Empire of the Rising Sun Group Build

[keavdog]

Do you have all the A6M5 sub variants… A, B, and C?

and the S

[jeaton01]

I do have the a, b, and c variants, one of my Hasegawa Type 52's has the parts for the a and b and I have a Tamiya kit for the c. Not too sure the S with the oblique cannon has been kitted, but I think it was a field modification of an a or b and I will give up trying to do all the field mods! Also, I have not seen a kit of the A6M6c but it was a development airplane which failed because the Sakae 31 engine it was to use was a failure, and I will not feel guilty for leaving it out. As to doing variants of the A6M5 I could just use Monogram kits because who knows what variant they intended it to be other than one that was fun to build.

[cbaltrin]

Here is the current state of CB's Rufe. Dealing with some putty work on the float and wing join areas...

My cowling would not fit right on that cross bar thingy molded on to the firewall --- probably because the right and left halves do not line up...
Problem Solved! I'll just create my own cowl mount alignment ring thingy..


Design:

Print:

Install:

[Stikpusher]

Oh damn… you’re on a roll now with 3D printing!

[BlackSheep214]

He's got the expensive toys now

[cbaltrin]

He's got the expensive toys now

Printer was on sale for the cost of two nice airbrushes

[keavdog]

Started on Frank. Here's a mockup. Not a bad fit considering the age of this kit



Interior is incredibly sparse so I'll most likely stuff the pilot in and button up the cockpit. I want to use this as my second try at hairspray chipping.

[jeaton01]

Tamiya has gotten a lot of mileage from that Frank, apparently they are still releasing it, John. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

I can say that this A6M3 Type 22 I am starting on has nothing whatever to do with the Tamiya A6M2 I did before, which dated from the same time as the Frank. It was a trouble free build as I remember, not as well detailed as the Hasegawa Zeros I have built but still a good representation. This one has the detail of a very nice 1/32 kit. So far I am painting small parts for the cockpit and engine, the only assembly is a gun panel added to the bottom of the instrument panel and the seat assembly of four parts including a purple seat cushion added to the aft cockpit bulkhead. Also, the rudder pedals are on the floor, attached to a clear part which accommodates a small window in the floor just aft of the rudder pedals. I'm using the Mitsubishi interior color from Gunze. There is an option for open or closed cowl flaps, I'm going with open.

[cbaltrin]

Tamiya has gotten a lot of mileage from that Frank, apparently they are still releasing it, John. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

I can say that this A6M3 Type 22 I am starting on has nothing whatever to do with the Tamiya A6M2 I did before, which dated from the same time as the Frank. It was a trouble free build as I remember, not as well detailed as the Hasegawa Zeros I have built but still a good representation. This one has the detail of a very nice 1/32 kit. So far I am painting small parts for the cockpit and engine, the only assembly is a gun panel added to the bottom of the instrument panel and the seat assembly of four parts including a purple seat cushion added to the aft cockpit bulkhead. Also, the rudder pedals are on the floor, attached to a clear part which accommodates a small window in the floor just aft of the rudder pedals. I'm using the Mitsubishi interior color from Gunze. There is an option for open or closed cowl flaps, I'm going with open.

Yea, that's an amazing kit John. You're gonna have fun with that little thing.

[jeaton01]

Yes I am, Chris. Moving right along here...