Tamiya's 1/72 A6M2b Zero

[MakingModelsAgain]

"Guys? Guys? Guys?" said Gary, running around in a small circle, excitedly waving his arms in the air as if to achieve flight. "You simply have to build this kit, it's amazing!" he continued to exault as a large damp patch began to form......

No, seriously though, this was the only kit Santa had in his sack for me this year. The fact that it was the only one I asked for should've had no bearing on that. However, I started it yesterday and have just slapped the wings on and I have to say, thus far, it has proven to be one of the best engineered kits, like, ever, in the whole wide world. On par with their 1/32 stuff fo sho!

There are a total of 19 separate, highly detailed parts to the cockpit alone. We're talking throttle quadrants and radio boxes and all manner of greeblies that, at this scale, you would normally find integral to the sidewall moulding. As I said, the wings are on and were such a good fit that the extra-thin cement just sat forlornly on the surface of the join looking like a sad, lost, little puddle.

Since these were taken, the 'pit and the engine have had a pin wash and minimal dry brushing. Aside from a PE harness and an aluminium pitot tube (and probably nav lights), this'll be an OOB build.

[coladito1]

Looking great Gary! any AM on this?

[Rob]

I am so glad you are building this! I have this in the stash and simply looking inside the box makes me happy - it just exudes class. Now I will be able to see what it should look like when done!

[Paul]

Wow that looks an awesome kit, and in 1/72 as well, brilliant.

[Lee]

Will be interesting to see how this compares to the recent Airfix offering....

[UKscalemodeller]

Tempted, very tempted

[schweinhund227]

I built their 1/48 over 10 years ago and it was a gem!

So I can believe their 72nd is of the same top quality!

Thanks for sharing your progress !

[Orbyn]

Wow, looks great. I love the details, and can't wait to see your progress.

[Nige201980]

Looks great so far mate.

[EasyEight96]

Can't wait to see it best of luck

[MakingModelsAgain]

This thing is falling together, but advancement has halted due to the fact that I'm waiting on an Eduard canopy mask to arrive which will hopefully be tomorrow, Monday 30th. I could've had a go at masking it myself, but....nah. It should be noted, that the canopy - two parts - is such a precise, tight fit, that I'm not even going to bother glueing it in place. In the meantime, I've done that thing with the bits of clear sprue to replace the wingtip nav lights and the tail light.

For those of you who haven't tried this, it's a great way to simulate the light lenses. I use a razor saw to carefully cut away the solid area of the light - typically a little quadrant-shaped corner of the wing tip. Take a length of clear sprue and using a flat file, create a flat spot (if it's a circular cross-section sprue, that is) and again, using the saw, cut a piece of the sprue - about 2-3mm long - which will now be at right angles to the flat spot. This is so you have something to fit into the 90 degree chunk you just sliced out of your wing. I prefer to use the thin cement to glue it in place. Leave it overnight to harden fully and then using Paul and Lee's fantastic sanders apply gentle pressure with the coarse grain until it gets close to the surface of the wing plastic. Then switch to a smoother grade until it's flush and its outer curve matches the wing. Finally, polish it to a nice, clear lens. You may have to rescribe the surrounding lines closest to the lens, but hey-ho.

[Paul]

Nice tip (lol sorry) Gary, I said I wouldn't do any more 1/72 this kit may change my mind on that

[MakingModelsAgain]

Thank you Eduard, thank you, thank you, thank you....





And so to colouring in...

[Modelcrazy]

This looks like a little beauty.
I've never done a Tamiya aircraft kit but after seeing this..... where's my credit card.

[UKscalemodeller]

I stole your lights tip for my Bf109Z and found that although it is a simple technique it adds SOOOOO much to a model.

I love stealing your ideas.

[Joesdad]

I might start stealing them too.....

[MakingModelsAgain]

A little more progress on the Zeke. Well, paint, to be exact. As per usual, Tamiya's decals are a bit on the thick side and at 1/72 that could be quite noticeable. Therefore, I decided to paint what I could and that meant the Hinomarus and the fuselage band. The other markings will have to be decals and that's that.

So, a bit of panel shading first.


Masked and painted.


With a little panel variation here and there, but it will all be softened a bit with the washes/pigments etc.

[UKscalemodeller]

Great work Gary

[MakingModelsAgain]

I love stealing your ideas.

Well, I may have, possibly, kind of, might have 'acquired' them myself. Maybe.

[chief5437]

As ever, it's looking great. I expect painting the 'decals' will look lots better!

[Nige201980]

Looking stunning mate. Always love your work

[MakingModelsAgain]

Wee bitty more progress with Zeke. Tamiya are well known for their very thick decals and these ones were no exception. As for the stencil data - which thankfully on the Zero is minimal - I've had to make do, but having already painted the Hinomarus and the fuselage band, I decided (after attempting to use the decals) to paint the wing markings also. Aside from thin strips of masking tape, I deluged a lot of the area in Humbrol Maskol and after removing, you can see that the areas it came into contact with have stained. In this instance, this is a good thing as they look like beautifully weathered panels now - I'll just have to re-do the areas that had tape on them! What you might call a happy accident! May also have something to do with the fact that I had done quite a bit of weathering beforehand. Either way, I love the effect!

[longlance67]

lovely work Gary, you make it look too easy my friend


Shane

[Paul]

Beautiful weathering Gary, a nice happy accident

[Nige201980]

really loving this build mate learning all the time from you.

[Joesdad]

A happy ending indeed....

[Bissyboat]

This model looks very convincing. Great work on the airbrushing.