EoJ GB: Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero type 21, Hasegawa 1/48
Finally I had the opportunity to join this fantastic GB with a Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero. As a matter of fact, Spiros @fiveten, invited me to join his already started thread with my Zero as well and do a combo build.
I was honored to receive this invite and was eager to start with this beautiful Hasegawa kit.
Hasegawa provided the possibility of three schemes and I decided to build the 2-1-128 from the HIYO carrier fighter squadron in April 1943. I was not able to find a real picture of this aircraft on the net but did find a profile of a different aircraft but clearly showing this camouflage pattern.
This Hasegawa kit goes together pretty well and hardly any putty is required. Interior is nicely detailed and also the external details like wheel wells, panel lines etc. are very nice.
The Zero is pre-shaded and after applying the camouflage I highlighted the panel lines with very thinned acrylic black-grey. The excessive paint was removed with a damped cloth.
The attached pictures were taken with artificial light because the weather did not allow me to take good pictures outdoor.
As said, it was a real honor to built this kit together with Spiros @fiveten, and I learned a lot from his approach and certain aspects.
Thanks a lot to all who have contributed in the building thread and helped me to get the most out of this kit.
Enjoy the pictures and I'm looking forward to receive feedback on how ro improve as well.
-
- 1. Profile from luftwaffeinprofile.se
-
- 1. My first chipping results
- 2. Oil stains
-
- 1. canopy not glued, can be shown open or closed
-
- 1. brake lines applied
-
- 1. scheme is also used in warthunder game
That's a mighty fine looking Zero, John. Well done.
@gwskat, thanks Gary, it was a pleasure to built this one.
That turned out excellent, John. Great paintwork especially.
@j-healy, thanks John, I had to do a lot of testing before feeling confident enough to start the camouflage.
A truly beautiful result, John!
What a fantastic camo, perfectly reproduced!l
This is a wonderful Zero, one of the most striking ones regarding camo.
Your building steps were a joy to follow through our combined builds, I was honored to build together with you.
Thank you so much for entering and contributing our wonderful and so successful, ever growing EoJ GB!
Congratulations!
@fiveten, thanks a lot Spiros, the pleasure was all mine to be able to have a joined build together with you. I learned a lot during this build. Looking forward to your Zero as well.
Absolutely terrific Zero @johnb! You really pulled off that crazy camo big time. Good choice of photos too. Well photographed. Enjoyed your and Spiros's build blog. Congrats!
@eb801, thank you Eric
Really nice, @johnb. Love that out of the ordinary scheme. You might not have known it, but you did a great Nakajima factory scheme (intererior, wheel wells, gear), which is right for an A6M2 of this period in the war.
I like this a lot.
@tcinla, thanks Tom, at first I was not aware of these differences. Reference documentation helped me in a lot in this case. Definitely a learning built as well.
This Zero is a ten , @johnb ! Very interesting camouflage .
Well done !
@ssgt, thank you Jay, I really appreciate your comments
Probably the most appealing camouflage I’ve seen in a Zero, and one I was not aware of it until you start your WIP John. It makes me remember the Fw 190 I built a couple of years ago which also had a crisscross camouflage pattern applied. Two thumbs up @johnb !
@holzhamer, thank you Pedro, I do hope to find a real picture of this crisscross pattern on the net.
Fantastic!
@lis, thanks Lis
I just realized there are only two builds of this paaintscheme on internet. Yours and mine which is still in process! I found the reference which is not the best quality but a proof that this particular existed.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Beautiful work, John. Love that camo scheme; it's definitely different.
@jetmex, thanks Jaime, for sure different, I still want to do a 'standard' Zero as well.
Beautiful work John @johnb! All of the extra work makes this build stand out. I love the scheme you have chosen.
@v1pro, thank you Bob for your kind comments.
John, @johnb
This is a remarkable build ! I have never seen another one that was painted like this before. It was a lot of fun to watch as you and Spiros were building the Zeros. Very nice indeed. The additional details you added, like the ignition wires and brake lines also set this model apart from the rest.
Thanks for participating in our Empire of Japan group. I sincerely hope that you will consider building another model for the group sometime in the future.
I definitely pressed the like button. Thanks again.
@lgardner, thank you Louis, this Hasegawa kit was a pleasure to built. You can make a real nice Zero out of it as shown by Spiros @fiveten, looking forward to see Spiros' beautiful Zero on the headlines as well.
It was a pleasure to join the EoJ GB, I learned a lot and the feedback was great.
Beautifully detailed and painted @johnb ! That is a superb scale model John! ? ?
@garybrantley, thank you Gary
That really turned out nice! I love the scheme, and your cockpit is just awesome.
@luftwaffe-birdman, thanks a lot Walt, although you wont see much of a cockpit later on ,it is one of favorite parts of the building process.
John, Really nice looking zero, your camo work looks excellent, although I cant stare at it too long, I'm afraid it'll make me dizzy, maybe that was the reason for it ? Over all, some very nice looking model work you've done
here !
@shoobiz, thank you Terry, never thought of it like that, but you could be right, a sort of hypnosis effect.
Wonderful build John. Very impressive “ Kist “ and unusual camouflage.
The photography as well very good.
@bernardbedeur, thanks for the compliments Bernard.
Great work John! Excellent choice and execution on the camo scheme.
@dtravis, thank you Dale, when looking at the options provided by Hasegawa, I was sort of attracted by this scheme. Maybe because you hardly see it this way.
Very nice - the cross-hatch scheme looks great! Nicely done.
Very unique and beautiful Zero, I've enjoyed catching up on the detailed build thread for this one!
Interestingly enough, this very interesting "in the field" camo scheme is featured in the latest new Eduard Profipack release of their Zero kit, which includes markings for A6M2s from 1942-44.