Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Zeke) "Build Update #4"

[UKguyInUSA]

Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Zeke) (x2) "Build Update #1"

Hello Guys,

This is my latest build that I started a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had the time to jump on here and post my build progress, until now. So, here goes....

I've decided to build two A6M2's at the same time, so that I can model one in the Aircraft carrier based all over Japanese Navy Grey/Green color and one in the ground based Japanese Navy Green upper and the Japanese Navy Grey lower. The Grey/Green version will have little chipping, but the Green version will have heavy chipping. The chipping will be done by using the "hairspray" technique.

These will be my 18th and 19th model builds since starting modeling in January 2014, and, they will be my first ever attempts at Japanese WWII aircraft, so, I've been looking forward to doing these.

Anyway, that's enough of the introduction, let's get on with the build.....


As always, I start my builds by washing the sprues in warm soapy water...





Next, I assembled both drop tanks, one for each plane...





I then put all the small parts onto cocktail sticks in preparation for painting...





All parts were then taken to the spray booth for airbrushing a black base coat onto....













When the black base coat was dry, I then airbrushed Cockpit Interior Green onto the fuselage interiors and onto the cockpit tub parts....









I then made a start on detailing the cockpit tub and added the instrument panel decals, then assembled the separate parts to form the tub....

























I then started on the radial engine parts and cowlings, and assembled them when the paint was dry...













It was now time to assemble the cockpit tubs into the starboard side fuselage halves and then assemble the portside fuselage halves onto the starboard side...













It was now time to assemble the wings and horizontal stabilizers onto both planes...





Followed by assembling the starboard side upper wing sections, then the portside upper wing sections, taping the wings to set the dihedral and to hold them in place whilst the glue set. I then glued the horizontal stabilizers into position...

















When the glue had set, I removed the tape and checked both planes to see how they looked so far...





Well, that's it for the first update. Next, I will prepare the planes for priming and applying paint.


Thanks in advance for taking a look and commenting, much appreciated and in the meantime, if you'd like to watch my "Build Update #1" video on YouTube, here is the link for that:


[youtube]PBuSMyQB9bY[/youtube]



Cheers,

Martin

[Nige201980]

Great work Martin

[shortCummins]

Hi Martin

I'm curious, why build two versions at once, why not one after the other?

great job(s) so far

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[UKguyInUSA]

Great work Martin

Thanks, Nige, much appreciated!

Cheers
Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

Hi Martin

I'm curious, why build two versions at once, why not one after the other?

great job(s) so far

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Thanks John, much appreciated!

If I build them in parallel, I save a lot of set up times and airbrush cleanings...one set up for base coats, one set up for interior green, one set up for priming, one set up for silvering, one set up for hairspray, one set up for clear coat...etc etc. I then build two planes in slightly more time than building one plane. The only time there will be two set ups, is for the final camo colors...one plane will be in the Japanese navy Green and the other in the all over Japanese Grey/Green. But, apart from that, every other part of the process is identical.

It's similar to the production line in a car manufacturing company, thanks to Henry Ford.

Cheers

Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Zeke) (x2) "Build Update #2"


Okay, so I got more done on the two Mitsubishi A6M2 Zeros and I'm just getting around to posting the progress. Following on from where I left off in update #1, I began to prepare the two planes for priming. First, I masked the wheel well by temporarily sticking the wheel bay doors in place with putty:









I then used damp tissue to mask inside the cockpit areas and then cleaned both planes and their drop tanks with Isopropyl Alcohol:





When the alcohol had evaporated from the plane surfaces, I then primed them and their drop tanks with Model Masters Grey Primer and when that had dried, I checked everything to see how they looked, and, all looked okay:











Next, I airbrushed silver all over one plane that I intend to have heavy chipping and silver onto the leading edges of the wings, horizontal stabilizer, rudder and around the cockpit fuselages surfaces and wing root areas of the second plane:







When the silver paint was dry, this was all sealed in with a clear coat of "Pledge" (Future) which was my first time using this product and this build is an experiment to see what I feel about using this product compared to the Model Masters clear coats that I have always used without issues since I started modeling in January 2014:





When the clear coat had dried, it was then time to airbrush a couple of thin coats of hairspray onto the silver surfaces in preparation for applying the "Hairspray Chipping" technique later in this build. I decanted Hairspray into my airbrush cup, then sprayed it onto the planes and drop tanks:








When the hairspray had dried, I then pre-shaded both planes and their drop tanks with thinned down Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black:








Okay, with the pre-shading applied and dry, it was time to airbrush the camo colors onto the planes and drop tanks. I started by airbrushing the Japanese Navy Grey, Tamiya XF-12 toned down with around 20% XF-2 Flat White onto the underside of one of the planes and a drop tank:








I then added more white to what was left in the airbrush cup and then airbrushed some highlights on top of what I had just airbrushed, to produce some tonal variations:





While that was drying, I took the second plane and drop tank and airbrushed them all over with the one color cam scheme using Tamiya XF-76 Japanese navy Grey/Green, again, toned down with around 20% Tamiya XF-2 Flat White:











Again, I added more white to what was left in the airbrush cup to create some highlights on top of what was previously airbrushed:








Now that the second plane was completed with its camo color, I went back to the first plane and masked it to airbrush the upper side with Tamiya XF-11 Japanese Navy Green toned down around 20% with Tamiya XF-2 Flat White:








Again, I added more white to what was left in the airbrush cup and airbrushed highlights in places to provide tonal variations:





When this was dry, I then checked how both planes and drop tanks looked, and so far, I thought they were looking good:








I then decided to glue the radial engine and cowling assemblies onto the fronts of both planes:





After doing that, I painted the areas around the cockpit on top of the fuselage that are seen through the canopies- Interior Cockpit green behind the seat and black for the anti-glare in front of the cockpit. I then painted the leather color onto the seat headrests, chipped one of the propellers and temporarily located it onto the front of its corresponding plane. After that, I thought that I'd gone far enough for this update #2 and therefore, I took some photos at different angles to look at everything in closer detail (and for you guys to take a look at, too!):






































Then finally, I took a couple of images of both planes side by side for comparison:








So, that's it for this update guys. I haven't done much since this was done last Friday because of the Memorial Day weekend Holidays and having family here from Florida until they leave tomorrow afternoon (May 29th). I should be able to get back onto these planes this coming weekend...I'm starting to get withdrawals!


Thanks for following this build along and for your comments so far, both on here and on my YouTube videos for this build. And, if you'd like to watch my "Build Update #2" YouTube video for this update, here is the link to that:


[youtube]t96YKuENSL8[/youtube]


Happy modeling and have fun,

Cheers

Martin

[patrickroos]

As always Martin,

Fantastic build thread, truly enjoy following your progress mate!
Great builds, really good paintwork, and sweet results.
Gonna be two really nice planes when You get the "meatballs" on and some weathering!

[UKguyInUSA]

As always Martin,

Fantastic build thread, truly enjoy following your progress mate!
Great builds, really good paintwork, and sweet results.
Gonna be two really nice planes when You get the "meatballs" on and some weathering!

Thanks Patrick, greatly appreciated, mate!

Cheers

Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Zeke) (x2) "Build Update #3"

Well, it's been a week since I posted my last update for these two Zeros, but I managed to get a bit more done. Since my last "Build Update #2" report the following progress has been completed:

First, I masked the leading edges on the wings of the Zero that is painted in the IJN Green upper, in preparation for painting the yellow bands on them. I then brush painted thin coats of Tamiya XF-3 Yellow on, allowed it to dry a little then removed the masking tape to check how it looked;








Next, using wet Q-Tips/Cotton Buds, I wetted the areas on the IJN grey/green painted model to activate the hairspray beneath the paint, which in turn helps the paint to be chipped/peeled away to expose the silver paint beneath. I decided to do light chipping on this plane....

















...and heavier chipping on the plane painted in the IJN dark green upper:














Next, I sealed the chipping in on both planes and drop tanks with a clear coat prior to beginning the decaling:





Once the clear coat had dried, overnight, I began the decaling, starting with the IJN Grey/Green plane....














....and followed by the IJN Dark Green Upper plane:








When the decal had set, I then applied some more chipping to the Upper Dark Green plane to make the decals look worn and battered, too:











I then sealed everything in with another clear coat prior to commencing to applying the pin washes, dirty washes, filters, oil, fuel and dirt streaks:





While those clear coats were drying, I moved onto painting the 4 crew figures, two for each plane, that come with the kits; two standing pilots and two seated pilots;











And, that was the end of my work for this update, but I took a few more photos of what had been completed on both planes so far;
































I then put the planes side by side for a couple of comparison shots;








So, where do I go from here? Well, first I will apply a oil pin-wash to highlight the recessed panel lines, followed by a dirty wash. I will then seal those in with a clear coat and when that is dry, I will add a color filter and maybe some highlights and lowlights, blend in the decals and create exhaust, oil, fuel and dirt stains. When all of that is done, I will mask and paint the canopies, remove the temporarily located undercarriage doors and paint the insides of them, along with the wheel wells, a metallic blue color. When that is dry, I will do a final assembly and then airbrush a dull clear coat over both planes to finish them off, and the final small items will be assembled, such as the antenna cable, pitot tubes and aileron counter balance weights to complete this build.

My next update will be the "Final Reveal", so until then, thanks for following this build thread and for your kind encouraging comments, much appreciated!

In the meantime, if you'd like to watch my YouTube "Build Update #3" video for this report, then here is the link to that:


[youtube]3Ecg5wrLr0o[/youtube]


Until the "Final Reveal", have fun and happy modeling!

Cheers
Martin

[Nige201980]

Martin they look brilliant mate.

[martin57]

VERY NICE MARTIN GOOD WORK

[shortCummins]

Hi Martin

great work so far mate

you said you added more chipping after the decals, did you use the same process of a damp Q-tip on the decals?

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[patrickroos]

Yeah mate, that's awesome!
Love the chipping effects
Martin Your really turning out top drawer stuff now, very impressive.
Cant wait to see these Japanese twins finished!

[UKguyInUSA]

Martin they look brilliant mate.

Thanks Nige, much appreciated mate!

Cheers
Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

VERY NICE MARTIN GOOD WORK

Thanks Martin, greatly appreciated mate!

Cheers
Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

Hi Martin

great work so far mate

you said you added more chipping after the decals, did you use the same process of a damp Q-tip on the decals?

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Thanks John, much appreciated mate!

Regarding chipping after decaling: I couldn't use the water to activate the hairspray method, because I'd sealed everything in with another clear coat prior to decaling. So, I used the tip of my scalpel blade and carefully removed the decal and paintwork down to the silver beneath.

Cheers
Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

Yeah mate, that's awesome!
Love the chipping effects
Martin Your really turning out top drawer stuff now, very impressive.
Cant wait to see these Japanese twins finished!

Thank for your kind praise, Patrick, greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

Tamiya 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Zeke) (x2) "Build Update #4"

It's been a week since my last update, but I have completed both of these Zeros! But, before I reveal them, the following is the work that I did to them since my last update and up to their completion:


After the last gloss clear coat had dried, it was time to start weathering both planes. I started off on the lighter colored plane with a pin-wash:








I then applied a dark dirt wash to the dark green plane:








After the washes, another clear coat was applied to seal them in, then when that had dried, I applied a light color filter to tone down the decals and to provide some highlights on various areas of each plane:














I then added exhaust stains to both planes using a mix of Model Masters brown and black acrylic washes and some graphite dust scraped from the tip of a 6B pencil:








When the exhaust stains were complete, I then moved onto adding fuel, oil and dirt streaks:





When I felt happy with what had been completed so far, I then sealed everything with the final Matt/Flat clear coat. I used Model Masters, which has always been a great clear coat for me on all of my models since starting modeling on January 2014:





When the final flat coat had dried, I removed the temporarily located undercarriage doors, and painted the inside of those and the wheel wells a metallic blue. I used a mix of Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver and X-4 Blue. When that had dried, I applied a gloss clear coat, let that dry then applied a dirt wash:











Next, I painted the canopies, starting with a black base coat followed by the external color for each plane. I decided to use the full closed canopy for the light grey/green plane and the 3 section open/sliding canopy for the dark green version. When the canopies were complete, I assembled the internal aerials before assembling the canopies into place:














With the canopies and aerials in place, it was now time to focus on the underneath of each plane. I therefore assembled the wheel assemblies and fitted those into place, along with the rear wheels. I also fitted the long range fuel/drop tanks onto the underside of each fuselage:











With the wheels and drop tanks in place, all that was left to do to complete both planes was to glue the pitot tubes, aileron counterbalance weights and upper side limiters in place, then using some EZ-Line attach the antennas. Whilst super-gluing the antenna cables into place, I discovered that both aerials were very delicate, they both snapped in the process! I therefore had to super-glue the broken halves together, but it left a slight bulge/witness that was difficult to try and smooth out without re-breaking the aerials, so, I had to live with what was.

Anyway, that's it for this final build update; the "Final Reveal" photos will be released soon in a separate thread.

Thanks to those that have followed this build both on here and on my YouTube account, and for the kind and encouraging comments, it is greatly appreciated!

Until the "Final Reveal", take care and have a great weekend!

Cheers
Martin

[rodrant]

Very nice looking Zeros Martin ! Follow the thread build and your videos as usual and again wonderful work mate !

Well done and liked a lot the idea to make two in one !