cbk57 Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 I have started work on the Tamiya A6m2b Zero. It is a superb kit and I have been spending the last several weeks studying resources and gathering materials. I purchased a copy of Aero Detail's Zero book. I have been spending a lot of time studying j-aircraft.com and a couple other parties have helped me out with some details. Particularly George from Arawasi provided me a few key photos of Zero's at Tainan airbase. Also Pat D a regular on Hyperscale sent me a ton of photos to help me out with radio details, or should I say non details. As I have found out the plane I am building was sans radio equipment. According to j-aircraft.com the radio equipment had not been fully integrated with the airframe to obtain good working reliability. As a result on land based planes the equipment was frequently deleted. The plane I am building in particular was recovered on Guadalcanal some years ago and it was determined it did not have radio equipment. Saburo Sakai also has stated this plane was not radio equipped. To help out with my build I purchased the Big Ed Pe set, masterbarers machine guns, and the Burna decal sheet. I started on the cockpit this weekend. I feel one area where the Tamiya Zero is a little plain is in the cockpit. The resources I have found show lots of raised rivets. So I have added some in areas likely to be visible especially in light of radio deletion. Also there are very prominent lightening holes in the double bulkhead behind the pilot. My plan was to reproduce the double bulkhead idea however I found the kit part had a wide enough flange to carefully drill relief holes. Now for a couple images. I am using archer resin rivet decals. If you slice close to the rivet line and use decal solvent they will form to any shape you want. Mal_Belford and Doctorgaz 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbk57 Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 I have been installing lots of little PE pieces in the cockpit. I wanted to make the detail pop a bit more. I hope to make the wires and pipes a bit more three dimensional as I add primer and paint. Girlscanplay2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Javlin1 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 (edited) You have a good start going there for reference their is/use to be on the forum I think Canuk?Did an excellant build up on a Zero years back just beautiful and I used some of his work and pics as a reference when I did my 1/24 Trump. I found it and it was Canuck/Manny some of these guys drop off the page I guess?Like many here some serious attention to details http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=11772&page=1 Edited July 9, 2014 by javlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncarina Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Great start! I love this kit, and you picked a great subject. Cheers, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbk57 Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 Been working on some more little bits. Cockpit sidewalls are nearly done, not much to show as they are in primer. I started on the engine and the control panel. I also added more detail to the rear bulkhead. So here you go. Girlscanplay2 and Mal_Belford 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Nice work on the bulkheads. The rivets certainly add a whole new dimension to them. Looking forward to seeing more! Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGB Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Hello, Nice going ! Cheers Boris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totalize Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Agreed nice going here. I don't think we see to many Japanese a/c being modelled. I am doing a ki-61 and hope to post my progress here soon. Looking forward to seeing more.Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbk57 Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 I started working on painting and adding some scratches and wear in the cockpit. Original photos suggest that paint wore pretty quickly in the cockpit. I started with darker side walls on the fuselage. I gave a little spray of attoke from the back side of the side walls. Then I used a lighter shade of Mitsubishi green on the side walls with some pain chipping. More detail work to do but here it is for now. Mal_Belford 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Roberts Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Love what you are doing here. Great work. Two questions if I may. Which of the Archer transfers did you use for the cockpt rivets? And what did you use for the Aotake effect - looks very good! Thanks for posting this build Peter Roberts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbk57 Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 Thanks for the comments. Per the question above. I used Gunze Mr. Color blue green metallic. I kind of thought it was supposed to be an apeoximation of IJN Atoke. I used a couple different sets of rivet lines. I believe the smallest ones and the medium sized revets. I have been doing lots of work and will post more pictures soon. Since a lot of it has been boring stuff like paint on the basics done and I have been time limited on this I have not taken any photos in a while. I plan to post on the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbk57 Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 I have been doing lots of work, especially in the cockpit. I spent most of the morning building the RB Productions seatbelt set. The detail and design of these things are unbelievable but you must really study the instructions before you start. I also recommend being open minded to using other hardware sources as you may loose a piece of the photo etch. I lost one of the buckles and used a piece of the Tamiya hardware. I am also using some of the eduard color photo etch as well. Anything goes if I think it will add something to the project. Next is an engine shot. As well as fire wall, oil tank and fuel tank. Then a few more cockpit pictures. Mal_Belford 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal_Belford Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 (edited) Looks good when im eyeballing it all.... Thw painting and weathering looks great... Keep em coming, i like it..... Zekes is one of my favorite birds love them lines and look Not only fw190s..... /Mal Edited September 13, 2014 by Mal_Belford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbk57 Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 Thanks for the comment. I have a couple more images I forgot to post in the first group. Mal_Belford 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Missed this build so far but that is some great work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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