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A small Zero: Tamiya 1/72 Mistubishi A6M2b type 21 - Pearl Harbor


PattheCat

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Hello, fellow Britmodellers,

 

First, my thanks to Rich @trickyrich who, with his ideas for GBs, keeps sparing me headaches when the time comes to decide what to put next on the bench. Well, OK I changed my mind two times for this one but it still helps.

 

I built a Zero (Matchbox) once, back when a computer was the size of a set of grandmother wardrobes and all Zeros were white. High time for another one.

 

I already had an A6M3 (Tamiya 1/48) in the stash but a captured A6M2b was the initial idea and I felt the need to build something in the gentleman's scale this time. So when I saw one of their 1/72 kits of the A6M2b at a discounted price ..... After getting the kit I changed my mind for a Pearl Harbor aircraft (all three marking options from the box are such planes - choice not done yet).

 

Considering the scale, the kit matches it's bigger brother in quality, engraving and detail .... a little gem. Some tiny parts which I hope won't fall prey to the carpet monster (even as I have no carpet).

As per my own immemorial rules, it shall be OOB except for seatbelts (Eduard superfabric) and canopy masks (Eduard too).

Googling around several evenings (nights) for info about IJN/Pearl Harbor Zeros colours, THAT gave me headaches. Thus, it will be one step at a time. Maybe I'll keep it easy (interior Tamiya XF-71, exterior Tamiya XF-76) or go wild and do some paint mixes.

 

Enough prattle, here are the pics of what I've on hand:

 

The box art (the depicted aircraft is NOT part of the marking options)

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The usual Tamiya style clear instructions and a folder with info about the different types of A6M. Small but very nice decal sheet.

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80+ parts. Option for a closed or open canopy. One part cowling with carburator intake moulded on. No option for folded wingtips and no moveable control surfaces. No pilot figure.

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Tomorrow, tomorrow .... :tasty: 

Hey, keep calm, first the very last small touch-ups on the Tunnan you began 8 months ago. You don't put aside  what's 99,9999999999% done. NO, you don't! (my conscience is quite loud, but will it be enough?)

 

Have a nice week.

 

Pat.

 

 

 

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Nice choice Pat, the Tamiya 1/72 A6M-series kits have a reputation as being really nice builds - I've got all of the four releases waiting in the stash :) I hope you have fun with it, but yes, do finish off the Tunnan first :D 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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It's a SUPERB kit :)

 

Plenty of info on colours, particularly if you look at Nick Millman's Aviation of Japan site - his paper on Painting the Early Zero-Sen is invaluable.

 

Cheers,

Mark

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4 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

It's a SUPERB kit :)

 

Plenty of info on colours, particularly if you look at Nick Millman's Aviation of Japan site - his paper on Painting the Early Zero-Sen is invaluable.

 

Cheers,

Mark

 

Thanks Mark. I indeed have put Mr. Millman's work at the very top of the reliable sources. I saw that his book about early Zeros is available as a PDF. Maybe I'll get it.

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Welcome along Pat, good to see you've settled on a build and a nice looking one it is.

 

Being a Tamiya model I expect it'll go tother without issues. Not having positionable flying surfaces is probably a blessing in disguise, though folding wings would have been nice.

 

Will good luck with this build and may you not give into temptation........ hopefully you done have as poor will power as I have! :D

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On 6/10/2022 at 4:42 AM, trickyrich said:

Welcome along Pat, good to see you've settled on a build and a nice looking one it is.

 

Being a Tamiya model I expect it'll go tother without issues. Not having positionable flying surfaces is probably a blessing in disguise, though folding wings would have been nice.

 

Will good luck with this build and may you not give into temptation........ hopefully you done have as poor will power as I have! :D

 

Thanks Rich @trickyrich.

A scientifical evaluation of my highest percentage of willpower just requires a simple calculation. Divide the maximum yearly number of kits reaching the RFI (1) by the minimum of those who have been on the bench over the same period (3) and you obtain 33,33......%. And if you please, don't ask me to take into account the amount of aquisitions in the equation, It would give a result no sane person could possibly fathom (I said sane, i.e. not a standard modeller ** :wink:).

 

** a survey among modeller's spouses should be proof enough of this fact

 

Friendly regards.

 

Pat.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello everybody,

 

I chose Lt. Saburo Shindo's plane, He was one of the squadron leaders of the second wave againt Pearl Harbor, taking off from the lead aircraft carrier Akagi.

My main reason for this choice is that I have read that before that he also had been leading Zeros of 12th Kokutai escorting bombers over China on 13 september 1940. This mission lead to the first encounter of this aircraft with Chinese fighters (I-15 and I-16) . It's said that the Japanese, outnoumbered two to one, shot down all Chinese planes without a single loss.

So I consider him as a figure deeply involved with the history and myth of the Zero, even if he wasn't a famous ace.

 

After reading quite controversial "debates" about IJN colours it became clear that aviationofjapan.com and j-aircraft.com are the best documented and reliable sources (as far at it can go when talking about "real" WWII colours, an always open subject).

I also took a look at Eduard's 1/48 kit instructions as it's the newest rendition of the A6M2b. They seem to have done their homework better than Tamiya who mentions black for the cowling, Aotake for the wheel wells ....

 

Let's say that I'll take into account that it's an early Misubishi built plane and try to stay reasonably in line with the info available in the above said sites but will still made some choices according to my taste(s). Also looking at the pics taken at the time (b&w and bad quality, I admit), the aircrafts look very clean. Thus I'll go for a pristine machine, with just some exhaust and maybe gun stains, also a light bit of weathering in the pit.

 

 

A pic or two as proof that the build is under way. More has been done but the pics were unusable.

 

Gunze H63 Aotake is very nice for a brand nex Aotake (more blue than green) but I felt it as too solid appearance for the coating that it in fact was. I mixed it with gloss varnish, but didn't obtain a much better looking result than the original .... I'll try with more varnish or mixing (with a) clear paint(s) next time - probably green (becoming greener when ageing/weathered ).

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I used Stynylrez metal primer (metal colour, not special for use on metal) for the first time, intending it as a better base for Aotake and an easy way for a light weathering of the cockpit and engine, by scratching paint off.

First head scratching, which cockpit green? I put aside Tamiya XF71 for a more olive colour but was not happy with my mix(es) - brownish and thus better suited for a Nakajima built plane - and finally settled for Gunze H58. Choice based on  early Mitsubishi interiors said to have been dark (olive) green and close to FS 34151 (?) US interior green before grey-green was adopted as an IJN standard . BTW that's what Eduard mentions.

I painted one side over and cleaned the other one to compare the mix painted over with H58 with the colour straight from the jar.

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I scratched some paint off the black on the engine to break uniformity .

The cowling was painted with a mix of semi-gloss black and clear blue to obtain a blueish cast in the black. It appears very black. So less black in the mix next time.

The backside of the prop has been painted a (very) dark red brown mix based upon one in Pearl Harbor museum but I read somewhere that the spinner was not polished aluminium like the blades but painted. Maybe coat it with a semi-gloss clear tinted with light grey?

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When I say next time, it's because I bought another of these nice little kits and also have a 1/48 A6M3 in the stash, so more Zeros to come (when? ... no promise)

Don't worry too much about my colour choices though, there will be no pink Zero with a mauve cowling .... for now. It could be the object of a later WHIF build named "IJN's present to her Majesty the Empress of Japan" 😁

 

Have a nice weekend.

 

Pat.

 

 

 

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Good afternoon,

 

I decided to drill out the holes in the seat's backrest and did a little wash with darkened H58 on the cockpit floor.

Detail painting and weathering of the cockpit parts now done. 

Decals and fabric seatbelts still to be added.

 

 

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Not happy yet with the sidewalls. So still a bit of work before buttoning up the fuselage.

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I wish everyone a good week ending and weekend.

 

Pat.

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Good evening,

 

Done with the cockpit. Here are some pictures before closing the fuselage, sorry for their poor quality.

 

I'm finally happy with the sidewalls finish.

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I put some gloss clear over the dials, what I usually don't do. I've got room for improvement but I like how it looks so.

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The details were painted with Revell Aqua. Far easier for hand/detail painting than Tamiya or Gunze.

The superfabric seatbelts parts literally went to pieces when lifting them from the backing paper. Not my first time using such, it never happened before. Fortunately, these seatbelts come per two so I still could make one usable set. 

 

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The rear of the propeller blades was painted with a dark red-brown mix. It seems that the spinner on the real plane was painted a sort of aluminium dope so I coated the aluminium paint with a mix of semi-gloss clear and light grey.

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Eager to begin the airframe's assembly so that it'll look like a Zero.

 

Have a nice evening and happy modelling.

 

Pat.

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10 hours ago, Stew Dapple said:

Looking very nice there Pat B) 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

 

Thanks Stew.

I'm not that good at detail painting and used to 1/48 scale. I bought a new detailing paintbrush (Abteilung 402 4/0 size) for the job and it certainly gives an edge over cheapos.

I'm really proud with this pit. Close-up shots are not flattering though (no, they are not blurry on purpose 😆).

 

Cheers.

 

Pat

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11 hours ago, trickyrich said:

Super tidy work Pat, that sort of detailing you see/expect on a 1/48th model, but in 1/72nd!!! Superb work, well done. :thumbsup:

 

Wow! Thank you very much Rich, I'm happy you like it that much (proud, proud :blush:). The use of Revell Aqua with some retarder and a good quality paintbrush made a world of difference compared to former attempts.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello ladies and gents,

Somewhat stalled for a time and then I did a "mistake" glueing the wings to the fuselage, There was a small joint (0.2 mm) at the left wing root so it was set with rubber bands and tape. Leaving it alone near a window when outside temps rise up to nearly 40 C° was a bad idea. I ended up with gaps (consider this word as approxiimate, please excuse my poor English) at each side. No choice but to crack the filler jar open ..... third (final?) application, trying to do it gradually to avoid sanding detail away.

 

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New phone, better pics.

 

Keep cool and safe.

 

Pat.

 

 

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8 hours ago, PattheCat said:

Leaving it alone near a window when outside temps rise up to nearly 40 C° was a bad idea

You’re lucky the gap was all you got.  When I was a youngster I left my prized Hurricane on a window sill and it ended up with its wings folded!  Didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

 

AW

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Arrr that's a shame!!!

 

You should try using stretched sprue to fill those gaps instead of filler.  There is way less mess than with filler and a lot less sanding and damaging of surrounding detail.

 

Hopefully you can sort out those joins as she is looking great.

 

Gosh it's only 12C here at the moment  :cold:,  anything under 20C and I'm cold , give me +30C any day!! :devil:

 

 

 

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On 7/24/2022 at 1:48 AM, trickyrich said:

Arrr that's a shame!!!

 

You should try using stretched sprue to fill those gaps instead of filler.  There is way less mess than with filler and a lot less sanding and damaging of surrounding detail.

 

Hopefully you can sort out those joins as she is looking great.

 

Gosh it's only 12C here at the moment  :cold:,  anything under 20C and I'm cold , give me +30C any day!! :devil:

 

 

 

 

Hi, I fear you were more than right Rich.

 

After several attempts with filler and sanding I still am really not happy with the result. My rescribing is also subpar. I won't post pictures of the mess I did.

My patience is wearing extremely thin and there is more swearing than fun. To botch Tamiya kits has become an habit ...... don't know what's wrong with me.

For the sake of my nerves (and these of my wife) I'm sorry to say that this little marvel of a kit now joins too many others on the shelf of doom.

 

My apologies to all and to Rich @trickyrich in particular. If you wish to scold me extensively, I'll take that as well earned.

My thanks for a great GB.

 

:swear: and :blush: Pat.

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that is a shame to hear!!! No scolding, we all have builds like that.

 

Re-scribing is something I hate and I usually end up with railway tracks when I try to scribe a line!  Seeing its on that shelf, at a later stage have a play at using plastic sprue (stretched) or thin strip to fill gaps. Guaranteed to reduce swearing (thou always helpful at time) and give you much better joins.

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Thanks Rich @trickyrich.

I most certainly don't intend to bin it! It will come back on the bench but I'll first take (quite some) time to get into the proper mood to tackle what I messed up.

 

It didn't hit my mojo, so let's meanwhile choose another kit from the shelf 🙂. Maybe one from the shelf of doom that just needs small repairs and finishing.

 

Friendly regards.

Pat.

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  • 7 months later...

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