My best buddy Chris, who I've known since 1st grade (when we had bowl cuts), is credited with getting me into this hobby. We built them as kids, but it involved tube glue and I don't think we used paint (at least I didn't, I built cars mostly). I then got interested in the usual other stuff and that was that. Then in 2001, as we shot pool in my basement, he was telling me how he still builds models, but now he has progressed to using an airbrush to make them realistic. Wow! Who would have thought! I was intrigued and began reading books on the subject (I had no internet at the time).
Chris then gave me an old Badger 250 single action with a propellant can and under his tutelage, off I went with an $8 Spitfire I bought from Drug Mart. It turned out lousy, but I kept going (and reading). Well, that was almost two decades ago and I have continued on with this wonderful hobby.
As for Chris, Life got in the way as it does sometimes and he stepped away from the bench for a while. Now he's at a point in his life to where he's back building. I'm glad he's back because he's quite the modeler, way better than me. Anyways, with this, we decided to do a tandem build of the same kit, something simple. We perused our stashes and decided on the old Tamiya Zero Hamp, which we both had. This kit is nothing fancy, basic cockpit, engine and a weird mix of raised and recessed panel lines. Please join me on mine.
I will be doing the cover art subject, "T2-197", piloted by Kenji Yanagiya from the 204 Kokutai in the summer of 1943. Yanagiya was a member of the Yamamoto fighter escort on that fateful April day, but he was flying T2-169 on that day. He was credited with 8 victories and was the only escort pilot to survive the war.
The kit was released in 1982 and is quite basic. The wings have a mixture of recessed and raised panel lines while the fuselage's is all raised. I dont get it. Why not recess them all? Clearly they had the technology. I went back and forth about rescribing the lines, which I totally hate! Ultimately I decided to do it figuring the kit was cheap, there weren't too many lines, and I certainly could use the practice. Out came the Dymo tape and Squadron Scribing tool and off I went. It's not perfect but I can live with it.
So much for simple. I couldn't resist rigging the engine.
All painted. Of course, once again, I forgot to add push rods. Why do they constantly forget to add these? Probably the same reason I forgot to add them...LOL.
It seemed that Nakajima sometimes used a red brown color for their wires. I followed suit.
I painted the wires dark red, then washed and weather the engine.
Wires definitely make a difference.
I turned to the cockpit. It's pretty poor, especially the instrument panel which is flat and supposed to get a decal. I decided to use PE for the instrument panel and seatbelts. Of course I got the wrong one, which is apparently designed for the newer Type 32 kit, but I made it look presentable in there.
Eduard got the color wrong big time. This is more US interior green. I tried to copy it so it won't look ridiculous. The IP still looks better than a flat decal.
It looks ok once installed.
I had no trouble with the fuselage. A test fit with the engine and cowl in place.
The cockpit fits nice too. I may need more scribing on the in deck area. It could get tricky there.
A test fit. I don't think there will be wing root issues, common on Hasegawa Zeros.
I hope to be buttoning this up soon.