73north

I have started work ,
on this very rare limited edition Model by Hasegawa
won on E-Bay a few months ago


Mitsubishi A6M8 type 54/64

Scale: 1/48

History

Most modelers will be aware of the history of earlier Zero versions, but this last one is less well known,

I only had read about it whilst reading the Martin Caidin Paperback Book called Zero Fighter ,
this was Published in late 1960's by Purnell’s
[ Weapons Book Number 9 ]

If you have never read any books from the Series - also published by Ballantine in early 1970's, under History of Violent Century ,
then I highly recommend you do ,as they were all really well written and illustrated , and they are now selling for quite a few pounds on Ebay .

I certainly had never heard of a model of it until I stumbled upon this box.
All through its development the Zero gained more weight through added armor and heavier armament. It never got a bigger engine though. After the relative ineffectiveness of the A6M5c and A6M6c the Japanese Navy finally realized that a more powerful engine was needed if the Zero was to keep up with the new allied fighters.
So it gave permission to install the 1500hp Kinsei 62 engine.
Due to the larger diameter of this engine a new cowling was fitted. Partly because of this and partly to safe weight, the fuselage guns where omitted The carburettor intake was enlarged and a bigger prop was fitted with a larger spinner. Wing armament stayed the same as on the type 52. The wings itself were modified to be able to carry two 150l drop tanks. This freed the fuselage centerline for installing a 500kg-bomb mounting. Two prototypes where completed in April 1945. Flight-testing revealed no serious problems but the oil cooling system was revised. Top priority was given to a production order for 6300 machines but none was completed before the end of the war.
The kit

Packed in a familiar Hasegawa box you will find a bag with 5 grey sprues, a bag with the resin parts made by Jaguar of the USA .
. The clear parts are bagged together with the decals and a further two bags with the etched parts
The injection-molded parts have crisp detail.
The canopy is thin and very clear. The resin parts are bubble free but a bit less crisp than the plastic parts , and you have to get rid of a lot of flash and clean it up before you can start /.

The fit of the parts is excellent.
The clear instructions are in the usual Hasegawa style
and leave no questions.
Accuracy

The dimensions are spot on. Others before me have already commented on great accuracy of the new mold Hasegawa Zeros.

This one is no different because it is basically an A6M5 with a new larger engine ,the Cowling is much bigger, the finished model surely looks like a Zero on steroids.

The new engine spoils the thoroughbred lines of the previous versions, and makes the aircraft look a lot more potent and menacing.
The old engine is still the same as in the A6M5 kit and it looks decidedly too small in the new cowling.

Although the larger spinner covers up most of the front, you still might want to look for an after market Kinsei,

as I have done when I bought the Resin Replacement made by Engines and Things .

This is well worth the effort , and looks great .

The wings and landing gear are as per M5 kit. The bomb is made up out of a resin body with etched fins and detonators. It will look very good. The drop tanks are also resin parts. Finally the metal prop, the canopy and various other bits and pieces can be installed.
Painting details are given throughout construction.
The decal sheet gives two options: Markings for the second prototype, and fictitious markings for a what-if machine based with the Yokosuka aircorps in 1946 . Both machines are painted in dark green over pale green, with a black cowling and a brown prop.









Box Art



Under Construction