Tamiya A6m5
My twelfth kit of the year finished just under the wire last night, here's an “out of the box” Tamiya 1/72 A6m5. I tried something a little different on this one as some of the photos show. I used a black primer/undercoat and then masked off the panel lines with Tamiya's 1mm masking tape. Then I airbrushed three shades of green on various panels on the top and fuselage sides and three shades of gray on the bottom. When I pulled the tape off I had a rather stark “window pane” effect. I actually was quite pleased with the look and for a time even debated leaving it. But, as you can tell, finishing it like “it's supposed to look” was too strong a pull and I used decanted Tamiya spray paints blending the overall effect. I would not use the tape technique again unless I was going to keep the window pane effect. Doing the pre-shading by free hand, as I usually do, is just as effective and much quicker and easier. I did like using some different shades of the primary color to create some subtle variation in what is otherwise a monochrome finish.
Super job on the Tamiya Zero, Scott! Great that you used the tape technique, results are good, even if you finally found out that classic freehand shading is equally effective and much quicker.
Wishing you a happy, prosperous 2025!
Thank you Spiros! Happy New Year to you!
Excellent work done, Scott @guitarhack5
Free hand pre-shading might be easier and equally effective, I do like how this tape technique turned out.
Best wishes for 2025.
Thank you John! Happy New Year!
Absolutely awesome build, Scott @guitarhack5. Love the images from the build. I adore that specific japanese green and your Zero has it.
By the way: Did you also do any postshading?
Thank you Felix! I did do some post-shading. I used some AK washes and water color weathering pencils, and Abteilung 502 oils.
Nice job, Scott!
Thanks Gary!
Another cool build on Imodeler. Thanks for sharing Scott (@guitarhack5)
Thanks Carl!
Your experimentation resulted in a nice looking model.
Thank you Jay!
Very nice work. My free hand spraying sometimes leaves something to be desired so I use a combination of window pane and free hand. I use window pane variation for NMF or trying to represent fabric effect where sharp lines are a necessity.
Thanks Dan! Combining window pane and freehand is an excellent suggestion.
A great-looking Zeke! Well done.
Thanks Greg!