Zero wing markings

[Potato Pete]

I'm building the Airfix Zero as this chap

 

 

As you can see, this version has it with white bars on the wings, whilst the H-Model decal sheet shows it with yellow wing bars and a white fuselage band. Personally I fancy the white wing bars. Does anyone have any idea which - if either - is correct?

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[fishplanebeer]

Can't comment on the wing bar colour but as you are building the Airfix kit, an A6M2b, the two round access covers outboard and slightly aft of the red spots on each wing should be clear and not solid as they were made from perspex. Just a very small detail but very few builds I've seen have them.

 

Regards

Colin.

[Potato Pete]

Cheers, much appreciated

 

Pete

 

[72modeler]

3 hours ago, fishplanebeer said:

the two round access covers outboard and slightly aft of the red spots on each wing should be clear and not solid as they were made from perspex.

That is correct- good catch! Those clear panels are on the A6M2 and the A6M3, but not the A6M5, IIRC. They allow visual inspection of the gun bays, but I'm not certain  if that is to determine ammunition remaining.  As Colin said, it is a small detail that is most often overlooked or painted red under the assumption that they were fuel filler caps.

Mike

[72modeler]

@fishplanebeer,

 

I found this diagram on the 'net that shows the location of the clear gun bay inspection panels. The panel is labeled 4 on the diagram. I will try to find a photo, but  preserved A6M2's are pretty rare! Hope this helps. I remember the late Greg Springer,  an Austin, Texas modeler, and a regular contributor on the J Aircraft website telling me this little tidbit at an IPMS contest a long time ago- he was our go-to IJA/IJN aircraft guy back in the day.

Mike

 

https://www.facebook.com/TaskForceAdmiral/photos/pcb.224269795593761/224269562260451/

 

This just in! I finally located the excellent article on the J Aircraft website that covers all of the secondary markings on A6M2/3 Zeros, and if you scroll down to the section on fuel tank inlet covers, you will find  description of the clear inspection panels...I knew it had something to do with the gun bays!

Edited October 18, 2021 by 72modeler
added text, added link

[Fukuryu]

Have a look here for details on the inspection window: https://www.largescaleplanes.com/articles/article.php?aid=3339

 

 

Edited October 18, 2021 by Fukuryu
Link to picture removed, just in case. It can be found on the linked article.

[fishplanebeer]

That's the exact picture I recall seeing when I built my Zero earlier this year and it shows them perfectly. That said I now realise I missed the small black dot behind the red fuel filler cap but hopefully in 72nd scale it's not too obvious.

 

Regards

Colin.

[72modeler]

23 hours ago, fishplanebeer said:

I missed the small black dot behind the red fuel filler cap but hopefully in 72nd scale it's not too obvious.

Take a very small drill bit- twist in a pin vise until you make a depression in the upper wing, and fill with black paint or ink. (You know you have ti do this, now that you have 'fessed up that you forgot to put them in in front of the assembled BM multitudes!) 

Mike