**** DONE: GB-43 1/48 A6M2a Type 11 - Aces' Aircraft of all Eras

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Yup, moving right along. I have the fuselage sanded and the wings assembled and in place. There was a good sized
gap in the wing roots so I measured the fuselage and wing assembly. I decided to add a spreader bar, piece of sprue,
to the fuselage to push the fuselage out. It worked but there still was a minute gap. I used tape and pulled up one wing
at a time then when the gap closed I used Tamiya thin glue to glue the gaps shut. So far so good. John
A6M2a 12.JPG

A6M2a 13.JPG
 
I am slowing a bit, finding more fit issues with larger areas. The wing roots sanded up nice but I found
a nasty fit on the bottom wing to fuselage seam. I tried sanding but ended up filling. John
A6M2a 15.JPG
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The wings are all cleaned up. I just need to do the clear wing tip lights. I am not sure if they
are a colored cover or a clear cover with a colored bulb. I have seen both. Anyone have an idea?
I also painted a few small pieces. The legs were sprayed semi gloss black, the gear covers a tan
but I am not sure I like that shade, think it should be darker. I tried my new Vallejo Model Color
black on the tires. It's a nice looking flat black, impressive paint so far. John
A6M2a 17.JPG
A6M2a 18.JPG
 
Thanks, that's the way I have always done them but I thought I saw a clear cover somewhere
and that got me wondering. John
 
Mitsubishi built Zeroes undercarriage covers inside and out were painted the same "Olive grey" as the wheel wells and overall colour of the aircraft. Fabric surfaces were a Lighter Grey.

a portion of the Model 11's also had the appearance of a 2 tone scheme, with the outer sections of the wings and rear fuselage lighter in colour.
This was in fact due to the forward fuselage and inner wing areas being covered from the sun with tarps, the exposed outer wings and rear fuselage areas fading to a lighter greyish version of the Olive grey.
 
Mitsubishi early Zeros were almost a tannish green color. If you go to j-aircraft you will see several pieces salvaged from
WWII crashed Zeros all Misubishi as Nakajima hadn't gone full swing into building them yet. The color almost mimics
Model Masters SAC Bomber Tan but a bit lighter. Nakajimas color was a gray green color similar to Tamiya's XF-76. Their
cockpits were different also, Mitsubishi's was a darker color similar to U.S. interior green and Nakijima's a lighter color not
too different from British gray green cockpit color but maybe a tad bit more yellow in it. I have done extensive research over
the past 15 years and have several books. The best places to go are j-aircraft.com , Aviation Of Japan and pacificwrecks.com.
All of these are on the web. The colors I am using now are not "locked in". The wheel well door color was an experiment to find a
proper "gray" color leaning to Ameiro, a caramel color. John

My take on the 2 different colors. They aren't exact but close, Mitsubishi Ameiro and Nakajima gray green. John
AI-102 Zero 1-72 Tamiya.jpg

A6M2b Sakai Tamiya 1-48 7.JPG
 
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