Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero Fighter Type 21 ‘Pearl Harbour Combo’ (two kits)

[Paul A H]

Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero Fighter Type 21 ‘Pearl Harbour Combo’ (two kits)

1:72 Hasegawa

Blessed with outstanding agility and long range, the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Reisen ‘Zeke’ dominated the early years of the air war in the Pacific theatre. Known by the Allies as the Zero, a contraction of its full designation Type Zero Carrier Fighter, this famous aircraft was designed to be as light as possible in order to make the most of the relatively low power available from its Sakae 12 radial engine. This design philosophy proved to be the Zero’s Achilles heel, however, and the introduction of heavily armed and armoured Allied fighters such as the Grumman F-6F Hellcat swung the balance of the air war decisively in the Allies favour.

The A6M2 was the initial production variant of the Zero. It made its combat debut in China in 1940 and by the end of that year had achieved phenomenal success, accounting for 59 enemy aircraft without a single loss sustained. This run of success continued at Pearl Harbour when 105 Zeros of the IJN, flying as escorts for torpedo and dive bombers, shot down a number of American aircraft with minimal losses.

Over the years, Hasegawa have produced quite an extensive collection of Japanese types in 1:72. Here we have another of their limited edition ‘combo’ boxings containing two complete kits of their early Zero. Each kit is made up of 46 parts spread across four sprues of grey plastic plus a one-piece canopy moulded in clear plastic. Although this isn’t Hasegawa’s newest tooling, it is recent enough to sport the delicate, engraved surface detail that their kits are famous for. The moulds appear to be in good shape, with just a little flash present here and there and a couple of small sink marks on the one-piece lower wing.

The cockpit is made up of five parts including a decent seat, control column and rear bulkhead. In common with many other Hasegawa kits of a certain vintage, this area is devoid of raised detail and decals are supplied to add interest to the consoles and instrument panel instead. In contrast to the cockpit, the engine is quite detailed and the two rows of cylinders are moulded separately from one another. The undercarriage is reasonably good and the oleos on the main landing gear legs are particularly nicely rendered. The wheels themselves are not weighted, however, and sport a couple of ugly ejector pin marks that will have to be cleaned up. The main gear bays are nicely detailed but perhaps a little too shallow. The addition of fine details such as radio aerials and aileron counter balances set the model off nicely. The one-piece canopy is thin and very clear.

Six options are provided for on the decal sheet, and it shouldn’t blow your mind to learn that the first three are aircraft that took part in the attack on Pearl Harbour. Specifically:

· AKAGI,1st Squadron, 1st Section, Lt Saburo Sindo, December 1941;

· ZUIKAKU, 2nd Section, NAP 1/C Tetsuzo Iwamoto, December 1941; and

· KAGA, 1st Squadron, 13th Section, NAP 1/C Akira Yamamoto, December 1941.

The other three options represent aircraft based on the carriers Soryu, Hiryu and Shokaku respectively, and also date from December 1941. The decals themselves are nicely printed but a little thick. The red serial numbers are printed sequentially and will have to be cut out individually.

Conclusion

As with the Yak-3 combo set I reviewed a few weeks back, this is another simple but decent rendition of a classic World War Two fighter. What the kit lacks in cockpit detail it makes up for in other areas such as the engine and overall surface detail. Again the marking options provided are all very similar, but are nonetheless quite colourful choices.

Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

[Moofles]

Great looking review, such an elegant plane the Zero.

[jimbuna]

Looks like a mighty fine kit...well reviewed.

[jose cesar]

Very good review.

José César