Hasegawa 1/48 A6M2 Zero
With Louis Gardner's article series on Japanese aircraft colors ramping up (https://imodeler.com/2019/04/japanese-a6m-zero-colors-part-1/), I thought I'd deliver my take on the early war Mitsubishi A6M2.
Hasegawa's Zero has been around for 25 years now, and it is still a very nice kit. It comes together very quickly and could do with basically the same improvements as every other aircraft kit - a seat with harness, and weighted wheels. I addressed the former with a resin seat from an old True Details set and sanded down the tires a bit.
Filling and sanding concern the usual suspects - wing roots and the wing/fuselage joint on the underside.
With this build I wanted to focus on the paint scheme and see where my own take on the colors got me. Here's what I did:
- Cowling and cockpit deck: Hataka FS37038 Black - this paint has a weird blueish tint to it, so it worked quite well for this purpose.
- Cockpit interior: Tamiya XF-65 Field Grey. Yep, that works.
- Prop and spinner: AK Xtreme Metal Aluminium
- Main paintjob: Gunze H70 RLM02, mixed with a couple of drops of H310 FS 30219. I cannot give you an exact ratio here, just start with a few drops and see how you like the result.
For the markings I used a decal sheet from Techmod (48095 - Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero). It contains markings for three aircraft, one of them being a Zero flown from the Akagi during the Pearl Harbor attack. The markings on the sheet have an error though, as they provide yellow stripes for the vertical stabilizer, which this plane did not carry.
I kept weathering to a minimum, seeing as these machines were rather clean and shiny for the most part. Some dark brown panel line wash for the fuselage and dust wash for the cowling and tires was all it took. -
That a sweet looking Zero. I like the amber green/grey you achieved Boris. I’m also slowly (very slowly is more the term) building this good old kit, but using a full new interior resin from SBS. Hope it turns half as good as yours
Thanks Pedro! I have to admit I have been bitten by the Japanese bug with this build. The Hasegawa kit is such an easy joy to build, and I see myself adding a couple of them to the collection.
Very nice build and presentation, Boris...good job!
Thanks Craig!
A real beauty! Pristine build and paint job.
Very nice Boris!
What a fantastic looking A6M !
It looks splendid Boris ... 🙂
The overall amber green / gray color appeared to have lightened up some as it weathered. It would get chalky and appear more faded after exposure to the elements.
Ironically, some very reliable sources show the color also turning a little darker as it aged over the years and decades. The doped linen surfaces didn't appear to get dark, just the metal skin. The "Blue-Black" color you used on the cowling looks very good too...
You did a fantastic job on your Zero. Seeing all of these recent Japanese WW2 aircraft articles is motivation to get another "episode / part 2" of the Zero colors completed and posted here on Imodeler. The timing was perfect with your posting this one... and Thank You for posting the link to the "Zero Colors Part 1" article that I posted earlier.
"liked"
Thanks Louis! Funny how your endeavour to write these articles coincided with my Zero project - and now I am hooked. Guess there's going to be another Pearl Harbor theme on my bench soon...
A beautiful job!
Very nice Boris. Interesting take on the cockpit colours. Noted and added to my growing list, many thanks
Thanks George! XF-65 is actually my go-to paint for anything resembling these dark dull greens - with some weathering it can be tweaked in all directions, and it saves me from collecting 15 pots of esentially the same green 🙂
Excellent finish...
Hi Boris,
Superb work! Well done!
I am just finishing mine and if it turns out half as good as yours I'd be thrilled. 🙂
Best,
Nikola