NecronautDrummer
Member
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2011
- Messages
- 804
And that's some fine engine work there too!
Tamiya 1/32 Mitsubishi A6M2B Zero Fighter Model 21 ZEKE
- Thread starter Bzzymatt
- Start date
Bladerunner
My mom says I'm cool!
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2011
- Messages
- 43
Excellent work! I love this model - probably the best one I've ever built. The only issues I ran into were the joins at the bottom... right were the wings meet the fuselage but a little fiddling and some careful gluing took care of them.
Keep it up!
Keep it up!
Alright!!! I got my mentor to fly my zero so I could video tape the flight! Enjoy!!!
FMS/Airfiled 1400mm Japanese Zero "ZEKE"
FMS/Airfiled 1400mm Japanese Zero "ZEKE"
O.k. so I know that I haven't updated my progress recently, but I'm getting close to heading back to School 
Luckily I'm home schooled so this won't effect me much.
So far I have added extra details to the engine using copper wire and painted it silver, added some oils to weather the engine and did some last assembly to the engine.
I also started working on the landing gear, which is suppose to be retractable, however my experience of trying to add the gear doors is a pain in the butt!! So far I've already had to disassemble the gear doors several times and I've already lost one of the smaller hatches....So now I'll have so scratch build in order to catch up. In my opinion the landing gear doors operate similar to my lego space shuttle with SRBs and ET tank, I bought that lego set for my shuttle memorabilia, but anyway the lago shuttle has retractable landing gear and it operates just like the gears on this zero, so I've been able to come up with some ways to improve the gear doors. I'll have to show you some other things that were a pain in the butt to me later, but here are some pics of the detailed engine.
I forgot to mention that I recently celebrated my birthday and look what I got!! I got a remote controlled P-40!! I put it together, but it crashed on it's second flight :/ However the damages are not too severe, but this will give me the chance to give it the Pearl Harbor scheme and then I can dogfight my zero!!! I forgot to mention this plane is the same size as my zero fighter booyah!!
Luckily I'm home schooled so this won't effect me much.So far I have added extra details to the engine using copper wire and painted it silver, added some oils to weather the engine and did some last assembly to the engine.
I also started working on the landing gear, which is suppose to be retractable, however my experience of trying to add the gear doors is a pain in the butt!! So far I've already had to disassemble the gear doors several times and I've already lost one of the smaller hatches....So now I'll have so scratch build in order to catch up. In my opinion the landing gear doors operate similar to my lego space shuttle with SRBs and ET tank, I bought that lego set for my shuttle memorabilia, but anyway the lago shuttle has retractable landing gear and it operates just like the gears on this zero, so I've been able to come up with some ways to improve the gear doors. I'll have to show you some other things that were a pain in the butt to me later, but here are some pics of the detailed engine.
I forgot to mention that I recently celebrated my birthday and look what I got!! I got a remote controlled P-40!! I put it together, but it crashed on it's second flight :/ However the damages are not too severe, but this will give me the chance to give it the Pearl Harbor scheme and then I can dogfight my zero!!! I forgot to mention this plane is the same size as my zero fighter
booyah!!
Hello Again!!!
After all this crazy homework, and having to buy a new digital camera cause the old one was so screwed up, I can finally get back to updating you on my progress.
First off I must inform you that I have also been waiting for a part to come in the mail that I accidentally lost. It was one of the small doors to the main landing gear and I lost it to my basement floor Luckily I had a friend who was nice enough to give me a new pair from his collection of Tamiya parts!!!
So ok I have made the decision to make this model a FIXED LANDING GEAR model... I originally planned to make the landing gear work so it can fit in the box and be mailed off to my client, however Tamiya did a horrible job on trying to make operating landing gear...They are just lucky the model is very well detailed and practically needs any filler during assembly.
Now for my paint scheme. I started testing some techniques I've used in the past to make the most realistic finish on this plane. I painted the folding wing tips already and I am very happy with the result!!! The paint job is fantastic and most of the panels and rivets are weathered from pre-shading. I started off by cleaning the surface of the plastic. Next I applied a light coat of Tamiya gray primer. (the tamiya primer is so amazing because it is always a nice flat finish...never glossy) I then used Polyscale Bar Gray for my pre-shading...Shading only small bits of the part..several panels and panel lines were good enough for the folding wing tips. Finally I come in with my preferred color for this zero...Polyscale Concrete. Adding light coats over the part to help let the pre-shading show through the concrete color.
Now before you start debating on the light gray color for a Japanese zero..I must note that the polyscale concrete is a fair choice. Here are my reasons.
1: It's acrylic so it has a nice flat finish.
2: The lighter the coat, the lighter the concrete will be...The thicker the coat, the darker it will be.
3:If you ever noticed, Japanese zeros with a light gray color scheme would have a darker and lighter shade on the aircraft when the plane is in different lighting...for example in the middle of the day...the plane would look to have a very light gray finish...around sunset the finish would look darker... The same thing happens when using Polyscale concrete.
The light coat of Tamiya gray primer...note that the image is sorta blurry... Sorry
Fact: Pre-shading is a technique used to add different shades to most rivet and panel line details. A great weathering technique
Hope to update you again really really soon!!!
Matt
After all this crazy homework, and having to buy a new digital camera cause the old one was so screwed up, I can finally get back to updating you on my progress.
First off I must inform you that I have also been waiting for a part to come in the mail that I accidentally lost. It was one of the small doors to the main landing gear and I lost it to my basement floor
Luckily I had a friend who was nice enough to give me a new pair from his collection of Tamiya parts!!! So ok I have made the decision to make this model a FIXED LANDING GEAR model... I originally planned to make the landing gear work so it can fit in the box and be mailed off to my client, however Tamiya did a horrible job on trying to make operating landing gear...They are just lucky the model is very well detailed and practically needs any filler during assembly.
Now for my paint scheme. I started testing some techniques I've used in the past to make the most realistic finish on this plane. I painted the folding wing tips already and I am very happy with the result!!!
The paint job is fantastic and most of the panels and rivets are weathered from pre-shading. I started off by cleaning the surface of the plastic. Next I applied a light coat of Tamiya gray primer. (the tamiya primer is so amazing because it is always a nice flat finish...never glossy) I then used Polyscale Bar Gray for my pre-shading...Shading only small bits of the part..several panels and panel lines were good enough for the folding wing tips. Finally I come in with my preferred color for this zero...Polyscale Concrete. Adding light coats over the part to help let the pre-shading show through the concrete color. Now before you start debating on the light gray color for a Japanese zero..I must note that the polyscale concrete is a fair choice. Here are my reasons.
1: It's acrylic so it has a nice flat finish.
2: The lighter the coat, the lighter the concrete will be...The thicker the coat, the darker it will be.
3:If you ever noticed, Japanese zeros with a light gray color scheme would have a darker and lighter shade on the aircraft when the plane is in different lighting...for example in the middle of the day...the plane would look to have a very light gray finish...around sunset the finish would look darker... The same thing happens when using Polyscale concrete.
The light coat of Tamiya gray primer...note that the image is sorta blurry... Sorry
Fact: Pre-shading is a technique used to add different shades to most rivet and panel line details. A great weathering technique
Hope to update you again really really soon!!!
Matt
O.k!! so the building process is coming along really quick now and I'm expected to be finished within a week or 2. The main assembly is almost done and then I'll begin painting, weather, decal, future coat....and PRESTO!!! she will finally be ready to be sent to Denmark to it's new owner
A dry fit of the engine...notice the pre-shading in the back of the model...
You can see certain parts of the model where it is painted a brownish color...That will be the main color of the plane.
My remote controlled zero ready for takeoff She still flies GREAT!!
More updates to come
A dry fit of the engine...notice the pre-shading in the back of the model...
You can see certain parts of the model where it is painted a brownish color...That will be the main color of the plane.
My remote controlled zero ready for takeoff
She still flies GREAT!!More updates to come
letsgobrowns82
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2011
- Messages
- 1,368
Looks great! I keep saying Im going to do one of these 1/32 scale planes but just havent yet. They have so much detail in them, their awesome.
PANZERMAN said:
Well, once I finish the zero...this will be my next project. My mentor owned this plane and it's last flight was over a year ago. It crashed on it's third flight after performing a glide slope test. It's made of fiberglass, balsa, foam, and plastic...the length of the plane is 55 inches and the wingspan is over 6 feet.
