Mojo “Rei-sen” - Tamiya 1/32nd Mitsubishi A6M2

[tomv1987]

I just wanted to give back a little bit and show off some in-progress pics of my Tamiya Type 21 Zero. Obligatory box pic:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I built LOTS of 1/35 scale Tamiya armor when I was young, so I am well aware of the quality of their kits. So when I managed to pick up this beauty on Ebay for a pretty good price, I was psyched!

 

I decided to start this kit because I thought there would be very little scratchbuilding needed and I could complete the kit quicker. So much for that idea…

 

I did a lot of online research for the cockpit colors, and I would like the interior to be a accurate as possible, but I'm not putting this kit in any show. I bought Tamiya XF-71 cockpit green and Mr. Color lacquer Mitsubishi Cockpit Green, but I think the Tamiya color is too light. I used the Mr. Color for the base color, and over sprayed the Tamiya to provide highlights.

 

Cockpit Floor:

 

 

I added some solder for detail on the floor (based on a build I saw on another site). Then I used Vallejo acrylics, based on the "Spanish Style" of detail painting; black first on all the raised parts, then the lighter colors. That's Vallejo Mithril Silver for the hydraulic lines. It's hard to believe it's acrylic paint.

 

 

I didn't add a lot of weathering because I want this kit to depict a Pearl Harbor Zeke. I think these planes were kept in an almost perfect condition (up to that point) by their crews; they were still at peace in the Pacific, and they had the time to keep their planes very clean and well maintained, that is, until the war began to turn against Japan in 1942, and they were lucky to keep anything in the air, clean or not.

 

Cockpit sidewall:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to fake the white dial on the radio. I either ruined that decal, or lost it.

 

Other side:

 

 

Another faked dial on the radio unit on the right, far right. I had to paint it in; I destroyed the decal when I punched it out of the sheet. I'm happy with it. 

 

Left side control panel:

 

 

Love the way the dials are engineered on this kit! Very realistic!

 

I think so far so good, this is by far the most detailed cockpit I have ever completed. Tamiya engineering makes the instruments look almost real; a few drops of Future on the dials really made them pop!

 

Instrument panel:

 

 

If you've never built a Tamiya kit before, you need to get one. I know the 1/32nd Tamiya kits are expensive, but you really need to save your money and bite the bullet! What a fine kit this is!

 

More to come!

 

Tom

Edited July 11, 2017 by tomv1987
Photobucket blocked my pics

[Mikester]

Nice start, Tom!

[RalphSarc]

Looking good Tom. Like the instrument and cockpit detail.

Concerning the colors, if you have a smart phone there's a free app called "iModelkit" that has all the manufactures paints and matching manufactures paints. I use it all the time to compare!

[Steve Scanlon]

Looking good already, like your detail work.

[tomv1987]

Thanks Mike, Ralph and Steve for the kind comments. This site (and a few others) are what helped me get this far.

 

Tom

[tomv1987]

Looking good Tom. Like the instrument and cockpit detail.

Concerning the colors, if you have a smart phone there's a free app called "iModelkit" that has all the manufactures paints and matching manufactures paints. I use it all the time to compare!

 

Thanks Ralph. I'll check that out!

 

Tom

[rkranias]

Looking good Tom. Like the instrument and cockpit detail.

Concerning the colors, if you have a smart phone there's a free app called "iModelkit" that has all the manufactures paints and matching manufactures paints. I use it all the time to compare!

thanks for the tip on this...app has been downloaded.

[rkranias]

Great work on the pit and wiring.  When I tackle my next Tamiya kit I am seriously considering leaving the Eduard PE stuff out of the pit.  The kit has great details add a little wiring and you have a winner.

 

 

Watching this one.

[Wingco57]

Your detail painting is immaculate Tom.

Great start, and a very nice subject.

Cheers

Cees

[tomv1987]

Thanks guys! Appreciate the comments!

 

Unfortunately I have been on a modeling "hiatus" due to graduate school.   It kept me busy most all summer, but I will try to post updates when I can.

 

Tom 

[rkranias]

Thanks guys! Appreciate the comments!

 

Unfortunately I have been on a modeling "hiatus" due to graduate school.   It kept me busy most all summer, but I will try to post updates when I can.

 

Tom 

Graduate school.  Took that train (with full time job and 2 kids) in '06, 2 years straight of glee and joy.  Very close to train wreck.  Good luck!

[kahunaminor]

Nice start Tom,

 

Great detail work on the cockpit. I just picked up my second of these to do the MDC "Rufe" conversion. That said, the first still languishes in the stash!

 

Regards,

[tomv1987]

Back to work!

 

Here's a look at the exhaust stacks. I dimple  brush painted them with Mr. Surfacer, then airbrushed them with browns and blacks. I've been thinking that I may revise them with more white-ish tints, since this aircraft was practically brand new when it flew it's first mission. 

 

 

I also ran into a problem with the landing gear (one of them). It seems that Tamiya have these itsy, bitsy, teeny, tiny pins to assemble them with... so, naturally, I lost one.   

 

I made another with a tiny nail--no harm done, just some extra bench time.

 

 

 

I’m not sure what I did when assembling this kit, but I was having major fit issues between the wings and the fuselage. I mean, the top of the wings would not fully fit flush with the fuselage like so…

 

 

This is with 0% pressure...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I push down on it, it almost lines up correctly. Left wing fits better than right.

 

 

So...

 

Fit is much better now (I will post some new pics soon), but during all this mayhem, I noticed that there are two areas of the fuselage that fill in gaps in the wheel wells.

 

 

The wing fit issue occurred BEFORE I added this wheel well detail.

Here it is in place...

 

 

And adding new ribs...

 

 

Thanks for looking!

Tom

 

 

Edited July 11, 2017 by tomv1987
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[JonathanReed]

Nice saves !  Coming along nicely!

[tomv1987]

Thanks, Jonathan.

 

I'm in the middle of writing a paper for my summer class, but I should have some more posts up over the weekend.

 

Tom

[tomv1987]

Well, time to get back to work. First off, I had to buy a new shop light. Daytime modeling was fine, but the nights were pretty dark on my bench. Hung it up in about 45 minutes. BIG DIFFERENCE.

Let there be light!

 

 

So I started in again. Got all the small bits coated in Finish, then did oil washes, which were thinned with lighter fluid. It really makes the details pop!

 

Wingtips:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prop, with and without spinner. Alcad polished aluminum blades (front only, reverse side is flat black) and spinner; stripes are painted:

 

 

I started the landing gear with the original rubber tires; but all they did was gather dust, so I ordered some resin replacements, I believe from Czech Master. That meant I had to cut the rims out of those rubber tires (of course I already glued them in). Since the resin tires are flattened, I had to finagle (it's a word!) the old rims onto the painted, finished tires. I used some plastic strip to fill in between the rims on each side of the tire. The hub also had to fit through both rims evenly, so it was touch and go whether I could pull it off. It's a work in progress; I will have pics of the finished wheels next time.

 

Here are the painted tires, with a little Tamiya powder on the rolling surfaces (Luci is looking on in the background):

 

 

Now the cowling; used some white oil paint, mixed with yellow ochre to make some of the rivets pop. I think I will go back and airbrush some Mr. Color Rubber Black and Cowling color very lightly, just to make it look more natural. 

 

Also added landing lights into the wing tips. I was always bad at math, so I only made two, but I need four...   anyway, so, the other two I made shorter, and while gluing/adjusting, I pushed them in too far...  So tomorrow, I will make two new ones. I used round plastic rod, and sanded down the end into a conical shape, painted them silver, and glued them in. I found that while attaching the clear covers, the rod barely fit in the narrow space between the clear part, so I had to shove the "bulbs" in further. I used Micro Krystal Klear to glue on the clear parts. Anyway, I can't wait to see how they turn out once painted red and green. 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, that's all for now, and thanks for looking!

Tom 

 

Edited July 11, 2017 by tomv1987
Photobucket blocked my pics

[Marcel du Long]

Looks superb.

Very neat finish on the washes.

Well done.

[tomv1987]

Thanks Marcel!

[tomv1987]

Well I'm finished with graduate school, so I finally have a chance to get back to my Zeke. First things first, clean and organize my desk space...now it looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time to build! I managed to get the wings on, although the port side fit better than the starboard. I had to use a lot of finger pressure to keep it down, although it is still a little high. I may have to sand it down a bit. But first I want to fix the gaps at the nose:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still some sanding to do after a shot of primer:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But it's getting better.

 

I decided to turn my attention to the wingtip lights and get them on and painted. I masked them with some Grumbacher liquid latex (due to the curves) and masked off the rest. I sprayed Testors Acryl Clear Red and Clear Green to finish them off, but I thought the green was not blue enough:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once they dried, I decided to blue them up. I decided to mix a few drops of blue food coloring with some Future:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much bluer now--it looks better to me:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During this process, I broke off the fine interior wing structure on the folded wing-tip when I stuck it into that blu-tak. Great!

 

Something else to fix:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to wiggle the rest of the plastic piece off of the PE hinges--that made it easier to drill. I used a piece of paperclip as a pin, but it was too big, so I filed it down into a smaller squarish shape to fit it in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want the pin to be the part that fits into that PE, and bridge the gap in the plastic for a stronger bond. CA glue into one part first, then file down and test fit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can barely see the pin in this pic:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glued and dried, it fits right into the wing as it should. And all is right again with my build:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, hope to post more soon! Thanks for looking in!

 

Tom

 

Edited July 11, 2017 by tomv1987
Photobucket blocked my pics