A6M5c Zero -- It's a replacement build!

[opus999]

A6M5c | Hobby Boss | 1/72

W.O. Takeo Tanimizu, Pilot, Imperial Japanese Navy, 203rd Flying Group, 1945

 

 

I finished this on 10/13/2020.  This is the Hobby Boss A6M5c, which I built to replace the Hasegawa boxing of Tanimizu's aircraft which I built in late High School and whose molds date to 1972 (according to scalemates).  I love the double cannons in the wings, it just looks dangerous!  Although in reality the extra weight without a more powerful engine made it a dog.  But it looked cool.  Of the 1/72 offerings of the 5c, the Hobby Boss was the one that had very few negative comments. 

 

As is typical with Hobby Boss there are some glaring omissions.  I found they forgot a headrest, which I had to fabricate, the loop antenna in the cockpit, and missed the fourth exhaust stack on the starboard side.  The exhaust stack I noticed in the 11th hour, but was able to make a new one that is reasonable.  HB provided a cut out in the cowling for a 4th stack, except they provided it on both sides.  If I'd noticed earlier, I would've tried to fix that.  On the plus side, this was one of the better HB kits I've done in terms of fit and also had very few raised mold lines to sand off.  Comparing it with the Hasegawa, the wing guns are longer, the pitot tube is shorter and the canopy doesn't stick up as high.  All of these are not very noticeable when the model is sitting by itself.

 

Takeo Tanimizu had 18 victories.  He is known for his regrets later in life, praying nightly at his in-home Buddhist altar for the men he killed.  He is equally known for an incident where he flew low over a US pilot he downed in the sea to throw him his life preserver.  He lived through the war and into the late 1990s. 

 

Paints:  Mr. Color C15 (Top) > Mr. Color C35 (bottom) > cowl was Hataka RLM 66 (black gray) dusted with black until it looked about right > aotake in wheel wells was 3 parts Testors Model Master metallic blue with 1 part Testors green.

Decals: Kit decals

 

WIP is here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cockpit had more detail than typical HB kits, but it was pretty inaccurate.

 

 

I tried to make it at least a little more accurate, even though it is very hard to see through the somewhat opaque canopy.

 

 

Here's the headrest I made and the loop antenna, which I later painted silver:

 

 

And here it is next to the Hasegawa I made a long time ago:

 

 

 

As always, questions, comments and constructive criticism welcomed!

 

[SAT69]

Great model and I do like the story about the pilot. The man had character.

[2996 Victor]

Great work!

I love the green/grey finish, so understated yet really effective with the light weathering.

Kind regards,

Mark

[Pete in a shed]

Beautifully finished model and a really interesting intro. Was the black surround on the Hinomaru specific to this pilots aircraft? I've not seen it before.

Cheers

Pete

[opus999]

12 hours ago, SAT69 said:

Great model and I do like the story about the pilot. The man had character.

Thanks! I appreciate his character.

 

8 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

Great work!

I love the green/grey finish, so understated yet really effective with the light weathering.

Kind regards,

Mark

Thanks Mark!  The dark green was pretty tricky to work with (and to photograph!), but it worked out great.

 

4 hours ago, Pete in a shed said:

Beautifully finished model and a really interesting intro. Was the black surround on the Hinomaru specific to this pilots aircraft? I've not seen it before.

Cheers

Pete

I used to think it was specific to Tanimizu's aircraft, but I recently received Tamiya's A6M5a model which had 3 paint schemes... and all three had the blacked out Hinomaru outlines.  So, I guess it was more common than I thought.  I think I need to do some more research. 

[2996 Victor]

According to Combat Colours No.9 by Nick Millman, obscuring the white borders to the hinomaru was quite common on factory green finished aircraft, with black or green paint.

 

Presumably it was to reduce their visibility at a distance and help maintain camouflage.

 

I'm thinking I need to order a Tamiya A6M5 (or even two!).

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[opus999]

19 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said:

Presumably it was to reduce their visibility at a distance and help maintain camouflage.

That was my guess as well. 

 

19 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said:

I'm thinking I need to order a Tamiya A6M5 (or even two!).

Looking at the kit in the box, it looks fantastic!  The detail is incredible for 1/72.  Given my experience with the Tamiya Bf-109E, I think the Zero will be a joy to build.  I'd like to get a Tamiya Hamp too...

[2996 Victor]

57 minutes ago, opus999 said:

I'd like to get a Tamiya Hamp too...

I'm currently building the Tamiya A6M2b Zero, which is superb in detail and fit. I've also got a Hamp in the stash which promises to be just as good!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[opus999]

4 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said:

I'm currently building the Tamiya A6M2b Zero

Yeah, I'm following that -- it looks like a great kit.

[JWM]

Nice result but your old Hasegawa also looks very good. I am surprised that she needed replacement. Maybe some small refreshment in decals only 

Regards

J-W

 

[opus999]

52 minutes ago, JWM said:

Nice result but your old Hasegawa also looks very good. I am surprised that she needed replacement. Maybe some small refreshment in decals only 

Regards

J-W

 

Thanks!  The job I did on the Hasagawa wasn't too bad... the color that Hasagawa had me use on the bottom was wrong (duck egg blue) and back then I didn't know how to add different tones to the color. I'd thought about refurbishing it with new paint and decals, but I really didn't know exactly what I wanted to do about the raised detail, and I wanted to do something about the wheel wells, which were open up to the cockpit.

 

As it is, the Hasegawa will be hung up in my son's room, to join the rest of his "ceiling air force", which he is pretty excited about.   

[Si2]

This is a really nice plane, great job with subtle weathing and natural colours.

The cockpit is extremely basic, you've done a great job to add some interest in there.

 

[luftmodels]

Very nice job! Tidy and accurate. I simply love Japanese minimalist aircraft painting 👏🏻

[opus999]

16 hours ago, Si2 said:

The cockpit is extremely basic, you've done a great job to add some interest in there.

Thanks! I couldn't let it go, even though it's hard to see through the less-than-clear canopy.  I have another one of these in the stash -- I think next time I might get rid of the seat and stick and add better ones..