A6M3-3A Zero Fighter, Maj. Saburo Shindo

[Floki]

That cockpit is looking sweet. I've used aquanet for chipping in the past I think it's better (and cheaper) than the purpose made stuff from AK/Mig.

[KennyX]

Thanks Clint!

It’s pretty workable stuff now that I’ve gotten my head around the best manner for me to use it. That was the thing. When I’d just bomb it on out of the can, it would pool. When I started using it with the airbrush it was better but still unreliable. Once I figured our how many coats to use yesterday, and a good tool to chip with, it all made sense.

[KennyX]

Fuselage is all sealed-up, and test-fitting the cockpit module in there reveals no issues whatsoever!



I used the seatbelt decal that came with the kit. It’ll look nice in there with some oils on it and a flat coat:



Fill-City right here:



I wanted to get started on the wings, so I painted the gear bays:

1. After washing the piece, I sprayed Flat Aluminum on it.



2. I mixed up that cool-looking metallic blue green, with a Metallic Blue and Clear Green 2:1, thinned it 1:1 and began the actual painting. The first coat I darkened all the little individual areas:



3. After that was done, I began spraying blend coats. This is what I got:

[speedgraflex]

Beautiful!

[KennyX]

Thank you! I love that color and it’s going to look great on this project!

[Stikpusher]

Oh I do like that! Beautiful work in those wheel wells.

[Medicman71]

Very nice!

[KennyX]

Thank you, fellas.

This was a BIG factor in determining that a hummingbird would be the natural world inspiration for this aircraft. That metallic blue X green just got me. And the Japanese used it so sparingly in all the right places. It’ll give an interesting contrast to this already fantastic color scheme.

[BlackSheep214]

Aotaki green... nice! Looking forward in seeing how you’ll weather this one up.

[KennyX]

Good morning! Lots to talk about today!

Firstly, I got the top-side center-line seam polished out:



And secondly, I got the fills done on the bottom, and got that all sanded and polished:



Both surfaces are now nice and smooth. Milliput got the job done on that seam too, boy.

Next came the customary entombing of all that hard work I put into the cockpit module in the fuselage:



There’s plenty of contact surfaces to weld, so that bad-boy isn’t going anywhere. I sure hope that doesn’t bite me in the ass later.

And I also got the gear bays dry-brushed, and dirtied-up with an oil paint wash:







For the dry-brushing I used Model Master Steel enamel, and used it sparingly. For the wash I used Windsor and Newton’s Payne’s Gray. I’m happy with the results.