glued or paint across the top of the joint and let it be sucked in by capillary action? Anything to avoid cement seeping out of joints and smudges appearing!

[John]

9 hours ago, Ventora3300 said:

Excellent build so far - I'm interested in the thin cement - do you paint it on the surfaces to be glued or paint across the top of the joint and let it be sucked in by capillary action? Anything to avoid cement seeping out of joints and smudges appearing!

Both, but you can only "paint" it on to fairly small areas because of the speed it evaporates at. 

I usually use it by capillary action and use something a bit slower setting for larger areas. The excellent fit of this kit means you can flow thin cement into the joins. 

 

John 

[John]

One thing that I didn't remember/anticipate/test fit adequately is that the kit isn't really designed to be built wheels up. To be fair to Matchbox it isn't an option that's covered in the instructions but I'm determined to use the retro Matchbox stand for this build so the necessary adjustments had to be made. It's mostly the orange inner doors that need a bit of work as they aren't contoured to the wing undersurface and need some plastic in the bay to prevent them falling inside:

 

 

John

 

 

[Ventora3300]

Love this aircraft - is the position of the slot for the stand already marked out in the fuselage or do you have to pick your own spot and cut?

[John]

The stand fits in to a flashed over slot in the bottom of the drop tank, which I've super glued to the belly to ensure a good solid join. The slot is actually a bit over-sized, which I seem to recall was a common issue:

 

 

Even back in 1972 I knew Zeros aren't actually orange and white - they were green and grey. At least that's what Airfix and Revell said. Matchbox suggested light grey for the Pearl Harbor scheme, which was probably a reasonable guesstimate for the time. This one is going to get Nick Millman's suggested Humbrol mix so an undercoat will be needed to kill the orange.  I had a pot of Humbrol 95 Concrete to hand so that's what I've used here:

 

 

Looking more Zero-like already.

 

John

 

[John]

A bit more progress on the candy-coloured Zero. 

 

 

The basic tiop coat has been applied overall. It then became apparent that the canopy wasn't a particularly good fit, especially at the rear. It has been improved with Games Workshop Liquid Green Stuff and both the fuselage and the framing will need to be made good.

 

 

The cowling gills are moulded into the forward fuselage and have been picked out here in 15 Midnight Blue. They'll be masked off and painted in the final Night-like colour when the cowling is attached.

 

John

 

 

[John]

Nearly there resplendent in a coat of Dimly Shining Ash Green, or something like that. I'd forgotten how much fun can be had masking small scale Japanese aircraft canopies...

 

 

 

Permanently attached to its stand, it's final destination will be the Grandson's Air Force.

 

The cowling and prop are still separate. The prop needs some touching up as the original Airframe Silver was given a polish down to smooth it out a bit and the oragne plastic is showing through:

 

 

I have a spare Airfix Pearl Harbor decal sheet but I think in the spirit of the build I'll use the original markings, if they're still up to it.

 

John

 

 

[John]

Well tickle my fancy, the 45 year old transfers worked perfectly. Even the 2-part red fuselage band more or less matched up:

 

 

 

There's a fair bit of Humbrol Decalfix involved, admittedly.

 

Just needs the canopy frames neatened up a bit and a few odds and ends touched up and we'll call it a wrap.

 

John

[stevej60]

Another "classic" tamed John great job!

[Arniec]

She look great John. 

 

Cheers

[GREG DESTEC]

Well done John,

 

I look forward to the final pics in the gallery.

 

Cheers Greg

[John]

Thanks for all the encouragement.

 

Here she is in all her glory. The decals reacted very well to Humbrol Decalfix and the whole thing has had a coat of Humbrol Clear to even everything out:

 

 

I'll put some photos in the gallery.

 

Final thoughts - sheer nostalgia for me, being 45 years(!) since I last built this kit. It's perhaps easy to see why Revell never released it as it isn't really that much of an improvement over its contemporaries and it's miles behind more modern toolings. Having said that, and not knowing enough about the Zero to make much of a judgement on its accuracy, it undoubtedly looks like what it's meant to represent. 

 

John