Thanks Bus,
I appreciate the kind words. That was the last model I just finished before starting my new Zero.
That was also my first attempt at simulating chipped / wore paint. It came out fairly well but need some work to make it look a little more authentic and realistic.

Thanks again and good 'Rising Sun' modeling
Wayne

Hi Wayne

Your Zero cockpit looks absolutely gorgeous! :-) Nice work!

All the best

Rowan

Thanks Rowan,
I sure had a lot of fun doing the cockpit. I am kind of sad this part of it is done. The cockpit to me is one of the best parts of an aircraft kit. But what the heck, there is still lots of great stuff to do :-)

Good modeling,
Wayne

:-) Yes Wayne, your Zero cockpit looks great
My Val is coming on, I finally managed to clean up all the resin cockpit parts, the floor was a pig. I found my Interior paint so I'm aiming to paint the interior tomorrow, I'll try and get some pics to post :-)
Mal

Thanks Mal,
I will be looking forward to seeing your pics too. :-)
I've been working on putting odds and ends together. Things that can be painted as a whole after they are assembled. This kit is really a test at times. With the working landing gear there is obviously working gear covers with hinges. That is little sets of tiny bent wires sandwiched inbetween to small plastic parts. You need to get the two parts glued together without gluing the wire hinges. As small as some of these parts are and as big as my fingers are it really gets to be a test of nerves and dexterity.
I am proud to say that so far everything is going together really well.
I am going to assemble everything I can without compromising ease for painting surfaces anyway. With the average temp around me being around 0 to 5 degrees I can't get out to the garage to do my airbrushing so after a while I may be at a standstill til I get some warmer days


Hoping for warmer days and good modeling
Wayne

Wayne,
Your cockpit looks AWESOME! It is very evident all of the work and care that went into it.

WOW!

Thanks NewtotheGame,
I am really happy and proud of how it came out.
This is what modeling is all about and makes it so blasted fun :-)

Good modeling,
Wayne

Welcome aboard us !

And Wayne, that's a beautiful cockpit !

Thanks Penpen,
I really do appreciate the good words :-)

Good modeling
Wayne

Hi Everyone,
I have a color question for you. According to my instructions the prop blades on my Zero are 'Red Brown'. I don't have that actual color but I am sure I could mix it no problem but I don't know what ratio of red to brown to use to get the correct color - or a very close match. I have red - brown - and also model master 'Leather' which is a nice brown color. I am so confused
How would any of you mix for the 'red brown' color I need?

Thanks all,
Wayne

Hye Wad-ware... I'm sorry I have no clear answer for you, because i'll be facing the same problem ! I think there's a red-brown by tamiya and I wonder if I don't have it lying around somexhere...

I painted the Ki43's cockpit and wheel bays aotake blue last night ! The wheel bays of the ki61 received a coat also, even if i'm not sure it's the right color for them...
The ki61's cockpit received a coat of light brown... one of the oddities of that plane...
Black parts were also painted.
Tonight, I'll apply a coat of future and then the weathering will start !

Hi Penpen,
It sounds like you are getting along really good so far. Hope you get to a good point for some pics before long. The weather broke a little in my area over the weekend so I crammed a bunch of airbrushing in and can do quite a bit more on my zero now before I have to do more airbrushing.
I REALLY like that Japanese interior metallic blue from MM. That is a cool color.

By the way, on the 'red brown' question, I did some searching and found a good reference. If you need the color later on, check out the IPMS Stockholm site. (I can't right off remember their actual url). Go to the color charts in the reference section. Then go go the Japanese section and you can get sample color there for the red brown for the spinners. As long as you have your colors set fairly good on your monitor that should give you a good reference to go by to mix a good color match.

Good modeling,
Wayne

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone, especially penpen and wad_ware, for all of the updates; it is helping me get/stay motivated in this very SLOW build that I am experiencing. Here it has been almost month and I am almost to the cockpit painting point. I have decided to add little nobs, etc. to the cockpit by looking at a reference picture - my results look terribly unrealistic, but I have plowed on (and probably continued to make it worse) for the practice of doing it. I suppose that is good.

Anyway, when I bought the paints for my zero the directions said green or metallic blue interior. I decided to get the metallic blue, but all of the pictures I am finding on the internet have the green interior. Should I switch and go with the green?

Thanks for any help.
Leon

Hi Newtothegame,

You will probably want to use both metallic blue and the interior green. The cockpit interior would be your green. The metallic blue would be used in the wheel bays, and most of the internal areas of the plane. The metallic blue for the Japanese aircraft, if I am making a good guess here, is used just like the U.S. uses zinc chromate to protect the interior structures from rusting. That will probably also depend on the actual aircraft you are making too.
Hopefully someone else can come along and give you a little more specific info for you.

Hope that helps,
Wayne

Newtothegame..
Which version of zero are you building A6M2 , M3, or M5? If you are building the M5 I can give you the colors according to my instructions. I do not know if this is correct for the earlier versions of the Zero tho...
The cockpit interior should be 'Bamboo'. I don't know what actual paint manufacturer makes that color but Model Master makes some real close matches. For mine I used RLM 83 Lichtgrun which is actually a german interior green. It is not an exact match for the bamboo but if you look at my cockpit photos in my gallery you can see that color works fine.

Then for the metallic blue..that color is used in the front and rear wheel bays and on all the interior facing sides of the wheel bay doors and landing gear covers.
Also depending on your kit, if the interior of the gun bays in the wings are visible those would be metallic blue and the interior surfaces of the large flaps on the front wings would be metallic blue if your flaps separate.
Those last two things might not be visible on your kit if you are building 1/48. I am building a 1/32 kit so there is more detailing in some areas.

Hope that helps you out.
Wayne

On the zero, the landing gear could be black, but I don't know for what versiosns... The inside of the bay doors could be the same color !

Wad-ware,

Thanks. I am building the Tamiya 1/48 M5, so your info is very applicable. Do you think the interior green (bamboo) could be created by mixing white and green (two that I already have?)

Well thanks again.
Leon

Newtothegame -
Penpen is right about the landing gear itsself..that is black (except for the center shaft which is a metal color like steel or aluminum)

Here is a link for you that I hope works properly. It is from the IPMS stockholm modeling site. It is a really good color chart for WWII Japanese aircraft. Go down to the Imperial Japanese Navy Aircraft section and click on the FS:34098 for the 'interior color' That will show you what the bamboo color should look like. Someone else hopefully can help you with mixing but it looks like to me you might want to mix possibly a tan color to your green to get the bamboo. There are some Humbrol colors listed next to that but I have never used those paints before and can't help you there. If you can find a site that sells and has sample screen shots of the colors you can probably see what colors you need to mix to get the bamboo that way. Maybe someone in this group knows the Humbrol stuff and can help you get the recipe.
I'll do a little searching around and see if I can help you figure that out.

http://ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_japan.htm

This is a great site for modeling reference. At the top of this page you can get to their main home page and it would be a great site to bookmark.

Here are a few other links for you that have some pics that might help you get an idea for what colors go where.

http://www.fargoairmuseum.org/historic-aircraft-a6m2-type-21-zero-6544.html

This next one has a really good pic of the landing gear.
http://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/Tamiya/Zero/Zero2.htm

http://gallery02.kitparade.com/a6m5zerobs_1.htm

Good hunting and good modeling,
Wayne

Wow this build is popular!

Full credit to you penpen!! ... I always knew you had a hit on your hands... :-)

I'm hoping to get a bit done on the Judy this weekend.

All the best

Rowan

:-) I haven't been able to do much, but the resin cockpit has been painted Mitsibishi green and has had Klear applied, a dark grey wash will be going on, hopefully tomorrow. I will post pics when it looks a little more interesting :-)
Mal

Hi everyone. I started a Grace in 48th. Will be mostly OOB. Have the cockpit painted the color the inst. call for.Don't know if this is rignt. Anyone with more knowledge on this let me know. Thanks. George #:-)

Hello jarhead !
Can you tell us some more about your kit ? Is it from hasegawa or another company ?

Both my cockpits are now ready and waiting for the camera ! My dad borrowed my digicam some time ago so I won't be able to take piccs before the WE. Then, i can get back to building !
A guy from the modeling club I attend just gave me decals to represent a KI-61 from the 68th sentai ! That way, I won't have the same 244th sentai plane as everyone !

Hi Penpen, the Grace is a Hasegawa kit. I have seen a few pic on j-airplanes and the dark color blue seems to be right. But I know colors can xhange in pics. thanks. Jarhead

Some progress on the "ALF" - components painted - somemore assembly and detailing to go.
http://gallery.kitmaker.net/data/500/2926IMAGE019.jpg

Hi CRS,
Looks like some good progress so far.
I like the catapult base. Is that part of the kit or is that something you built?

Wayne