Here's the new Eduard A6M2 Zero 21, with the markings of Shotai Leader PO1/c Tetsuzo Iwamoto, aboard Zuikaku at Pearl Harbor. He would fly this plane during the Indian Ocean Raid in April 1942 and the Battle of the Coral Sea in May. Iwamoto first entered combat over China in 1937, and had 14 victories by the time he reported aboard Zuikaku. He was one of the very few Japanese pilots to fly combat through the war and survive - in his case to become the IJNAF Ace of Aces, credited with 80 victories, the majority of them over Rabaul where he became the leading ace in the fall of 1943.
Others here are providing blow-by-blow WIP. I'll just say that I have never met a "perfect" kit, but Eduard's Zero is 99.9999% of the way there. It's their best yet, and that means comparing it with the Spitfires, the 109s, the 190s, the P-51Ds and the Tempests. The surface detail is so petite one can argue the rivet detail is in scale - it certainly looks exactly like what I have seen of the Planes of Fame A6M5, studying it in detail over the past 40 years.
I compared this with a Hasegawa A6M2 kit I have, and there is no comparison. The Hasegawa kit is left behind in the dust. It was fine 30 years ago, but this kit gets everything right - the shape of the cowling, the cockpit, the landing gear, the surface detail. The only thing the two kits are equal in is they both have the dimensions and overall shape the same - though as I said the Hasegawa kit misses in detail shapes.
The kit is extraordinarily easy - if you follow the instructions. I used no filler anywhere on the model.
There's a rumormonger over at The Other Place saying the decals are bad, but I looked closely for all the things that were allegedly "done wrong" and couldn't find them. I am including the two photos Eduard used for coming up with the font used for the tail ID, and you will see that they caught what others haven't: the actual font used. As to "peeling" the decals, I think that is stupid, too much risk at the wrong time in the construction process. The decals are so thin, they set down and show that very petite surface detail though them. As thin as they are, they are also completely opaque.
This is such a great kit, it's sad there aren't the markings and camo options of the Spitfires, 109s, 190s, P-51s and Tempests, because it's just very nice.
I created the "Mitsubishi tan" color using Tamiya XF-76 "IJN Grey 2" and XF-51 "Khaki Drab" mixed 3:2 respectively. The cowling is painted Xtracrylix "Midnight Blue". An interesting thing about this color is that if I hold the model against an "earth tone" background, it looks more tan, while against a blue background like this, it comes out more "greenish/sky color". A good color for an air superiority fighter.
I really can't say enough good for this kit.
6 attached images. Click to enlarge.
