1/72 Tamiya A6M2 Shared Build *** Open ***

[ShaunW]

This sounds like a very interesting scheme for the Zero, John and I look forward to seeing more of it.

[johnsan]

Shaun, I hope I don't disappoint.

As to be expected in a modern Tamiya kit, the prop assembly is very nice.


The red warning stripes are from the Phu decal sheet. these fit without any trimming. I was surprised as the sheet came out long before the kit did.
The kit is roughly 1/3 decalled. I'll post more when all the decals are on. In the meantime, I need to wire the engine and play a bit with the landing gear legs.

[Stuart]

Excellent John.

[johnsan]

Thank you, Stuart.

I'll be away from the bench for a few days. Heading to Phoenix for Thanksgiving. Might hit Andy's Hobby Headquarters if there is spare time.

[ShaunW]

That's a good looking prop, John. Have a great Thanksgiving holiday!

[johnsan]

Thank you, Shaun. Thanksgiving in Phoenix was great!

Gotten most of the decals on, but still need to add a few more stencils.









As you can see, this is not the usual Zero attire. I'm thinking of adding a few scuffs and chips and making it a bit dusty as other Saipan base IJFAF aircraft appear in photos. Sadly, the only photo I have of a 261st NAG A6M is of Tora-110 and it is sitting broken-backed in a lagoon.

I've also been working on landing gear legs and gear doors. More tomorrow, maybe even some photos.

[Crashpilot]

that´s a nice unusual scheme, those white stripes (sq. leader?) make it even more intresting

[ShaunW]

What a great looking scheme. That's very nice indeed, John.

[Clashcityrocker]

Good looking Zero.

Nigel

[Softscience]

Wonderful, John! I feel bad that i missed this. I often forget to scroll down to here

[johnsan]

Thanks, guys. Sorry about the delay in this. I've had family issues to address. My mother died a little over a month ago. My father is not handling this well, so we've all been trying to be attentive.

I'm trying to finish this before the New Year. Locally I have a few hours to finish this. So here goes.


I mentioned earlier about detailing the landing gear legs. Tamiya gives nicely detailed legs with a nub opposite the wheel axle. This in reality is a tie-down point for securing the plane while underway. This is pretty obvious in photos and is pretty easy to add. It also is a nice detail point on the finished model.


I've added the landing gear and gear doors. These are very nice our to the box and engineered to assemble easily.


I'm going to call it done here. The kit needs some weathering, but I need to close it down.

Overall thoughts. This is a great kit! I'll be building more later.

[JohnRatzenberger]

And it looks great !!

[ShaunW]

Beautiful build, John, that is a cracking looking Zero.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Both you and Ralph did a good job with the SB concept.