1:48 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero Type 21

The most famous Japanese carrier fighter

The Mitsubishi A6M2 in the Type 21 version was the machine with which the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service entered the war in the Pacific. It differed from the basic variant in its folding wingtips, so that it would fit onto the deck elevators, and it was in precisely this form that it took off in December 1941 from the decks of the Akagi, the Kaga and other ships of the first strike force. A range of over three thousand kilometers with a drop tank was a figure that Allied intelligence officers long refused to take seriously.

Why it was feared

The designer Jiro Horikoshi bought agility and ceiling at the price of extremely low weight: an airframe of light alloy, no armor for the pilot, unprotected tanks. Until the middle of 1942 that worked, because in a turning fight the machine had no rival. As soon as the Allies switched to tactics of vertical attacks in pairs and brought in faster types, the same saving turned against it.

About the model

The package is in 1:48 scale, which means a span of around twenty-five centimeters. The light gray-green finish of the early machines is rewarding in color terms, but it forgives nothing: large unbroken surfaces will show every unfilled seam, so it pays to unify the surface with a base coat first and only then to spray.

A note on the build

The most work will go into the framing of the canopy and the transition from the wing to the fuselage. Use glue sparingly; a joint that has run will show under the gloss coat for the decals more than one would expect.