OTDAEABT 2-Maly Modelarz A6M2 Zero 2000/12

[cjwalas]

Michael,
Your work is exemplary and inspiring. And the wealth of informative conversation coming out of this thread is great! I'm tempted to have to check and see if there are any more MM kits of WWII Japanese planes that haven't been done in the competition yet, just to join in on the fun!
Chris

[Gharbad]

Chris, there's the J2M3 Raiden, 3/1996

And really Mike, perfect stuff.

[CharlieC]

Originally Posted by boosed

The photo is of a badly damaged A6M2 (the rear fuselage appears to be partially severed) that is still in Japanese hands. It is surrounded by Japanese ground crew. So it is not a photo of a captured aircraft.

The rear fuselage was designed to be easily removable on the Zero - it was held on by a ring of bolts. What seems to be occurring in this image is that the forward part of the fuselage is supported on a drum, there are a bunch of guys underneath the tail surfaces supporting the weight of the tail with one guy working on the fuselage joint. I'd guess they are reattaching the rear fuselage.

MM-Japanese models (aside from those already mentioned or in progess)

Ki-61 Tony - 1993
Ki-46 Dinah - 1991
D4Y4 Judy - 1993 (radial engined version)

( None of these are designed by Bohdan Wasiak )

Regards,

Charlie

[Yu Gyokubun]

I enjoyed you guys interesting and informative discussion about oblique strips on the wings and tone difference between forward and tail of fuselage since I am not knowledgeable about Japanese airplanes.
I happened to find the picture here. http://www.ms-plus.com/search.asp?id=7049 (it looks real plane's pictue...)
It looks there is no tone difference on fuselage. I guess as Charlie mentioned the fuselage tail might have been replaced with different one somewhere….

[GreMir]

That's what I love about our hobby - we not only build models but develop plenty of information along the way as well. And thanks to the forum we can have a trully global discussion
Based on all the info so far I developed a little theory of my own...
Let's say Tora-110 started as fairly ordinary A6M2 with one tone camo as in the photo in YuG's link (thanks for that). Plane either crashed or was battle damaged and its rear fuselage go badly mauled in the process.
Since you are in a war zone, every battleworthy plane is precious so they grabbed target towing plane and swapped rear fuselage so we have the red Tora-110. Rear fuselage was overpainted with whatever green paint they could find (you don't want to fly into battle with something looking like a target) so we have the two tone Zero...
This might explain all those discrepancies between different photos....

[Don Boose]

This has certainly been an interesting discussion. I had missed the J-Aircraft forum debate on Tora-110 and was glad that you mentioned it, Mike (actually, J-Aircraft was the first place I went after your picture of the Red Tiger appeared, but I was searching for 261 Kokutai -- after reading your post this morning, I went back and immediately found the thread: Zero colours; just when you thought you've seen it all...).

During the Old Troll contest, Tbolter built an excellent D4Y4 Suisei (Judy) [well, the kit said it was a D4Y4, but as Tbolter finished it, I think it was actually a very accurate model of aircraft number 57, c/n 3957, a D4Y3, assigned to the 151st Kokutai, but that's another story].

And Darwin built a beautiful Ki-61 in that contest.

Presumably, both are still fair game for this new contest and I would love to see someone build them.

And how about that Dinah?

Meanwhile, your Tiger is coming along beautifully, Mike, and I appreciate all the notes on unique aspects of the kit for those of us who may want to try it some day.

Don

[cjwalas]

I built the Raiden in the first contest (good model!). I'm thinking maybe the Dinah. It looks like a simple enough kit and if I finish the FW 189 in time, I think I'll go for it.
Chris
PS. Maybe I shouldn't lay claim to anything until I get the next one finished!

[Jimr]

GreMir-
What scale is this kit? Your work looks very good, and your research is more than I would attempt. Don is a very good resource; I've known him for a while and he's about as good as a Gaijin (foreigner) can be. Best wishes on your Zero.
Jimr

[GreMir]

Jimr,
Thanks.
Scale of the kit is 1:33

[GreMir]

Tail.
Looking at Birder's Hellcat I decided to do something similiar and separate control surfaces. Didn't go all the way, just cut them off, glue black strip of card under the connection and glue them back on. Looks much better than the printed one piece...
Tail cone requires carefull forming to achieve desired shape, but doesn't pose any problems.
I did end up with a small gap between the stab and the fuselage, probably should trim the tail cone a bit - to late now....
Hopefully the fillets will cover it and if not, then I will cut thin strips of card, paint them green and glue over the gaps....