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1/32 A6M2 Zero - My first and very long build


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uh oh! the red on the end of that lever in the cockpit is just a shade to bright! sorry, you'll have to bin the lot and start over! Ha!

 

No really, incredible attention to detail, I wish I had your patience! a fine example of what can be done with great modelling skills

 

 

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19 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Some superb detail work happening here. Really impressive.

 

Terry

Thank you, Terry! I appreciate it! 😉

 

15 hours ago, Kes said:

uh oh! the red on the end of that lever in the cockpit is just a shade to bright! sorry, you'll have to bin the lot and start over! Ha!

 

No really, incredible attention to detail, I wish I had your patience! a fine example of what can be done with great modelling skills

Haha! You got me here! Thanks! 😆 Yeah, the patience is a key here. Sometimes I really get wee weed off and regret all these extras and asking why I did even bother... But then I take another breath and start again and again... and again.. until I happy with my result. :)

 

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Moving forward. The firewall, onboard fuel tank, and oil tank are complete. I didn't bother to weather the fuel tank because it will be hidden forever unlike the other two.
Once again, nothing crazy here, just typical engine grime/dust and some oil spill near the filling neck on the top.

DuHLvsj.jpg

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On 9/6/2020 at 1:28 AM, zaxos345 said:

Speechless...awesome build so far!!!!!

 

John

Thank you John! 😉

BIG update! The cockpit module is 100% complete and ready to be deployed into a frame (which hasn’t been even started yet). The fuel tanks will be completely enclosed that’s why I didn’t bother with a "dressing". It was quiet challenge to build this cockpit so detailed. I positively think that I spent over 100 building hours on it.

 

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The Engine. Yes, with a capital "E". I find it the most exciting and the most intricate part of the modeling. I don't know exactly why; probably because I like engines in general and admire their complexity and yet simplicity [in comparison to modern ones].
These two engine blocks took me 4 days to make because of the extra parts I made from soldering wire and the baffles from Eduard photo-etch. The baffles were extremely tricky due to their weird shape and curved tip towards the rear end. I would never be able to bend these baffles without the PE bending tool, which I always thought as an unnecessary gimmick until I stumbled on this engine. 🙂
I've decided to "DIY" bars from the soldering wire because Eduard ones looked quite flat. Time-consuming but well worth it, imo.

No paint just yet.

sRmzWwq.jpg8Pdnob0.jpg

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12 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

That looks very convincing.

I like radial engines, but they take so long to put together.

 

John

Absolutely agree with the "long" part. But they sure do look spectacular once put together. So much better [imo] than mono-block with a few wires running throughout. 🙃

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4 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Such a joy to watch. That cockpit is a real stunner. The engine is looking very tidy. I’m a little jealous of all your tidy photographs. 👌

 

John.

Thank you John! 😉 I like photography very much and quite invested in equipment so I take modeling as another opportunity for photography (if that makes sense) 🙂

4 hours ago, Nikolay Polyakov said:

Lovely work,

as Johnny said. 👍

Thank you Nikolay! 🙂

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I found this part of engine is very tricky to paint. The thing is, in real life it was made of aluminum alloy and painted in black. So, I was looking for a solution to reflect it in scale without excessive metallic painting and black washing which looks unnatural and kinda toyish [not to mention incorrect for this aircraft]. After lots of testing on spoons, I came up with the perfect [for me] solution: to paint the whole thing in gloss black [after priming, of course] despite the manual calling for semi-gloss paint. This gave me a better starting point [just like a brand new engine had gloss paint] for light future weathering. The edges [ridges] of the cylinder heads and barrels have been [very lightly] dry brushed with Mr. Metal Color Steel for a subtle shiny [light reflected] look which would represent natural light reflection from the black glossy surface and to highlight the surface overall.
The crankcase would be painted, as per manual, in the grey-blue color mix later in future.

 

As for example, only left part has been treated with dry brushing. Right part shows bland black gloss paint only.

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7 hours ago, luftmodels said:

Thank you John! 😉 I like photography very much and quite invested in equipment so I take modeling as another opportunity for photography (if that makes sense) 🙂

Yes perfectly. 🤗 nice Dry brush on the engine btw.

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Honestly saying, I wouldn't write or mention something minor as engine cowling flaps. But I couldn't not mention them because they were a little project for several days by themselves. You see, Tamiya cowling flaps are made of 2 parts - left and right. That's all. No details, no structure, no realism what so ever. So, I've decided to take it to the next level with Eduard PE parts. Each flap is made of 3 parts. 3x8=24 tiny little metal parts need to be cut off the sprue (average of 3 connections per part to the sprue makes about 75 connections). Filing, etching, bending, gluing, priming, painting, re-gluing broken parts again. That stuff adds up in time. But in my opinion, the final result will well worth it. You can compare the final results to the plastic Tamiya ones, there is no contest. A lot of bending and shaping though. Tamiya's flaps were great for shaping/molding, so I know for sure, my round bends are in the correct shape.
I used Mr Metal Primer-R to increase stickiness of the primer (not happy, tbh), then I applied Mr Surfacer 1200 as a primer and Mr Color Cowling color as a choice of color (dark blue-black).

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On 9/24/2020 at 4:13 AM, Roberto said:

Amazing work so far! Bravo. I'm following. 👍

Thank you! 😉 Welcome aboard!

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Exhaust pipe. I like the way it turned out however it looks a bit overdone for a fairly new aircraft. I went for a darker hues even though light steel color would be more suitable for a somewhat new aircraft. It was a bit of a work to get it to this result so it is not worth it for me to strip it down, looks convincing enough for the exhaust pipe. This is an add-on replacement by the "Quickboost" company. It looks much neater, with thinner edges, and all in one piece, unlike original ones. Well worth it!
As for the base, I used Mr. Surfacer 1500 black and sanded it down to a very smooth appearance. Next, I applied Mr. Metal Color Steel and gave it a little buff but not mirror-like because exhausts were quite dull and somewhat matt in their appearance. Next, I strategically applied Alclad II "Exhaust manifold" color for the burnt hues. Then I applied light rust pigments to give it a slightly orange hue but nothing revealing because it is not heavily used aircraft. For the exhaust holes and on the very tips where the smoke comes out, I used black pigments which are very fine and matt too, and look 100% realistically (at least imo). 🙂

T01r3ZU.jpg

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That is VERY pretty!

You sure this is your first?

 

If I might mention.

My research into Japanese Aotake blue seems to show that is was a transparent blue-green varnish that was hand applied over raw aluminium.

I have a photo of a very small Japanese woman jammed into the back of an airplane with a paint brush.

Lots of runs and sags in her varnish too.

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10 hours ago, zaxos345 said:

Speechless!!!!!

 

John

Thank you, sir! 😉

 

6 hours ago, Tzulscha said:

That is VERY pretty!

You sure this is your first?

Haha! I would call it "first serious" if we drop my early childhood attempts (model, glue, paintbrushes and thick modeling paint (had no idea about thinning)).

Last year I invested a lot of time of watching other people builds on youtube and it was like discovery of America for me. 😲 It was the first time I met such thing as "weathering".

 

6 hours ago, Tzulscha said:

If I might mention.

My research into Japanese Aotake blue seems to show that is was a transparent blue-green varnish that was hand applied over raw aluminium.

I have a photo of a very small Japanese woman jammed into the back of an airplane with a paint brush.

Lots of runs and sags in her varnish too.

This is precisely what I'm trying to achieve minus "Lots of runs and sags". Everything got to be perfect in my world 😄 Plus if we scale down, runs and sags (hard to imagine those) shouldn't be noticeable. Can you post this pic by any chance?

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52 minutes ago, luftmodels said:

This is precisely what I'm trying to achieve minus "Lots of runs and sags". Everything got to be perfect in my world 😄 Plus if we scale down, runs and sags (hard to imagine those) shouldn't be noticeable. Can you post this pic by any chance?

Ah, but if it's perfect then it won't be a perfect reproduction!  ;)

I built the same kit some years back and I used aluminium plate metallizer as a base colour with a brushed coat of thinned Tamiya transparent blue mixed with just a bit of transparent green,

It looked exactly like someone had just sloshed it on with a paintbrush. :)

 

I'll try to dig up the pic, I think it was part of an IPMS article on Japanese aircraft colours.

I think part of the research was based on the Mitsubishi company  Zero restoration as well as the Legend flyers Zero.

Have you seen this?

 

http://warbirdsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/C8A6496-Richard-Mallory-Allnutt-photo-Legend-Flyers-Everett-WA-August-24-2015.jpg

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23 hours ago, Tzulscha said:

Ah, but if it's perfect then it won't be a perfect reproduction!  ;)

Trust me, I already have some missteps therefore it is far from being perfect.. but perfect to my eye. 😉 You see, I like when everything is nice and neat. Therefore I can't make myself to build worn out plane.

 

23 hours ago, Tzulscha said:

I built the same kit some years back and I used aluminium plate metallizer as a base colour with a brushed coat of thinned Tamiya transparent blue mixed with just a bit of transparent green,

It looked exactly like someone had just sloshed it on with a paintbrush. 

Got pics? What's so special in "aluminium plate metallizer"? Never heard of it. I guess because MM is not that popular nowadays.

23 hours ago, Tzulscha said:

I'll try to dig up the pic, I think it was part of an IPMS article on Japanese aircraft colours.

I think part of the research was based on the Mitsubishi company  Zero restoration as well as the Legend flyers Zero.

I would be very pleased if you can find it. The Mitsubishi version is exactly what I'm working on.

 

23 hours ago, Tzulscha said:

Have you seen this?

No, of course not. 😯 But this is a very interesting angle to look at. Thank you!

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10 hours ago, Deano353 said:

This is your first model? Unreal this is awesome it's a model I have considered buying myself but I prefer modern aircraft, I'll be following your build for sure. 

Yes, I would say "professionally made" model, if that makes sense. :)

If you prefer modern aircraft, I would suggest stick to modern because this is what you like and enjoy. As for me, I prefer WWII aircraft, therefore I have my eye on these models only. But in the end this is purely your choice. 😉

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16 hours ago, Longbow said:

Oofff.... That is just Stunning !! Can't fault your workmanship, at all, not that I was looking to :D

Thank you for your honesty! 😄

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This firewall was another piece of work by itself. First, it has 3 colors in general (black, body-color, and aotake green-blue). Easy? Well... in reality I used: grey primer, black primer, body-color, silver, transparent blue & green mix, black paint, and aluminum color. It was a cumbersome and complicated paint job due to its complexity and layering. The rear side in aotake has not been subjected to heavy weathering because the chance of blown of oil and the other fluids is minimal in that spot and I've applied a light mist of grime from airbrush to change tonality, so it is not as vibrant as new. The funny part is that it will be pretty much invisible once put together. But, oh well..

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