A nice kit, well built. One thing to keep in mind when weathering WW2 Japanese aircraft is that no matter how beat-up they may be, the hinomaru (red meatballs) were always kept in immaculate condition. The maintenance crews would face very serious punishment if the national insignia were not kept in top order. You can see this in period photographs. A famous pic of ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa's A6M3 is a great example. A great deal of that Zero is down to bare metal, yet the hinomaru visible in the photo is solid in color. Depending on the resolution, it appears that there is obvious touch-up work done to the insignia. The only Japanese aircraft seen with imperfect "red meatballs" are those that were shot down and the insignia damaged by enemy fire or aircraft that were hastily abandoned in the wake of invading Allied troops.
It's a pitot tube, and like you said it's for measuring the speed. This airfix is a very nice kit. The tamiya a6m2b is of course superior, but a bit more expensive.
thanks for that info when i first noticed the part i wonderd why there wasnt 2 of them but when i looked online at photos i realised it wasnt a weapon i have a couple of tamiya aircraft and i am tempted to do one next
thanks pal just really started to get into doing weathering on airplanes as i alway used to be a tank or military vehicle builder i got back into models a couple years ago and now i have a urge to build aircraft
Hi There, long time wargamers but not done a model kit for about 35 years. I picked up a Zero from local shop in Barnsley and am looking forward to having a crack. I can already appreciate the danger of the rabbit hole I am approaching so not sure how far down it I am prepared to venture. Anyway I really enjoyed your vids, many thanks for some great tips. Keep em coming
Fantastic kit the airfix zero I was born and bred in Barnsley till I met the wife who is from Doncaster and moved there Still got lots of family in Barnsley and it's great to hear from people who live local
From my own research, the markings for this A6M2 are for an advanced trainer from the Tsukuba Air Group, not the 201st Air Group. The A6M2s from this unit all seem to have the trainer orange underneath the wings and fuselage. I also cannot find any photos of their aircraft with the large tail number painted under the wings. Even the photo of this exact aircraft does not show them.
That's airfix for you I sometimes think they make up the marking scheme's to fit what decals they already have art designs for Thanks for pointing it out 🙂
@@yorkshiremanmodels The thing is, they didn't have to call it the 201st Kokutai. Just go with the Tsukuba Air Group, Japan, 1944, and use orange for the lower wings (omit the large 34 numbers though). It still would be an interesting subject with a very striking color.
Beautiful build, congratulations, although a little bit overweathered in my personal opinion. I liked the way you masked the canopy. I am in the process of building the Airfix 1:72 scale Aichi Val and masking that canopy will be a pain. Thanks for sharing the video and tips.
That's a shame because they are great kits that are not expensive Maybe check online but you always end up spending more then due to package and delivery
By heck lad that's gradely. Does tha fancy a couple of la'al ones to build on commission for me. Give us a shout if you do. There's a week or more viewing for your viewer
would struggle to build kits for people on commission at the moment due to me being busy at work thanks for asking though and grateful for the comments
@@beercrazy5487 magic. It's thin. VERY thin so a very low psi required. I shoot it at about 5psi. But it's unbelievable paint. What an airbrush was designed for !