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

[langy71]

Not too much done today...(Mrs L is abusing the fact it was a bank holiday to drag me all around the local Wickes. B&Q and Screwfix....).. so i just messed around with the various panels that should...(ish) be Aotake coloured...

(for anybody that's gonna be spraying this colour, don't mess around trying to make a mix from silver with clear blue sprayed over the top),
This was straight up Tamiya X-18 metallic blue thinned 50/50 with lacquer thinners...looks pretty close to me, and as I've discovered the Aotake colour turned to a greenish metallic shade after exposure to the elements.. so a newish Zero from Pearl Harbour would be more blue than green..

[langy71]

Also, If you're building a Mitsubishi produced aircraft and not a Nakajima produced Zero, the wheel wells are the lower body colour.. NOT aotake blue/green.. :thumb2:

[Mini Me]

Sorry for my tardiness to this Chris, nice progress so far.... I'll park at the back and follow along if you don't mind.

[langy71]

feel free Rick, there's always plenty of room....Keep an eye out for Matron though, I've heard she's taken to doing SAS style raids to check we're not all out of our beds...lol

[Mini Me]

Roger that Chris, I'm on it :thumb2:

[Tim Marlow]

Loving that….nothing easy about painting Japanese aircraft is there…information seems lacking compared to other combatants.

[Jim R]

That cockpit has come out really well Chris. Certainly worth the effort. Well done.

[The Smythe Meister]

Hmmmm, very nice there Chris.
I do like that colour

[langy71]

Had a play with the engine cowling colour today, another minefield...lol...(it's currently drying...and will need a gloss coat to bring out the shine)... crikey the zoomed image don't half show up any dust on it...



Anyhoo, just for Reference, all Mitsubishi Aircraft had a cowling colour that was made up from black with a touch of dark blue added to it,..(I've gone for 10 drops of black and four dark blue)... and the Nakajima zero's were straight up gloss black..

[Mini Me]

The woes of close up photography.......the ones that really annoy me are those that show up in the completed photo thread that you didn't catch before posting them up! :angry:

[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.