1:72 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero

A Zero from the deck of the Hiryu

The light carrier fighter with unusual range and agility was a shock to every opponent at the beginning of the war in the Pacific. The price for the performance was an almost complete absence of armor and self-sealing tanks, which came back on the type as soon as heavier and tougher machines were sent against it. The version represented on this sheet is the one with which the Imperial Japanese Navy entered the war.

The morning of December 7

Three of the four aircraft offered took part directly in the blow against the Hawaiian base in December 1941. Two of them took off from one aircraft carrier, one from another, and the name of the pilot is given for each. The fourth variant belongs to the same pilot who flew over Hawaii as well, but captures his machine a year and two months later with a shore-based unit in Japan. That pilot later became one of the most successful Japanese naval fighter pilots of all.

Building recommendation

• the light gray-green factory finish of the early machines has a greenish cast that differs from the later dark green
• the tail codes are small in this scale; work with tweezers and plenty of water
• lay the red discs on the wing only once the glossy intermediate layer has dried completely
• for carrier machines the markings can be completed with thin stripes, but the sheet does not hold them

In the package you will find printed markings only. The model, paints and clear coats are not part of it, and neither are masks for the glazing of the canopy. It pays to decide in advance which of the four aircraft you will build, because each of them calls for a different combination of shades on the upper surfaces and a different solution for the metal parts around the exhausts.