Very nice Zero AA. Zero is a lovely plane - almost perfect lines, especially the A6M2 and M3. It looks great from every direction. There was a saying in WWII aviation - "if it looks good, it flies good." Zero proves that proverb. The plane had remarkable performance given its basically lame engine. And the fact that the A6M5 should not have flown in combat says nothing about the plane's design but the inability of Japan's industry to build reliable second generation fighters - they could design them, they just couldn't build them - their machine tool industry simply didn't allow for the tolerances required. So both the Raiden and the very aggressive A7M were on the drawing board before Pearl Harbor, but industry simply couldn't put Hirokoshi's brilliant designs into fliable aircraft, and the Jack didn't come out until late summer 1944 (it was always a hangar queen like all second generation IJ fighters) and the A7M never deployed. The Ki-61 was based on the engine and plans for the BF-109E. Instead of simply copying the 109 the Japanese completed work on their own airframe. The plane was deployed in late 42 but was always hampered by it's dicey build quality, especially of the engine. The IJAAF wanted to build a much more powerful version (the Ki-61-II) but it was a design debacle. Ironically the best of the breed were a small number of Ki-61s that were fitted with a functional radial engine and redesignated the Ki-100. BTW: Japan's obsession with build quality in all things after WWII was very much a "lesson learned" from being taught the problems of a second rate manufacturing base during WWII: in 1945 Oscars were fighting Mustangs - ouch.
Speaking of Japanese quality, I've finished the basic assembly of the Tamiya Ki-61-Id. If anyone doubts the superiority of Tamiya in the plastic modeling world, they have to build this kit. It's not simple - the part count is too high. But the fit is simply excellent. You install the cockpit by pushing it up through the bottom of the fuselage: sounds like trouble but "click" and it's in perfectly. The entire wing assembly is one piece and it is also kind of maneuvered into the right angle for - another click and zero gaps anywhere. I've only used a tiny bit of filler on one small error on the wing, and a couple of really small seams underneath. I think I'll be able to have a very clean model to apply NMF on.
Assembled by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr
Obviously there are some pieces missing - not sure what I'll leave off during priming and painting. Also, as this is the first crack at Vallejo's newish Metal Color paints, I'm going to be assaulting a paint mule (get this - an ancient 1/72 model of the A7M - a neat plane not modeled today at all) with primers, clear coats and the paints. I don't want a bright and shinny fighter - I doubt those existed in WWII. So figuring out how to paint and weather this project will take some time.
Eric