This is just a small review of the Tamiya kit 1/48 A6M5c (kit number
61027). There are several decal options which will give you the choice of
various flying groups ranging from September 1944 through to June 1945.
The
quality of the kit is pure Tamiya. It may be one of their older toolings but
there is minimal flash and all the parts fit well. There are added notes in the
instructions for adding brake lines, cutting and dropping the flaps (making the
ribs out of .03mm plasticard) to an angle of 60 degrees. Eight figures are
included and you have a choice of two canopies (open and closed).
I
started the construction with the cockpit. This falls together well but must be
painted Tamiya X-13 (metallic blue). Yuk! I added a set of Eduard pre-painted
seatbelts and pushed it to one side. The rest of the plane was easy to assemble
but it must be noted that the plane has a mixture of recessed and raised panel
lines. So more advanced modellers may want to sand down the raised lines and
scribe some new recessed ones.
And
now to the painting. I sprayed the kit with Tamiya aluminium allowed it to dry
for a day or so and then sprayed it with Halfords clear lacquer, to protect the
aluminium as this was my first attempt[ at ‘weathering’ a kit and I did not
want to go through to the green plastic. After a few days I mixed up some salt
and water (until the salt was ‘clumpy’) and applied it to various areas of
the airframe. Paying special attention to the port side as this was the normal
entry / exit side for the pilot. Again another day passed and I sprayed the
upper surfaces J.N. green (XF-11) and the lower surfaces J.N. Grey (XF-12).
Again more days passed. Good job it was Euro 2004 and Poker masters 2 graced our
televisions. Now for the technical bit. I placed the model under a running tap!
The salt fell off and left me with some very nice jagged aluminium showing
through. The Hinomarus (rising sun insignia) were sprayed on as I found out from
various sites (http://www.j-aircraft.com/)
and newsgroups, they ranged in colour from rust brown through to a faded light
orange, and I wanted them very worn so the decals were discarded. The canopy was
masked up sprayed aluminium, given the salt treatment and sprayed green. This
works well as when you look into the cockpit, the interior of the canopy shows
up as aluminium and the outer is green. Invisible mending thread for the radio
antenna and my first Japanese plane was complete. I am very happy with it but
next time I will paint a Japanese plane fresh from the factory. I must cut back
on the salt, I’ve been told it’s not good for me!
Fall
Weiss
Click on
images below to see larger images
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