Airfix A01005 / Mitsubishi A6M2b

[speedgraflex]

Aircraft flown in the Pearl Harbor attack aboard carrier Akagi, lead ship of Carrier Div. 1. 1941.

A6M2b MODEL 21

Engine: Sakae 12
HP: 940
Weight: 5,313lbs
Maximum speed: 288 mph
Maximum range: 1,930 miles
Armaments: 20mm canons (x2), 7.7mm machine guns (x2)

In addition to the Trumpeter 1:72 P-40B, Carlos mentioned the good critical reviews for the Airfix version. Taking his advice, I located a Dogfight Double on eBay with both 1:72 P-40B and 1:72 Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero, then bid on the boxed set at auction. I was most interested in the P-40B, understand, and the Zero was an afterthought.

I never was really drawn to the subject of the Zero, but I recognize now that was a mistake. Better late then never. In light of this change, I may even fire up this little blue plastic kit before starting the next big project. In a way this reminds me of doing the 109: after many stops and starts with the beautifully tooled FM kit I found a way forward with a simpler Heller version. My Dad would call that standard operating procedure for me and he might be right. Maybe all it takes is a little simplicity of design/smaller scale to clear a way forward.

The similarities between early Heller and much later Airfix kits extends to a slightly softer plastic. I have an idea I will be filling the longitudinal panel lines aft at least with CA—the added benefit of hardening the plastic and filling cartoonish panel lines at the same time. This and other approaches to working with soft plastic kits stem directly from my four week contact with the Heller 109.

Notes

The wheel well color? I assume this is the same color as the fuselage.

[Floki]

I'm guessing this is a fairly old kit. Looking forward to more info.

[speedgraflex]

Hi Clint! This is the 2011 Airfix tooling, which replaces the one that had been in use since the earth cooled!

[Floki]

Those are some very big and deep panel lines. Wonder what they was thinking.

[speedgraflex]

I know! You’re right! I wish I knew. A designer call? I mean Airfix designs by committee so it was really more than one person who felt that deep lines represented delicate paneling best. I think this is a “beginner” kit made for brush paints; maybe the decision was made to add depth to make the detailing stand out. I sanded the largest and most egregious sections which still need edge finessing/blending. The fuselage looks a bit better.

[Stikpusher]

You should enjoy this one Bruce. Like the 109, there are a lot of nuances to the Zero. Historically, in 1941/42, it was arguably the best fighter plane in the world in many respects. When coupled with its superbly trained and battle experienced pilots, not much could stand in its way. It had its weak points, but those would take months of battles, and scores of losses to come to light.
You’re off to a good start, and yes, filling in those overscale recessed panel lines looms to be a wise idea.
As for the color of the wheel wells, those should be a color called aotake, a blue green clear coating preservative, applied over the bare aluminum. I’ll see what I can dig up for you on Zero colors. If you’re going with the Pearl Harbor markings as they looked on December 7th, don't do the chipping on the cowling, or anywhere else, as shown on that profile artwork. The Zeros were just entering service shortly before the attack, and were fairly new.

[speedgraflex]

Thanks, Carlos! Thank you so much for pointing out that the profile is not accurate. At least I found the first photo, which is from 1941 and is the aircraft on the deck of the carrier itself; a propaganda image but a beautiful one. I think I know what you mean about the shiny silvery blue anti-corrosive paint that was used. I need to research that more. I added CA to the sides and will prime the fuselage before I draw the grid to rescribe the lines properly. The main reason I am priming the fuselage is to check the look of the CA fills.

I am going to need advice on cutting the canopy apart. I would like to at least consider this and I have the saws and blades to do a very fine cut, but I am not quite sure how to support the canopy and which cut to make first.

[Floki]

When it comes to colors, hopefully Kenny will pop in he did a lot of research for his zeros.

[Stuart]

I think the depth of the panel lines was solely down to cost and the limits of the tooling that they could afford at the time, bearing in mind that at lot of the kits like this with deep panel lines were manufactured whilst the new Hornby owned Airfix was getting it's act together. It's some thing they definitely improved on over the years.

Having built a lot of these earlier kits though, they do build up well and the panels aren't as bad as they look under paint, especially if you've brushed it. You wouldn't want to panel line wash them though.

Looking forward to seeing this come together Bruce!

[LyleW]

So, how many do you have going right now? Yikes...lovely a/c. You will do it justice. . . and more. For what it is worth, there was a show, "Air Warriors" on the Smithsonian channel - an episode on the Zero had some nice shots.

https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/show ... 87/3467273