E-137, Yokosuka Naval Wing, 1945, Saburo Sakai
Over the holiday I wanted a quick and easy build so I decided to make this Hobby Boss kit straight out of the box, including the kit decals. I decided research would be minimal so I could just enjoy the build.
The Subject
E-137 appears to be a “standard” A6M5c Zero. One quick review of the web indicated it was probably Mitsubishi made so some of the details are a decking in cowling black, wheel wells in an underside color, and the prop was natural metal with brown rear face.
As far as the accuracy of the markings, I didn’t check.
Also according to the web, all A6M5c were painted a dark green on the upperside with the lower surfaces painted a green gray.
The Model
Typical Hobby Boss. Generally accurate in shape and somewhat well detailed on the outside. The cockpit has detail but is very basic and does not appear accurate. As usual, something wasn’t quite right with the kit. More on that later.
Construction was easy and quick, which is what I wanted. Everying thing fit well.
I painted the kit using Tamiya XF-76 (IJN Gray) for the lower surface and XF-70 (IJN Green) for the upper surface. Cowling Black is a home made mixture of two Model Master Acryl colors: USN Glossy Sea Blue and Instrument Panel Black. The latter is actually a bluish color, but when dry looks black. So I added the GSB until it looked right. Which ended up being about a 50:50 mixture.
Three things seem “not quite right” with this kit.
1) No headrest / roll bar in the cockpit. Very visible feature of a Zero and it’s just not there. I’ll never build another and didn’t want to take the time to scratch one, but when I build another A6M5c it’ll be one that is more accurate.
2) The exhausts are not aligned with the cowling cut outs. Not even close.
3) The landing gear is canted similarly to a Fw-190. Every picture / reference I have (which is not much) show them as vertical, not canted.
Summary
I got what I wanted out of this kit, an easy and quick build. It was both fun and enjoyable, and I’m glad I made it. Will I do another? No. Would I recommend it? Only to a novice or someone who wants a Zero and cares little for accuracy.
Thanks for looking…
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