A6m2 Tamiya 1/48 zeke

Started by Glenn Virgo · 49 · 3 years ago · The empire of Japan 1919-1946
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    Paul Barber said 4 years, 6 months ago:

    This is stunning Glenn - I can’t wait to see where it goes next - learning a lot here - thanks!

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    Glenn Virgo said 4 years, 5 months ago:

    Thanks a lot Paul. More to come shortly.

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    Glenn Virgo said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    Bit more done. After A bit more research On Japanese Aviation colours I found out that the Mitsubishi built planes had the interior of the wheel wells painted in the same colours that was used on the main body of the air frame Even the insides of the struts Were painted Amber grey and not the Rather lovely Colour called Aotake. This information came from Lewis Gardner and The research that he had done on this particular warbird, so thank you Louis the information was Much appreciated. However I do believe they painted the insides of the landing flaps Aotake. So my take on that was Tamiya’s Chrome silver painted first then overlapped with clear green then random spots of clear blue. So I’m getting There Slowly but surely. Cheers.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    Research paid off, Glenn @glenn73! It's really nice to discover all these nice details, making your model more precise. so amber green for the wheel wells and aotake flaps insides will make a fantastic posture.

    Lewis's @lgardner help is invaluable; has helped me a lot on Japanese colours and everything else!

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    Glenn Virgo said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    Hi spiros, it has yes. I think he has helped a lot of fellow models. For some reason I’m having trouble uploading images. Wait up.

    5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Glenn Virgo said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    Going to be hitting this with a few filters to get it closer to the amber green, as the underside looks a little grey in this light. But wow this colour is hard to get right.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    Looks truly fantastic, Glenn.
    Those colour shades, apart from being spot-on, are really pleasing to the eye.
    Nice shading, too.

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    Glenn, by amber green are you referring to the uniform color of early zeros? I thought that is amber grey (know as J3 SP or also as Ame-Iro), a slight “caramel” greyish. I have AK real color #303 as it seems a good match, but there are other brand options available for sure, and also some home mix recipe with Tamiya paints available on the web.

    I like the way your Zero looks right now, with some judicious wash use it will pop those marble panels just nicely for sure. I believe these early A6M2 were very well kept by the ground crews.

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    Glenn Virgo said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    Haha thanks Pedro, it was a late night and think I’m going mad. Yes amber grey. And yes I’m going to Resist weathering this too much as I know the groundcrew looked after their planes and they were very well kept and quite clean. A home mix of tamyia paint was used.

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    Glenn Virgo said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    Thanks spiros. I can’t resist a bit of Preshading. It might be a bit to much. I will wait and see when the wash goes on.

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    Jeremy Millan said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    This looks good! I'm liking the paint so far

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    George Henderson said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    Looking very nice Glenn. In the way-back-when, we all assumed everything internal on Japanese aircraft was painted with Aotake and I somehow amassed three bottles from different paint makers. In the now-a-days and research online o'plenty, seven Japanese aircraft have been completed and the Aotake has rarely been used

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    Louis Gardner said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    Hello again Glenn, @glenn73
    It has been a little while since I have checked in on your progress. I like what you have done ! It is really looking great. As far as the colors that were used on these early A6M's, it sounds like you are on the right track. I have stored a lot of information and various photos on the subject, so please don't hesitate to reach out should you have any questions. I started composing a series of articles on the subject, but stopped when an unnamed person chimed in and spoiled it for me and everyone else. What I had posted was just a tip of the iceberg, and was going to be a very comprehensive listing on numerous planes. I could see where it was headed so I just stopped altogether rather than have a self proclaimed "know it all" spoil it for everyone by telling you how part of the book ended after you just read chapter one.

    A very good place to check when doing research like this is Aviation of Japan. Nick Millman is a great fellow who owns / operates it. He has probably forgotten more about the subject that I will ever know... He is also a published author and has written several very good books, some of which were published by Osprey under the Aircraft of the Aces titles. Nick has numerous computer generated color swatches on his website. It's definitely worth visiting if you have time to.

    For further reading you can look at the Jaircraft.com website. Here is another fabulous resource that will answer a lot of the unknowns.

    A person could spend days there just looking at the pictures...

    I'm happy to hear that some of my stuff has helped you out along the way.

    I will definitely be looking forward to your next installment. Those PE flaps are great !
    Stay safe my friend...

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    Glenn Virgo said 4 years, 4 months ago:

    Thanks Jeremy. Should be finished soon. @georgeHenerson thanks George sounds like you got enough for about 20 planes. I’ll know where to come now if I need a bottle. @louisGardner thank you Louis. Should look good when done. But I did wounder where part 2 had gone. You should still post it. All that hard work you had done. I’m sure a lot of fellow modellers would Appreciate it. But yeah I’ll have a look at the recommended said people. thanks again Louis. And stay safe also mate.

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    Glenn Virgo said 3 years, 11 months ago:

    Here is the finished zero. Should have been done a bit quicker then this but new job and training plus family life, well you know what it’s like. So hope you like it. Cheers.

    7 attached images. Click to enlarge.