TimHortman Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 All, Here's another long running project that's mostly finished. Hasegawa 1/48 A6M3 Zero kit built OOB. Overall Gunze H332 "Light Aircraft Gray" with us markings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bun E. Carlos Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Nice Tim!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimHortman Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Thanks Jack, I boogered up one of the lights and debating on going back to fix it. I think I am going to leave it alone as I will likely have to repaint the whole wing to get it to look "right". As it is it will look fine in the display case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glynyrd Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Very nice, Tim. The finish looks spot on. Seeing it in US markings reminded me of a story I read a long time ago in either an "Air Combat" or "Air Classics" magazine about an Italian pilot using a captured P-38 to shoot down bombing raid stragglers and how an American crew in one of those uparmed B-17's (was it a YB-40?) took him on. Not sure how true the story was, and I wish I had the magazine to reread it. Thanks for sharing, Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimHortman Posted March 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Thanks Glenn, I haven't heard that story, but it does sound interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Nice Zeke! The A6M-3 Hamp is my favorite variant. Thanks for sharing! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimHortman Posted March 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Thanks Gil. The project started out a while back, and when it came time to paint I came across the US EB-201 scheme... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamsof51 Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Is this the airplane found in the Aluetians Islands? I worked with a guy named Harold Levinson who was stationed there (on Attu) During WWII. He gave me a great B&W P-38 photo that hangs over my model bench. Like so many others from that era, he long passed on. While we're on Zero stories I've another friend Clarence Silva who was stationed in New Guinea. He told me he once watched a Zero and P-38 dogfight in which the P-38 got the worst of it. The pilot bailed out and after they collected him he stayed a few days and was shipped back to his unit. Sadly, heros like these are leaving us too quickly. I hope what we do in some small way helps preserve their legacies. Thanks for bringing back some great memories. Nice job Tim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregWise Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Very Nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimHortman Posted March 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Thanks guys. I took it to a meeting over the weekend, and had someone else ask if it were the 'Alaska Zero' but I didn't think it was. I had to check some sources to make sure I was right. Here's a link which will explain this aircraft more than I can here: http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/a6m3/eagle_farm.html You're right that we're losing vets too quickly. It won't be long until most of the WWII vets have left us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maffe Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 Stunning work oh Tim... Ciao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimHortman Posted March 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 Thanks for the kind words! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewahl Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 In a 1943 issue of National Geographic Magazine, there was a full-color photo essay on the state of wartime Washington, D.C. I was sorting through a pile of old issues saved by my wife's parents after they had both passed away and found the following photo, which I removed and saved for possible use some day. I placed the page in the 1/48 Hasegawa Zero Fighter Type 52 (Kit SP 10). Looking at the canopy of the aircraft on display, this is not the A6M5 variant found in the kit box. The caption reads: "A Jap Zero Reaches Washington--Trophy of War from the Southwest Pacific The prize is one of the chief attractions at the airshow here at Washington National Airport in celebration of the 25th anniversary of air mail service. Beyond the captured plane is a Consolidated Liberator Express, four-engined transpost version of the Liberator bomber. Third in line is a Curtiss Commando transport." Is this the captured Zero that became the subject of Tim's kit in a different paint scheme? How many captured Zero aircraft were there in reality? I suspect this aircraft was tied down on the flight deck of a carrier, painted and marked to appear from a Jap observer flying overhead as just another damaged American plane heading away from the war zone. Hidden in plain sight, as they say. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bun E. Carlos Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 I don't think so, Ed. The "Hamp" had clipped wings and these appear to be round..........I love that scheme, thou!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimHortman Posted March 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 Thanks for the great photo Ed! I don't have the exact number off the top of my head, but there were dozens of "Zeros" captured & many were actually flown & evaluated. I can't tell what variant Zero your photo shows, but Jack is correct - it's not the A6M3 Type 32 that I built (the only one with the clipped wings). It could be an A6M2 or an A6M5 (or actually an A6M3 with the standard wings) If you have some free time, check out www.j-aircraft.com for lots of Zero info! Have a great weekend! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimHortman Posted March 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 Ed - I went back and re-read your posting. If the photo was taken in 1943, the Zero is most likely an A6M2. (looks like I'll have to build another one!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimHortman Posted March 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2009 Ed, All, I'm now pretty sure that the photo Ed posted above is of Koga's Zero (the one found in Alaska) after one of the many re-paintings the aircraft went through. It's an A6M2. Cheers! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewahl Posted March 28, 2009 Report Share Posted March 28, 2009 I'll go with the A6M2. I posted the photo simply because not many captured Japanese aircraft had their public display pictures exist in mass distribution magazines, being considered a military secret. It appears the cockpit canopy is open, and you can see the legs of someone who has his head and upper body inside, even though the aircraft is roped off from crowd access (unlike the crowds invited into the Liberator Express and Commando). At the very least, we have documentation in color of a paint scheme and round star insignia used on the blue surfaces. The gray surface beneath can be seen as just a hint at the tail under the horizontal stabilizers. I suppose some artistic license is allowed with respect to the extent of the gray and the insignia on the undersides of the wings. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimHortman Posted March 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 Ed, Do you happen to recall which issue of NG this was in during 1943? I'd like to try and find out a little more if I can. Thanks, Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 Very nice, Tim. The finish looks spot on. Seeing it in US markings reminded me of a story I read a long time ago in either an "Air Combat" or "Air Classics" magazine about an Italian pilot using a captured P-38 to shoot down bombing raid stragglers and how an American crew in one of those uparmed B-17's (was it a YB-40?) took him on. Not sure how true the story was, and I wish I had the magazine to reread it. Thanks for sharing, Glenn I read that story. It was actually an Italian-American pilot that defected to Italy during the War, taking his P-38 with him. He would then go up and offer to 'escort' damaged bombers home and then would ambush them, shooting them down. Finally a US crew got info on who this guy was. They took a B-17 gunship and painted a pic and the name of his wife in a risque pose on the nose and went hunting for him. When he finally showed up, they left the intercom open so he could overhear as they talked about his wife. This enraged him and when he attacked, the bomber crew blew him out of the sky. Sorry to go off topic. I won't do it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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