Tonys Tamiya 1/48 A6M2 Zero

[yak face]

Ok its time I threw my Hachimaki into the ring so heres my entry for Karls GB , the Tamiya A6M2 Zero in 1/48 .
Its an old tooling dating from 1973 , this particular boxing being issued in 2007 .I got this from the Hinckley show for £15 , included in the box were a SBS resin cockpit set , resin wheels , brass machine guns and an Eduard PE set . As far as the kit goes its not bad at all , engraved panel lines but detail is quite minimal , the Eduard cockpit set should liven things up and im not sure if the machine guns are right for this variant , but we’ll see. ( BTW the resin cockpit set and wheels have gone on eBay , I didnt fancy the hassle of fettling in a resin pit and the wheels were no big improvement over the plastic ones )
This type of kit suits me fine , not too many parts but enough detail to look ok. I’ll be doing the version from the carrier Akagi, in the light grey scheme . Might paint the hinomaru and coloured bands on fuse and tail and just use the decal numbers and other small stuff.

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Good stuff Tony,
Sounds like a bargain, especially with all the extras.
For some reason I particularly like the box art... quite striking that is,and of course it's a Tamiya, what's not to love. ?!

 

[Tim Marlow]

Another Zero, excellent…..

 

[Jim R]

Looks good Tony. Seems to have stood the test of time well - 50 years old. Good value as well. Should be fun and I'm sure you'll make a great job of this iconic plane.

 

[yak face]

Got started today ,I know its for a hasegawa kit , but I’m going to use the Eduard pe to jazz up the cockpit a bit : just got to try and match the colour . After a bit of mixing its close enough for me. So the cockpit was sprayed , along with various other bits of the interior
.The seat was a rather poor effort from Tamiya with moulded on belts , no holes and an ejector pin mark bang in the middle. Luckily I have a set of PE for various japanese aircraft and it includes a seat. This was duly folded up and glued ( cyano ) and looks tons better than the original.

 

[papa 695]

Nice one Tony, and a cracking start.

 

[Geoffers]

Good start Tony

The replacement seat is a huge improvement on the kit part. However the original seat along with the other cockpit detail is still impressive for a kit of 1970s vintage

Geoff.

 

[Jim R]

It's always a bit of a challenge using PE intended for one kit with another. The seat is certainly worth using.

 

[yak face]

Got a good go at this today . The PE is about 25% useful , im only going to be able to use the instrument panel , rudder pedals and seat belts , these are the most prominent bits in any cockpit anyway. Speaking of the belts , the Eduard pe set supplies lap belts only , reference for the harness layout is very varied and contradictory - some show just lap belts , some show lap belts and a single diagonal shoulder belt and some show a four belt set up. I decided to use the Eduard lap belts and add a single shoulder belt from the Reheat etch set .
The cockpit details have been painted and had a drybrush with silver to simulate wear , before it all goes together I’ll give it an oil wash to give a bit of depth.

 

[Mickc1440]

Great start Tony, lovely work on the office especially that seat

 

[papa 695]

Nice looking pit Tony.

 

[yak face]

Its now had a dark brown oil wash to give some shading and the main parts have been put together. The gunsight has been added to the top of the instrument panel but the reflector was too thick and had a seam down the middle so it was cut off and will be replaced with my trusty holographic confetti . Its now nestled in the fuselage , the airframe should start moving rapidly now .

 

[Mark1]

Looking good in there .

 

[Geoffers]

Looks great Tony, coming along very nicely

Geoff.

 

[Jim R]

That cockpit is stunning Tony. Some very fiddly work but so worth it.

 

[scottie3158]

Tony,
Your off to a great start.

 

[langy71]

Cracking start Tony, that cockpit looks spot on,

 

[KarlW]

That cockpit didn't deserve to be sealed away....

 

[yak face]

Well after a week away i got back into this today . Ive sanded the seams on the fuselage and fitted the one piece bottom wing . The wing tops were added later after the locating pins had been cut off, this way I could ensure as tight a joint as possible at the wing root, any slight misalignment is much easier to sort out . Ive been looking at the engine too, not a bad effort but would benefit from a bit of tittivation, so i drilled out 14 holes and got some fine copper wire ( from a piece of 13 amp cable ),which I heated with a lighter to give a darker appearance . I drilled fourteen holes and each has had two pieces of wire CA’d in . These will be bent to fit into the front and top of each of the fourteen cylinders

 

[Lee Drennen]

As Jim said just Stunning. I have this model but I don’t think I can bring it to the level you have.