A6M2b - Aftermarket Suggestions

[John1]

Just got a great deal on the Tamiya kit ($78, delivered).  Kind of an impulse buy, I’ve got no knowledge of the kit or even of the aircraft itself.    Looking on suggestions for “must have” aftermarket.    Also looking for leads on decals.   I want to build a later-war Zero with some field-applied dark green applied.   Not having much luck finding decals of these aircraft.   Any tips are much appreciated.  

[Juggernut]

Well, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of decals available field a green/grey A6M2 Model 21.  You may find  one scheme on a zero sheet at Fineartofdecals.com but be warned, they’re very expensive.  Other than that, Montex masks probably has at least one set of masks for a camouflaged 21.  
 

If you’re not adverse to using masks and can make your own, I’d recommend Pacific Profiles No. 5. , by Mike Claringbold.  There’s lots of profiles in that book for green 21s.  Theres also the option of up scaling a set of 1/48 decals if that helps?

Edited May 6 by Juggernut

[Rick Griewski]

Search results from Spruebrothers.  
https://spruebrothers.com/search-results-page?q=zero 1%3A32

 

HTH

[Fanes]

5 hours ago, Juggernut said:

If you’re not adverse to using masks and can make your own, I’d recommend Pacific Profiles No. 5. , by Mike Claringbold.  There’s lots of profiles in that book for green 21s.

+1 for the Pacific Profiles book - I got the inspiration for my Rabaul Zero-Sen from there and there's plenty more to chose from.
Regarding aftermarket:
Replacing the vinyl tires was/is a must for me. I went with the nice ones form Miryoku, although shipping them to the US might be a dealbreaker.
But then Tim (Juggernut) might be able to print a set for you?

If you want to enhance the cockpit:
Sean's wonderful build  has all the necessary scratch buildung for a Nakajima A6M2. I mostly went with the Quinta bits, but be warned: they don't really match any of the interior colours out there, so custom mixing to match the shade of green is required.

Last but not least, the Tamiya stencils aren't a 100% accurate - I plan on using decals from eduard (if I ever get to that stage).

[LSP_Ray]

I seem to recall a Rabaul early Zeke with green camo, maybe Sakai's bird on a decal sheet, maybe Cutting Edge?

[Borsos]

If you have access to Dariusz Paduch‘s 3 volumes on the Zero (Mitsubishi A6m Reisen Zeke, Volume I- III) from Kagero Oficyna Wydawnicza, in volume 1 and 2 there are several green A6M2 profiles, most of them field modifications.
They also advertise there for a Kagero Decal Sheet, but I have no idea if this is still available or even 1:32 scale.

[coogrfan]

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/tamiya-60317-mitsubishi-a6m2b-zero-fighter-model-21-zeke--106310/related

[Warbird]

Hi 

I would suggest Master barrels, seatbelts (I used RB productions but they are now oop), tires (I used modified Spifire smooth tires from Barracuda ) and decals (I used HGW wet transfers). Resin wheel wells could be interesting  - I rather chose to modifiy the plastic parts.

 

Tristan

[Borsos]

23 hours ago, Fanes said:

Replacing the vinyl tires was/is a must for me. I went with the nice ones form Miryoku,

Thanks! Order placed 

[amurray]

It all depends on how much you want to spend.

 

https://www.eduard.com/eduard/big-ed/aircraft/1-32/a6m2-zero-1-32.html

 

 

[Splatman812]

Darn, I was going to use the Quinta set (love the seatbelts), but now I'm concerned about color matching. Nothing AK, Vallejo, Mr. Color matches? Seems to be  a pretty big oversight----leading me to question the accuracy of the Quinta color that I'd be trying match. Is the problem the same with the A6M5?

[Fanes]

3 hours ago, Splatman812 said:

Darn, I was going to use the Quinta set (love the seatbelts), but now I'm concerned about color matching. Nothing AK, Vallejo, Mr. Color matches? Seems to be  a pretty big oversight----leading me to question the accuracy of the Quinta color that I'd be trying match. Is the problem the same with the A6M5?

I can only speak about the Nakajima colour which should be - according to Nick Millman - close to FS 34097 or a tad darker than Tamiya XF-71. My set was signidficantly lighter than the XF-71 and didn't match the AK real color either. Mr. Color C127 was quite close, but not a perfect match either.

Had a similar issue with Quinta's interpretation of RLM02 as well...

[John1]

Thanks for all the good info.   Looks like I've got a choice of Red Fox, Kelik or Quinta for cockpit decals.   Sounds like the Quinta set has a bit of a wonky color issue, thoughts on the other 2? 

 

If I can't find decals for green-field painted versions, Plan B is to use markings from a standard grey version and mix them to represent a Rabaul era camo'd Zero.   

[ade rowlands]

I will say that colour choice is the main area where Quinta fall down in my estimation. I find their print resolution better than their competitors but colour matching their choices for cockpit interiors can be a headache. I have used their sets selectively and have on occasion trimmed away any parts where their cockpit colour interpretation was used and just used the detail parts I could hope to paint myself or wasn’t available in any other generic cockpit set.