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A6M2b Zero - shades of grey


Madmax

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Thanks for your kind comments. Putting together this detail tweak list has helped me get some good ideas on such a presentation.

 

Moving from the tail hook forward to one more detail in the cockpit. Tamiya has made the gun sight mount on Part N2 as was found on the later A6M2 and A6M5. Thus the small projection mounted on the forward cockpit decking should be removed.

79 Gunsight Mount

The gun sight itself could be further detailed. Photos show metal placards that were attached to both sides of the sight. The sight also had an auxiliary ring sight that would be folded down when the reflector sight system was in use. There also was a tinted sun filter that could be folded forwards when not in use. Lastly the lens that projected the sighting image onto the reflector should be added.

80 Gunsight

An electrical line led to the bottom of the sight. This was supposed to run along the right side of the sight but alternatively ran around the left through a hole in the upper instrument panel. This hole was where the pump for the prop de-icing system was usually mounted, but in many cases this pump was removed along with much of the prop de-icing fittings.

81 Gunsight Lamp Cable

Ryan

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The centerline drop tanks used on the Zero came from a number of different sources. Allied Intel reports give the names of at least five and possibly six manufacturers and there very likely were more. Because of these various sources there were differences in the details of the tanks, both in their assembly patterns and the colouration.  Each of the manufacturers would have affixed their specific identification plates to each tank, but unfortunately the links between the noted differences and the particular makers cannot be established. The drawing below is specific to one pattern of tank from an unknown manufacturer. However, as I have a number of photos of this artifact it is the best documented to reconstruct the pattern.

 

 

82 Drop Tank

These two tanks show the differences between manufacturer’s plates on two different tanks. The tank on the left is the one that has been detailed in the drawing above.

 

 

83 Drop Tanks

In 2008 Jim Lansdale described the colouration of Zero tanks. His article can be accessed here: www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php?topic=5759.0

 

Unfortunately the original colour of the two tanks pictured above cannot be determined. Obviously they are not bare aluminum, but the paint remnants could be any of Lansdale’s aluminum paint, olive-gray paint, or blue-gray paint in a heavily oxidized condition.

 

 

Ryan

Edited by A6M
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More fantastic research there Ryan, thank you! I must echo the sentiment that your knowledge of the subject belongs in a book. Maybe you can get Dave Douglass to do more great illustrations like the one of the tyre - just a thought...

 

Thanks for all the other input, and please feel free to use the thread to encourage Ryan, it doesn't count as hijacking :lol:.

 

Work has slowly progressed, but I keep getting caught up with tricky detail. As mentioned, the movable aileron meant the engineers were at odds with the researchers who wouldn't have liked the solution to the aileron control arm depiction. The kit has a simplified attachment bracket and aerodynamic cover that are in line with the arm opening. I took a careful look at Ryans photographs of the Blayd Zero on j-aircraft.com and realised that the arm attached to the aileron is offset toward the wingtip, angles in with a bend to upright at the top where is is joined to the actuator rod. The aerodynamic fairing then covers the joint. So, I filled the aileron and cut the aerodynamic fairing off of its triangular base, and proceeded to manufacture a new aileron control arm from styrene.

 

IMG_2042-X2.jpg

 

Here the left one is complete - notice the offset toward the wingtip.

 

IMG_2045-X2.jpg

 

You might get a better idea of the angles in these shots of the right aileron. The toughest part was hollowing out the fairing, as it isn't much bigger than a grain of rice :blink:.

 

IMG_2049-X2.jpg

 

IMG_2057-X2.jpg

 

With that problem solved, I joined the fuselage to the wing. Lovely engineering and a great fit, except for the inside of the wheel well as we have already seen. I sanded as much as I dared without going through the wing. You can see the light shining through the thinnest points. Ryan, notice that I drilled out Dzus fastener holes as you pointed out in the 7.7mm ejector chute!

 

IMG_2060-X2.jpg

 

I glued some detail across the joins in the well, including the strange round fairings for the engine mount only found in the A6M2.

 

IMG_2065-X2.jpg

 

I know that some of the detail isn't 100%, but I really do like the folded wingtips on this kit! As per usual, much careful drilling was required to accentuate the lightening holes. It is nice to have a choice of which wingtips to display - every day. They just slide in and out as you prefer.

 

IMG_2068-X2.jpg

 

Now, as the construction starts to near the painting stage, I would like to run an idea by Ryan and anyone else who might know about these things. Since it is clearly not possible to pair a tail number with one one of the HKK Nakajima Zeros of mid/late 1942, why not depict one as it was on delivery to its airfield in the Pacific? Since I assume the Houkoku presentation would have happened in Japan, the aircraft would be delivered in fresh paint including the "Patriotic Presentation Number", but no unit markings yet. Lets say it comes off the ship/barge, does a test flight or two and is about to be allocated to its unit - that is the moment. 

 

Naka3-S.jpg

 

I would like to do Houkoku Number 1053 since it is linked to the Diemert wreckage recovery, which I find fascinating. Does anyone have a clear representation of the wording on this presentation number perhaps?

 

Let me get to that drop-tank and gunsight...

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Hello Sean,

 

Fantastic work on the aileron actuator. I am seriously thinking about a book, but as I said earlier the exact format needs to be worked out. Dave did 38 side profiles of the Zero running from the A6M2 to the A6M7 as well as the A6M2-N and the fighter-bomber version of the A6M2 used in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Unfortunately the only detail drawing he did was the tire.

 

Now this is embarrassing, I didn’t realize that there were two sets of wingtips in the kit. I thought the choice was either down or folded up. Accordingly here is some detail info on the internal details of the wingtips. Note that in the bottom image the circles indicate the steel components – they should be painted gloss black.

 

84 Folding Wingtip

When Blayd wired the electrical line for the wingtip lights the wiring did not follow the original. As can be seen the cable should run out of the rear lightening hole to a plug connector. This would allow the line to be disconnected should it be necessary to detach the wingtip. I suspect the line ran into the wingtip one lightening hole to the front, but this cannot be confirmed.   

 

85 Wiring

The square hole on the inner face of the wingtip was used to slide in a wingtip protector when the wingtip was folded up.

 

86 Wingtip Protector

The top of the folding wingtip had a small indicator tab that would show if the wingtip was properly locked down. If the red base was exposed the tip was not locked in place. When the wingtip was properly locked there should be almost none of the top tip of the tab visible.

 

87 Locking Indicator

I still need to work on the prop and spinner details and I’ll also look at your markings issue.

 

Ryan

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51 minutes ago, A6M said:

Kev, reply sent. I assume all I have to do is reply to the LSP e-mail?

 

Ryan


No, that’s just a notification, and only goes to the support email address (which ironically I do receive, but haven’t seen one  from you yet). Normally, if you respond to that notification email, the intended recipient would never see it.

 

Kev

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11 minutes ago, A6M said:

Kevin, the LSP message bounced indicating the mail box was full. I have sent a message to your address listed on the KLP Pub site.

 

Ryan

 

Thanks, Ryan. That's quite odd, but I'll check my in-box when I get home. The best way to reply to a PM is via PM, but we'll sort it out!

 

Kev

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I have finally completed the prop and spinner details. The prop blades are NMF aluminum with the rear surface painted a dark red-brown. There are two red warning stripes on the outer edge of the front of each blade. A decal indicating the manufacture details is also found on the front of each blade.

 

88 A6M2 Prop

Spinners were painted with aluminum paint applied over red primer. There were several patterns of spinners. Most obvious are the two different sizes. The Mitsubishi built A6M2s all had a blunt spinner. This was changed to a longer spinner with the start of A6M3 32 production in June 1942. Early Nakajima A6M2s also used the blunt spinner, but Nakajima adopted the longer spinner at the about the same time Mitsubishi made the switch. Tamiya has included both types of spinners, but for a mid-production Nakajima A6M2 be sure to use Part 22.

There was also some variation in the configuration of the base of the spinner. Until late 1942/early 1943 the most common pattern appears to have been a spinner in which the base plate was overlapped by the spinner. This is also the pattern used in the Tamiya kit. The front section of the spinner was fastened by four screws held in place by lock wire threaded through a stud on the front section of the spinner.

 

89 Single Bolt

The configuration of the four fasteners can be seen on the diagram below. Also included are some additional details on the red stencils applied to the spinner. Tamiya has included these decals; note that they were used on both Mitsubishi and Nakajima Zeros.

 

90 Spinner Configurations

I’ll look at marking issues next, but it may be later in the week before I have time to open that can of worms.

 

Ryan

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Zero porn at it's best! My 32scale Tamiya kit that is in the stash is starting to get very existed...

Snatched another one of those newer 32scale Hasegawa kits for less then half price online yesterday...so I have enough work for the next years I guess.

 

cheers

Uwe

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Uwe, I have the Hasegawa 1/32 A6M5, it looks pretty nice. I will have to look at doing a tweak list for it as well.

 

Sean, I can supply images of all three HKK numbers (1033, 1045 and 1053) on the Diemert wrecks. Depicting the Zero at the moment of delivery is definitely an option.

 

However, it may be possible to work towards a closer depiction of these Zeros in actual service. All three rear fuselage sections with HKK numbers show evidence of having wide fuselage bands on the rear fuselage. Given the time frame and the photographic evidence I believe these three Zero were most like part of 252 Kukutai or less likely 253 Ku.

 

Here is my reasoning. HKK 1033 can be matched to construction number (c/n) 3471 which was completed about mid-December 1942. Given transit times it would have arrived in the Solomon no sooner than early January 1943. 252 Ku was active in the Solomons until mid-March 1943. At the time the only other land-based Zero units were 204 Ku, 253 Ku, and 582 Ku. Photos indicated that 204 Ku used a narrow fuselage band close behind the fuselage hinomaru and 582 used a fuselage chevron as supplementary markings to the tail codes. The big problem is we have only one photo of a Zero that can be linked to 253 Ku. It did not have any fuselage banding, but one photo is a very small data base.

 

The carrier-based Zeros that made an appearance in the Solomons during the January to March time frame all had one or more narrow fuselage bands.

 

Assuming all three HKK marked fuselages all belonged to 252 Ku we can venture a partial conclusion about their tail codes. As I outlined in my J-aircraft article on the 252 tail code  ( http://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php?topic=14430.0 – and please pardon the mess that Photobucket made of the illustrations) the tail code in part would have read 11XX (painted in red). Other 252 Ku tail codes can be identified as 1130, 1135, 1146, 1157, and 115X so arguably any number in this range is a possibility.

 

Here is HKK 1033 c/n 3471 photographed on Ballale island in 1945. Note the dark (red?) fuselage band and the lack of any dark green field-applied camo (the dark patches on the wings are more likely red-brown primer). The fuselage band follows the same “cut-out” pattern to avoid the HKK numbers as seen on the other HKK fuselages.

 

Ryan

91 A6M2 HKK 1033 cn 3471 Ballale
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