I always wanted to try one of ZM's supposedly "overengineered" kits. Recently they downscaled the Shinden to my favorite 1/48 scale and the kit was already available here very quickly for a reasonable price



The nice sturdy box contains a lot of plastic for such a small plane. Instructions are in a nice booklet with CAD drawings readable without a magnifier.

Constructions start with the brilliant engine. I cannot imagine a resin engine to be more detailed. Only thing I missed was an ignition harness. As per normal ZM policy they will probably release it later as an option. So I decided to make one from fine wire myself. For the 18 cylinder with 2 spark plugs each i just had to drill 72 0.3 mm holes . And the result is:



When you not see much, you are right. There are so many inlet and exhaust pipes, that the ignition is barely to be seen

Greetings from Shanghai

Tom, will be following your build with much interest. The resin engine looks amazing. Nice job with the ignition wires.

Joel

Hi Joel,

Its the kit part, not resin. But its really amazing.

Greetings from Shanghai

Hi Tom, I'll watch your build and follow along as I picked up two of these in November.

I'm hoping they bring out the jet conversion like they did for the large scale one so I can do one prop and one jet, if not I do have the Hasegawa jet version I can rob the jet parts from.

Any issues so far?

Hi Luciano,

Fit is close to perfect. All the engine tubing fits perfectly and many of these parts have unique shapes.
There are some ejection marks, but only 2 yet behind the cockpit on the sidewalls which needed to be filled.
I am quite impressed. Real fun to build.

Greetings from Shanghai

A few more shots from the engine and the cockpit parts.







I will display it open from one side, but even when not, you can see it partly through the landing gear bay.
Cockpit is nice too. When downscaling ZM removed the seat with molded harness, so I have to make some myself (PE run out here in the moment)

Greetings from Shanghai

Tom, the finished engine is spectacular. Cockpit side walls sure have plenty of detail.

So far I'm really impressed with the ZM offering. Hoping that they down scale a few more of their kits to 1/48 Scale.

Joel

Hi,

the engine is beautifull!

Good start on the cockpit

I'll follow

nico

Thanks Joel and Nicolas,

Cockpit is still without washing, though I will not go overboard with that.
This is actually a very fast build for me, even with the many parts, because it is all fitting very well and quite clever designed. And for me it is real fun, feeling like assembling an aircraft, not gluing together a model.
I heard they want to downscale their Ta-152H too.
Will definitely take one. Maybe even their P-51?


Greetings from Shanghai

[quote
....I heard they want to downscale their Ta-152H too.
Will definitely take one. Maybe even their P-51?
Greetings from Shanghai [/quote]

I'd buy more then one of the P-51Ds. It would be an incredible model.
Joel

And another update:

Work is really going fast, most parts fit immediately. There are only very small seamlines to remove. Used Mr Surfacer just to fill a ejector pin in the aft cockpit yet.





The only small trouble I had was that the I could not get the instrument decal snuggle over the instrument panel.
It did not react to Mr Mark Softener or Humbrol Decalfix.
Got it down finally with some small cuts and excessive application of Mr Mark Softener and pressure of a Q-tip.



In the 1/32 version the decal is put on the backside of the instrument panel on a flat surface.

Not sure if the decals are too thick or the material is different. I normally have never problem with japanese decals.
However not a big problem. I will try again with the wingwalks and probably paint the hinomarus.

Seasons Greetings from the eastern fringe of the Middle Empire

Nice one Tom

It's looking great! Like you, I was always intrigued by the 1:32 version, but never managed to get one, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the kit in the New Year - apparently a sample is on the way.

All the best

Rowan

Thanks Rowan

Honestly the 1/32 kits were a bit on the expensive side for me and not my favourite scale. But I begin really to like now the concept of building a plane nt assembling a model.

Merry Christmas to you!

Hi Tom from sunny Florida! I, also, will be watching with great interest. ZM's 1/32 scale has always fascinated me, but was way out of my price range.
Last year at the Nationals in Orlando I had the great good fortune to meet the owner of ZM and the chief engineer. They told me then that they had plans to bring all the Super Wing Series planes (and hopefully accessories)out in 1/48 scale.

The engine work and cockpit look fantastic

Merry Christmas
Later

Bruce, that's really good news for us 1/48 scale guys.
Joel

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for the encouragement and the info. Looking really forward to the Ta-152 and a P-51 and maybe some new subjects.

I felt ZM was a bit unlucky bringing out their news always the same time as one of the big manufacturers and then got the being overengineered. Up to now fitting is very good in spite of the more complicate design.
Maybe it feels so good because I built 3 Classic Airframe kits in a row before.

Merry Christmas from Shanghai!

Hi Tom,
That is looking good and it looks like it is probably a direct down sizing of the ZM 1/32 scale kit, which I have built as the projected jet version.

In my opinion the kits are not necessarily over engineered but, unless you want to leave everything off, then there are plenty of unnecessary parts; this is probably why they are so expensive. The fit of parts is good, very good mostly but, because of the number of parts, if you want to close up the engine bay for example, you have a lot of cowling parts to marry up. The same goes for the covers over the nose armament. I built my kit with the landing gear up (a jet wouldn't need such long gear) but the undercarriage doors didn't fit at all, so something was out. It did build into a very good looking kit, the jet is more Star Wars than second war.
This model was gifted from ZM along with their resin jet engine as they were interested in paint masks for the jet. There are no decals on this model at all, even the Japanese script and the 2 colour kill markings are painted on Sadly ZM didn't go for it but another Japanese company is interested



I'm looking forward to see how you get on with this smaller version, model on

Hi Mal

Thanks for the heads-up/reminder - I'll be sure to check the fit when the sample arrives.

I have to admit I'm seriously tempted to get ZM's 1:32 Mustang - but, if a 1:48 version is on the horizon...

All the best

Rowan

Mal, You 1/32 scale Jet version really looks good. Love the natural metal finish. 100% mask for the markings would be really something if the manufactures started to include them.

Rowan, Followed a few builds of the ZM Skyraider on LSP, and those who wanted to close most panels seemed to have issues, as the kit was engineered to have them open/off. Personally, I would hope that when down sizing, they would decrease the number of open panels. Either way, if they released a P-51D, I'd be the 1st one on line to buy one or two.

Joel

Hi Mal

Great looking metal finish! Never would get it as good, so I will stay with green/gray. For metal finish I think painting mask are ideal, decals never look real.
I tend to paint simple markings like hinomarus of RAF roundels, but never managed to cut out numbers and letters.
Will have to ask a professional the next time

Greetings from Shanghai

Like I say Rowan the fit is good just lots of parts to marry up. I was very surprised though at how the undercarriage doors didn't fit at all in the closed position? I went for the Revell He-219 rather than the ZM kit; it's not as accurate but it will be much more fun to build. Actually I have a mask customer who is combining both kits to get an accurate 219, so go figure. I personally would stick with Tamiya for a 1/48 P-51 and I bought the Hasegawa Raiden in preference to the ZM kit. I saw the pre-production example at Telford 2 years agao and it looked stunning with all that interior detail; but all pointless (to me) as I am more interested in the look of a complete airframe and it's markings.




Thanks Joel Its only some of the cottage industry manufactures that seem to get the mask thing, I supply a couple. Having spent 8 Months talking with ZM about paint masks they clearly just don't get it That is borne out by another Japanese retail company who has contacted me about paint masks for armour. They told me that the Japanese just don't understand the use of paint masks, he though seems very keen and keeps saying "when we sell your masks" Samples were sent before Christmas, so watch this space




Thanks Tom,
Well the Shinden only ever wore the one scheme, it only flew for 45mins. Do a Google search (j7w1 shinden interceptor), there is a video and details about the test flights. On its first take off the prop struck the ground, hence the small wheels on the fins. If the Shinden had ever got into production in numbers then the B-29 would have been in serious trouble. The Japanese did have the German jet technology so the projected jet version would have been a possibility. It would have looked different than my model though, I just didn't have the time to make all the corrections that I envisaged as I wanted to be able to show it to ZM at Telford

Shinden video
Very grainy but you see the bent props from the first attempt and then the small wheels added and the flight, just.

Amazing! When did that video turn up? Never would have guessed footage like that existed.

Mal, I'd want one of the ZM P-51D's if they ever came out, just to challenge myself with such a complex build. Would build the same exact aircraft from the Tamiya kit and display them side by side. Just a little different approach that really interests me.

Just watched the video. Thanks for sharing.

Good luck with that Armor model company.
Joel

Hi Mal,
Hi Joel,

I have P-51's from at least 4 manufacturers, so a ZM with interior would be definitely interesting for me. When I have several kits of one type I like to make one standard, and one with an open engine.
When the kit is not very detailed I make an in-flight version. The ZM kit is much easier to built for me than fitting a resin engine in a kit not designed for it.

I like painting insignias, but how you do stencils and wing walk lines ?

Btw another update:







Fit of the nose panels was ok, required a bit Mr Surfacer and slight sanding. The wingroot was gaping a bit. As the other panels are fixed in position by the nice locating tabs this seems a design problem. I sanded a tiny bit of the internal fuel tank to reduce the gap and then "massaged the wingroot with a drop of glue in position. The plastic is thin and a bit brittle (like Hasegawa) and followed well. Not a real serious problem at the end

Greetings from Shanghai