A6M2b Zero - Attack on Pearl Harbor - 1/32 Tamiya

[Alex]

I was able to find the resin wheels I wanted, from CMK.  Of course, I didn't want to pay $12 shipping from the Czech Republic just to get a $4 part, so I bought their 1/32 Brewster Buffalo kit too.  How's that for economy?  The kit they had in stock is intended as an RAF bird in Malaya/Singapore in January 1942, so perfect for my Pacific War collection.  Add it to the stash.

[Alex]

The Sakae 12 radial that powered the Zero has 14 cylinders in two banks, with two sparkplugs per cylinder.  The ignition ring had 14 pairs of tubes to support the 28 sparkplug wires (the Aero Detail book had a great photo of this).  The ignition ring provided by Tamiya just had suggestive nubs to represent these, so I set out to replace them with 0.6/0.4 mm brass tube, which is a good fit for the 0.3 mm solder I like to use for plug wires.

 

Here's 4 done, with 10 to go.

 

 

The process I came up with was to cut a bunch of short pieces of tubing, re-open their ends (pinched by cutting) with a needle tool

 

 

Sister two pieces together with CA glue

 

 

I cut slots in the ignition ring to receive these pairs

 

 

Done.  Looks more than a little bit rough, but hopefully will be better with a coat of paint on it.

 

 

Presumably with the right tools and skills (I have neither) one could solder this up from scratch.  I'll have to be content with plastic and glue...

 

Next I need to make the sparkplugs and drill the cylinder heads to receive them...

Edited August 9, 2020 by Alex

[MikeMaben]

Looks good Alex, definite improvement .

[dennismcc]

Looks good, a nice solution

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[A6M]

Hello Alex,

 

The extension to the lower LG strut can be seen in the first image. The photo is of the IWM’s Nakajima-built A6M5 and the extension is clearly painted with aluminum paint. The drawing illustrates this version of the extension, but also shows the somewhat different extension configuration used on the Mitsubishi built A6M2 21. In this case the extension is an open frame arrangement which I believe was always painted gloss black.

 

The small metal wheel at the end of the extension would run along the steel track in the inner landing gear cover retraction arm and press the door closed. In the second two images the track can be seen running along the centre of the retraction arm with the paint scored along the track of the small metal wheel.

 

Ryan    

 

 

[Alex]

2 hours ago, A6M said:

Hello Alex,

 

The extension to the lower LG strut can be seen in the first image. The photo is of the IWM’s Nakajima-built A6M5 and the extension is clearly painted with aluminum paint. The drawing illustrates this version of the extension, but also shows the somewhat different extension configuration used on the Mitsubishi built A6M2 21. In this case the extension is an open frame arrangement which I believe was always painted gloss black.

 

The small metal wheel at the end of the extension would run along the steel track in the inner landing gear cover retraction arm and press the door closed. In the second two images the track can be seen running along the centre of the retraction arm with the paint scored along the track of the small metal wheel.

 

Ryan    

 

 

Thanks for the explanation!  I will leave mine black since this is ostensibly a Mitsubishi-built Zero.

 

[Alex]

I drilled through the cylinder heads so that a single sleeve of 0.6/0.4 mm brass can be both "sparkplugs" to receive the ignition wires.  This setup lets me get nice uniformity, since it was fairly easy to cut all 14 of the exactly 7 mm long, for a 0.75 mm protrusion from each side.  In the below photo you don't see them (just the drilled holes) since I'm going to put them in post-paint to leave the brass color visible.  What you do see started below is fiddly photo-etch, which Eduard provides a lot of, and which will significantly dress up the Sakae 12.  I aim to use all of it except the plug wires, which will be 0.3 mm solder.  This is the front cylinder bank about halfway done...

 

 

I debated adding the PE now or later, and settled on doing it all pre-paint.  I'm going to end up doing a lot of hand-painting on this engine no matter what, and the PE will stick better if glued to bare plastic.  Plus this way any sloppy bits of CA (I'm getting better-ish at using the stuff, but far from perfect) will have at least a couple layers of paint to disguise them.

 

BTW, pointers to any color photos or color detail info on early Sakae motors would be greatly appreciated.  I have a few decent ones in the Aero detail book (and a good technical line drawing that helps with plumbing), but the more the merrier!

[turbo]

This is looking fantastic Alex - taking lots of notes for my A6M5 build! 

[A6M]

Hello Alex,

 

For painting the engine the best I can do is repeat what I wrote in the A6M2 Tweak List. The engine colours described below come from a wartime TAIC metallurgical report on a captured Sakae 12. Each component in the report was listed as to what metal it was made of and then what finish was found on the artifact.

 

Cylinder heads - black paint

Cylinder barrels - black paint

Rocker box covers - black paint

Push rod housings - black paint with NMF fittings at each end

Baffles between cylinders - black paint

Intake manifold - black paint

Crankcase - greenish-gray paint (the nose section is held in place by 14 NMF bolts)

Blower case - gray paint

Gear case - gray-green paint

Gear oil pump housing - gray paint

Fuel pump case - black paint

Fuel pump support - gray-green paint

Gun synchronizer housing - gray paint

Ignition system conduit tubes - gray paint

Ignition system cables - black leatherette covering

 

Scott Negron has described the original gray paint on the USAF Museum Zero engine as virtually identical to a sample of RLM 76 or FS 6473. I believe the TAIC report of gray-green paint would be this colour. The reference to gray paint may also have been this shade which then faded to a gray or it may have been a gray colour to start. All of the paint colours were originally gloss but probably a semi-gloss finish would be better on a model.

 

Below are two photos of a Sakae 21 from the NASM’s Gekko night fighter. Although not a Zero the engine is the same. The third photo is the Sakae 12 engine from the A6M2 recovered in Alaska in 1942. Note especially that many of the bolts on the engine have an unpainted NMF.

 

Ryan   

 

 

 

[A6M]

Almost forgot to mention that it looks like the ignition lines on the NASM engine have been replaced by ones covered with braided aluminum. They would have been originally covered in black leatherette as can bee seen on the 1942 captured engine.

 

Ryan 

[Alex]

On 8/10/2020 at 8:07 PM, A6M said:

Almost forgot to mention that it looks like the ignition lines on the NASM engine have been replaced by ones covered with braided aluminum. They would have been originally covered in black leatherette as can bee seen on the 1942 captured engine.

 

Ryan 

Thanks Ryan - this is super-helpful.  It looks like a number of the components on the restored engine may have been cleaned up and left as bare aluminum, relative to the black paint on the original.  Although it does look like the oil distribution tubes that run between the rocker covers were unpainted on the original engine.  Not all of those bolt heads are reproduced on the model engine, but I'll do my best to render the ones that are there as bare metal.

[Alex]

On 8/10/2020 at 8:07 PM, A6M said:

Almost forgot to mention that it looks like the ignition lines on the NASM engine have been replaced by ones covered with braided aluminum. They would have been originally covered in black leatherette as can bee seen on the 1942 captured engine.

 

Ryan 

One other thing - it looks to me like the rings that run around the engine fore and aft (presumably to mount the cowling?) are black in the captured engine, not aotoke as called for by the kit instructions.  Would you agree?

 

Thanks again

 

Alex

[A6M]

Hello Alex,

 

I think you are right, but I need to look into this more closely. I'll have a more definite answer for you ASAP.

 

Ryan

[Hartmann52]

On 7/29/2020 at 4:06 AM, Alex said:

Been a while since I updated this - "real" work has been keeping me very busy, so I'm only making slow progress.

 

In anticipation of being ready to join wings and fuselage, I installed the cockpit into the fuselage.  It fit beautifully, which unfortunately would be the last of beautiful fits for a while.

 

 

 

Behind the cockpit it should definitely be painted in interior green, not black ???

[Alex]

28 minutes ago, Hartmann52 said:

Behind the cockpit it should definitely be painted in interior green, not black ???

According to Ryan (A6M) who has done extensive research for a Zero restoration, the rear decking was black, like the front decking, not green as the Tamiya instructions call for.  I repainted mine black before mounting the canopy.