Tamiya 1:48 Mitsubishi A6M3/3a Zero

Post by **shortCummins** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 4:49 pm

Tamiya have 5 different 1:48 Zeros…

Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 21 Zero [kit no. 61016] - 1973 | Initial release

Mitsubishi A6M3 Type 32 Zero [kit no. 61025] - 1982 | Rebox (Changed box only)

Mitsubishi A6M5c Type 52 Zero [kit no. 61027] -1983 | Rebox (Changed box only)

Mitsubishi A6M5/5a Zero [zeke] [kit no. 61103] - 2008 | Initial release (new tool)

Mitsubishi A6M3/3a Type 21 Zero [kit no. 61108] - 2010 | Rebox (Updated/New parts)

I’ve got the ‘latest’ kit [kit no. 61108] which includes ‘new tooling’ for wings and wing tips, photo-etched wing tip folding mechanism, seated pilot and 4 standing figures.

In total the kit has seven sprue, including one clear and one sprue with four standing figures, a small PE, for the folding wing tips and two sheets decal sheets giving a choice of thee schemes.

AS BOX ART
251st Air Group in the Solomon’s, May 1943-this aircraft has an overall grey-green fuselage with green mottling on the upper surfaces and a black cowl (A6M3 Model 22).

Naval Air Group, Iwakuni Airbase, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Autumn 1943-this aircraft is presented in an overall grey-green scheme with black cowl (A6M3 Model 22).

Plane of Major Saburo Shindo, 582nd Naval Air Group, Buin, Bougainville, June 1943-this aircraft is presented in the traditional IJNAF Green upper, with grey-green lower surfaces and black cowl (A6M3a Model 22).

Its a shame that Tamiya don’t have a coloured scheme layout even though their supplied on a separate sheet.

The cockpit looks to be really nicely detailed straight out of the box, with nearly 30 parts, so little need of an upgrade set? However unless you buy the “detailing parts” set you’ll have to either use a decal, make your own or buy some decent seat-belts, why Tamiya, and to be fair other manufactures, don’t supply either PE, fabric or decently moulded seat-belts is beyond me?

The engine is made from 5 parts and looks well detailed and with the addition of some lead-wire leeds and plumbing I’m sure will be more than acceptable.
To the rear of the cowling you have a choice of either open or closed flaps, the main cowling is a nicely moulded single piece, no seam-lines to clean up.

wing-tip PE

“Extras” I’ll be using for this build
Montez masks…

Tamiya supply their own masks…

…however you have to cut these out so I’m not sure I’d be able to get all of them cut out cleanly, so these Montex masks will be used if/when I mess up the Tamiya version.

although this set is for the Hasegawa Zero but I’m sure I can get away with using them on this Tamiya kit.

Wako fiber material seat belts, no idea what their like but they must be better than the Tamiya decal version?

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **RossiM1** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 9:37 pm

Seat reserved for this one, after following the Mosquito build cannot wait to see where you take this one John
Good luck
ATB

YouTube · Post by **NorthernModeller** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 9:52 pm

looks to be a beautiful kit

Post by **shortCummins** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:19 pm

RossiM1 wrote:Seat reserved for this one, after following the Mosquito build cannot wait to see where you take this one John
Good luck
ATB

thanks Gary, this ones not going to require quite so much masking

NorthernModeller wrote:looks to be a beautiful kit

the detail for a 1:48 is as good as anything I've seen

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:21 pm

As with 99% of all aircraft builds I start with the cockpit.

Additional detail added to the side walls of the fuselage

Part of the floor detail is clear, there doesn’t appear to be any masking instructions so I’ve used Humbrol Maskol on what looks like a window? I’m 99% certain that I’ll forget about it and I’m not convinced that you’ll be able to see it once the fuselage is buttoned up.

The IP is constructed using 3 separate pieces, one of which has 2 options.

I originally thought that I’d need to get a resin seat but the one Tamiya supplies is really very nice

I then gave them a coat of the excellent Ultimate black primer

I’ll let the primer cure overnight and start of the interior paint-work tomorrow

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 3:16 pm

Base colours for the cockpit laid down.

Tamiya XF-71 cockpit green and vallejo acrylic metal color dull aluminium 77.717

the instrument panels

bulkheads

I’ve used very thinned XF-71 to allow the black primer to show through and to act as “shadows”.

Next I’ll be adding the painted detail and then I’ll make a start at weathering the cockpit.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **RossiM1** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 4:45 pm

Looking good John nice details in the cockpit, are they all in the kit, or have you added your own scratch built details?
The shading looks very effective. Look forward to seeing your progress.
ATB

Post by **Avgas** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 6:57 pm

Post by **shortCummins** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 7:27 pm

RossiM1 wrote:Looking good John nice details in the cockpit, are they all in the kit, or have you added your own scratch built details?
The shading looks very effective. Look forward to seeing your progress.
ATB

all in the kit, the detail is outstanding

I was going to add some plumbing but it'll all be invisible when its buttoned up some I'm going to leave it as is. However I have got some 'fabric' seat belts that I'll be using

Post by **shortCummins** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 1:32 pm

Detail painting of the cockpit.

Paints used:
Tamiya XF-2 flat white, X-12 gold leaf, X-18 semi gloss black, XF-57 buff
Vallejo acrylic metal color dull aluminium 77.717
Mr Hobby color red H3

next I dry-brushed using Alkan aircraft grey/green BS:283

This green is slightly lighter than Tamiya XF-71, its very subtile and doesn’t really show up in the photos but I like the effect.

more dry-brushing, this time Tamiya XF-24 dark grey

…and finally some sponge chipping with vallejo acrylic metal color dull aluminium 77.717

the bulk heads were also given the same treatment

Everything has been given a coat of Alclad aqua gloss in preparation for some washes and more weathering.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **AridTalons** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 11:34 pm

Nice detailing! Looking forward to more.

YouTube · Post by **NorthernModeller** » Thu Dec 08, 2016 12:00 am

EXCELLENT work, Love the zero and this is looking the business

Post by **shortCummins** » Thu Dec 08, 2016 3:01 pm

AridTalons wrote:Nice detailing! Looking forward to more.

NorthernModeller wrote:EXCELLENT work, Love the zero and this is looking the business

thanks guys, we a;; know Tamiya make good kits but this one (so far) has been exceptional!

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Thu Dec 08, 2016 3:06 pm

Well the fabric seatbelt didn’t work out so I’ve ordered some more from Hannants, I've ordered some HGW laser cut material ones.

I’ve added some pigments to simulate dirt and dust…

These pigments were made by tipping some Ultimate washes, concrete and dark dirt, into a plastic cup and letting them evaporate. This left the clay which I dabbed on with a dry brush.

The cockpit and front bulkheads

You’ll notice that one of the instrument decals slipped, which is a shame. The machine guns were painted with mr metal color iron

The rear bulkhead

I'll attach the seat to the rear bulkhead once I've fitted the seatbelts, I'm guessing it'll be easier than trying to fit the them after the seat is ruled in place.

While I’m waiting for the “new” seatbelts I’ll make a start on the engine

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 1:52 pm

So I’ve started on the engine.

0.2mm coper wire used to represent the ignition(?) wiring…

This was then given a coat of Ultimate black primer.

Next a base coat of vallejo dark aluminium 77.703 (the lighting makes it look a lot brighter than is is)

The ignition wiring was detail painted with vallejo model color brass 70.801

Next I used Tamiya black panel liner

and then added the push-rods and front cover (painted with Akan medium grey/blue FS:35237)

I’ve also worked on the engine cowling
First Ultimate black primer

Then Tamiya XF-69 Nato black

Once that had dried I set about chipping with a prismacolor silver pencil

Next a coat of gloss varnish to seal everything and a spot of dot mapping to give a faded/worn appearance

I’ll let the oil wash fully cure and then give it a flat coat

Next I’ll be joining the fuselage halves, I can’t add the cockpit until the replacement seatbelts arrive and therefore I’ll not be able to fix the wings, so a little bit of thumb twiddling for me.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Sun Dec 11, 2016 12:59 pm

Just to finish off the engine, here’s the exhaust and engine fitted to the cowling.

The exhaust was first painted with Ultimate black primer and then vallejo dull aluminium

Then I gave them a coat of Tamiya brown panel liner, to act as a “glue”, and applied some pigments burnt umber, burnt siena and a little dark red ochre to simulate rust.

I’ve glued the engine block to the rear section and then that to the front cowling

Now I’ll joining the fuselage halves and other little bits’n’bobs.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Mon Dec 12, 2016 6:33 pm

This morning the replacement seat-belts turned up so I’ve spent the day wondering where I can get stronger magnification for my Optivisor, my word those PE buckles are small!

Here are the HGW A6M Zero seat-belts (HGW148527) assembled

and attached to the seat

Then I attached the seat to the rear bulk-head and the side console to the floor

Next was the instrument panel and front bulk-heads

Now I’ll join the fuselage halves and fit the cockpit and wings.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:05 pm

Now that the fuselage halves have been joined I need to weather the cockpit under the canopy.

First I dry-brushed Akan aircraft grey/green BS:283 and then Tamiya XF-16 flat aluminium

Then after a gloss coat Tamiya panel line (dark brown)

it was time to mask the canopy, Tamiya provide a mask set that you need to cut out…

I couldn’t be bothered as I had a Montex set so I decided to use that

I then gave the canopy a coat of interior green

So next will be riveting, adding the wings and rear stabiliser and then a coat of Ultimate primer.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **LM951** » Fri Dec 16, 2016 3:28 am

Looks fantastic! Love the exhaust detail!!!

Post by **Safir** » Fri Dec 16, 2016 4:41 am

stunning work

Post by **shortCummins** » Fri Dec 16, 2016 4:59 pm

LM951 wrote:Looks fantastic! Love the exhaust detail!!!

thanks, it doesn't look quite so orange in real life

Safir wrote:stunning work

much appreciated but the kit makes it easy

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **TommyKillander** » Fri Dec 16, 2016 5:16 pm

Fantastic work, it looks great!

Tommy

Post by **shortCummins** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 3:58 pm

TommyKillander wrote:Fantastic work, it looks great!

Tommy

thanks Tommy

Post by **shortCummins** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 4:08 pm

I’m going to make this aircraft reasonably battle worn so I’ve decided that I need to add extra rivet detail. To help with this I visited this site…
http://www.airwar.ru/other/draw/

…and downloaded this “blueprint” style drawing

so using that as a guide I set about adding the rivet detail, tools used Dymo Tape (as a guide) Rosie the Riveter 0.65mm & 0.75mm.

here you can see the before and after on the top wings

the completed airframe with wings attached

After cleaning with isopropyl alcohol, it was quite grubby from the glue residue of the dymo-tape that I used as a straight-edge guide, I gave the whole thing a coat of Ultimate primer.

I’ll let the whole thing cure for a day or two and then give it a coat of aluminium in preparation for some hairbrush chipping.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Wed Dec 21, 2016 11:59 am

So I’ve let the Ultimate primer ‘cure’ for 2 or 3 days, not strictly necessary but I didn’t really have much of a chance to get to the workbench so it can’t hurt?

I’ve given the whole thing a coat of dull aluminium, thankfully most of the riveting still shows

So thats probably all I’m going to get time for this side of Chrimbo, my workbench is the dinning room table so I don’t think I’ll be able to get too much done until after the festivities.

until next time
Have a wonderful Christmas and I hope Santa brings you all you want!
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **RossiM1** » Wed Dec 21, 2016 9:56 pm

Brilliant job on all that rivet detail John its transformed the detail to another level.
Have a great Christmas and I hope the Styrene Santa is visiting your chimney.
ATB

YouTube · Post by **Skullfish** » Thu Dec 22, 2016 12:56 am

i zeroed in on your zero build lol nice detailing with the riveter! looking fantastic.
Hope you can grab some time over christmas for some zen modeling.
have a great one.

Jase

Post by **shortCummins** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 3:33 pm

So after Christmas, in-laws/out-laws, children and grand-children, then mild phenomena I’ve finally managed to get some bench time.

After spraying the aluminium I needed to respray the metallic blue (Aotake) for the wheel wells and ‘interior’ of the flaps.
First off I masked for the blue

I used Mr Color H63 for the metallic blue

Masking removed

I’m going to spray the whole airframe with aqua gloss to protect the aluminium from the hairspray I’m going to use as a chipping medium

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Mon Jan 23, 2017 1:21 pm

I’ve found a few interesting photo’s of ‘worn’ zero’s showing how battered they could get…

Those photos show some really battered aircraft but I don’t really want to make my zero too battered.
My initial idea was to use the hairspray chipping however I’ve never used this method so I’ve decide to ‘play safe’ and use my usual ‘sponge’ method as I’ll have far more control over the effect. I’ll practice the hairspray method before I commit to an actual model, so it’ll not be this one.

I started with the underside, Tamiya XF-76 gray green. As I’ve sprayed aluminium ‘black basing’ isn’t going to work, so I’ll add darker area’s and highlights once the base has cured

I let the underside dry for an hour or so and then sprayed the top colour Tamiya XF-13 JA green

I’m going to leave this for 24 hours and then I’ll attempt the darkening and highlighting of the fuselage.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **Bissyboat** » Mon Jan 23, 2017 3:50 pm

Coming along nicely. Interesting documentation on the Zero too.

Post by **shortCummins** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:16 am

Thanks Bissy

hopefully I'll get some more work done today

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 7:16 pm

So after mottling the green, doesn’t show up too well in the photos, it was time to set up the Montex mask for the tail tip and Hinomaru.
First up was masking for the white…

Once the white had cured it was on with the red…

I’ll let the red fully cure over-night and then I’ll ‘weather’ the red circles and setup for the rest of the masks, tail identifier and ‘no-walk’ wing marking as well as the yellow wing identifiers.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **Bissyboat** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:02 pm

Post by **shortCummins** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 2:41 pm

To add some interest to the Hinomaru I added a couple of drops of Vallejo Model Color 70.814 burnt red to the Alkan RLM:23 that I’d used for the main colour.

Once that had cured it was time to mask for the ‘no-walk’ lines, wing identifiers, band and aircraft number. Again I sprayed a base coat of white…

…and then sprayed Alkan RLM:23 for the ‘no walk’ and RLM:04 for the rest

You’ll have noticed some of the white seeped under the mask, I like to thin my paint at least 50/50, as well as a little over-spray in a couple of places so I’ll need to correct that and then I can start of the chipping and wear effects.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **Bissyboat** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 2:50 pm

Perfect looking red meatballs.

Post by **jelliott** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 4:31 pm

[quote=
I’m going to make this aircraft reasonably battle worn so I’ve decided that I need to add extra rivet detail. To help with this I visited this site…
http://www.airwar.ru/other/draw/

John(shortCummins)[/quote]

That looks like an excellent resource, thanks for the link!
The Zero is looking fantastic. I'm waiting on the newest 1/32 Hasegawa kit to arrive soon. I pre-ordered it back in late November. I really like the worn look that you achieved with this build!

Post by **shortCummins** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 1:31 pm

jelliott wrote:[quote=
I’m going to make this aircraft reasonably battle worn so I’ve decided that I need to add extra rivet detail. To help with this I visited this site…
http://www.airwar.ru/other/draw/

John(shortCummins)

That looks like an excellent resource, thanks for the link!
The Zero is looking fantastic. I'm waiting on the newest 1/32 Hasegawa kit to arrive soon. I pre-ordered it back in late November. I really like the worn look that you achieved with this build![/quote]

thanks jelliott

I didn't realise Hasegawa are going to release a 1/32 version, I'm sure it'll be a nice kit

Post by **shortCummins** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 1:33 pm

So to start the chipping I first added some highly thinned Tamiya X-19 smoke to all of the major panel lines.
The photos don’t show the effect too well on the upper green…

…and appear over-exaggerated on the underside grey?

…or not at all on the tail number

After the smoke had cured I set about the sponge chipping

Next I’ll give the whole aircraft a coat of Aquagloss in preparation for the weathering

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **Bissyboat** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 2:22 pm

Works pretty well and without using hair spray for chipping effects.

Post by **shortCummins** » Sat Jan 28, 2017 1:29 pm

Bissyboat wrote:Works pretty well and without using hair spray for chipping effects.

thanks Bissyboat, it came out better than I'd expected, sometimes less is more

Post by **shortCummins** » Sat Jan 28, 2017 1:30 pm

I’ve attached the engine and cowl and after a couple of thin coats of aqua gloss I used Tamiya panel line accent color - dark brown for the panel lines…
not so noticeable against the dark green

better on the grey

I used Ultimate dark dirt for gun and exhaust stains

I temporarily ‘blue-tacked’ the landing gear covers to give consistency to the exhaust stain

I added a few stencils and given the whole thing a coat of vallejo matt acrylic varnish. Once this drys I’ll add a dot map and some other stains

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:39 pm

Time for the dot map/filter, a variety of colours used, orange, brown, dark brown, green, yellow and white.
You’ll see from the photos that I only use a small dot, from the tip of a tooth-pick placed randomly…

…then using a soft brush moistened with some odourless turpentine I brush out the dots in the direction of the air-flow

the effect is really subtile, doesn't show too well in the photos but in 'real life' makes a difference

Next I’ve got a some other stains to add and then start nailing on the undercarriage, flaps, wing tips etc and then I’ll be really close to finishing

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **RossiM1** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 7:14 pm

That's looking stunning John can you please explain how you decide what colours to use when you do the oil paint dots, is it determined by the base colour of the model ie Yellows, whites and brown over a green base, been tempted to try it myself but was not sure what colours I should have used.
Cheers

Post by **shortCummins** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:07 pm

RossiM1 wrote:That's looking stunning John can you please explain how you decide what colours to use when you do the oil paint dots, is it determined by the base colour of the model ie Yellows, whites and brown over a green base, been tempted to try it myself but was not sure what colours I should have used.
Cheers

Hi Gary

Nothing too scientific I'm afraid
The set of oils I got from the £1 shop so the range and quality is limited. These has 10 colours white, yellow, orange, red, dark blue, blue, green, light brown, dark brown and black.
So with this limited pallet I used colours that would 'enhance' the base colour or 'dirty' it up.

The top colour, dark green, would be 'highlighted' if I used white, yellow or green (its quite a bright green) and 'dirtied' if I use the light and dark browns? The orange might give the impression of rust, not really useful on an aluminium airframe?

On the bottom 'grey' colour I reasoned that the darker colours would show up more so I only used the dark brown for the exhaust and gun stains. I used the white, yellow and light brown to stain the underside.

The trick is to slightly dampen your brush with the odourless turpentine, think of dry brushing, and always brush in the direction of the air flow. Use the oil colours very sparingly, tiny dots rather than big splodges and burst them until they disappear, when they dry they'll show up.
So let them dry, and add more if you think its needed

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **RossiM1** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:38 pm

Thanks John that makes sense will give it a try on the Revell Shackleton I am going to start soon.
ATB

Post by **Bissyboat** » Wed Feb 01, 2017 8:33 pm

Looking Ace mate!

Post by **shortCummins** » Thu Feb 02, 2017 8:50 am

Bissyboat wrote:Looking Ace mate!

thanks Bissyboat

I've finished now, just waiting for it to stop raining so that I can take some reveal shots

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **shortCummins** » Thu Feb 02, 2017 12:01 pm

So I’ve added the last few bits’n’pieces, applied a few ‘light’ stains and I’m calling her done

I’d like to thank LM951 for his generosity, he’d ordered the Tamiya Detail-Up set in error and sent it to me, many thanks Sir, much appreciated THUMBS UP
I’ve not used it in this build however I intend to build this kit again, do a white (early) version and I’ll make use of the Detail-Up set then.

The kit itself is incredible, the detail and fit exceeds anything I’ve worked on before, if your looking to build a 1:48 Zero, GET THIS KIT, you won’t be disappointed

Full reveal photos here…
http://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=21386

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **Bissyboat** » Thu Feb 02, 2017 1:38 pm

Well played mate! Top notch job!

Post by **ElCapitan** » Thu Feb 02, 2017 1:54 pm

Excellent result! Did you use a satin varnish?