Hi everyone!

This is my Hasegawa 1/48 A6M2a entry to our wonderful EoJ GB, that I intend to finish as Saburo Sakai's "3-116".

Sub-Lieutenant Saburō Sakai was a Japanese naval aviator and flying ace of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Sakai had 28-64 aerial victories by official Japanese records, while his autobiography Samurai!, co-written by Martin Caidin and Fred Saito, claims 64 aerial victories.

A fine and man with a solid personality, a person I deeply respect.

This is the 1997 rebox of the Hasegawa A6M2. Initially appearing in 1994 and reboxed more than 35 times (!), it looks a really fine kit with very good detail, excellent molding with recessed panel lines allover (whereas raised are not a problem for me), the only pick being the "ivory" representation of white at the decal sheet (again, this does not pose too big of a problem for me, I use them); moreover, Hasegawa has fixed this issue with its modern decal sheets.

Here is a look at the sprues, all nice:

Here are the typical Hasegawa instructions, all clear:

Nice transparencies and the excellent, but "ivorizing white" decals:

I could not restrain my self and had a strat-off (the areas aft and front of the cockpit should likely be aotake, so i am going to correct it):

Building Saburo Sakai's Zero was one of my kind of mini dreams for the EoJ GB, I could not postpone the build anymore...

Looks like a non-complicated / no-surprises build, whereas for some "extra info", I got my hands on the instructions of the very good 1/32 Tamiya A6M2. I plan to sneak some progress on it during my more complicated projects intervals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks my friend @wkubacki!

Indeed there are a couple of lines to fill, at the wing and the cowling...Hasegawa stretches its molds to the maximum.

Yep the oil cooler installation will need some attention...hope to cope with the seam, thanks for the heads up!

For the IJN gray, I use Humbrol 196, which comes something like off-white, here it is on my Nate:

IJN gray is a color a lot discussed and researched in modeling communities; I know by definition that my Hu196 choice might just be an approximation, or, better, my interpretation. I do not by all means believe that my choice is correct. One thing for sure, there's no "green" hue at it, and, I think, a good number of modelers consider IJN gray to sport a tad "greenish" shade...

Glad you will follow my build (though my skills are definitely lesser than yours).

Looking forward to this build, Spiros (@fiveten). 35 releases of this kit must mean it is really good. I have been using AK Real Colors for the exterior of my Japanese planes. They have two different colors from different WW2 plane manufacturers. Tamiya has a gray/green color that I used for my Ki-54 that looks pretty good. Sakai's plane should be fun, looking forward to the rest of the build.

Woody, @wkubacki, I as a rule don't build Japanese aircraft, prefering German and American. Color is always subjective to the eye, but if this helps, Spiros', @fiveten, the color on his Nate matches mine very closely. I used Model Masters Enamel on mine, also the Japanese Grey. I think they are pretty damn close, so that can back up his choice. I am sure others here who know a lot more can chime in.

1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

@fiveten Already more progress in a day than I can muster in a week!

@luftwaffe-birdman While I'm no expert, I do build Japanese planes exclusively, so I am keen in learning and sharing all I can about them,

Spiros, for your reference, I'll write down a few notes regarding painting the Zero, which you may or may not use, it's up to you. You have the correct idea about the interior colour of the Zero (green) and the aotake in the non crewed portion of the plane (ie aft of the cockpit). I remember in the 1990's when I thought all Japanese interiors were aotake, but fortunately researchers have corrected that misconception. I don't recall what the Hasegawa instructions say, but the area under the canopy should all be blue-black(and not the interior green).

The back of the propeller is actually a deep mahogany, and it is only the portion of the paddle that is painted. Mr. Color has a specific paint for it, but it is a lacquer (C131). I've attached a photo prepared by Ryan Toews (Zero expert) illustrating how it looks like. The front of the propeller was polished, with two red warning stripes near the tips. The cowl is the same blue-black as the rear decking (Hasegawa has this right, Tamiya not so much).

Now on to the main painting of the plane. As you know, Mitsubishi and Nakajima both built the Zero, and they both had their own version of the Amber grey paint, with Nakajima's being darker. The Mitsubishi version is something akin to RLM02 but a bit darker. google the Legend Flyers A6M3, they have a very well painted Zero. If you want you could darken the paint just a tad (or not).

The control surfaces, because they were fabric, were painted in a more grey colour, something closer to the IJN grey you used on your Nate. Note that the trim tabs were metal, and so if you are so inclined, you can paint them the same colour of the plane. the gear bays and doors will be painted the underside colour if it is a Mitsubishi built plane, and aotake if it's a Nakajima built plane. Since this is Sakai's plane from the beginning of the war, I will assume it is Nakajima built. The legs and arms the move the small gear doors are semigloss black. If I recall, anything that is steel would be painted semi gloss black (tail hook included).

There are many more intricacies that I could list (many that I'm not too familiar with), especially when it comes small details between Mitsubishi and Nakajima. One of the best builds that I have seen, in terms of details and accuracy, is this:

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/82335-a6m2b-zero-shades-of-grey/

Note that the plane being built is a Nakajima Zero (note the white ring around the fuselage hinomaru on an uncamouflaged plane, something that was done to distinguish Nakajima Zeros from Mitsubishi ones), and so some details will be different than yours.

Anyways, hope you find this useful, even if you decide not to use any of it.
Happy building

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Thanks my friend @holzhamer! Looking forward to your build!

@fiveten Spiros, your plane is most likely a Mitsubishi built plane, so you will save yourself any maksing and painting of the gear bays. This makes it one of the more simpler paint schemes, which is an added bonus.

@fiveten - if you look here on the site, I posted a bunch of cockpit color photos from deep inside the Planes of Fame Zero when it was being overhauled.They should help.