Sunday, 16 January 2011

Mitsubishi Zero

After all the chat about Kates and Vals, "where" I hear you asking "are the Zeroes?"  You were asking - right?  If not the voices in my head are back.  The one which say "buy more toys..."

Anyway, back to the plot.  I do indeed have a modest selection of Zeroes - more correctly called the 'Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter' and codenamed 'Zeke' by he Allies.  I'll stick with 'Zero' I think.  I do have some as yet unbuilt Zero kits by Minicraft and Sweet, but the completed models I have are all from 'Gashapon' trading sets.  One of the Minicraft kits gave it's life a few years ago to be bodged into a Fiat G.50, but that's a whole different story...

First up is a newly built F-Toys model.  This came from the same set as the Kate and Val models I featured recently and is a similarly lovely thing.
My other Zeroes are from another manufacturer (Doyusha?) and are distinguished both by their slightly weathered appearance and a rubbery feel to some parts. 
'Proper' aircraft anoraks will no doubt be able to distinguish between Zero sub-types - over to you Wg Cdr Luddite.
This set of Zeroes also contained one in training colours and a smoking wreck - photos coming soon!
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11 comments:

  1. Bartender16 January 2011 at 11:13

    Really wonderful models. The Zero and the Tomcat are my favourite planes from the Pacific arena.

    There is nothing more beautiful then a dozen white Zeroes in midair.

    Nicely put together and painted!

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  2. Tim Gow16 January 2011 at 15:42

    Thanks Bartender, but I can't take much credit for them - they are the same style of kit as the Kate and Val featured previously.

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  3. Al16 January 2011 at 20:23

    Cool. Awesome paint work on all of them

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  4. Tim Gow16 January 2011 at 20:51

    West & Al
    Thanks guys - the paint is nice and none of it mine! Plenty more aircraft still to come.

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  5. Don M16 January 2011 at 21:53

    The same grandfather I told you about, tried to teach me the Japanese
    designation for the zero...took him several tries but, I still bloody remember it! These are very nice little kits I'm going to have to look into F-Toys .

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  6. Tim Gow16 January 2011 at 22:35

    Don
    That sounds interesting - let's have it!

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  7. Don M17 January 2011 at 02:35

    Mitsubishi Ku Ji Hod Gee

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  8. Paul17 January 2011 at 07:50

    Nice set of Zero's. Your Japanese forces are huge!

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  9. Tim Gow17 January 2011 at 15:21

    Paul
    There are certainly a lot of aircraft to intimidate the enemy but only two divisions-worth of infantry to take and hold ground. Some armour is on the way though...

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  10. Wg Cdr Luddite17 January 2011 at 23:03

    Well, my main reference on Nip aircraft by Rene Francillon is in storage. But I'll do my best from memory...

    They are all Navy type 0 fighters.
    The grey ones are probably A6M2 model 11 or model 21 (Zekes) and the ones with green camouflage could be A6M3 model 22 or 32 (Zeke 32).

    On its arrival in 1940 the Zeke was a superb aircraft (superior to anything the Yanks had in service) but by early 1943 it was totally outclassed (even the improved versions)

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  11. Tim Gow18 January 2011 at 08:10

    Wg Cdr Luddite
    Francillon is my main reference too - my copy was acquired in 1988 but I think the past few months have seen it's heaviest use.

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