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Pearl Harbor Mitusbishi Zero


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27 minutes ago, PeterB said:

A pair from Akagi and Soryu - nice!

 

Interesting.  But I'm not going to build them both.   I intend to build an aircraft from Zuikaku, with white ID stripes.

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2 minutes ago, Enzo Matrix said:

 

Interesting.  But I'm not going to build them both.   I intend to build an aircraft from Zuikaku, with white ID stripes.

Guess that will be "EII" then, as Zuikaku was the second carrier in the 5th Carrier Division.

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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10 minutes ago, PeterB said:

Guess that will be "EII" then, as Zuikaku was the second carrier in the 5th Carrier Division.

 

Indeed.  I think I will build EII-137, flown by Lt Masao Satō.

 

The decal sheet in this boxing is quite comprehensive with twelve options!

 

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Let's look at the sprues.  The kit is moulded in the usual dark grey plastic with very refined surface detail.  Some Eduard kits in previous years have been quite complex and therefore tricky to build.  The FW190 springs to mind.  The cowling assembly on that was a nightmare. So much so that I always gave up and used a resin replacement.   I feel that Eduard have learned from that.  This looks to be a quite straightforward build albeit with some intricate parts in the cockpit.  The cowling is still in multiple parts, no doubt to ensure there is detail on evrey face.  However in this case there is a substantial jig provided which should ease the assembly.

 

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As usual in the Profipack series, there is a nice set of pre-coloured PE.  The cockpit panels are also provided as decals for those who don't like PE.

 

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Hi Enzo,

 

Do they say if it is one made by Mitsubishi or was it a Nakajima product? Both supposedly used their own version of grey and there is quite a difference if the various references are correct.

 

Pete 

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24 minutes ago, PeterB said:

Do they say if it is one made by Mitsubishi or was it a Nakajima product? Both supposedly used their own version of grey and there is quite a difference if the various references are correct.

 

The instructions don't say.

 

I was planning to use Tamiya XF-76 for this.

 

The instructions recommend a 50:50 mix of Mr Color C55 Khaki and C538 IDF Gray for the cockpit and wheel wells.  I have chosen to use Lifecolor UA-540 which is a dark olive green.  However, this is not set in stone. 

 

The instructions also recommend that interior areas other than the cockpit and wheel wells be painted in Mr Color C57 Metallic Blue Green.  I assume this is the colour known as Aotake.  My understanding is that this was applied as a thin protective coat over natural metal so my plan is to spray these areas with aluminium paint and the overspray a translucent coat of Lifecolor UA-136 Blue Aotake.

 

However, I'm open to comments and suggestion for all of the above from yourself and anyone else who has more knowlefge than me (so that's basically everyone. :D )

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Hi Enzo,

 

Sovereign's Colourcoats website shows the so called "Mitsubishi Zero greenish grey and the Nakajima brownish grey, sometimes known as Ameiro but XF-76 will do quite well to my mind if that is what you prefer - perhaps safest if you do not know who actually manufactured the plane. As to the Aotake/Aodake you are quite right - it was a sort of protective coat over metal surfaces, but in areas such as the cockpit it was often overpainted. JNAF planes often used a colour called Bamboo which was a bit like a yellower version of US Interior Green AFAIK  but there were other colours used as I mentioned in either my Judy or Ki-100-1b build. Most of the info I have relates to later models of the Zero!

 

Pete

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20 hours ago, PeterB said:

 JNAF planes often used a colour called Bamboo

 

Thanks, Peter. That was most helpful.    I've been looking at my not inconsiderable stock of Lifecolor paints to find something suitable.  Then I noticed that the pre-coloured PE in the kit has some parts printed in the relevant colour.  I don't know if it's accurate but I'm going to go with that, simply so the panels don't stick out like a sore thumb.   The nearest match I could find is Lifecolor UA-902 IDF Sandgrey 2.

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And here's Enzo!!!   :yahoo:

 

Oooo what a nice boxing of Zeros you've bought along to, and I have to admit I've never build a Zero either......though I occasionally eye off tamiya's 1/32nd beastie..... that may join the stash one day.

 

These Eduard Dual boxings are so nice, work every penny I reckon, the only problem is there are always too many nice schemes to choose form!

 

Well good luck with this build...will have to follow just incase I decide to enlarge my stash!!!  :D

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I built the wings first...   The wheel well walls are seperate parts to allow detail on all the walls.  This is a standard Eduard procedure.  In this case however, it can cause a problem.  Make very sure that you have the walls positioned properly.  If not, tere will be an issue with the top parts leading to the wing uppersurfaces not fitting correctly.  It is a good idea to dry fit the wheel well top parts while the walls are setting, just to ensure that everything is in alignment.

 

You can see that the rear wall of the starboard well isn't fitted correctly, which led to minbor problems later on.  But it was nothing that a little trimming couldn't sort.

 

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So... on to the cockpit.  As with most of their Profipack kits, Eduard provide a choice of PE or decals for the details.  I chose the PE.  This is pre-coloured and so I found a paint color to match:  Lifecolor UA-902 IDF Sandgrey 2.  See the discussions earlier in this thread.   The rest of the fuselage interior was sprayed aluminium with a thin overspray of Lifecolor UA-136 Blue Aotake.

 

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A close up.

 

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Some of the parts are then built up into a cockpit sub-assembly.

 

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The instructions would have you assemble the fuselage halves and then insert the cockpit sub-assemblky from below.  I attempted this as a dry run with the fuselage halves taped together only to find that the cockpit did not fit.  It was simply too wide.  I eventually tracked the problem down to the side pieces which have tiny pins on the outer surfaces.  These must be something to do with the moulding process.  There are no locating holes on the inside of the fuselage halves and they are not shown in the instructions diagrams.  I simply sliced them off and then the cockpit fitted perfectly.

 

Nevertheless, I elected to fit the cockpit before joining the fuselage halves, contrary to the instructions.

 

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The cockpit is wonderfully intricate but is relatively easy to build provided that you take your time and check the fit of parts before gluing.

 

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Wing assembly cleaned up, ready for main assembly.  I used too much cement on the flap section of the starboard wing causing it to melt the plastic slightly and cause sink holes.  I am in the process of filling them in with sprue goo.

 

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Main assembly complete.

 

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I'm thoroughly enjoying building this kit!  :thumbsup:

 

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I then masked off the cockpit and sprayed the fuselage decking with Lifecolor UA-271 SCC 14 Blue Black.

 

 

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Windscreen and rear canopy added and masked.  You can't see it but there is a PE DF loop hidden under that rear canopy.  That's the sort of attention to detail provided by Eduard. 

 

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Primed with my usual grey plastic primer from a rattle can.

 

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So far, everything has gone quite swimmingly.  It's a lovely kit to build.  But now comes the part I had reservations about - the engine cowling.   In order to provide good detail on every surface, the cowling is split into five seperate parts.  Eduard's FW190s have a similar setup and are incredibly tricky to build properly.  Eduard have learned from that experience and have provided a jig in this kit.  That's the chunky circular thing in the centre of the photo.  Nevertheless, I still had my concerns.

 

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It turns out those concerns were unfounded!  :thumbsup:  The jig makes things nice and easy.  However...  make sure you clean off every trace of the sprue attachment points.  Even a tiny part of them left on the component can throw the alignment off.  A few strokes with a sanding stick should do the trick.

 

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Rather than use the kit decals, I sprayed the rear fuselage and fin white and then masked the stripes off. 

 

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I then

sprayed the whole thing with Tamiya XF-76.  This paint was apparently issued by Tamiya specifically to complement their 1/32 Zero kit, so I'm hoping it's a good choice.

 

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Masking removed

 

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The cowling has been sprayed with Lifecolor UA-271.  I have also used Flory Models washes to enhance the panels lines a little.

 

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wow you're powering along there Enzo, and gee she's looking nice.

 

I love the cockpit details, really nice.

 

These Eduard Limited edition boxings are so nice, I have a couple in the stash (I may have even start a couple in the past.... of course I haven't finished them!!).

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