OnreceiptofkitSWSNo.14Deanwasimpressedwithnolessthan25sprueframesofpartsanda60-pagelonginstructionmanual.Havingdecidedagainstusingtheoptionalclearpartsforthefuselage,wings,tailplanesandenginenacellesDeanwasleftwithanapproximately400partsbuildandelectedtocompletethekitastheKoversion.
Constructionbeganwiththeengines,eachof28parts,andDeannotedanextentofdetailprovisionthatwouldnotbevisiblewiththemodelcomplete.Thetubularmouldingssuchaspipes,exhausts,pushrodsetc.,hadprominentmouldseamsandneededcleaningupbeforeassembly.Theotherenginepartssuchasthebanksofcylinders,carburettorsandgearboxesrequiredonlyminimumcleanup.Oncecleanedupallthepartsfittedwithclick-togetherprecision.TheenginewaspaintedwithAKXtremeMetalSteelfollowedbyablackpastelwash.ThecarburettorsandotherancillarieswerefinishedinTamiyaXF-53NeutralGraywithdetailspickedoutinAKAluminium.Theexhaustswerefirstpaintedsteelandthengivenamattcoatbeforesuccessivelayersofpastelwashesinreds,brownsandblacks,etc.,togivearustedandweatheredappearance,thenfixedwithasecondmattcoattopreventsmudgingwhenhandling.
Therearethreemethodsofpresentingtheinstrumentpanel;bypaintingtheraiseddetailontheplasticpart,byapplyinganinstrumentsdecal,orbyusingtheclearpart.Deanchosethelatterandmaskedofftheopeningsforthedialsandreadouts,paintedthepanelblackandthenaddedtheinstrumentdecalfrombehindtoshowthroughtheclearfaces.Microscopicmaskingwasneededforthat-fortunatelythemajorityofthedialsbeingthesamediametersassomeofthepunchesinaminiaturepunchsetallowedtinydiscsofmaskingtapetobepunchedoutforthepurpose.MoreirregularlysizedandshapedopeningsweremaskedwithtinyblobsofBlu-Takteasedintopositionwiththepointofacocktailstick.Switchesandotherdetailswerethenpaintedonwithafinebrushandasteadyhand.
TherewasasimilarsituationwiththetwinHo-103nosearmament,unseenoncethenoseconewasassembledandiftheinspectionpanelswerefittedclosed.Thenoseconeprovedslightlytoowideindiameterforthefuselage,leavingastep,andthesidesofthelatterhadtobebuiltupwithlayersofbrushedonprimerasfiller.Deanusedtheoptionaltransparentnoseconeasasacrificial'dummy'tosandthefuselagetoachieveaperfectmatch,therebypreservingthesurfacedetailonthesolidnosecone.
Accordingtotheinstructions,theundercarriageassemblyneededtobefittedbeforethetopwinghalveswereadded.ThisseemedtoDeantobeinvitingtheiraccidentalremovallaterinthebuild,soheconductedteststodeterminewhethertheycouldbefittedafterthemainairframewasassembled.Theanswerwasyes,evenaftertheenginenacelleswerefitted,butonlyifthegeardoorswereaddedbeforehandasthesewouldnotgoinafterwards.Theundercarriageitselfisverysturdyandwellbraced,withamazinglevelsofdetailuptoandincludingseparatebrakepipestoadd.Curiouslythetyreswerenotmouldedtosimulateweightonthem,sothiswasdonebycarefulfiling.
Thewinghalveswereaddedbylocatingthefulllengthwingsparintotherecessinsidethewinghalf.Thisgivesthecorrectdihedralangleautomatically,withnowarping.Thetopwinghalfwasthenadded,andagainfitwasexact,thecomplexcurvesofthewingrootfilletssimplyclickingintoplace.Theirfitwassoperfectthatitwasactuallydifficulttoremovethemagainwithoutdamagingthem,soabeadofliquidpolywasrunaroundthejointstofixtheminposition.Aileronsandflapswereadded,andshowedasimilarprecisionoffit.Thetailplanesandthefinalsofitperfectlyintotheirrecessestoo,withnofillingnecessary.Onethingtonoteisthatpartofthetailplaneandfinisvisiblethroughtheopentailwheelwellasitformstheroofofthisstructure.Thismeansithastobepaintedintheinteriorcolourbeforeassembly,asotherwisebareplasticwillbevisibleandthisisnotmentionedintheinstructions.
WithveryspecialthankstoDeanforsharinghisimagesanddetailsofthebuildhere.
AviationofJapan'sTexascorrespondentMarkSmithhasverykindlycontributedhisremembranceofbuildingtheclassicTamiya1/48scaleMitsubishiA6M2Model21kitof1973withitsmeihaihakushoku(明灰白色)-light/brightashwhitecolourfollowingtheconventionofthetime.Sadlytheameirowarsarestillwithusbutmorehappilytheadage'It'syourmodel!'prevailsandwhetherbutternutorwhitewashbattledressischosenaZeromodelisaZeroforallthat.Andinthiscaseaveryfinemodelwhichbeliesits40oddyearsofsurvival.OvertoMarkthen:
TheTamiyakithadmuchtocommenditincludingsharplymouldeddetail,anoptionalopencockpitwithverycleartrasparencies,nicelymouldedsittingandstandardpilotfiguresandawell-chosendecalsheetofferingfivemarkingsoptions.InadditiontotheSaburoSakaiTainanKumachineexpertlymodelledbyMarkdecalswerealsoprovidedforYoshiroHashiguchi's3Ku'X-183',TetsuzoIwamoto's253Ku'253-102'withitsplethoraofcherryblossomvictorytallies,虎-110(Tora-110)of261Ku(whichfeaturedonthecoverofDonThorpe's'JapaneseNavalAirForceCamouflageandMarkingsWorldWarII'),andShigeruItaya'sclassicPearlHarborattack'A1-101'fromthecarrierAkagi.
*Nowexpandedto43pageswithadditionalinformationandavailabletopreviouslyregisteredpurchasersfreeofcharge.ANakajimasupplementisinprogressandwillbeavailableshortly.