Greetings,
Here are some shots of my just-completed (sort of) Tamiya A6M2 Zero. I say sort of complete because during construction I managed to lose or break three of the four tiny little aileron counterweights. And moments after I started taking photos of the plane, I snapped off the antenna mast. So I'm debating whether to contact Tamiya for replacement parts and undertake repairs, or just chalk it up to experience and move on.
Sorry, no in-progress pics. I started this kit in March, but didn't realize there was a group build until I was fairly far along. I'll do better next time.
This was my third build after returning to the hobby after some 35
years, and my first Tamiya aircraft kit. I was very much looking forward
to it after seeing so many great reviews of Tamiya kits. For the most
part, it was an enjoyable build, with most of my problems self-inflicted
(see above). The fit was mostly pretty good, with just a little filler
needed on the wing roots. I didn't care much for the engine cowling
being two pieces, though. And even though the top of the cowling
appeared to line up OK with the top of the fuselage, it wasn't until it
was secured in place that I realized the underside engine scoop was
misaligned, with the position of the scoop being dependent on the
locating pin on the cowling. I chose to just live with it rather than
tear everything apart. I also found it hard to get the landing gear
aligned evenly. The legs didn't fit into the holes very precisely so I
was left to eyeball them and hope until the glue set.
I chose to finish the plane as one of the Pearl Harbor birds from the
Akagi, using the kit decals (more about those in a moment). I used
Tamiya IJN gray overall and painted the fuselage and tail bands in MM
insignia red and yellow. I used Polly Scale engine black for the cowling
and landing gear. I mixed Polly light blue with a few drops of dark
green for the cockpit color. I mixed MM clear blue and clear green and
applied it over aluminum for the aotake on wheel wells and landing gear
doors.
I sprayed MM acrylic gloss before decaling. This was also my first
experience with Tamiya decals and was hesitant after reading so many
negative comments about them. Well, add my voice to that list. These
things seemed thick as playing cards and never fully settled in even
with multiple applications of Solvaset. I was just glad there weren't
many decals to apply and that I had painted the red and yellow bands
instead of using the decals. To top it off, after spraying MM acrylic
flat (which I've had no previous trouble with), all of the hinomarus
developed a streaky, whitish residue. After finding online accounts of
similar problems, I sprayed the bird with a couple of light coats of
Testors rattle can Dullcoat lacquer. Thankfully, the residue
disappeared.
I pin-washed the panel lines with thinned raw umber artist oil, using the same
mix for some light streaking. I didn't try for a lot of weathering,
figuring these early-war planes hadn't racked up much hard living yet.
After being away from the hobby for so long, I'm still learning and
catching up with each build, and this one was certainly instructive. My
next project is Tamiya's P-51D, and I'm tremendously impressed with it
after a little test fitting. I'm going to attempt an NMF finish, which
may be too ambitious for my skills at this point, but hey, I'll give it a
shot.