A6M2b Zero
by Jack Hollander
Another winner from Tamiya is their 1/32 A6M2b Zero. The plane was reduced to size in perfect proportions from the real one and the fit of the pieces was excellent.
I primed the model using a gray primer. Then I covered it with a lightened Testors Model Masters pale green, along with a custom color custom color of a greenish/yelllowish home brew ( a color I’ll be unable to replicate since I didn’t make any notes on how I made it!)
A Burnt Umber wash really pulled out the rivet detail and panel lines. The spinner was done with Alclad.
Tamiya added a couple of nice touches with metal landing gear which not only retract, but are spring loaded and work just like a shock absorber. They even give you an optional piece for displaying the wingtips in the fold-up position.
Two minuses were that the decals were too thick and the fuselage had a slight opening on top. I had to fabricate a separate piece to fill it in.