Tonys Tamiya 1/48 A6M2 Zero

[scottie3158]

Tony,
Your off to a great start.

[langy71]

Cracking start Tony, that cockpit looks spot on, :thumb2:

[KarlW]

That cockpit didn't deserve to be sealed away....

[yak face]

Well after a week away i got back into this today . Ive sanded the seams on the fuselage and fitted the one piece bottom wing . The wing tops were added later after the locating pins had been cut off, this way I could ensure as tight a joint as possible at the wing root, any slight misalignment is much easier to sort out . Ive been looking at the engine too, not a bad effort but would benefit from a bit of tittivation, so i drilled out 14 holes and got some fine copper wire ( from a piece of 13 amp cable ),which I heated with a lighter to give a darker appearance . I drilled fourteen holes and each has had two pieces of wire CA’d in . These will be bent to fit into the front and top of each of the fourteen cylinders

[Lee Drennen]

As Jim said just Stunning. I have this model but I don’t think I can bring it to the level you have.

[Neil Merryweather]

That cockpit is stunning Tony. Some very fiddly work but so worth it.

Hear, hear!
Sorry I was late to the party, Tony, but this is already promising to be another stunning build from you. Bring it on

[papa 695]

Great work so far Tony, and some great additions.

[The Smythe Meister]

Excellent stuff in that cockpit Tony.
The engine is shaping up to be a feature all of it's own...... looking forward to seeing it develop

[yak face]

Got the engine all wired up and painted now . Its had a dark grey oil wash and is now fitted into the cowling . The wing tops have been glued on now , as have the tailplanes , these both just needing a smear of acrylic putty to smooth any joints . The wing top to wing bottom joint had a tiny overlap at the wingtip , a result of cutting off the locating pins and getting a tight joint at the wingroot , but this was an easy job - far easier than trying to fill and sand a wingroot ! Next job is sorting the canopy out. The kit gives you a full closed canopy or a three piece open option . I think im going to go for the open one , so its got to get masked up before fitting.

[yak face]

Got a few final bits added to the cockpit before I can start getting the canopies on ( masking these up is a job i really dont like ! ) . The throttle ( strangely missing , as on a lot of kits !?) was added from a bit of rod and a knob just behind it from the nail art caviar balls . I tarted up the gun breeches with a couple of priming levers and fitted a piece of holographic confetti , cut to shape , for the gunsight reflector .
The areas in front of the instrument panel and the rear deck under the canopy were painted black grey - i read that they started off black but quickly faded . The kit supplied DF loop was fitted , and subsequently removed after I found some pics of this area which showed two dark copper coloured df loops close together . I decided to use copper wire bent round a suitably sized pin to get the shape and heated them up with a lighter to get the dark effect.
After a mammoth breath holding session , the canopies are now masked . The middle sliding section will be added last off .

[langy71]

nice progress, Tony, she's looking awesome with each update...

[Mickc1440]

Excellent work Tony

[Waspie]

Superb work, we love a good radial too!!! :thumb2: :thumb2:

[Lee Drennen]

Great work on the Engine Tony looks nice.

[Tim Marlow]

Great looking Zero. The office, in particular, looks excellent Tony.