A6M2b Zero - shades of grey

[LSP_Kevin]

This is really looking superb!

 

Kev

[A6M]

Hello Sean,

 

Beautiful work, things are shaping very nicely.

 

Here are a few more points that can be added.

 

Instrument Panel

 

1. The white lettering on the magneto switch could be put in place with a few little dots of white paint. Just above the mag switch you can see a small black rectangular placard. There are similar placards above each of the eleven other instruments set into the panel. Because of the upper-cutout for the clock this particular placard is located on the upper curve of the instrument panel.

2. The base of the engine primer knob is also aluminum.

3. The oxygen supply switch should be black.

4. The carb heat T-handle can be added to the right side of the instrument panel between the panel and the cockpit wall. Note that it has a placard on the handle.

 

Cockpit

 

1. The butterfly switch to open or close the air flow to the fuselage floatation bag is painted red and black.

2. The trim control wheel has a placard set into the wheel. The placard is aluminum with black and red lettering.

3a. There should be three control rods from the throttle running forward to beside the instrument panel. I think you have one here already but I cannot be sure from your photos.

3b. Another control rod runs forward from the manual mixture control.

4a. The tail-hook retraction crank has a semi-circular placard on its base.

4b. Anther rectangular placard is on the handle.

4c. The knob at the end of the handle should be black.

5. The wire latch for the storage box could be added with a bent wire.

6. The landing gear position warning horn was set into the lightening hole in the Station 5 bulkhead. I believe the cover for the horn was aluminum.  

 

Oxygen Bottles

 

Although it could be argued that the label on the oxygen bottle is covered up by the bottle mounts it appears there were different bottle configurations. Thus at least one of the bottles that may be visible behind the seat could have a label added to it.

 

What is the next sub-assembly you will be working on? If I know I can provide some details in advance.

 

Ryan

[Madmax]

On 12/29/2019 at 9:13 PM, Cheetah11 said:

 

 

Great work on the IP and the rest of the cockpit Sean.

 

The one trick you could try on the instruments is to photograph them on slide film (if you could still get some ) and paint it white on the reverse side. Color slide is not negative so no need to reverse the image.

 

Cheers

 

Nick

 

Thanks Nick,

 

You are definitely on to something there with the slide. It will be interesting to calculate the distance from the instrument the camera will have to be (for the lens magnification) to get a 2mm dia instrument face on a 35mm film. 

 

On 12/29/2019 at 9:16 PM, Uncarina said:

Another great installment Sean! Your build thread has been a gold mine of information. Now I have to extract my stalled build to see what I can do to augment the many details I missed!

 

Cheers, Tom

 

Hey Tom, we are all benefiting from Ryan's expertise here! Just check out all the details I too have missed...

 

On 12/30/2019 at 12:23 AM, LSP_Kevin said:

This is really looking superb!

 

Kev

 

Glad you are enjoying it Kev.

 

On 12/30/2019 at 1:47 AM, A6M said:

 

Here are a few more points that can be added.

 

What is the next sub-assembly you will be working on? If I know I can provide some details in advance.

 

 

Apologies for quoting you out of context here Ryan,  just want to shorten the response block.

 

You really do have an excellent eye for detail, and I can see why you get to work on these projects. I am afraid I will no longer be able to incorporate most of these improvements, but many others will benefit from them. I have already closed the cockpit assembly, however, I gave the oxygen bottles a bash. Here once again, 1:32 scale makes one too ambitious for the size. I used a 10/0 Kolibri paintbrush with very thin enamel and that is about the smallest legible Oxygen symbol (in Japanese) that I could muster. It is about double the actual size, and I have already taken it off. One would really need a decal to do it properly. It was fun trying anyway 

 

The next sub-assembly will be the wheel wells, so any relevant pictures you have will be great Ryan.

 

 

In the meanwhile, I have been doing some work on the fuselage halves before I join them. I would like to show all the access steps deployed, since it is a major characteristic of the Zero. The thin skin makes it near impossible to stand anywhere on the aircraft without denting it!

 

 

Talking of the thin skin, you may notice that I have started to indent the skin at the rivet lines on the aft fuselage. A large amount of work awaits...

 

 

Cheers!

 

Sean

[Cheetah11]

6 hours ago, Madmax said:

 

Thanks Nick,

 

You are definitely on to something there with the slide. It will be interesting to calculate the distance from the instrument the camera will have to be (for the lens magnification) to get a 2mm dia instrument face on a 35mm film. 

 

 

Sean I cannot believe you have forgotten all the photography lectures from 1989.

Maybe I was not such a good teacher.

 

Cheers

 

Nick

 

[Uncarina]

Sean,

 

Nice work on the fuselage topography! This is yet another detail that will really make your work stand out.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[LSP_K2]

And bookmarked for my reference.

[LSP_K2]

One thing I can say with absolute certainty, is that I will not be going all nuts like you're doing on my Doyusha kit, as it would completely defeat the purpose of slamming it together "as-is". Yours is going to look quite spectacular though, I can see that already.

[anj4de]

Hello all

 

Following this threat now since I also have a Tamiya A6M2 in my stash...and would like to have it as a Nakajima buid plane. I have read a lot about the overal colors...a subject just as if not more "hair splitting" as the ever ongoing RLM 81, 82, 83 discussion...but that is what I like. My, so far, favorite shade for a Nakajima WEM WEMCC AC J17 Ame-Iro.

 

thanks

Uwe

[Greif8]

Superb work on both the engine and cockpit, the engine is especially stunning.

[A6M]

Sean, here are a few little details that might be added to the two fuselage halves.

 

1. Inertial Starter

 

For the most part the kit has the starter crank hole and inertial starter release handle molded into the right side of lower wing part with only the recess for the handle molded into the right fuselage half. The seam split might make things a little awkward here but if you want to add to these detail… Incidentally, the start crank is usually stored clipped in behind the seat but in at least one photo (which of course I can’t find right now) the crank is in the landing gear lock / tie-down ring waiting to be used in a few minutes.

 

2. MG Sighting Access

These indents on both sides of the fuselage could be drilled out. They were holes to allow a long screwdriver to be inserted to adjust the gun mounts for proper sighting. They did come with little clip on covers that were fitted on the inside of the fuselage but in most photos the covers are missing. My suspicion is they were discarded to allow some outside airflow into the cockpit.

 

3. Air Pressure Fill Valve

 

The kit has a small circle scribed into the plastic on the left fuselage side to represent the air pressure filler valve location. An air line could be used to pressurize the wing cannon cocking and firing system. Again this hole was supposed to be given a small cover but again it was usually missing. The kit has a small rectangular bump molded into the plastic. This is where a small metal placard was attached to explain what this hole was for.

 

4. Gun Camera Lead 

 

The lower right fuselage had a small hole to accommodate the lead for the wing mounted gun camera. This camera was only used for training purposes so the hole very often was provided with a riveted cover. Whether it is left open or closed off it should be present in the right fuselage paneling.

 

5. Lifting Sling Mount 

 

Each side of the fuselage had four slotted screws in line with the Station 10 rib. A mount for a lifting sling could be attached into these screw holes but normally all that would be seen are the flat heads of the screws.

 

6. Tail Cone Panel

 

The edge of the tail wheel well should be given a slight curvature. Both the Mitsubishi and Nakajima A6M2 21 had such a curved tail cone. The Mitsubishi A6M3 had a more straightened configuration.

 

Next I’ll look at the wheel wells and especially the canvas cover found on the tail wheel well.

 

Uwe, I’ll save the external paint colour details for later. And I’ll try not to go into a RLM 81, 82, 83 discussion mode, but I can see there are similarities - in the discussion; not in the colour. LOL

 

Ryan

[Shiba]

 

Hi,  Small metal placard said （圧縮空気補給口）＝ Compressed air refill port

 

Regards,  Matsu 

 

 

[LSP_K2]

Just out of curiosity, Sean, what are you using for your primary detailing references? I have the Aero Detail, Squadron/Signal walk around and Mushroom books, but I seem to be seeing images here that I don't recall in these specific three volumes. While I have a fair amount of Zero books, most are somewhat generic, a practice that I'm now trying to avoid.

[Madmax]

On 12/31/2019 at 4:20 PM, Cheetah11 said:

 

Sean I cannot believe you have forgotten all the photography lectures from 1989.

Maybe I was not such a good teacher.

 

Cheers

 

Nick

 

 

Nick, we were in our early twenties, and just wanted to rush off to the closest drinking and dancing dens!  

 

I dug up my reconnaissance file and now recall that:  Scale = f (focal length)/ H (altitude). If I use a 100mm lens, I would have to be 3200mm away from the instrument panel to make a 1:32 scale representation. Seems too close. What do your Pilot Attack Instructor notes say?

 

On 1/1/2020 at 2:09 PM, anj4de said:

Hello all

 

Following this threat now since I also have a Tamiya A6M2 in my stash...and would like to have it as a Nakajima buid plane. I have read a lot about the overal colors...a subject just as if not more "hair splitting" as the ever ongoing RLM 81, 82, 83 discussion...but that is what I like. My, so far, favorite shade for a Nakajima WEM WEMCC AC J17 Ame-Iro.

 

thanks

Uwe

 

Servus Uwe, I will be mixing my own version of the colour, and I'm sure there will be some discussion around this point...

 

On 1/2/2020 at 1:23 AM, A6M said:

Sean, here are a few little details that might be added to the two fuselage halves.

 

Thanks Ryan, those are cool little extra's. You are right about the join at the inertia starter handle, and I will remove the moulded handle, then sand the join and only then add a handle.

I am still busy putting some character into the skin, and will get to the rest soon.

 

4 hours ago, Shiba said:

 

Hi,  Small metal placard said （圧縮空気補給口）＝ Compressed air refill port

 

Regards,  Matsu 

 

 

 

Wonderful to have your input Matsu, thanks!

 

3 hours ago, LSP_K2 said:

Just out of curiosity, Sean, what are you using for your primary detailing references? I have the Aero Detail, Squadron/Signal walk around and Mushroom books, but I seem to be seeing images here that I don't recall in these specific three volumes. While I have a fair amount of Zero books, most are somewhat generic, a practice that I'm now trying to avoid.

 

Kev, that Doyusha kit does look like it will be fun to build!

 

As far as references, my personally owned Zero specific ones are these:

 

 

I also refer to books such as John Dibbs' "Warbird Legends", and the relevant Osprey publications. The internet has some interesting avenues to disappear down, and I have found some very useful material on Japanese Instagram links to museums in Japan. The problem I find is that I spend more time staring at my computer screen than building the model . The Zero is challenging from a research point of view. There is so little untampered evidence left, that the (incorrectly) restored aircraft become the benchmark. Fortunately much has been done to subsequently correct this, and researchers like Ryan are busy changing our understanding of the subject.

 

Enjoy it,

 

Sean

 

 

 

[dodgem37]

Modelling doesn't get more special than this.  Great show.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Lothar]

I admire your persistence in researching the subject, I think you're about to build

the most well researched model of the early Zero 

Lothar