Excellent work Steven, looking forward to seeing this in flight, definitely inspiring me to do my 'Tora Tora Tora’ which has two complete kits, in flight.
Eduard 1/48 A6M3 Zero type 32
- Thread starter Steven000
- Start date
Thanks for the comments guys 
I glued the canopy clear parts in place with Kristal Klear, then at the last minute I decided to go for an 'open' canopy instead of a closed one. (this needs clear part number A12 instead of A14 for the middle canopy section)
This is a Weekend edition so it doesn't have a masking set - so as usual I use Tamiya tape, a cocktail stick, sharp knife and lot's of patience...
The front canopy came off rather quickly, so glued it back in place with a tiny bit of Tamiya Extra Thin.
5000 hours later...
22 windows masked
The navigation lights were a bit awkward to mask due to the rounded corner,
mixed a blue/green tint for the interior color, then a black primer (vallejo)
More black primer - used a gloss-black for the other parts,
Next I sprayed 'IJN Ash Grey' (vallejo air) - The plane will get the green camo on top later.
Aluminium (vallejo metal color) was added to the other parts.
Quite excited to finally start painting this model,
Thanks for watching - Cheers
I glued the canopy clear parts in place with Kristal Klear, then at the last minute I decided to go for an 'open' canopy instead of a closed one. (this needs clear part number A12 instead of A14 for the middle canopy section)
This is a Weekend edition so it doesn't have a masking set - so as usual I use Tamiya tape, a cocktail stick, sharp knife and lot's of patience...
The front canopy came off rather quickly, so glued it back in place with a tiny bit of Tamiya Extra Thin.
5000 hours later...
22 windows masked
The navigation lights were a bit awkward to mask due to the rounded corner,
mixed a blue/green tint for the interior color, then a black primer (vallejo)
More black primer - used a gloss-black for the other parts,
Next I sprayed 'IJN Ash Grey' (vallejo air) - The plane will get the green camo on top later.
Aluminium (vallejo metal color) was added to the other parts.
Quite excited to finally start painting this model,
Thanks for watching - Cheers
Looking very good
Looking great Steve. Every time I try this method I slip with the knife and cut the canopy. I think I am just super clumsy.
Looking good. Do you have a plan for the stand, just plain or some kind of background to look like the sae?
Thanks Neil, well I had a few ideas from an ocean or carrier-deck to a jungle village - but I simplified my plans to a disk with the 'rising sun' logo due to a lack of available time.
I don't glue the vertical rods into the orange tubes of my planes, that way I can later easily swap the stands for new ones.
This Zero will be chased on the shelf by a Hellcat I'm planning to build for the "U.S.Icons Group Build (link)" starting next month, so perhaps both planes will eventually share a larger stand with an ocean or something, we'll see what the future brings lol
️ cheers
Excellent work Steven. The open canopy is a good idea, it would have been a shame to cover up your superb pilot.
Thanks for all the kind words
Today I'm experimenting with the hairspray-chipping technique - first time I'm trying this.
I sprayed some hairspray into a cup and pored it into the airbrush. Then sprayed a few light coats over the top of the model.
After 30min I masked the underside of the tail with Blu-tack and Tamiya tape, I'm deviating a bit from the paint-instructions here - some Zeros had the belly color high up the tail, others didn't - I think it looks more interesting to see some of the ash grey from the side so I masked it like that.
Next I added the green top camo 'IJN Black Green' (vallejo air).
I started with a very light coat, then tried to pre-shade some panel lines with the same color,
Then I slowly added more coats until the pre-shading started to disappear.
The masking was removed from the tail - The engine cowling was also hair-sprayed and then painted black.
After about 30-40min I sprayed some water on the model with the airbrush and tried to activate the chipping.
At first I couldn't get it to work, I was using old sturdy brushes but it didn't chip at all. I think it was a combination of not using enough water and the brushes might have been to soft...
I struggled about 20min and almost called it a day - But then I made the surface really wet and grabbed a toothpick, which worked a lot better!
This is one of those techniques where you easily get carried away lol.
So at the moment this simulates the green top coat wearing off, in the end I'll add a few aluminium chips with a brush.
The cowling was chipped too - This one was painted in aluminium first.
Overall quite excited with this (new) technique, next time at the bench I'll mask the yellow bands.
Thanks for watching & Cheers
Today I'm experimenting with the hairspray-chipping technique - first time I'm trying this.
I sprayed some hairspray into a cup and pored it into the airbrush. Then sprayed a few light coats over the top of the model.
After 30min I masked the underside of the tail with Blu-tack and Tamiya tape, I'm deviating a bit from the paint-instructions here - some Zeros had the belly color high up the tail, others didn't - I think it looks more interesting to see some of the ash grey from the side so I masked it like that.
Next I added the green top camo 'IJN Black Green' (vallejo air).
I started with a very light coat, then tried to pre-shade some panel lines with the same color,
Then I slowly added more coats until the pre-shading started to disappear.
The masking was removed from the tail - The engine cowling was also hair-sprayed and then painted black.
After about 30-40min I sprayed some water on the model with the airbrush and tried to activate the chipping.
At first I couldn't get it to work, I was using old sturdy brushes but it didn't chip at all. I think it was a combination of not using enough water and the brushes might have been to soft...
I struggled about 20min and almost called it a day - But then I made the surface really wet and grabbed a toothpick, which worked a lot better!
This is one of those techniques where you easily get carried away lol.
So at the moment this simulates the green top coat wearing off, in the end I'll add a few aluminium chips with a brush.
The cowling was chipped too - This one was painted in aluminium first.
Overall quite excited with this (new) technique, next time at the bench I'll mask the yellow bands.
Thanks for watching & Cheers
Lovely work Steven.
I looked into the varying markings when I was building a few Zeros. The curved demarcation at the rear was applied to Nakajima-built A6Ms, Mitsubishi built airframes had the straight demarcation line. Nakajima A6Ms had the white surrounds on the Hinomarus, Mitsubishi a solid marking.
Looks like the hairspray method has worked very nicely, something I have yet to try.
I looked into the varying markings when I was building a few Zeros. The curved demarcation at the rear was applied to Nakajima-built A6Ms, Mitsubishi built airframes had the straight demarcation line. Nakajima A6Ms had the white surrounds on the Hinomarus, Mitsubishi a solid marking.
Looks like the hairspray method has worked very nicely, something I have yet to try.
You nailed it Steve. Im not so sure you need to add any additional brush chipping. I think what you have done is absolutely on the money. Great job.
That is looking great. The damage and wear and tear is very realistic.
Thanks for all the comments guys
I didn't know that and clearly didn't do my homework - Although I prefer the look of the curved demarcation line I decided to redo it to stay true to history as the Eduard kit is the Mitsubishi version. I'm glad you mention this now as I had another airbrush session planned this morning
So first I re-masked the tail with Tamiya tape,
Then resprayed the green to achieve a straight demarcation line.
Next I masked the yellow tail-band and leading-edge area.
It makes more sense to spray the yellow first, mask it and then spray the camo but I wasn't build for logic.
The shiny propeller had an anti-glare coating on the pilot side, I masked the center and sprayed a light coat of burned umber.
As I mentioned to Neil above, the plane will get a simple base; A wooden Ikea lid with the Japanese 'Rising Sun' flag.
I drew the flag in the free version of NanoCad (an AutoCad clone for those who know AutoCad) and scaled/positioned it onto a circle.
I sprayed the base black with a spraycan - Made a print of the CAD drawing and cut out the stripes.
The edge was roughly masked, then in the center I sprayed white - yellow - red with the airbrush (vallejo),
Next I used the paper mask and sprayed the white stripes, a little bit over-spray got underneath the paper,
The over-spray was masked and I fixed the lines with red again. Perhaps not that original, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
The yellow bands were unmasked - what I got so far. The yellow was a mix of Orange (mig) and Luftwaffe yellow (vallejo),
I will let the paint cure and next will be a gloss coat for decals.
Thanks for watching - Cheers
Thank you for the intel Joe
I didn't know that and clearly didn't do my homework - Although I prefer the look of the curved demarcation line I decided to redo it to stay true to history as the Eduard kit is the Mitsubishi version. I'm glad you mention this now as I had another airbrush session planned this morning So first I re-masked the tail with Tamiya tape,
Then resprayed the green to achieve a straight demarcation line.
Next I masked the yellow tail-band and leading-edge area.
It makes more sense to spray the yellow first, mask it and then spray the camo but I wasn't build for logic.
The shiny propeller had an anti-glare coating on the pilot side, I masked the center and sprayed a light coat of burned umber.
As I mentioned to Neil above, the plane will get a simple base; A wooden Ikea lid with the Japanese 'Rising Sun' flag.
I drew the flag in the free version of NanoCad (an AutoCad clone for those who know AutoCad) and scaled/positioned it onto a circle.
I sprayed the base black with a spraycan - Made a print of the CAD drawing and cut out the stripes.
The edge was roughly masked, then in the center I sprayed white - yellow - red with the airbrush (vallejo),
Next I used the paper mask and sprayed the white stripes, a little bit over-spray got underneath the paper,
The over-spray was masked and I fixed the lines with red again. Perhaps not that original, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
The yellow bands were unmasked - what I got so far. The yellow was a mix of Orange (mig) and Luftwaffe yellow (vallejo),
I will let the paint cure and next will be a gloss coat for decals.
Thanks for watching - Cheers
That damage and the chipping looks perfect, not overdone and the base is really going to set this off. I may copy the Ikea lid version next time I do an in-flight (migs GB for sure and maybe the US icons too will be in-flight).
Superb work Steven, that base is really going to make your Zero stand out. Glad you were able to use the info I found, although I also like the curved demarcation lines on these.
Thanks Neil & Joe
The canopy masking tape didn't hold any longer so I replaced it with some blu-tack,
Next I added a gloss varnish for the decals.
I'm still struggling to find a good acrylic varnish that works well for me - this time I tried 'AK 3gen gloss varnish (AK11239)' which needs to be thinned down for the airbrush, I used 'AK thinner (AK712)' about 70/30 (paint/thinner). It sprayed well without tip-drying (0.5 nozzle). I used thin coats and refilled the airbrush-cup 3 times. The finish was quite the same as with the 'Vallejo Polyurethane Varnish' used on my last model, something between satin and gloss...
Next time I'll try adding the decals...
Thanks for reading & Cheers
The canopy masking tape didn't hold any longer so I replaced it with some blu-tack,
Next I added a gloss varnish for the decals.
I'm still struggling to find a good acrylic varnish that works well for me - this time I tried 'AK 3gen gloss varnish (AK11239)' which needs to be thinned down for the airbrush, I used 'AK thinner (AK712)' about 70/30 (paint/thinner). It sprayed well without tip-drying (0.5 nozzle). I used thin coats and refilled the airbrush-cup 3 times. The finish was quite the same as with the 'Vallejo Polyurethane Varnish' used on my last model, something between satin and gloss...
Next time I'll try adding the decals...
Thanks for reading & Cheers
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