Madmax

Lud, lots of polishing is the key! Three coats of well thinned Tamiya acrylic paint, buffed with 6000 micromesh, then two layers of X-22/leveling thinner which is buffed with 6000 and 8000. The trick is not to take the paint off the high spots while polishing, which I didn't always get right . Look carefully at the photographs. Thanks Wolf! The Canadian connection continues...

Fantastic Alain - it takes a very brave (or crazy) model builder to tackle this conversion! The windshield alone is enough to make one's eyes water. Brilliant .

I agree with Robert Jan and Greg that the Bavarian flag is very cool in some way or another on a Starfighter! Now that I have finally put the Zero in the display cabinet, it is time to move on with the Zipper... Joachim (Fanes) has been bravely continuing with his trainer, and I have been watching with interest. The cockpit of the two kits is different in two ways - two seats, and sidewalls. The single seater doesn't have any, so I made some based on his photographs and the DACO book. The Eduard Brassin seat is lovely, and the decals are a VERY welcome inclusion! I wish more companies did this. I will tackle the belts at a later stage, as this looks like a tricky thing . The gear components are painted, and lots of decals added for interest. They are all from the spares box of course, so don't read too carefully. The instrument panel and side panels didn't turn out quite as I had hoped. The sloppy moulding is hard to get away from, and my attempt to improve them is not great. I think that Don (dmthamade) has the right idea to use the Eduard panels - much neater - which is the key to how these cockpits look. Anyway, Covid postage put an end to that option so we move on... Having completed the internal bits, there is a big jump in construction and the fuselage goes together in a jiffy. You may want to check the fit of the wings before joining the halves. Mine needed a shim only on one side. The surface texture and panel lines are going to require some attention. I am glueing in all the panels one can for now, and then sanding the fuselage to a neutral shape which I can refine as desired. For other Italeri Zipper builders, the gun bay needs some shims to get the panel close to flush with the fuselage. The gun port (blast tube) is clearly an Italeri B-side moulding, nurse - sandpaper please! Cheers, Sean

This really is an excellent Tomcat Marcel! The choice of colour scheme is very classy, and the execution even more so. Satin finish on the trim - wow.

Wow, what a great response! Thanks to one and all for the recent comments and generous likes. Without wanting to single anyone out, I do want to say to Matsu that it is very special to receive a "Cheer" in Japanese! Sean

Just to satisfy my own OCD tendencies... Thanks again Ryan, Sean

Hey Ryan, No need to be concerned about your critique, it is only straight talking that gets the best result! I have personally been labelled as a severe critic - in writing! Thanks for the final inputs, they are all valid, and hopefully I'll still get around to correcting them before the Starfighter gets too tempting. Cheers, Sean

Thanks very much to all of you for your kind responses - much appreciated! With pleasure Ray! Sean

Thanks Shawn. It's done! I have one last experience I would like to share with prospective builders of this fine kit. Be careful what you add in terms of detail - ask yourself, will it affect the way the kit fits together? You may recall me adding these canvas pads to the cowl mounting-rings, as well as the air scoop on top of the engine. If I may suggest - DON'T. It took me an entire afternoon to trim all of it away, and still sand the daylights off the paint on the rings in order to get the cowling to fit. Thankfully I took photo's of the engine, since it will never be seen again! A big thank you to Ryan, Nick and Zane for your contributions to this project, as well as everyone who joined in along the way - your support and energy have made a difference. It has been tremendous fun, and you can see the results here: Cheers, Sean

It is easy to get sidetracked when researching the A6M2. It will inevitably lead the enthusiastic reader to Canada, which it did in my case. I didn't know that Mitsubishi's competitor Nakajima built Zero's, or that there were subtle (and obvious) ways of knowing the difference. One of those differences, the white surround to the Hinomaru, was one of the major features I wanted to incorporate in this build, since it highlights the dark shade of the grey with which the Zero was painted. Then I discovered the concept of the Houkoku presentation number, and that became number two on the wish list! How does this research end up in Canada you may ask? In 1968 an enterprising Canadian from Manitoba went in search of wreckage on Ballale Island in the Western Solomon Islands, and he hit the Nakajima built Houkoku A6M2 motherload. Three of them! They were chopped up (along with a Val), and carried out of the jungle by local labour, put onto boats and by the most amazing feat of horse trading ended up on Friendship Field in Carman, Manitoba. Their story is pretty complicated, but ends up in a collection of artefacts owned by the Blayd Corporation, also from Carman. A name that kept surfacing around these aircraft and research about them is Ryan Toews - another Canadian. Ryan's tweak list for building both of the Tamiya Zero's is a must read for anyone attempting these kits, and he has been a veritable gold mine of information for this project. You can see his contributions in the build thread, along with all the other information about the construction and painting that I won't rehash here. Since the tails of these aircraft were not attached to the wrecks, it is pure speculation at this stage to assign any identity other than the construction number. The aircraft is pictured soon after delivery to the island, having been assembled and test flown, awaiting the painting of unit identification. A final salute... Sean

You have built a lovely model here Nick! Great subject, great stencil cutting, and all you have to do now is weather it... I'll bring some oil paint, Sean

This is going to make a striking model Marcel. Enjoy it!

Hey Tim, now that Zane has the artwork he can make many more decals! Here is his website: https://www.mavdecals.co.za Thank you Ryan! Your knowledge of the subject just saved me from putting the stencil in the wrong place... As to the construction number on the sub-assembly plates - LOL is right! I'll be lucky to get it onto the fuselage stencil. Hi Ed, Great to get your input here. The Houkoku (Gou) concept is fascinating to me, and apart from what is written in the Pacific Wrecks website, I can't find much information on the subject. I imagine that there was good propaganda or publicity value in the unveiling or presentation of these sponsored weapons of war, that probably included everything from tanks to warships. Surely there must have been media of sorts at these presentation ceremonies, which raises the question; where are the photographs? Wouldn't it be great to get a glimpse of these gleaming machines with the representatives from the "Domestic and Foreign Printing co." (in this case) as well as the ever present military headquarters types, maybe even a pilot - who would rather be flying! Just a thought. I digress - the decals are on! The serial number stencil is from the HGW wet transfers, and is maybe a little squashed into place. I think in retrospect I should have made the Houkoku a mm or two shorter. In fact, Nick suggested that but I was just being a bit contrary as I had seen how big the decals of HKK 1053 were. Still, I think it looks great. The decal is nice and crisp with good definition, and thin carrier film that will virtually disappear under some clear varnish. Start the compressor...

We're baaaack! Received this today, and now I can finally complete my neglected A6M2. Zane, from MAV Decals here in South Africa has done a great job of the decals, and I can't wait to get them on the model. There was some unfinished business I had to attend to first however. Whilst the model lingered in its box, I contemplated the yellow leading edge strips, and how I got them wrong. The evidence that Ryan documented clearly shows the size of the strip at the wing root, but I mistakenly just paralleled the line with the leading edge, ending up with a fairly broad "IFF" band. In retrospect it would seem to taper much as the underside does, and so a repair was required. I won't bore you with the how-to, but at least you can see how much had to be trimmed. This now gets the attention of some micromesh and clear varnished. There was also a repair to the side of the fuselage where I had rubbed trough the paint while polishing. Ready for decals... I hope you haven't given up on this project Ryan, because I need some more help here. We know that the Nakajima and Mitsubishi hōkoku's differed quite noticeably in style, and I was wondering where the serial number stencil would go on a Nakajima aircraft? It clearly moved on the Mitsubishi aircraft, but I'd rather see if you know before going with what the decal manufacturers believe. Looking forward to continuing this! Sean

They really do look great Max! Our LHS had various Meng kits and I nearly bought some tanks to harvest bolts from, but a lack of salary this month brought me to my senses. I nearly bought the Mini-Art beer bottles and wooden crates though - as our lock-down is rather draconian. Thanks Brian, it seems I am going to have to impress the urgency of getting these bolts on our hobby store owner! That seat is a bit misleading Nick. General Steinhoff supplied the horseshoe pack separately...