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Mitubishi A6m2 zero, 1/48


Hewy

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I'm going out side of the comfort zone  on this one, and I'm going to attempt to rivet it, and do an oil canned effect, I've been busy gathering blueprints, fingers crossed i dont mess it up, its the old and gold tamiya kit,  i picked it up for the princely sum of £9-00,so if it does go belly up its no big deal, the markings will be painted on I'll make my own masks, and only use the tail decals, if it fits within the scope of the gb it will be an aircraft from kagoshima base in February 1944 and painted in the later dark green scheme, suitably weathered of course, I'm unsure at the moment if I'll do gear up with a pilot, I'll tackle some  riveting first

QISDA9i.jpg

 

I'll be doing the lower scheme, hopefully 

BqscvyE.jpg

 

kiyz0o5.jpg

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Thanks greg, is yours the newer tamiya kit?, this one is basic at best, no aftermarket that i can see so far for it either , hence I'm pondering on a closed up cockpit, and gear up, although i reserve the right to change my mind several times along the way, im thinking of getting any old zero cockpit etch sets though and making it fit! All the best with yours greg I'll be watching closely, 

Glynn 

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Mine is one of the older models like yours. One of the reasons I'm doing it. Right now simple is good for me.Hannat has one of the Yadna instrument panels for your kit.(forgive the spelling I can't check it at the moment.) Very early morning here. I will be trying to talk you into a wheels down as we go along. 😎 How about a take off setup with closed cockpit,  pilot and wheels down.

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22 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

Mine is one of the older models like yours. One of the reasons I'm doing it. Right now simple is good for me.Hannat has one of the Yadna instrument panels for your kit.(forgive the spelling I can't check it at the moment.) Very early morning here. I will be trying to talk you into a wheels down as we go along. 😎 How about a take off setup with closed cockpit,  pilot and wheels down.

Ohh i like the taking off idea, I'll look into hannants, cheers greg

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Good choice Glynn and posed in the take off position will be a most striking effect. Although quite elderly, this is still a really nice kit and is one I 'started' when I first got hood-winked to dabble in 1/48th scale. Unfortunately, the crazy voices in my head told me to cut the wing tips off and reposition then in the stowed position. I did such an awful job of it that I packed it away and have never returned to it over ten years later. Good luck and nice to meet you again within another GB. 

 

Cheers.. Dave

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Hi Glynn,

 

Wow - that sounds really cool with what you have planned.

 

The only IJN Zero I have is the old Monogram kit

 

Look forward to see what you do and final reveal:clap2:

 

Regards

 

Alan

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7 hours ago, Hewy said:

" if it fits within the scope of the gb it will be an aircraft from kagoshima base in February 1944 "

Hi Hewy

 

Unfortunately Kagoshima Base is in the south of Japan, way outside the boundaries of this GB. But this aircraft was so widely used in SEA and New Guinea that you should be able to find a correct scheme pretty easily.....they didn't vary all that much markings wise. Someone here will probably be able to help out with schemes and locations

 

The scale is wrong for these, but you get the idea of the different schemes these aircraft operated with out of Rabaul, NG. You have the basic decals already so it should be a really quick change. 

 

Zero's over Rabaul

 

Other than that small detail welcome aboard. I do like what you have planned, lots of work bit it should look amazing when done

 

So good luck with the build and I will be following with interest as I'd like to see how this effect is done.

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Thanks for the encouragement guys, ok kagoshima it isn't, yes the decals are in the box for a rabaul and bali aircraft,  so I'll keep  the markings from one these in mind, I'm going to get underway today scribing some of the panel lines a little deeper, i forsee a lot of sanding, and some of the shallow lines may get obliterated in the process

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6 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Interesting looking project Glynn. Looking forward to trying to keep up with your progress! :popcorn:

Kind regards,

Stix

Thanks stix, I've probably bitten off more than i can chew here, and I'll be absolutely astonished if i pull this off to an acceptable stantard, but if we dont challenge ourselves every now and then i suppose the old mojo can tail off, 

I've scribed all the raised panel lines on the wings, and given the recessed lines a run through to deepen them a little,   on the upper wings ive marked with a fine tip marker the rivet lines I've rubbed a bit of indian ink on  the panel lines so i can see a bit clearer, and I'm ready to start scraping away with a curved blade on the top of the wings, i'll have to dig out a reserve hellcat if it goes pear shaped. 

Glynn 

 

5yf5c26.jpg

 

G9mTlgv.jpg

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Good to see you started. I'm going to keep mine basically out of the box with this one as I will also be doing the P40-N, which will be more full on.  I will get started today on my Zero. This will be a strange process for me as I have to wait for the seat belts which are the only extra part I will use.

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8 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

Good to see you started. I'm going to keep mine basically out of the box with this one as I will also be doing the P40-N, which will be more full on.  I will get started today on my Zero. This will be a strange process for me as I have to wait for the seat belts which are the only extra part I will use.

I've got a feeling that in the near future I'll wished I'd built mine oob too😋, there'll be some better photos too, when the daughter remembers where she put my camera, 

Cheers greg

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Well, I'm still chewing the lump I've bitten off, and I'm so outside my comfort zone it's off the richter scale, but the adventure continues, now I've learnt a great deal during scribing and riveting on this so far , I've left my mistakes and errors to be seen,but i feel I've improved quickly, it's true I've not found this easy, but I'm seeing this through to grisly end, i just hope i can pull off a decent paint job to take the eye away,  i used a curved blade to scrape away grooves where the riveting goes, and then a polish with some car scratch tcut 

Nearly all the scribing is done, this early tamiya kit is mainly raised lines, theres only the one half of the fuselage left to distress and rivet, and both back wings, all the riveting is done freehand without a guide (but you can tell that) i used some dyno tape and a rb panel line engraver tool  for the panels, I'm not going to alter or amend any mistakes until the final assembly is done, and then  I'll weigh it up, (worth it) also I'm fully aware as I've lightly sanded the rivets after, that they may almost disappear, zeros were flush riveted anyway (in my defence) 

 

Some pictures so far

Scraping of the riveting lines, 7 or 8 pases witha curved blade, trying to maintain an even pressure

 

XgOs5E6.jpg

 

After sanding, turns out not being precise with 7 or 8 passes has made it look a bit more random

zBhL9vx.jpg

 

Wings riveted, and given a wash so i could see how it went, I've missed some lines  i know

NoYEiw0.jpg

 Fuselage engraved

zE2b7VD.jpg

 

 One Fuselage side riveted, with the wings

vO5DhvI.jpg

 Bad Comments are welcome too

Cheers

Glynn 

 

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No bad comments here. You are making a smashing job of those rivets. I've jumped in boots and all and ordered the expensive kit. This is only because I have to wait for my paints. I might complete the existing one in the colour scheme you liked using Tamiya paints as a comparison. I will still do my original scheme on the new one. The kit should arrive on Tuesday from a local hobby shop all going well.🙂

Edited by Greg Law
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3 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

No bad comments here. You are making a smashing job of those rivets. I've jumped in boots and all and ordered the expensive kit. This is only because I have to wait for my paints. I might complete the existing one in the colour scheme you liked. I will still do my original scheme on the new one. The kit should arrive on Tuesday from a local hobby shop all going well.🙂

I reckon on getting a 32nd scale one for my collection greg and the new 48th scale one too, in the near future, I'm keen to see how the new one builds up, look forward to that

Thanks

Glynn 

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2 hours ago, Greg Law said:

Stupid me. I just remembered the one you liked is the A6M2. So I will do one of the other Rabaul one. Keep it in theme.

Greg I'm cool mate, you choose your scheme and build away, 

Glynn 

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that looks super impressive!!!! :thumbsup:

 

You've done a great job so far, evenness isn't an issue here, I reckon it needs to be a little bit patchy. I know someone who'd be getting all excited seeing all the rivet lines! :D

 

 

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Just to make sure I haven't miss lead you. I'm talking about the A6M3 Rabaul one. So we won't double up anyway. 

I will do the A6M2 one later.

Rich, Those rivets are full on aren't they. I had one look in my book and said not for me. 

Edited by Greg Law
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