1/72 Tamiya A6M2 Shared Build *** Open ***

[johnsan]

As you can see there are many pipes and wires that can be added to the cockpit. I believe that would be misguided. What Tamiya provides is sufficient for me.

[Softscience]

Pipes-a-plenty! Those look more like the engine room of a diesel submarine

[ShaunW]

That certainly is a lot of pipes, John. When confronted with that sort of thing I try to go for the feel of it, with sufficient to capture the basic look, rather than try to replicate everything - therein lies modelling madness if you ask me! I'm glad to hear that you're recovering, keep safe and look after yourself.

[Softscience]

John, I wonder how you get the sharp definition in your washes. This is the best I was able to manage. The wash on the crankcase was still drying when the photo was taken. But the rest is dry. While yours looks like shadow, mine looks like dirt. Am I missing something? I used the same paints and washes as you. The only difference is that I thinned with Mona Lisa odorless thinner rather than enamel thinner.




My airframe is almost ready for painting. I have a set of canopy masks somewhere, but they weren't in the decal bin, which is where I usually keep this stuff. They must be in one of the boxes in the stash. Time to get distracted!!!

[johnsan]

...time to get distracted...

Oh how well I know that feeling.

About your wash, I don't see any problem with it. If you're unhappy, try thinning the wash a bit more. But I don't see anything wrong.

Thanks the well-wishing guys. Very much appreciated.

[ShaunW]

That engine looks sharp to me, Ralph. A few years ago I sorted all of my accessories, including decals and placed them into the boxes of the kits to which they relate as it became apparent that it would be all too easy to finish a build and then realise that I had a cockpit set/PE/alternate decals!

[johnsan]

That's funny and I think it's something we all do. I dug out an Academy F15E I bought at the Omaha Nats. In the box I found missing Eduard Mig-21 parts. I've been looking for these for a couple of years. Not sure I still need them now.

[Softscience]

That's funny and I think it's something we all do. I dug out an Academy F15E I bought at the Omaha Nats. In the box I found missing Eduard Mig-21 parts. I've been looking for these for a couple of years. Not sure I still need them now.

I had that same thing happen. Years ago I lost the nose cone to an Academy P-38. Made requests online for a spare nose, even contacted Academy. All to no avail.

I gave the kit away at an IPMS meet, and within days found the missing piece floating around in the box of an entirely unrelated kit.

[Softscience]

That engine looks sharp to me, Ralph. A few years ago I sorted all of my accessories, including decals and placed them into the boxes of the kits to which they relate as it became apparent that it would be all too easy to finish a build and then realise that I had a cockpit set/PE/alternate decals!

I really should do the same. It wouldn't take long, as I don't have too much in terms of accessories.

[Clashcityrocker]

I gave the kit away at an IPMS meet, and within days found the missing piece floating around in the box of an entirely unrelated kit.

Should have sold it on to the new owner

Nigel

[Softscience]

Ha!



Meanwhile, I found my zero masks today! Inside the box of a Hasegawa TBM. At least it was in the right theater!

Today was a really nice day. In addition to finding my masks, Erin and I drove up to Lancaster County Pennsylvania and went hiking by the Susquehanna River. Some of the scenery was magical.







This evening I masked and started painting the canopy.



Im using the closed canopy parts to plug the cockpit and painting the open parts off the model.

And the $100,000 question. What color should a Pearl Harbor zero be? I don't think Tamiya's suggestion of the grayish green AS-29 is correct for early zeros. Should be more of that amber gray. Any suggestions on how to mix the shade?

[johnsan]

What beautiful scenery! Lancaster County? Did you take in any Amish eateries? I really miss the baked goods and cheeses.

It's been a good 20 years since I last viewed the Pearl Harbor attack relics at Ft. DeRussey. They didn't have any Zero bits on display, but did have a chunk of Val wing out. That bit was a caramel gray. That's what I be shooting for. Mind you, I suspect the paint has shifted due to the UV light exposure. I like AK Real Colors' IJN paints. ISTR they had assistance in matching from Nick Millman. In any case I think they look pretty good.

I've been working on cockpits, more specifically seats and belts. I'll take some photos tomorrow

[Softscience]

We didn't do any Amish foods, but we saw a few young Amish girls walking down the road in their 1830s style dresses and modern crocs shoes!


We have Amish stores near home and sometimes go for the fresh meats and baked good. Nothing beats minimally processed foods.

[Softscience]

And I got my zero painted. The remnants of Hurricane Delta have brought unseasonably warm weather up from the south and have been dumping rain all day. So I've had hours at the work bench. So much so I'm a bit modeled out for now. Decals another time.

[johnsan]

That looks great, Ralph. What paint did you end using? Looks like you went for a dove gray look. Looks good in any case.

I've not progressed as far as you. I'm still at the interior paint step.



the type 21 fuselage halves are to the upper. and the type 32 below.


I don't remember which floors and panels are which. I'll look prior to gluing them in place. The point is Tamiya makes the details appropriate to the variant.

I've started working the seats. Tamiya had embossed the lightening holes in the seat. It's only a few minutes to drill them out which makes a noticeable difference. I still have to dress the seats with belts. There are several paths here. FineMolds makes after market belt sets in photoetch and also ABS plastic. The plastic ones are really gorgeous and also very pricey. For the type 32 I'm thinking of going old school and making the belts from paper. For the type 21, I'm doing something totally unusual for me. I'll be adding a pilot figure.

Back in 2014, FineMolds rereleased their Zero family as a subscription set sold in Japanese bookstores and also on Amazon.co.jp. Included in this set was a really fine set of figures. I haven't seen this sold separately. Another source of finely sculpted 72nd IJN figures was done by Hasegawa. This set was first sold in their Emily kit and then later as a separate figure set.
Both sets are worth seeking.


These figures are FineMolds.