SPA Modeler

I have always loved the detail you put in your cockpits, excellent work Joe!

Thank you PZL.

Well, I got this turkey finished last night. It's in the markings of Chief Petty Officer Takeo Okumura of NAG 201 on Bougainville Island around September of 1943. Okumura was a 54 kill ace and is reportedly the only IJN pilot to score 10 kills in a day. On September 22nd, 1943, his luck ran out when he tangled with P-38's and P-40's and went MIA.

To rehash, the kit is the very nice Hasegawa A6M3 Model 22 "Rabaul edition". It has good detail and a well done cockpit, but its not in the same league as the new-tooled Tamiya example (which is stunning). That said, these can be found relatively cheap, half the price of the Tamiya kit. On this one, I wired the engine and added PE lap belts. I also added brake lines and made a new pitot tube out of brass tubing. I painted in the Hinomarus which were much easier than I thought it would be. I did use some of the kit decals and then pieced together Okumura's tail code with various spare decal sheets I had in the stash. I ended up painting in the "WI" on the tail. It worked out well and I may paint in more of these codes and such in the future. Amazing what a bit of Tamiya tape and an Exacto can do. Believe it or not, I had no trouble with the Hasegawa decals that I did use, albeit they were small. I wouldn't chance it and try their Hinomarus. I like my new method...lol.

Another first (and last) was using grey Tempura paint to highlight the panel lines in the black cowl. I'm not to thrilled on how it turned out. It just looks sloppy. I'll probably go back and respray the cowl

Thanks for following...

Joe

Joe, your handwriting on this - the streaking and overall weathering - is distinctive. I really dig your style, it perfectly suits planes of this era. Also your sense for the small details is top notch.

There's still no Japanese plane in my stash. Have to close that gap soon.

Thank you mostrich. I just started the Hasegawa A6M2 Model 21 Zero which will be in Pearl Harbor markings. I'll post pics soon ...

Joe

That is simply beautifully done. Wow.

This is what I call a "crisply sharp build" and the quality of the pictures just seconds that!
Especially when it is not heavily/overly weathered. Something that seems to be more the rule with Japanese WW2 planes.

Looking forward to the Pearl Harbor version!

- Kari

High standard finished Zero Joe great !

You guys don't help much. Posting pics of these gorgeous models and making me desire a Tamiya 32 one

Thanks folks...

Superb build. Not a big fan of that base, however...