A6M2 ZERO FIGHTER AKAGI FIGHTER GROUP (PEARL HARBOR) SWEET 1/144

There is nothing written on the package of this Sweet Zero. Only pictures are rare.

The comical box painting is also good.

This Sweet kit is a set of three Zero fighters. I’ll assemble them together.

The Sweet kit comes with colorful paint instructions, so it’s fun to see. I want to finish the assembly as soon as I think about what kind of markings I should choose.

The Vallejo can be mixed colors, so even if it doesn’t look like the interior color of the aircraft, I think if you mix a lot of white in the green, you’ll get that color. This time, I tried to adjust the color by putting white in the #076 Green Sky, but the color as it is was enough to make me feel comfortable.

This is a super fine mold that can’t be thought of as a 1/144 scale. I think Sweet is a great maker.

I cut out a square seal with a template like Voyager’s masking tape cutting out, even though it’s a bit of an irregularity, and then put it on. If there are 3 planes, it is quite troublesome work. I don’t really like masking canopies. I still prefer to build a connected caterpillar.

I’ve managed to mask all the canopies, which is not very precise.

It comes with a very fine Pitot tube part, so I drilled a hole in the wing with a 0.3 mm drill and glued it to it.

I talk about games, I want a Play Station 5. It’s embarrassing, but my time has stopped until the Play Station 3. I sometimes play Play Station 2 games, so it’s less than a laggard. As for PS5, I want to be an early adopter, but I don’t know. In Japan, if we can’t buy PS5 on a first-come-first-served basis, we have to draw lots. The reason I didn’t buy a PS4 is that I usually play PC games.
(2020/09/21)

It’s like a formation flight.

The assembly is completed by gluing these parts together. The color is different, so I don’t know when to put them on.

The painting instruction says to paint in light grayish-green. I would like to make it light gray this time according to my personal preference.

Especially, the inside of the landing gear was painted in metallic blue-green color although it was not in the paint instruction. It’s a brush painted with enamel paint, so I mixed silver, blue, and green to make it a suitable color. I only need a little paint, but I can make a little more if I mix three colors.

This is a high-quality Cartograf decal sheet. I can choose from a variety of aircraft, so even if I make a mistake, may be able to do it again with the other numbers. There are decals that can’t be recovered even if one fails, such as Hinomaru (Japanese flag) or red square not to step on, so I’m nervous.

So far, it’s pretty clean pasting.
(2020/09/23)

All three aircraft were successfully completed. There’s a problem with the canopy frame, but it can’t be helped for now. Next, I want to cut out the masking tape a little better.

The first aircraft was when the aircraft carrier Akagi Fighter Group attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the First wave Fighter Command, the first section, #1 Aircraft Lt. Commander Shigeru Itaya (1st wave Fighter Commander).

A thick red band is drawn on the rear of the aircraft to indicate the First Carrier Division 1st Air Carrier. In this case, it was the flagship of the First Fleet, the Akagi Fighter Group.

The yellow band on the tail, one band above the number is the mark of the Flight leader, one above and one below the number is the Squadron leader, two bands above and one band below the number is the Group leader. I don’t know the English name of the unit of fighter plane group. In other words, the more yellow lines there are, the more fighters the leader is commanding.

The red letter AI on the tail was also indicating the First Carrier Division 1st Air Carrier, and the fighters were numbered in the 100s.

The instruction of the kit says that too much adhesive will ruin the parts, so let’s use it little by little. If I only put a little bit on it, it might break down during painting.

The Second aircraft was when the aircraft carrier Akagi Fighter Group attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the First wave Fighter Command, the second section, #1 Aircraft Lt. Masanobu Ibusuki.

I did dry brush a light silver on the engine. It’s so deep that I can’t see it very well.

The third aircraft was when the aircraft carrier Akagi Fighter Group attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the First wave Fighter Command, the 3rd section, #1 Aircraft W.O. Ueyoshi Osanai.

It’s a small kit. But I think it would be good if you put some ink in the panel line to give a sense of precision. I may emphasize it a little too much, but it depends on the preference of each modeler. I wanted to be able to see it with the naked eye because the precise panel lines were carved.

It seems that the inside of the landing gear hangar is not blue metallic color, but the same gray color as the underside of the body. It might be better to make it according to the SWEET manual and not to paint too much.

This time, I selected the first plane of each Flight Leader as a marking. There are many numbers to choose from, so it would be fun to arrange the first to third planes of each Flight fighters. Even if I explain the marking for a long time, I think there are a lot of things that people don’t understand. First, we need to explain about the attack on Pearl Harbor and the aircraft carrier Akagi. I hope SWEET will continue to release many masterpiece kits.
(2020/09/25)