”I brought my “Modeling The A6M Zero” book with me to read while I wait for her in the recovery room. I didn’t want to just be sitting here fretting about things while the Surgeon is working on my wife, so I figured reading about models and thinking about them would be a good way to kill time.
I was reading and thinking about the A6M3 I did (my first Zero) and I was mentally comparing it to the work that I’m doing on this Zero, and in pretty much a single instant I realized that I hate that A6M3 I did.
It’s all the weathering I put on that bird. To me it seems now, when looking at the photos, completely overdone. Granted, I was a much different modeler back when I built that aircraft, back in February/March. Bruce, The Man himself said it was a “watershed moment” for me. And he’s right. It was a big turning point for me in terms of how I do a project. It was really my first step toward the personal style I’ve developed for myself. And for that, Im certainly glad I did it. But all that said, after doing this Zeke, I look at that A6M3 and I think to myself “That could have been so much better.”
For one thing- the work I did wiring the engine. I dislike that. I need to improve upon that in the future and at least with this current Zeke I am indeed heading in that direction. The work I did on my 1:32 Sakae 12 in this bird is vastly superior to that one and thank all you guys again for encouraging me to super-detail it and for your support.
Another thing- the decal seatbelts. It’s a big wart that I intentionally put right there in that beautiful cockpit. I can’t believe I did that.
And another thing- the chipping. I had an inkling that I would end up finding it distasteful... it started back when I immediately knocked-out that Corsair around the time I had moved that Zero into the paint stage. I noticed that as I was chipping that bird, I was using a much more gentle, conservative approach. Two-layer chipping, with bare metal and primer exposed, on that Corsair. And while BIG HOG still shows that I have much room for development and improvement in terms of the where’s and when’s it’s appropriate to use my chipping skills, I think it looks much better. It definitely shows a step up. Anyway, I dislike the chipping on my A6M3 for two reasons:
1. I feel like there’s too much of it.
2. There is no primer to be seen at all.
From the research I’ve been doing, I’ve learned that Japan used very high quality primers and paints during that period, and they were incredibly durable. Something which I recall Carlos noting back when I began that build. And while I took his advice into account -as I always do, as his feedback and advice helps me sharpen my vision for the project- I feel like I took it too far.
I’ve been thinking about building my 1:32 Zoukei Mura Raiden as my next 1:32 aircraft, as Japanese subjects, I’m finding, are quite good fun to build and paint and puzzle over. I’ve been examining reference photos and from what I’m seeing, the manner and style in which I chipped my A6M3 would be more appropriate on a Raiden. From the shots I’ve been studying, it looks as if there’s no primer under that paint at all. And in a few of the photos, quite a lot of paint is missing.
Early Zeros, on the other hand, were as has been said- manufactured and primed and painted with very high-quality materials.
Looking back, I should have just made minimal chipping around the cowling area, a little bit of light scouring on the cowling flaps (because I do like the look of some bare metal peeking through on those), some small conservative chips on the leading wing edge, wing roots, and maybe some small ones around the canopy area. Some down to just primer, and others exposing bare metal with primer peeking through too. All told- about 10% worth of the amount of chipping I did on that model MAXIMUM.
I’m not telling anybody else how to build and paint Zeros. Rather, this is more of a walk-through of my personal style, looking at how it’s evolving based on the work I’ve done on this project here.
All that said- I am totally gonna do another A6M3 at some point, a better one.
