Tamiya A6M2b Zero (1:72)

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Got this one a while ago to go with the Eduard Hellcat:



It’ll be OOB apart from the seat harness and possibly brake pipes. I think it’s the best 1:72 injection moulded kit I’ve ever seen in terms of part fidelity; some parts are remarkably small:



Others, like the u/c doors are so thin they are semi-transparent under a decent light:



So no thinning required there!

The fit of the parts is also pretty phenomenal. You wouldn’t think this:



Was a three part dry fit:



Panel lines and surface detail is beautiful - I hope it doesn’t get dulled by the various coats of paint...

Most of the way through cleaning up the parts now, I’m hoping this one will take days rather than months!

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Seems like the "days rather than months" bit is already out of the window...

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First bits of paint on, the metallic Aotake primer looks a bit hot-rod, but it’ll tone down with some weathering and a matt coat. At least I hope it will:

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Thought I’d give these Tamiya washes a try. I usually use MIG washes, or oil paints, but it’s always a hassle - too dilute, or too grainy, lots of decanting and brush washing. These seem perfect so far, and come with their own brushes:

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robemcdonald said:

Great build so far. It looks like a very nice kit. Its been a while since I built a Tamiya kit.

What clear coat did you use before the panel line?

I have struggled a bit with the Tamiya panel line washes reacting with the clear coat.

This has been so much of an issue that I have resorted to making my own washes with pastels and distilled water.

Just used Klear as usual, seems fine so far.

Now I'm worried...

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robemcdonald said:

Don’t worry. It’s most likely I’m doing something stupid.

Are you using Klear? The Tamiya stuff seems to be enamel based, so I don’t see a problem using it over an acrylic base. I’ll double check everything when it’s fully cured.

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Finished the cockpit tonight - it’s by far the best standard 1:72 kit cockpit I’ve seen. Only additions were the lap belts and shoulder strap, and some dial face decals cut from spare instrument panel items. For some reason, seven of them are not included:





Adding some ignition wires to the engine:



As I’d hoped, the metallic blue anti-corrosion paint looks fine when weathered and matted down:

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generationx said:

This is great work Doc - that interior is amazing, especially for 1:72!

Have a

Thanks! A quality kit helps no end...

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So the fuselage was closed, with the cockpit PVA’d in place. Then the wings and tail planes added:





Needs a guide coat, but apart from a couple of dots on the fuselage spine, I doubt any filler will be required. The engineering of this thing is superb - it’s almost too easy.

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Thanks guys - bit more progress: Masked the wheel and arrester hook wells with Blu-Tack, and the cockpit with the same plus Tamiya tape. Then airbrushed a guide coat of decanted Tamiya fine surface primer. This didn’t reveal much to correct, so I sprayed the rear cockpit deck interior green, and hand painted the headrest in leather. Then brush painted a seal coat of Klear ready for weathering;

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Glazing masked up:



And fitted to the fuselage with pva, before re-masking the cockpit and applying a guide coat:



Also drilled out all four machine guns with a micro drill:

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dr_gn said:

Also drilled out all four machine guns with a micro drill:

allegerita said:

I do this with a lighter heated needle. Less aggressive to the usually very small parts and you can go to much smaller diameters.

I'd be scared of distorting the end with a hot needle. I'd normally replace with brass tube and be done with it, but they are slightly flared so I just went with it.

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Pre_shaded the IJN grey/green and gave it a coat of Klear ready for the decals:





It’s s pretty dull scheme, but I wanted a classic IJN Zero in my collection. I’ll save the elaborate camo for the Macchi 202.

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CanAm said:

dr_gn said:

Most of the way through cleaning up the parts now, I’m hoping this one will take days rather than months!

Did we all really think this was going to be a just a quick build OOB?

It's OOB so far (more or less!). In terms of quick - total time so far isn't much, just spread over several weeks...

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Decals on and sealed under a coat of Klear, ready for a wash. Needed a bit of corrective paintwork, but looks OK:

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Decals on the u/c doors and propeller (and one I missed on the wing root):

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Got most of the panel line wash done this evening - not as subtle as I’d like, but it’s tricky to get a mix that’s not too harsh on such a light colour. It’ll be ok though I think.

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among the last things to do were making a pitot tube from brass, brake wires from lead wire, aerial from elastic thread, and painting the wing lights:





Also needed to re-scribe some lost panel lines on the fuel tank:



So after assembling that lot and some final tweaking of the weathering, it’s finished:



I’ll have to take some better pictures next time the weather is right. It’s an odd one - the kit itself is pretty much flawless, but the light colour scheme messed up my rather formulaic finishing process; the panel lines are a bit too contrasty for me to be completely happy with it, and the very fine canopy framing paintwork is a bit flaky. Still, it’s been a very enjoyable build.

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Toma500 said:

Looks fantastic did the Zero have a mainly white colour scheme in Ww2 as well ?

Thanks. I don’t think there was ever a white version. Some older models (eg Matchbox) showed a white scheme, and they have been shown as white in various films, but I don’t think it’s accurate.

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Here are some better pictures.

Mitsubishi A6M 2b "Zero", Lt. Masao Sato, Imperial Japanese Navy, Aircraft Carrier "Zuikaku", 6th December 1941.






















Thanks!