Hi all, this is my first plane ythat I have built and painted(since I was a teenager anyway) I have gotten back into the hobby in the last 1-2 years and done a couple of 1/35 armour models. It is straight out of the box and I attempted to spray the round circles (sorry I can't remember their official name) and pre-shaded all of the panel lines. I had a lot of trouble with the canopy and ended up touching it up with a brush.
Any comments helpful as I have just started a Hasegawa 109 G6 which I will post in a seperate topic.








cheers

Hey Anthony, I'm mostly an armor modeler myself. These darn planes can be addictive can't they?

Your Zero looks pretty good. My only criticism would be that the overall finish on the topside seems a little dark, especially the Hinomarus. It looks like maybe the result of a dark wash on there?
The canopy came out good and your build looks solid overall.

Your first wingy-thingy in a while? You did a fine job! Painting the Hinomarus ( Japanese national markings ) in lieu of decals--I haven't tried that yet. The canopy, looks as good as I've been able to manage lately. I do not see a speck of decal film--superb! I do not see any glaring seams ( with an exception, discussed below )--well done [ though Tamiya makes this easy ].

Your colors may, or may not, be too dark--open to debate.

My constructive criticism is to be wary of seams along the leading edge, especially where a light, or bright, color will be, such as the yellow ID stripes. They magnify seam imperfections. Fill and polish them down carefully.

The way I check for alignment of landing gear is to position them best as able and before the glue sets, eyeball them from above the model. Position your dominate eye over the middle of the airframe, looking down on the top of it, and rotate the model until both gear are just visible beyond the leading edge. Note if one sticks out a bit farther than the other, and if one is more displaced left or right ( you can use a wing gun or panel line for reference ). Adjust.

Overall, a well built Zeke 52!

thanks Fred, yeah I haven't built a plane in about 16 years so I am happy with how it turned out- a lot better than my efforts back then.

I know what you mean about the seam lines- it is something I will need to keep in mind for my future builds. Thanks for the feed back.
cheers

I think it looks great. Thanks for the pics and keep em coming.

Hey, I like it!

I'd be really pleased if my P-38 turns out as good as this. The canopy is looking good; I know how much of a pain they can be!

What colour did you use to get that effect on the exhausts?

thanks for your kind words Bob and Alex.

Alex the exhaust was hand painted a red brown/ black mix. I then dry brushed some steel on but didn't like how it looked so I used some Mig pigment rust mixed with some water and painted this on( this is something I learned from my armour models).

cheers