Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Zeke) (x2)

Thanks Lee, greatly appreciated! : )

My photo techniques are very basic...I use a white table beneath a window for natural daylight and set my digital camera to "auto" and click away. A lot of people take photos against cluttered backgrounds?! With a clear bright background, it makes a huge difference.

Cheers : )

Martin

They truly are Crockett and only $10.84 from Salehobbyist.com! Great value for money kits! : )

Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Zeke) (x2) "Build Update #4" It's been a week since my last update, but I have completed both of these Zeros! But, before I reveal them, the following is the work that I did to them since my last update and up to their completion: After the last gloss clear coat had dried, it was time to start weathering both planes. I started off on the lighter colored plane with a pin-wash: I then applied a dark dirt wash to the dark green plane: After the washes, another clear coat was applied to seal them in, then when that had dried, I applied a light color filter to tone down the decals and to provide some highlights on various areas of each plane: I then added exhaust stains to both planes using a mix of Model Masters brown and black acrylic washes and some graphite dust scraped from the tip of a 6B pencil: When the exhaust stains were complete, I then moved onto adding fuel, oil and dirt streaks: When I felt happy with what had been completed so far, I then sealed everything with the final Matt/Flat clear coat. I used Model Masters, which has always been a great clear coat for me on all of my models since starting modeling on January 2014: When the final flat coat had dried, I removed the temporarily located undercarriage doors, and painted the inside of those and the wheel wells a metallic blue. I used a mix of Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver and X-4 Blue. When that had dried, I applied a gloss clear coat, let that dry then applied a dirt wash: Next, I painted the canopies, starting with a black base coat followed by the external color for each plane. I decided to use the full closed canopy for the light grey/green plane and the 3 section open/sliding canopy for the dark green version. When the canopies were complete, I assembled the internal aerials before assembling the canopies into place: With the canopies and aerials in place, it was now time to focus on the underneath of each plane. I therefore assembled the wheel assemblies and fitted those into place, along with the rear wheels. I also fitted the long range fuel/drop tanks onto the underside of each fuselage: With the wheels and drop tanks in place, all that was left to do to complete both planes was to glue the pitot tubes, aileron counterbalance weights and upper side limiters in place, then using some EZ-Line attach the antennas. Whilst super-gluing the antenna cables into place, I discovered that both aerials were very delicate, they both snapped in the process! I therefore had to super-glue the broken halves together, but it left a slight bulge/witness that was difficult to try and smooth out without re-breaking the aerials, so, I had to live with what was. Anyway, that's it for this final build update; the "Final Reveal" photos will be released soon. Thanks to those that have followed this build both on here and on my YouTube account, and for the kind and encouraging comments, it is greatly appreciated! Until the "Final Reveal", take care and have a great weekend! :) Cheers! Martin

Final Reveal coming soon...

Hello Guys, Below are the images of my "Final Reveal" for the two Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zeros (Zekes) that I built side by side, with one finished in the IJN Green Upper and Grey lower and one finished in the all over IJN Grey/Green. This build had a few firsts for me: 1) First time building Japanese Aircraft 2) First time using Johnson's Pledge/Klear Acrylic floor shine to see how I personally feel about it compared to the Model Masters clear coats that I have always used without issue since starting modeling in January 2014. 3) First time attempting heavy chipping using the "Hairspray Technique" on the IJN Green version only. After the images, I will include some notes regarding this build; my opinions of the kit in terms of quality, cost, value for money etc and any points to look out for if you decide to buy and build this kit. I hope you like the following views! Plane #1: 261st Air Group (Tiger Corps), Kagoshima Base, February 1944 Plane #2 Petty Officer 1st Class Saburo Sakai, Tainan Air Group, Denpasar Base, Bali Island, February 1942 And, some photos of both versions side by side for contrast and comparison: These are Tamiya's kit # 61016 that is the 2007 Type 21 version release. This kit was re-tooled in 2008 and updated a couple of times since then with new parts and decals. This kit is available from Scalehobbyist.com for only $10.84, about 7.00 quid in the UK, here is the link to their page: https://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Model_Aircraft/a6m2-type-21-zero/TAM00061016/product.php?s=0&t=0&u=0&micr=148&pg=1&ppp=48&sb=stocknumber&so=a&era=0,6&man=TAM The kit comes with a reasonably detailed cockpit, that has a decal for the instrument panel and a decently detailed radial engine. There are options to have the undercarriage up or down, the canopy closed or open and decals for 5 different markings; I modeled one with the canopy closed and one with the canopy open. The undercarriage is sturdy and nicely detailed, too. A 8 page black and white assembly/instruction booklet is included that is clearly detailed with part numbers, decal numbers and Tamiya paint numbers. The decals are typical Tamiya which I expected to have some breaking issues with, as I have with other Tamiya kits, but fortunately, these decals went down excellently adhering to recessed and raised details nicely. The parts are very crisp and cleanly molded with no ejector pin witness marks on visible areas, no warp, no flash and no aberrations on the clear molded parts. The exterior surfaces of the plane come with recessed panel lines. Scores out of 10: Packaging: The kit comes in a sturdy two part box- lower and lid format, the grey sprues are packaged in one polythene bag and the clear parts are packaged in a separate clear polythene bag that is within the larger bag. The lid has nice artwork on the front and the two longer sides show two of the five different markings available, one in the IJN Green and one in the IJN grey/Green. Score: 9/10 Quality of Molded Product: 10/10 Quality of Molded Details: 9/10 Engineering Fits: I had no issues with this kit, everything went together well and no need for filler anywhere! Score: 10/10 Quality of Decals: - it's a bonus to have enough decals for 5 different markings! Score: 9/10 Quality of Instruction/Assembly Booklet: It would be much better if Tamiya included color pages for the painting and decaling sheets and provide other paint manufacturers conversion colors instead of just their own paints. Score: 8/10 Value For Money: 10/10 Enjoyment Value: 9/10 You can also see my "Build Update" videos on my YouTube channel; here are the links for the 3 "Build Update" videos: Build Update #1 Video: https://youtu.be/PBuSMyQB9bY Build Update #2 Video: https://youtu.be/t96YKuENSL8 Build Update #3 Video: https://youtu.be/3Ecg5wrLr0o And, to go with these "Final Reveal" photos, here is the link to my "Final Reveal" video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bGDtOdc3sVg Thanks to everyone who has followed this build thread both on here and on YouTube, and, for leaving kind and encouraging comments, it's greatly appreciated! :) :thumb1: Now, what should I build next? Hmmmmmmm..... Have a great weekend! Cheers! :cheers2: Martin

That is some seriously nice workmanship, Martin.

Thanks for a great WIP thread, mate!

RobGroot4

Man those look great.  Is the chipping on the decals drybrushed paint?

Groot

 

 

Hello Groot,

 

Thanks for your comment, much appreciated! No, the chipping is the first application of silver paint beneath the color paint. I used the "Hairspray Technique" to chip the top paint away to reveal the silver beneath.

Sorry for my very, very late reply!!

 

Cheers

Martin

Those look terrific.  I really like building zeros. I've made four but yours put mine to shame. I'm going to have to try the alcohol before the model master primer.  I've had terrible luck with that stuff peeling down to the bare plastic.  Not to mention I bought a ton of it when I started modeling and used very little.

Superb. They just look great together. 

 

BK

Those are looking really good.