I wanted to build my 1:24 scale Bandai Zero without the drop tank. So a couple of weeks ago I filled in the model’s 7 belly holes intended for the attachment of the drop tank. (See Image 01 in the attached pictures.) At that point, I believed that I was done with all drop tank issues, haha! Then I started this thread, and it quickly became clear that Zeros were not left with perfectly clean bellys after the ejection of the drop tank. So I had work to do!
Since I found 9 line drawings from 6 independent sources that showed the casings exit hole centered on the Zero’s midline, and only the instructions for Tamiya’s 1:32 scale Zero showed it off-center (toward the starboard side), for my model I decided to construct a centered casings hole.
First I marked with a pencil the outline of the casings ejection hole (Image 02), and then I carved out the hole with a Dremel (my first ever use of a Dremel, a somewhat scary tool!), an X-Acto knife, a file, and sanding utensils (Image 03).
Then I marked out (Image 04) and carved out (Image 05) another rectangle, this one behind the forward main spar. This second rectangle was a little bit larger than the intended “keyhole”. Then I constructed the “keyhole” section out of a 2.5-mm-thick piece of Plasticard sandwiched between two 0.5-mm-thick pieces of Plasticard (Image 06). I built it using an X-Acto, a Dremel, a regular drill, and sanding utensils. I glued it into the new rectangular hole using epoxy (Image 07). As expected, this left some cracks between the keyhole section and the edges of the rectangular hole. To eliminate them, I used a technique that I have been testing lately. First, I sanded to get rid of any keyhole section plastic that might be sticking outward (Image 08). Then I airbrushed with Vallejo Model Air paint (Image 09), making sure that some paint went into the cracks between the keyhole section and the edges of the rectangular hole. Then I applied Vallejo Model Color paint with a brush along the periphery of the keyhole section, again making sure that paint went into the cracks, in fact covering them completely this time (Image 10). The main idea here is that I expected paint to stick to paint better than putty sticks to plastic or to paint. That way, the paint (which I am using as a substitute for putty) wouldn’t pop out of the crack when I later sanded. I used Vallejo Model Color paint as the filler because it is thicker than Vallejo Model Air paint. I let the paint cure for 72 hours (which was probably an overkill). Then I sanded off the Vallejo Model Color paint (Image 11), re-scribed the rivets, added two square panels behind the keyhole, and airbrushed with Vallejo Model Air paint (Image 12).
I’m fairly happy with the results. The only issue that I found was that it was hard to sand the Model Color paint (Step 11). When fully cured, I think that this paint is harder than plastic! Next time I think I will try using Vallejo Model Air also for the brush application, and see what happens.
Thank you all for your help!