1/48 Mitsubishi A6M3/3a Zero (Zeke)
(http://www.hlj.com/product/TAM61108)
Product
# 61108
Tamiya from Hobby
Link Japan
*History*
In late 1941, Nakajima introduced the Sakae 21, which used a two-speed
supercharger for better altitude performance, and increased power to 840 kW
(1,130 hp). Plans were made to introduce the new engine into the Zero as soon as
possible. The new Sakae was slightly heavier and somewhat longer due to the
larger supercharger, which moved the center of gravity too far forward on the
existing airframe. To correct this, the engine mountings were cut down by 20 cm
(8 in), moving the engine back towards the cockpit. This had the side effect of
reducing the size of the main fuel tank (located to the rear of the engine) from
518 L (137 US gal) to 470 L (120 US gal). The pervious type 32 Zero had the
folding wing tips from the type 21 Zero removed creating a shorter wing span.
The wing changes had much greater effects on performance than expected. The
smaller size led to better roll, and their lower drag allowed the diving speed
to be increased to 670 km/h (420 mph). On the downside, maneuverability was
reduced, and range suffered due to both decreased lift and the smaller fuel
tank. Pilots complained about both. The shorter range proved a significant
limitation during the Solomons campaign of 1942. In order to correct the
deficiencies of the Model 32, a new version with the Model 21's folding wings,
new in-wing fuel tanks and attachments for a 330 L (90 US gal) drop tank under
each wing were introduced. The internal fuel was thereby increased to 570 L (137
US gal) in this model, regaining all of the lost range. As the airframe was
reverted from the Model 32 and the engine remained the same, this version
received the navy designation Model 22, while Mitsubishi called it the A6M3a.
The new model started production in December, and 560 were eventually
produced*.
Click on
images below to see larger images
*The Kit*
In 2008, Tamiya announced that they would be releasing the A6M5/5a type 52 Zero
in 48th scale, which would be scaled down from their wonderful 32nd offering of
the A6M/5a Zero. This was a nice addition to Tamiya's 48th range and
complemented Tamiya's range of Zero's that have been release in the past... even
if they date back to the 70's, they still build into a nice subject if the
modeler wishes to do a bit of extra work and the results are well worth it. The
new A6M3/3a kit from Tamiya shares a lot of parts from the A6M5/5a release in
the way of the canopy, cockpit, engine, wheel wells, landing gear and the
fuselage. Some of the new tooled parts include a new tail, engine cowl, exhaust,
and upper and lower wings that now include a folding wing tip feature. The kit
is what you would expect from Tamiya... Finely detailed parts with crisp panel
lines, and each part slotting into place with ease to be glued.
The A6M3/3a Zero from Tamiya comes
with 3 options of schemes for the following airframes -
-
251st Naval Air Group, The
Solomons, May 1943.
-
Iwakuni Naval Air Group, Iwakuni
Airbase, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Autumn 1943.
-
Major Saburo Shindo, 582nd Naval
Air Group, Buin, Bougainville, June 1943.
The decals are a little bit on the
thick side of things, as most of Tamiya's decals are. But with a bit.. okay, a
lot of Mirco-sol or your chosen decal solution, you can get them to sit down
nicely. The register of the decal sheets are nicely done without any mis-prints
or errors and the colours are bold and crisp. The 6 Photo Etch parts that are
supplied for the folding wing option, are made from steel and are very easy to
work with, just remember that you will require some CA glue or something along
those lines to glue in place those parts. Also include in the kit are canopy
masks which are not pre-cut, a 3 page information booklet explaining the
different variants of the Zero, painting and decal guide and a sprue containing
4 Japanese Pilots in different poses, which was also included in the A6M5/5a
release.
*The Build*
Once the review sample arrived from HobbyLink Japan, I jumped into building it
straight away as I was currently building at the same time, Tamiya's 1/48 A6M2b
and A6M5/5a kits for my Local IPMS 'Build Same Kit' competition that we have
each year. I though, I could handle one more as both kits were progressing
nicely within the 2 month build period that we give ourselves to complete our
builds. Some of you must be thinking that I have gone mad! 3 builds within 2
months...Well I am glad to say that I got all 3 of them done, with the help of
taking a off a day of work and skipping out on some quality time with the wife
and kids for a couple of weeks.. While I'm saying this, I'm sending a big thank
you to my family for supporting me in my crazy hobby.... Even if there is
plastic lying all over the kitchen table most nights which drives my wife
nuts!
Ok, back to business! I choose to build the kit pretty much straight out of the
box, with a couple of small additions. The only aftermarket item that was added
was a Eduard Photo Etch seat harness and the rest were small amounts of wire
added to the engine for the ignition wires and hydraulic pipes lines in the
cockpit area. The build was easy and everything fitted like a glove. The cockpit
areas were built up first and received a coat of Tamiya Acrylic Flat Black as a
primer and be used for shade with the top coat of XF-71 IJN Cockpit Green from
Tamiya. All the cockpit details were pick out with a fine brush and again with
Tamiya Acrylics for the different colours . A dry brush of Games Workshop paint
brand Citadel Mithrel Silver was given to wear down the cockpit area. I find the
Citadel Metallic paint range fantastic, as they dry nice and smooth and don't
have that grainy look that you get with Tamiya Metallic's. Before the cockpit
got closed up it got a quick coat of Mr Hobby Semi-Gloss Lacquer varnish and
washed with a mix artists oils. The rest of the airframe components were
assembled and added to the fuselage for a priming with a mix of Mr Surfacer 1200
and paint thinner. I was looking at the schemes that were offered from the box
and the box art caught my eye, but I wanted to do something different! I was
looking through some of my Zero reference books I have, and one scheme jumped
out at me and jogged my memory of something different and something to do with
my to home country of New Zealand and our Air Force during World War 2!
What I had remembered was, the RNZAF took a hold of a few surrendered Zeros in
Bougainville, New Britain Islands, during September 1945. One of them happened
to be a A6M3 Type 22 Zero, which was shipped back to New Zealand as a war prize
and is on display in the Auckland Museum in NZ. More of the history on the
particular airframe during its time in RNZAF can be found here - http://mitsubishi_zero.tripod.com/warprize.htm.
These Zeros that were handed over to the RNZAF had there upper green and lower
grey surfaces painted over with white paint and crosses painted over the
Hinomaru's with the upper green colour. The A6M3 Zero still retained the black
and green on front of the cockpit and engine cowl areas.
With the model now dry from the Mr Surfacer primer coat, I gave the upper
surfaces a coat with Tamiya's XF-11 IJN Green and Lower surfaces were painted
with XF-12 IJN Grey. I normally pre-shade my builds but I didn't bother this
time as the whole airframe would be getting covered in white. Once these coats
of paint were dry, I masked off the Hinomaru's with a paint mask set from
Warpigs Scale Precision Masks and sprayed with a coat of Tamiya's XF-7 Red. Once
everything was dry, the paint masks were removed and revealed a normal looking
zero! Mr Color's Flat While lacquer was then used to coat the whole model, I
paid careful attention while airbrushing the white on, as I wanted the
Hinomaru's and some of the green to show through the white coating. In areas
that I did apply a little bit to much white were lightly sanded back with some
2000 grit sandpaper to gain the look I wanted. The crosses over the Hinomaru
were applied with a mask from Warpigs, again and sprayed with Mr Color's C-124
Mitsubishi Dark Green in their lacquer range. At the same time I masked off the
canopy parts and the forward area of the cockpit that required the Mitsubishi
green and sprayed them.
The model was then coated with a
gloss varnish and received a wash of light grey from a mixture of artist oils
and turpentine. All the smaller part assemblies were then painted as per
Tamiya's call outs in the instructions and glued into place. This surrendered
A6M3 had the all radio equipment and armament removed. So the parts for aerial
mast and machine guns in the cockpit were left out. The undercarriage doors
were also shorten as per the original machine. Before I hit the final
stage of applying a Flat varnish to complete the build, I lightly weathered the
engine cowl and underside with oil stains, again made from a mixture of artist
oils and turpentine. Paint chips were added with a silver pencil and dirt on the
wheels were done with Tamiya weathering master sets.
Overall this kit was a real joy to build. Clearly again, Tamiya have lived up to
the name of creating another "Shake 'n' Bake" kit. I totally would
recommend this kit to any skill level of modeler.
I would like to thank HobbyLink
Japan (www.hlj.com)
for supplying this review sample.
Dave
Johnson
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