SPA Modeler

On the heels of finishing that Dauntless debacle, I found myself staring at my kit stash pondering my next project. I was thinking about an easy out of the box build that would not need too much work. Perhaps some decals and PE belts keeping it simple. I was eyeing my Japanese stack and I eventually had it dwindled down to the Hasegawa A6M3 Type 22 "Rabaul" Zero and KI-44 Tojo. Since my Alclad supply is dwindling, the NMF Tojo was ruled out and would have to wait. I decided on the Zero. Besides, Its the only variant I haven't built yet and the Zero is by far my favorite Japanese fighter (thanks to the movie Final Countdown).



I started with the cockpit. Its decent OOB but nothing spectacular. I thinned out the seat a bit to scale and drilled out the lightening holes in the backrest. I then added PE lap belts from the stash (alot of Japanese aircraft only had lap belts....some not even that). The 'pit was preshaded XF-1 Flat Black and then sprayed with XF-71 Cockpit Green which is supposed to be the correct color for Mitsubishi interior green. I added a touch of XF-49 Khaki to brown it up a bit. I used the kit decal for the IP dials under Micro Sol, then added 5 minute epoxy to simulate the glass lenses. It turned out ok I think.




I added the cockpit to the fuselage and test fitted the airframe. It looks like the fit will be good and void of the Hasegawa infamous wing root problems.



I'll be buttoning this one up soon. Off to find some A6M3 decals...

Joe

My favorite version of the Zero...nice...

Thanks guys.

Thanks Jim. Agreed, how about we change that.

In for an update. This one has been a walk in the park compared to the Hasegawa Type 21 I built a few years ago. Other than the usual issues with the wing-fuselage joint, it was painless.



I then preshaded the panel lines with XF-1 Flat Black. I then sprayed the leading edge wing ID stripes with XF-3 Flat yellow enhanced with a touch of XF-7 Flat Red and taped these off. I also painted in the red "do not step" warning rectangles with XF-7 and taped these off with thin strips of Tamiya tape. Past experience showed this to be much easier than the flimsy decals for these.



Since I always have trouble with Japanese Hinomarus (the meatballs) decals setting properly, I thought I would try my hand at painting them in. I sprayed the general area with XF-7 then took out my trusty circle template. I used a fresh Exacto and carefully sliced out the appropriate sized circles in Tamiya tape, which was fastened to a piece of mirrored glass. I was surprised how easy this was. I need to find a metal template though for I don't know how well mine will hold up under many many Hinomarus...



My research showed that A6M3 models in the South Pacific (Rabaul and Bouganville, etc) were either all "olive green" or dark green over olive green, at least according to the "jaircaft" website (awesome by the way). I took olive green as the elusive "Amer-hiro" caramel-like color and painted the underside with XF-76 Grey Green thusly.



Then it got the usual menagerie of streaking and post shading. A bit of XF-1 Flat Black was added to the post shade solution for the exhaust streaks which wanted to stick out. I also lighted the fabric control surfaces by adding XF-2 Flat White to the XF-76.



These were Navy planes so for the upper surface I chose XF-61 IJN Dark Green. I wanted to simulate sun fading, so after I sprayed it straight, I added XF-57 Buff and lightened panels.



I then did my normal streaking effect and also faded out the control surfaces. I used the same technique on Boyington's Corsair which I was pleased with. Here we are after all the tape has been removed. It looks like the wings have been taking a beating from the sun. The cowl was painted XF-1 Flat black with XF-8 Flat Blue added to simulate Mitsubishi cowl color.




Now its time to address the Sakae 21. Hasegawa does a nice job on it, to include separate push rods, but it needs wiring. I used styrene rod and stereo wire for this.



First, everything was sprayed in Alclad Dark Aluminum. Using a picture as reference, I added the wire points with the rod styrene as seen here.



Next the (stereo) wires themselves were chopped, pre-shaped, then added to the points and run to the cylinder heads using instant superglue. Use "pointed" tweezers to make your life less miserable with this. Kidding aside, this goes quickly once you get the wire cut and bent to the right sizes(s).



The push rods were painted black and gear box in Neutral Grey. Once painted, do the following in this order:

1. Testors Gloss Coat (barrier for the wash)
2. Detailer wash
3. Testors Flat Coat
4. A blast of Tamiya Smoke (X-19) full strength for a used appearance.

Done...........



Thats a brief overview. For an in-depth step-by-step look at how I rig my radials, go to the tips section and check out my Dauntless rigging.

Now if I could just decide on a particular subject. A6M3 decals are slim pickings and not very interesting. I can't justify buying a whole sheet for just tail markings. I may raid my two Tamiya kits in the stash...

Joe

Excellent work Lawdog!

Looking good!

love the wiring work!

Thanks folks..