46 replies to this topic

[Scale-Master]

I have had this Tamiya kit since before it hit the shelves of the hobby shops a dozen or so years ago. Every year I go to the Chino airshow and see real Zeros flying and say to myself, “I have to build that kit…”. I went again couple weeks ago and I am following through this time.

The parts are impressive looking. Think Tamiya Lexus LFA, but in a more comprehensive airplane kit. I am building it straight Out-Of-The-Box, just to see how it goes together, and to enjoy the engineering efforts Tamiya has put into it.

I started with the engine, even though that is out of sequence according to the instructions, but it looked like a good place to start (and I needed to buy a bottle of the interior green before I could work on the cockpit). Looks like I will be doing a lot of detail/brush painting on this model…

[Erik Smith]

Impressive looking engine. It's too bad so much will be covered by the cowl.

I am always amazed at the level of detail and the molding of military subjects - they have almost lured me into building them numerous times.

[Scale-Master]

The interior is made up of many well detailed little parts. Most were sprayed with the green color, and then the details were brush painted.




The fit is very good.


While most of the inside of the fuselage will not be visible, I still went ahead and painted it all as shown in the instructions, just in case…

[Harry P.]

After seeing this thread I checked out that kit online... wow! It's an incredibly detailed kit.

[Scale-Master]

Yes, a lot of pride and detail work from Tamiya in this kit. And the instructions are excellent.

The engine is done.

[Art Laski]

Nice change of pace, Mark! Looks good.

[Scale-Master]

More interior parts…
The dash with gauges that even include lenses.

The seatbelts are a paperish tape of some sort that while it is printed, it has to be hand cut out. The PE also comes in the kit.

[Harry P.]

I think you should include a dime or a quarter in these photos to give people a sense of scale.

[Scale-Master]

I can get out my "Big Ruler" for future pictures. In the mean time to give you an idea of the size, the wing span is about 13.5 inches.
The bottom photo of the engine in post #6 and the seat picture in the middle of post #8 view very close to actual size on my monitor.

[Scale-Master]

I am building this a little different from most of the other airplane models I have made, due to the fact the kit fits exceptionally well. I was able to nearly fully finish the wings including most of the decals before mounting it to the fuselage.


I was also pleased that my witches home brew of chemicals for a decal solvent worked well enough to apply the decals directly to the semi-flat/satin paint without any silvering and they snuggled into the recessed details nicely too.

[Harry P.]

I was also pleased that my witches home brew of chemicals for a decal solvent worked well enough...

Care to share the recipe?

[Scale-Master]

Care to share the recipe?

Not at this time. I am still testing different ingredients and proportions and would hate to have someone screw up their model or decals.

[Harry P.]

Are all the "rivets" on the wings actually depressed instead of raised? It sure looks that way in the photos.

[Scale-Master]

Are all the "rivets" on the wings actually depressed instead of raised? It sure looks that way in the photos.

Yes, that is the way the kit is molded, recessed rivets and panel lines.

[Harry P.]

Yes, that is the way the kit is molded, recessed rivets and panel lines.

Recessed panel lines... correct.

Recessed rivets? Not so much.

Big mistake in such an otherwise well-engineered and incredibly detailed kit.

[Terry Sumner]

Actually Harry it's much better with the slight dimple because the Zero was built with flush rivets. So anything protruding from the surface would be way incorrect. At this scale it would be nigh onto impossible to show each rivet as a tiny circle.

[Harry P.]

Actually Harry it's much better with the slight dimple because the Zero was built with flush rivets.

Didn't know that.

[Agent G]

These planes were painted with a straight laquer which had a tendency to peel badly. And, in a tropical enviornment, the rivets themselves (steel) corroded at a different rate than the sheet metal (aluminum).

Using a wash accents these dimples, thereby allowing one to replicate that effect. IMO it can look a bit overdone, but boy does it look cool on a scale model.

G

[Scale-Master]

I finished the fuselage in the same manner as the wings, decals and all, before putting the two sub-assemblies together.



The landing gear and doors are fully functional.

[Romell R]

Job well done Mr. Jones