discussion Langy's, Academy 1/48 Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero.

[langy71]

And finally I'm back at the bench, (after Mrs L has finished abusing my good nature with all manner of gardening type crap tasks to keep me out of mischief,

so had a couple of hours at the bench , and managed to get the wings fitted, and the engine 99% built and fitted into the cowling...I've gone for open flaps on the cowling..not sure this is correct or not for a aircraft that's going to be sat on a carrier deck, but it adds a little bit more flavour to the build..... (also managed to make sure the cowling is removable for when the main painting begins..)

 

[langy71]

And now a question for you wingy thingy type guys... would the landing flaps ..(under the wings)..on a zero be open whilst parked up or would they be closed .. as there is a choice of either option and I kind of like the flaps dropped ...(adds more flavour)..

 

[Mark1]

Nice progress, cant really help with your question though. Wouldnt know the difference between an aileron and a flap, if there not the same thing:thinking:

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Dropped down I'd say mate.

 

[Mini Me]

Actually they can be either or....depends on a couple of things. Pilot accessability sometimes required the flaps down in order to get to the cockpit. Also, if the aircraft was to be secured for Sea with no scheduled maintenance the cowl flaps would be closed and the flaps up....not to mention canopy closed as well. Hope this is helpful.

 

[Lee Drennen]

Updates and Cockpit looks great Chris.

 

[langy71]

Actually they can be either or....depends on a couple of things. Pilot accessability sometimes required the flaps down in order to get to the cockpit. Also, if the aircraft was to be secured for Sea with no scheduled maintenance the cowl flaps would be closed and the flaps up....not to mention canopy closed as well. Hope this is helpful.

Thanks for that, so hypothetically speaking, if the plane was just about ready to be prepped for take-off, I'm guessing it would be possible for the cowl flaps to be open, the landing flaps to be down as well as the cockpit open ?

 

[Mini Me]

Yes, the cowl flaps would be open when the engine is going to be running while on the ground.:thumb2:

 

[yak face]

Looking mighty fine chris , cheers tony

 

[langy71]

Well, I'm back with a small update... bench time has been some what restricted due to being crazy mad busy at work, so I managed to get an hour or so last night to throw a bit of paint at it...

First up... silver undercoat... using Vallejo Model air Aluminium thinned to a cheeky 50/50 mix... went on ok with no 'dry spots'..








And onto some panel lining with Tamiya Red Brown...thinned to a saucy 70/30 mix .... It's a bit meahh in places so it's hardly my best panel lining... seemed to be suffering a case of the shakes...(I must learn not to paint when I'm tired...)

 

[langy71]

Had a blast with a touch of colour today, good ole Tamiya XF-76, Tamiya XF-60 and a few drops of white for good measure...(65/30/5) thinned to a naughty 60/40 mix,







Then added some highlights and sun bleaching with a touch more white added to a 80/20 mix of the same colour, thinned to around 90 % thinner to paint...(more of a filter to be honest). also painted the flaps and ailerons with a heavily whited down version of the main colour to replicate the obvious colour difference due to them being made from fabric and not aluminium...(you can barely see the colour difference but it is there...

The whole aircraft was then sprayed over with 100% pure tamiya Lacquer thinner to soften down the starkness of the highlighting... I think it worked





And today's quality control inspector deciding he didn't like the fact that his food bowl was empty, and needed to lodge a complaint..

 

[yak face]

Lovely work chris , and a lovely moggie , cheers tony

 

[Mark1]

Paint job has come out well.

 

[stillp]

Gorgeous cat Chris! Oh and so's the model.
Pete

 

[Andy the Sheep]

Ditto!

 

[Andy T]

Looks great Chris, nicely done.

 

[langy71]

Well after sitting on this for a couple of days the colour just didn't look right... (it was way to 'caramelly'...if that's even a real word).....so back into the shed she went, a bit of a play with some colours and I've ended up with this, it's a bit lighter but in the flesh it has a more grey tone, the surface detail and panel lining has been washed out by the light...but it's still there..

original colour on the flap piece ..





new clothes...

 

[langy71]

Incidentally,
I watched the film Pearl Harbor last night just for reference... and not one of the Mitsubishi Zero's in it are the 'correct' colour, they're all Army green..(given that Pearl Harbor was the first major offensive the Japanese launched), the Green colour wasn't used until much later after the attack.....however the Achi D-3a1 'Val' Torpedo bombers are all the correct grey ish colour.... how could a major film get such a detail wrong despite having military advisors on board ??

 

[Mini Me]

I'm no expert on Jap wing things but I do like the results of the latest attempt. Keep it coming Chris. :thumb2:

 

[langy71]

I'm no expert on Jap wing things but I do like the results of the latest attempt. Keep it coming Chris. :thumb2:

Cheers Rick, I'm thinking of doing some more highlights on the upper surfaces, gonna let it settle and have another look tomorrow after work...