Tiger 110: A6M2 Typ 21

[BOBO]

For some times I had little desire for German fighter planes, that can happen and then you have to build something different so that you feel like your old love again!

I have been friends with a version of the Tiger 110 for a very long time. There are a few templates on the web, but some of them are a bit tricky, because others are like me, reading Japanese characters for me is limited to numbers, "do not enter" and similar "hiroglyphs" (hieroglyphs). My Japanese is pretty rusty!

 

Here is a graphic with some correct and dubious templates:

(+) the hull painting
(-) Wing sovereignty symbol
(-) Course of the trunk ligaments
(-) Color of the vertical stabilizer identifier

 

 

I have some Japanese/US ones. Sources used, such as

Thorp: JNA of WWII (very old, but still better than today's release!)
ModelArt: JNA Aircraft Camouflage and Markings

In Thorpe I even found the best published image as a template:

 

 

Note the color separation on the fuselage (that's not a shadow of the roof!)

 

 

This graphic, among others, comes from modelart :

 

 

I used this kit as a basis:

 

Since the kit is no longer available (anymore?) with the decal images of the Tiger-110, I had to come up with something to do with the Japanese characters on the side control panel!

 

And I also use an aging method that hasn't been explained much here in the forum so far - I use hair varnish to age the quickly weathering paint on Japanese aircraft.
A recommendation in advance, I shot the paint pictured here as a pump spray at German: Rossmann for little money and tried it out. It's pure cream, for a whopping €2.50. You can even apply it with a brush, I sometimes wish I had a surface like that for brush paintings!!

 

 

And as you can see, after just two days I'm pretty far along. I put a lot of effort into the cockpit, including the aging. The parts from Hasegawa fit together perfectly and require very little rework when smoothing out glued areas and adjusting the wing to the fuselage.

 

 

The color template for Thorbe's volume JNA on the front page!

Not entirely tricky either [unfortunately a Type 22 is pictured here], but for a book like this from the early 1970s - the Bible for friends of the Japanese aircraft of the WWII !

 

After some “drying time” we continue; this time the identifier was prepared very early on. This is then taped off and stays on until the end. And since I remembered a similar identifier for a Ki 43-I that I had started, I went with it straight away!

The A6M2 was only partially "silver-plated", whereas the Ki 43-I was completely silver-plated, as it was also sprayed in aluminum on the underside.

 

 

 

The first basic color was also applied to the model - a mixture of J1 (AGAMA: Navy Green) plus X808 (Xtra-Color) in a ratio of 2:1. The construction instructions say something different....firstly it is Mr.Color/Gunze and according to their color description the color Yellow-Brown TAN is darker. So I mixed my ratio to 2:1 and after comparing it with other photos and color photos from Japanese model makers, it was the golden shot.

Attached is also the color insert for the HASEGAWA model - I don't have the kit - but the template works pretty well. With the best will in the world, I can't imagine how the manufacturer got to the right side - free reconstruction... that's what I did!

 

 

 

And now this idiosyncratic navy green (AGAMA J1) on this "bamboo color", just finished and by placing torn paper stencils, the first paint chips have appeared on the right side of the FL top, because only partial areas of hair varnish remained on it.

 

 

I couldn't really decide whether to go with navy green first and then bamboo green or the other way around. This was not visible in the pictures. This seems to be an "out of two, into one" machine that has been recolored... I really have to speculate here.

 

The fuselage and wing are not married yet!!

 

 

So add what binds you forever!
If you are not willing, I need force!

 

 

I was often asked how I put the “individual parts” together at the end without leaving any traces of glue. Very easy with “Touch-n’-Flow tubes” and normal glue.

For example, For example, add glue to the wing gluing points so that the fuselage pushes the rest inwards and does not create any gluing points. Many people do it the other way around. Likewise, with Touch-n'-Flow, the liquid adhesive is only allowed to flow into the gaps that are less than hair-thin. The color lifts and wrinkles for a short time, but after it dries it's all gone again!

The geometry is created with my adhesive slipway, let's let the pictures do the talking!
After 24 hours the “braces” will be removed!

 

 

 

 

 

The decals for Tiger-110 were assembled from three different leftovers from other Japanese types!

 

 

Edited March 25 by BOBO

[VolkerR.]

Awesome!

Have you tried the Eduard Zero? If not, give it a try!

[georgeusa]

Great looking Zero and the paint and finish are just well done.  Wonderful modeling.  Thanks for sharing.

[BOBO]

2 hours ago, VolkerR. said:

Ehrfürchtig!

Haben Sie Eduard Zero ausprobiert? Wenn nicht, probieren Sie es aus!

Hallo Volker, danke für Dein Feedback. Ich habe bestimmt noch an die 220 Modelle hier zu stehen, darunter auch alle A6M von Hasegawa, von der A6M1 bis zur A6M8, da werde ich bestimmt keine weiteren Zero mir noch anschaffen, ich schaffe in diesem Leben sowieso diese Anzahl an Bausätzen nicht!