Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero; 1/32 Tamiya

[One-Oh-Four]

I've started my Tamiya A6M2b in my usual snail-like pace... Let's hope that this will be a project that will see completion! 

 

I know there are some minor things that need adressing to get this model more accurate. Luckily, the don't concern the shape of the model, but more details because of the workable undercarriage and details thet aren't quite correct for the timeframe and so on.

 

Because I know that a couple of Tweak Lists were published about the A6M5 and A6M2 but couldn't find them I started this thread:

 

  Not only will Ryan Toews redo his tweak lists when his family-situation will allow it, this thread contains lots more invaluable info! Check it out!

 

The box art shows the A6M2b of Lt. Saburo Shindo from Akagi of the 2nd wave of the Pearl Harbor attack:

 

 

I feel particularly drawn to this scheme, though, the Zero of NAP1/C Tsuguo Matsuyama from Hiryu:

 

 

Sadly, my first results have to be redone, since the double vertical attachment of compressed air bottles on the left fuselage side wasn't found on the A6M2 but rather on the A6M5...! Can it be seen anyway, on the finished model? Looks like the seat rather blocks any view into the aft fuselage!

 

 

I think copying the single-bottle brackets also found in the Big-Ed set won't be too hard, so a single horizontal set-up should be possible! I already removed the massive plastic brackets Tamiya supplies the bottles with.

 

 

Now to find out how the equipment on this shelf looked. Tamiya supplies us with something looking like a Sony CD-player and Eduard follows suit. That doesn't mean anything since Eduard states that it supplies extra details but doesn't supply corrections!

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

Erik.

[kikka]

 i loved building this kit , the easiest i ever did ! just watch out for a few things , 

 

the bottles are invisible in the end , with the seat in position and the lack of light . but as a modeller you can still put them there ,  as long as you enjoy it when you build it and look at it once its done .

 

the HGW belts are a must buy . they are gorgeous. small and can be fiddly , but damn worth it all .

 

ive had bits of flash in the holes where the horizontal tail surfaces are inserted , but i didn't know it , it was too small to feel when i assembled it .

 

the windscreen can be tricky too . check multiple times and dont be afraid of surfacer .

 

except that you will have no fit issues , at best it will be a bit of surfacer  , and more for safety than need .

 

i would also recommend using only the stencils for the scheme , the tamia decals are wayyyyy too thick and hide the gorgeous panel lines and rivets . masks are another must have .

 

and considering its a brand new plane for Pearl Harbor and relatively well maintained for its life you also dont have to do crazy big and complicated weathering . 

 

you can avoid glueing the antenna , it fits in even after the canopy is installed , useful for cleaning , moving and little and not so little hands that might harm it .

 

the only thing to do to this kit is enjoy it , and you will !

Edited March 15, 2019 by kikka

[LSP_Ray]

Will be watching and learning!

[One-Oh-Four]

32 minutes ago, kikka said:

 

..............

 

the bottles are invisible in the end , with the seat in position and the lack of light . but as a modeller you can still put them there ,  as long as you enjoy it when you build it and look at it once its done .

 

the HGW belts are a must buy . they are gorgeous. small and can be fiddly , but damn worth it all .

 

...........

 

.........

 

i would also recommend using only the stencils for the scheme , the tamia decals are wayyyyy too thick and hide the gorgeous panel lines and rivets . masks are another must have .

 

and considering its a brand new plane for Pearl Harbor and relatively well maintained for its life you also dont have to do crazy big and complicated weathering . 

 

..........,

Thanks for your encouragement Kikka! I’ll just put the bottles in so I know they’re there.....

 

I have already bought the HGW-belts, I suspect they can be draped more naturally than the Eduard PE belts.

 

I’m pondering buying the Zero stencils by HGW. I only hope they make no spelling mistakes in the Kanji as Trumpeter/Kittyhawk sometimes does with English stencilling...

 

Maketar has masks for the kit-schemes, so that problem is already solved!

 

After PH Hiryu and Soryu were diverted to help with the assault on Wake. Assuming that my chosen Zero wasn’t one of the Zero’s lost at PH, I can add a little more weathering. I don’t think the aircraft would be heavily weathered in either case: aircraft were stowed in the hangars on Japanese carriers and didn’t have to endure the rigors of the sea and weather in the Pacific.

[MikeMaben]

12 hours ago, One-Oh-Four said:

I've started my Tamiya A6M2b in my usual snail-like pace... Let's hope that this will be a project that will see completion! 

 

Just have fun Erik 

 

 

[dennismcc]

I'm with the rest, no lost sleep, it's a hobby have fun. Will tag along as I also have one of these to build.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Pete Roberts]

If you are doing Matsuyama's plane, his aircraft was hit during the raid on Darwin and crashed on Melville Island. (19 Feb 1942)

 

Lots of photos of this plane on the net if you Google it. What's left of the fuselage is sitting in a Museum in Darwin.

 

Not sure how this fits with the assault on Wake,

 

PR

Edited March 17, 2019 by Pete Roberts

[One-Oh-Four]

16 minutes ago, Pete Roberts said:

If you are doing Matsuyama's plane, his aircraft was hit during the raid on Darwin and crashed on Melville Island. (19 Feb 1942)

 

Lots of photos of this plane on the net if you Google it. What's left of the fuselage is sitting in a Museum in Darwin.

 

Not sure how this fits with the assault on Wake,

 

PR

 

Oh, interesting! I've read the account (The Miraculous Torpedo Squadron) of B5N-pilot Juzo Mori who flew off Soryu during the Pearl Harbor attack. He relates that after Pearl Harbor they were diverted to assist in the assault on Wake, much to their chagrin, since the other carriers sailed back to Japan.I assumed that it was Soryu and Hiryu since they were in the same carrier division but don't remember exactly.

[One-Oh-Four]

10 hours ago, Pete Roberts said:

If you are doing Matsuyama's plane, his aircraft was hit during the raid on Darwin and crashed on Melville Island. (19 Feb 1942)

 

10 hours ago, Pete Roberts said:

 

Not sure how this fits with the assault on Wake,

 

PR

 

Hi Pete, I wasn’t quite sure of the timeline and movements of Hiryu, but if Matsuyama was lost with this plane on Feb. 19, 1942, the window to model this aircraft (and weather it) is bigger than I hoped for. Between PH and Darwin, Hiryu and it’s (her?) airgroup were quite busy!

 

Wikipedia:

While returning to Japan after the attack (on PH - 104), Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, commander of the First Air Fleet, ordered that Sōryū and Hiryū be detached on 16 December to attack the defenders of Wake Islandwho had already defeated the first Japanese attack on the island.

........

The carriers arrived at Kure on 29 December. They were assigned to the Southern Force on 8 January 1942 and departed four days later for the Dutch East Indies. The ships supported the invasion of the Palau Islands and the Battle of Ambon,[20] attacking Allied positions on the island on 23 January with 54 aircraft. Four days later the carriers detached 18 Zeros and 9 D3As to operate from land bases in support of Japanese operations in the Battle of Borneo.[31] Hiryūand Sōryū arrived at Palau on 28 January and waited for the arrival of the carriers Kaga and Akagi. All four carriers departed Palau on 15 February and launched air strikes against Darwin, Australia, four days later.

 

On another note, yesterday at Flanders Modelling Festival, organised by IPMS Antwerp, I bought some goodies for the A6M2

 

The Aires cockpit set - let’s see if it’s an improvement over the kit parts.

Aires wheel wells - mostly for the inner wheel doors.

Quickboost pitot - because I’m a lazy pig. Now I don’t have to remove a mold seam. Ah well, it was only a couple of Euro’s so I thought: “What the heck, since I’m already stocking up...”

CMK Zero 52 wheels - Originally meant for the Hadegawa kit, they lack tread. That makes them suitable for early-war carrier-based Zeros. Provided the wheel- and tire size didn’t change between the Models 21 and 52... Otherwise I have to make castings of Tamiya’s wheels plus vinyl tires and fill in the tread.... Ugh!

HGW stencilling - no decal film.... I repeat...

[Scott Negron]

According to "Japanese WWI Aircraft in Color," (Martin Ferkel), Matsuyama destroyed 2 P40-'s during the PH attack, which makes it an interesting subject.  I have the Model Art PH Special which has most of the a/c in the raid in color profiles, so I can help with others.  Depends on if you want to go the "colorful" route or historic significance on PH zeros.

 

As for this:

 

The Aires cockpit set - let’s see if it’s an improvement over the kit parts. - It adds a lot of detailing not in the kit cockpit, and/or Eduard PE including a lot of plumbing, and the lightening holes around the inside of the opening behind the pilots seat.  I'm using it, PE and a lot of scratch building.

Aires wheel wells - mostly for the inner wheel doors. - I'm using these for the wheel bays themselves as they are much more detailed that the kit parts, or CMK.  They have (incorrect) covers on the lightening holes on the leading edge, and the rivets are small holes instead of raised.

Quickboost pitot - because I’m a lazy pig. Now I don’t have to remove a mold seam. Ah well, it was only a couple of Euro’s so I thought: “What the heck, since I’m already stocking up...”  You can use the Master brass pitot tube from the A6M5 set, much sturdier

CMK Zero 52 wheels - Originally meant for the Hasegawa kit, they lack tread. That makes them suitable for early-war carrier-based Zeros. Provided the wheel- and tire size didn’t change between the Models 21 and 52... Otherwise I have to make castings of Tamiya’s wheels plus vinyl tires and fill in the tread.... Ugh!  Brassin wheels for Hasegawa A6M5c are incorrect as they HAVE tread whereas the A6M2 had smooth tread.  Also, the lettering and tire size numbers are incorrect.  I will post a pic.  Hoping to get these draw and cast properly this year so I can finish mine:)!

HGW stencilling - no decal film.... I repeat...

 

I can post pics of my results so far but I'm trying to get a better camera first, and I don't want to hijack your thread so maybe I should start mine finally!  I think I can get my seat, drop tank and tail hook/bay available soon.

 

May have to induct some of you into my "Aotake Club," we lost a member (Keith Davidson of Red Pegasus Decals) a few years back and need some new members!

 

 

[alaninaustria]

You’re off to a wonderful start mate! Enjoy the journey!!

Chees

Alan

[Pete Roberts]

Great info on the carriers, thank you. I did wonder what they did between Pearl Harbour and Darwin.

 

PR

 

PS Looking forward to your build. Very much a Zero novice and have the same kit to build in the same scheme.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Pete Roberts

[A6M]

Hello Erik,

 

Looks like you got a good start on your M2. I'll follow and chime in if that's ok. I almost have the rewrite of the M5 tweaks list done and will tackle the M2 list next.

 

BII-124 (c/n 5349) was piloted by PO Hajime Toyoshima when it was shot down over Melville Island on 19 February 1942.

 

Can I ask where you are posting your photos before linking them onto this site? I don't want to set up a Photobucket account as I really don't care for their watermark on every image. 

 

You should be OK with the HGW stencils. They basically copied the Tamiya A6M2 decals which in turn are copies of the HobbyDecal stencil decals. Any spelling errors are therefore my responsibility. LOL 

 

The component on the shelf on the right side of the fuselage is the Model 1 Type 3 Radio Direction Finder. A photo of it can be seen here (second image from the top of the page):

http://www.yokohamaradiomuseum.com/tenjitop.html The unit itself measures 18x9x6 inches in size. As far as I can tell, the top and sides are all bare without any other details. All that would be needed to do is to replicate the forward face of the unit. (This is the face towards the camera in the web image.) Edit - go to the provided Yokohama Radio page and then click on Item 5 in the list on the upper left of the page. That will take you to the image of the RDF unit. 

 

The CMK tires will work. The M2 tires had no tread. They were the same size as the later M5 tires (600x175) although the recommended tire pressure changed from 4 to 4.5 kg / cm2 on the heavier M5. The raised markings depended on the tire manufacturer, but these markings will largely be hidden by the lower landing gear cover. 

 

Ryan 

 

Edited March 19, 2019 by A6M

[One-Oh-Four]

21 hours ago, Scott Negron said:

According to "Japanese WWI Aircraft in Color," (Martin Ferkel), Matsuyama destroyed 2 P40-'s during the PH attack, which makes it an interesting subject.  I have the Model Art PH Special which has most of the a/c in the raid in color profiles, so I can help with others.  Depends on if you want to go the "colorful" route or historic significance on PH zeros.

 

As for this:

 

The Aires cockpit set - let’s see if it’s an improvement over the kit parts. - It adds a lot of detailing not in the kit cockpit, and/or Eduard PE including a lot of plumbing, and the lightening holes around the inside of the opening behind the pilots seat.  I'm using it, PE and a lot of scratch building.

Aires wheel wells - mostly for the inner wheel doors. - I'm using these for the wheel bays themselves as they are much more detailed that the kit parts, or CMK.  They have (incorrect) covers on the lightening holes on the leading edge, and the rivets are small holes instead of raised.

Quickboost pitot - because I’m a lazy pig. Now I don’t have to remove a mold seam. Ah well, it was only a couple of Euro’s so I thought: “What the heck, since I’m already stocking up...”  You can use the Master brass pitot tube from the A6M5 set, much sturdier

CMK Zero 52 wheels - Originally meant for the Hasegawa kit, they lack tread. That makes them suitable for early-war carrier-based Zeros. Provided the wheel- and tire size didn’t change between the Models 21 and 52... Otherwise I have to make castings of Tamiya’s wheels plus vinyl tires and fill in the tread.... Ugh!  Brassin wheels for Hasegawa A6M5c are incorrect as they HAVE tread whereas the A6M2 had smooth tread.  Also, the lettering and tire size numbers are incorrect.  I will post a pic.  Hoping to get these draw and cast properly this year so I can finish mine:)!

HGW stencilling - no decal film.... I repeat...

 

I can post pics of my results so far but I'm trying to get a better camera first, and I don't want to hijack your thread so maybe I should start mine finally!  I think I can get my seat, drop tank and tail hook/bay available soon.

 

May have to induct some of you into my "Aotake Club," we lost a member (Keith Davidson of Red Pegasus Decals) a few years back and need some new members!

 

 

 

Scott, thanks for your help, I'm greatly appreciating it!

 

13 hours ago, A6M said:

Hello Erik,

 

Looks like you got a good start on your M2. I'll follow and chime in if that's ok. I almost have the rewrite of the M5 tweaks list done and will tackle the M2 list next.

 

BII-124 (c/n 5349) was piloted by PO Hajime Toyoshima when it was shot down over Melville Island on 19 February 1942.

 

Can I ask where you are posting your photos before linking them onto this site? I don't want to set up a Photobucket account as I really don't care for their watermark on every image. 

 

You should be OK with the HGW stencils. They basically copied the Tamiya A6M2 decals which in turn are copies of the HobbyDecal stencil decals. Any spelling errors are therefore my responsibility. LOL 

 

The component on the shelf on the right side of the fuselage is the Model 1 Type 3 Radio Direction Finder. A photo of it can be seen here (second image from the top of the page):

http://www.yokohamaradiomuseum.com/tenjitop.html The unit itself measures 18x9x6 inches in size. As far as I can tell, the top and sides are all bare without any other details. All that would be needed to do is to replicate the forward face of the unit. (This is the face towards the camera in the web image.) Edit - go to the provided Yokohama Radio page and then click on Item 5 in the list on the upper left of the page. That will take you to the image of the RDF unit. 

 

The CMK tires will work. The M2 tires had no tread. They were the same size as the later M5 tires (600x175) although the recommended tire pressure changed from 4 to 4.5 kg / cm2 on the heavier M5. The raised markings depended on the tire manufacturer, but these markings will largely be hidden by the lower landing gear cover. 

 

Ryan 

 

 

Ryan, please chime in any time you want! If there's something inaccurate about my build, I'd like to know it. Maybe I can't change it anymore (or I'm being just too plan lazy...  ) but the knowledge will be here for future modellers that'll try their hand at this kit. On other projects, these build reports where subject expertise was offered, helped me greatly, even years after the model the thread was centered around was completed. That invitation goes for everyone who has knowledge / constructive criticism on my techniques etc. to share. If criticism is brought in a constructive way I'm sure my fragile ego can survive that! 

 

I host my photos on Fotki. It's not free, but costs me around 10 Euro a year, so really not expensive. Haven't really looked if there are data-limits or other things to worry about, though. I just had to find a simple, easy to use host where I could keep my photo's ordened in maps etc.

Edited March 19, 2019 by One-Oh-Four

[One-Oh-Four]

As Pete Roberts suggested, I Googled on Melville Zero and indeed found quite a few photos. On the contemporary photos, a lot of aluminium can be seen, the same I noticed on the Imperial War Museum A6M5 cockpit section in the Aero Detail book. I guess that the aotake varnish loses it's color after being years in the open?

 

Anyway; to give everybody a bit of context to the real BII-124:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting features are the clearly lighter colored rudder as opposed to the fin and fuselage, the aluminium-colored oil-tank, the red primer under the J3 camouflage paint and the double fuselage bands denoting Hiryū. At this time Sōryū was still the flagship of the 2nd Carrier Division with it's aircraft sporting a single blue fuselage band. The aircraft of Hiryū therefore had two blue fuselage bands. In the month preceding the departure for Midway, Rear-Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi moved his flag to Hiryū since that ship had a larger island/bridge, which made it better suited to house the additional staff. After reading "Shattered Sword" by Jonathan Parsall and Anthony Tully I learned that it still is unsure if the fuselage band markings between the carriers were repainted on all aircraft or not. The authors think that the aircraft maintenance crews on the respective Naval Air Bases probably had enough time to do it.

Hasegawa agrees with that conclusion, seeing the markings of Tomonaga's B5N2 "Kate" that he flew from Hiryū on the bombing attack of Midway and the torpedo attack on Yorktown:

 

Anyway, back to BII-124; if I'm not mistaken, the single tailstripe denotes a shotai (section) commander of 3 aircraft in the case of fighters.

 

The pilot when BII-124 was lost was -as Ryan wrote- Petty Officer Hajime Toyoshima, who was captured by indigenous people and handed over to the Australians. In 1944 Toyoshima was killed during an escape attempt from the POW-camp he was held at. 

 

 

 

 

 

To top off; a quick photo of the accessories I bought Saturday. I forgot to mention the Quickboost exhausts. They'll be a limited help; I'll not have to tackle the glue-seam of the stock kit parts, but I do have to deepen the exhausts (as do the Tamiya parts) to make them look realistic.