Mitsubishi A6M2b by CDW - Tamiya - 1:72 scale - Finished

[CDW]

Kit box and contents

 

Fuselage halves and cockpit pieces

 

After a black base coat, a light coat of Japanese interior green. Typical Tamiya engineered fit is fantastic. I drilled out the lightening holes in the seat.

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by CDW

[Canute]

No aftermarket interior with this one. Very detailed "office". Nice start.

[ccoyle]

Some nice molded detail there for 1/72 scale.

[CDW]

40 minutes ago, Canute said:

No aftermarket interior with this one. Very detailed "office". Nice start.

 

29 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

Some nice molded detail there for 1/72 scale.

It’s pretty good right out of the box which is how I intend to finish this one.

What I really want to do is try a different approach to the airframe painting using a mottle (sp?) technique. Saw someone else do it and want to try it for myself. Who knows, this could potentially make a 1:72 scale modeler out of me which would be something I have never done. 1:72 has gotten a whole lot better since I last checked one out. Molds are very nice. Very tiny, too.

Edited November 14, 2021 by CDW

[CDW]

After some detail painting of the cockpit parts everything was given a coat of gloss varnish in preparation for decals and a wash.

 

[CDW]

With decals and a wash, the office is dry fitted into the fuselage. Nice fit, no problems at all.

Need to add the seat belts before buttoning it up.

 

[ccoyle]

I think dimes were smaller back when I worked in 1/72 scale. 🤔

[CDW]

Just now, ccoyle said:

I think dimes were smaller back when I worked in 1/72 scale. 🤔

Opti Visors work miracles.

[Danstream]

Nice cockpit in such a small scale!

Dan.

[CDW]

6 hours ago, Danstream said:

Nice cockpit in such a small scale!

Dan.

Thanks Dan

[CDW]

Continuing with the box stock build, used the kit decal for the seatbelt. The only thing added was a photo copied paper seatbelt to give the decal a more 3d appearance. Once the decal was in place and totally dry, gave the cockpit a dull clear coat to blend the colors together.

 

Cemented the fuselage halves together , inserted the cockpit and cemented it in place, then cemented the wings to the fuselage. Will allow this to thoroughly dry over night.

 

 

 

 

[mtaylor]

Surprising detail on such a tiny model.  Impressive.

[Old Collingwood]

That pit looks Superb.

 

OC.

[ccoyle]

I just received an A6M2 kit in the mail yesterday. Card model, though.

[CDW]

Just now, ccoyle said:

I just received an A6M2 kit in the mail yesterday. Card model, though.

Will definitely stay tuned for that one when you build it. Who publishes it?

[ccoyle]

1 minute ago, CDW said:

Who publishes it?

 

It's Kartonowa Kolekcja's second issue. Makes a very nice completed model, but I don't know when (or even if) I'll get around to it. The problem with collecting (hoarding?) kits is that I now always have lots of options for next builds. It's simultaneously a blessing and a curse. 😬

 

Here's the kit cover.

 

And a finished example.

[CDW]

When you buy a model aircraft with a detailed canopy frame like this one, do yourself a huge favor and buy a pre cut canopy mask if one is available. If your time is worth more than a dollar or two per hour, it will be money well spent.

In this case, none was available to be found stateside, so I had to wing it.

[CDW]

[Old Collingwood]

8 hours ago, CDW said:

Excellenty done mate  - not the easiest of things to do from scratch.

 

OC.

[CDW]

Just now, Old Collingwood said:

Excellenty done mate  - not the easiest of things to do from scratch.

 

OC.

Thanks OC. It's just so painfully slow to do. Like watching paint dry.

[popeye the sailor]

very nice so far....the cockpit looks awesome   

[CDW]

30 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

very nice so far....the cockpit looks awesome   

Thanks for stopping by Denis.

[CDW]

Gonna go silent for a week or so while family flies in tomorrow and stays with us through the Thanksgiving holidays. Hope everyone has a great week and will see you again soon. 

[CDW]

Back from a glorious week of thanksgiving spent with all my family, just put our kids from New Hampshire on the plane headed for their home this morning at 5:00 AM.

While I was away from modeling for a week, this new kit came in the mail. Flyhawk has made their first entry into model aircraft with the brand new release of the 1:72 scale SBD-3 Dauntless dive bomber. It’s a beautifully molded model in typical high quality Flyhawk fashion. Extremely well detailed, it includes a huge decal sheet and a set of canopy masks. 
 

[Landlubber Mike]

Looks great - a mask and lots of decals is a great addition to kits.

[Canute]

Nice looking parts; very crisp. Flyhawk has really figured out how to get the most accurate scale parts yet.

[Egilman]

That's 1/72nd? WOW! the parts look like a 1/48th.... and nice they added the canopy masks....

Looks like a new standard to me....

 

I'm in...

[CDW]

Just now, Egilman said:

That's 1/72nd? WOW! the parts look like a 1/48th.... and nice they added the canopy masks....

Looks like a new standard to me....

 

I'm in...

There are some new (to me) companies into 1:72 scale aircraft now that will blow your mind. The level of detail is every bit as good or better than 1:48 scale. Some of these company names are: Arma Hobby, AMK, Clear Prop Models, Tan Model. Eduard and Tamiya have some fantastic well detailed model aircraft in 1:72 as well. 

In the future, will be building some kits from all these companies.

[CDW]

My kids bought me a massive steel safe. While the thing weighs hundreds of pounds, I am working on a dedicated space to place it. It's one of those things that will not be "moved around", so will need to be sure it gets placed where it will stay. Unfortunately, this has created another delay in getting back to my model kit builds. While I am happy to have the safe, it has presented an unexpected conundrum for the moment.

[ccoyle]

Craig, you and I are continuing to duplicate each other's model stash. I have an SBD-3 on my Christmas wish list.