Mitubishi A6m2 zero, 1/48

[Hewy]

Thanks fellas, i know this is the a6m3 (i think) but hopefully it'll be something like this (with a squint, and from about 6 feet away) 

 

[Col.]

Nice work. Been experimenting with similar techniques and it really does produce a great result if done correctly.

[modelling minion]

Glynn I think the results you have got so far are excellent.

I am not brave enough to even think about doing what you are doing and am convinced that this is going to look fantastic when completed.

[Hewy]

Just now, modelling minion said:

Glynn I think the results you have got so far are excellent.

I am not brave enough to even think about doing what you are doing and am convinced that this is going to look fantastic when completed.

Glad you are craig, I'm happy so far, its the first time I've attempted a full rescribe and rivet job, hopefully the end product as a whole won't be too "in your face" 

[PlaStix]

Wow. Now that is some very patient work. Well done so far!

Kind regards,

Stix

[Hewy]

I've got the fuselage together, and done a quick job on the cockpit, im going to put the pilot in, he's in the process of being painted,  I've covered over a couple of panels in self adhesive aluminium foil, and drilled out the machine guns ready for something better, or worse 😋, than two blobs that represented the guns, seeing as its a bit of a test mule for everything else I've done so far, I'll perhaps give this a coat of silver today, forgive the side on image for some reason my pad won't rotate it, 

 Here it stands Warts an all, granted its very scruffy with wobbly riveting, but maybe just maybe! 🤔

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Glynn 

 

[Col.]

Personally speaking I think that looks great and promises to be an effective representation of the real aircraft's surface textures under a couple coats of paint

[Greg Law]

Looking good so far. I have found the cockpit very hard to photograph. I spend over an hour trying to get an image that shows what I 

I'm doing. Are you using PE in yours. It helped mine a lot. I should be able to get the fuselage buttoned up tomorrow. I'm hoping for a weekend of modelling, so progress

Should be made.

[Hewy]

1 hour ago, Col. said:

Personally speaking I think that looks great and promises to be an effective representation of the real aircraft's surface textures under a couple coats of paint

Cheers col, I've given it a coat of halfords aluminium spay paint, I've found this an incredibly durable finish, and it covers well while being thin, and scratches easily with a cocktail stick,  i'll photograph when dry, before the green goes on

1 hour ago, Greg Law said:

Looking good so far. I have found the cockpit very hard to photograph. I spend over an hour trying to get an image that shows what I 

I'm doing. Are you using PE in yours. It helped mine a lot. I should be able to get the fuselage buttoned up tomorrow. I'm hoping for a weekend of modelling, so progress

Should be made.

Thanks greg, no pe mate, its all tamiya 1973,but with the pilot in theres not a great deal else that can be seen, i had to position it in certain light to catch  a decent enough photo, i think it'll pass muster under the canopy, good luck with yours

Glynn 

[trickyrich]

gee that does look good, even without the paint!!

 

I do like the idea of the adhesive foil, it' really helps to breakup the overall surface! I may have to steal borrow that idea!

[Hewy]

Some silver base coat on, halfords, aluminium automotive spraypaint, I've found in the past it gives a tough finish, when painted green it should scratch easily with a cocktail stick(he says)  lightly rubbed with 1500 sand paper

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, trickyrich said:

gee that does look good, even without the paint!!

 

I do like the idea of the adhesive foil, it' really helps to breakup the overall surface! I may have to steal borrow that idea!

I pinched it myself rich, you borrow away, the moment of truth draws nearer

Cheers

 

[Hewy]

I've painted the cowl in semi gloss black and given it the above mentioned cocktail stick treatment, i find you can do finer chips like this without using hairspray or chipping fluid, just dont use mr hobby thinner that goes off a bit more durable and harder to chip, ipa is fine, paint must be very thin, you'll have to seal it with a gloss or matt to stop it chipping further

Cheers

Glynn 

 

[modelling minion]

Superb workmanship Glynn.

The extra foil panels on the wings really do make a difference and the work you put in on the wings and fuselage has really paid off as they look great with the aluminium paint on them. The cowling looks really nice and the paint has chipped in a realistic way too, you are really tempting me to add a Zero to my stash!

Nice to see that you are a fellow appreciator of the good work done by those fine fellows in Dorset for Badger, long been a favourite of mine.🍻

[Hewy]

Thanks craig, much appreciated, i can only recommend the 1973 zero, as well as being the only one in the stash,  for  £9-00 it would probably be the only one i dare give this treatment to, 

As for the ale, hopping hare is my favourite, I'm a fan of hoppy pale ale, and i save all the tops for paint and c a, 

I've done a bit more, had the day off today due to biblical rainfall

Cheers

Glynn 

[Greg Law]

Glynn, a little tip about Zeros. They had a brick red colour undercoat applied. This is why the lighter colour planes ended up with a more tan colour as they got older. On my RC Zero I did a two stage chipping effect. I added a tiny bit of the red under coat to the edges of the bigger chips. It worked out well I think.

Yours is coming along nicely.

[Hewy]

17 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

Glynn, a little tip about Zeros. They had a brick red colour undercoat applied. This is why the lighter colour planes ended up with a more tan colour as they got older. On my RC Zero I did a two stage chipping effect. I added a tiny bit of the red under coat to the edges of the bigger chips. It worked out well I think.

Yours is coming along nicely.

Greg i didn't know this and I'll keep  in mind, thanks for the heads up, i for some reason thought no undercoat, cheers

Glynn 

[trickyrich]

really nice job Glynn, I do like the finish and the shipping looks great.

 

Interesting choice of paint for the base, I doubt if we can get that here. To do the same I use Model Master (Testors) Metalizer Aluminium either Buffing or Non it doesn't matter as I buff it anyway. It chips really nicely though you have to be quite careful with the masking!

 

I didn't know that about the red undercoats either.

[Greg Law]

Hi Glynn

Here is a photo that shows the undercoat real well.

 

[Hewy]

6 hours ago, trickyrich said:

really nice job Glynn, I do like the finish and the shipping looks great.

 

Interesting choice of paint for the base, I doubt if we can get that here. To do the same I use Model Master (Testors) Metalizer Aluminium either Buffing or Non it doesn't matter as I buff it anyway. It chips really nicely though you have to be quite careful with the masking!

 

I didn't know that about the red undercoats either.

Cheers rich, masking will be a hold your breath time too, the slightest knock will chip it, I'm going to have to put some of that rot braun undercoat in a few places though

 

40 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

Hi Glynn

Here is a photo that shows the undercoat real well.

 

Greg i noticed the early colored zeros didnt seem to chip and weather as badly as the dark green, on some they seem to be just green patches sprayed over bare aluminum for camouflage, would these still have the undercoat under the green patches, thanks for putting the photo up, there wasn't a lot to these planes was there

Glynn 

[Col.]

From what I read and can recall the late war examples were simply given a quick coat of paint over the bare metal to speed up production. This was why the camouflage weathered so quickly although it was a matter of pride that the national markings were always kept in good condition regardless of how much of a mess the rest of the paintwork was in.

[Greg Law]

27 minutes ago, Col. said:

From what I read and can recall the late war examples were simply given a quick coat of paint over the bare metal to speed up production. This was why the camouflage weathered so quickly although it was a matter of pride that the national markings were always kept in good condition regardless of how much of a mess the rest of the paintwork was in.

The only problem with that is A6M2 Zero's weren't late war Zeros when they were made. 

[Greg Law]

1 hour ago, Hewy said:

Cheers rich, masking will be a hold your breath time too, the slightest knock will chip it, I'm going to have to put some of that rot braun undercoat in a few places though

 

Greg i noticed the early colored zeros didnt seem to chip and weather as badly as the dark green, on some they seem to be just green patches sprayed over bare aluminum for camouflage, would these still have the undercoat under the green patches, thanks for putting the photo up, there wasn't a lot to these planes was there

Glynn 

I'm no expert on this Zero paint work. That said, I'm never seen a bare metal Zero with patches sprayed on it. There was standard Grey/green ones with patches of green sprayed on them. This is what my Zero will be. However, a lot of the green Zeros 

ended up looking very patchy in the tropics. I can't say anything about the later Zeros, but I would think the older ones would. I will be only using a hint of the undercoat on the edges of any larger paint chips. As we all know there is no certain way of

knowing what is correct, so just do what you think is right. I'm sure it will look great. 

[Hewy]

1 hour ago, Greg Law said:

I'm no expert on this Zero paint work. That said, I'm never seen a bare metal Zero with patches sprayed on it. There was standard Grey/green ones with patches of green sprayed on them. This is what my Zero will be. However, a lot of the green Zeros 

ended up looking very patchy in the tropics. I can't say anything about the later Zeros, but I would think the older ones would. I will be only using a hint of the undercoat on the edges of any larger paint chips. As we all know there is no certain way of

knowing what is correct, so just do what you think is right. I'm sure it will look great. 

Ah.what i thought was aluminium in bw photos must be the early light colours sprayed over then greg.i must pay more attention. I am going to paint a splash of uc around the edges though. Cheers

 

[Greg Law]

Not too much though. A hint here and there goes a long way. The idea is to make the chip look like it has exposed the edge of the paint layers.

[PlaStix]

Hi Glynn. Excellent progress so far! Very nicely done. 

Kind regards,

Stix