Zoukei Mura Hs129B-2/ RIII, 1/32 scale.

BarryW

SMF Supporter
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
5,014
Points
113
Location
Dover
First Name
Barry
Well I am almost ready to start. My modelling room is awaiting my shelves and blinds but that does not stop me building. So this is it, my first build in the new man-cave.

The box:
A02ED231-1801-4D15-8D50-3EA0836CC844.jpeg

The aftermarket, not much, just paint masks. I will probably use decals for the swastikas.
BA693886-722F-4C90-8C82-389537CF1123.jpeg

The sprues labelled and in my sprue rack ready.
35044C4A-F0AA-4580-A6A7-8AD0ABC3A597.jpeg

My bench all set-up
0C23131A-F553-479C-ADF7-689B8089E497.jpeg

More to follow….
 

Jim R

SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
13,597
Points
113
Location
Shropshire
First Name
Jim
Hi Barry
Well after all the time and effort you must be feeling pretty excited to at last start a model. Looking forward to following along.
Jim
 

Tim Marlow

Little blokes aficionado
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
16,544
Points
113
Location
Somerset
First Name
Tim
Looks good. A very interesting little plane as a starter to christen the bench….
 

dalej2014

SMF Supporter
Joined
Aug 2, 2021
Messages
446
Points
93
Location
Suffolk
First Name
Dale
That workspace looks amazing. Well done sir. Look forward to seeing how the model turns out too.
 

rtfoe

SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 29, 2018
Messages
7,465
Points
113
Location
Malaysia
First Name
Richard
What a way to start off with a tank buster Barry. Now the itch will stop. :smiling2:

Cheers,
Richard
 

adt70hk

I know its a bit sad but I like quickbuild kits!!!
SMF Supporter
Joined
Sep 4, 2019
Messages
9,440
Points
113
First Name
Andrew
Nice one to start with and something out of the ordinary....have a soft spot for a lot of WW2s twin engined fighters and ground attack aircraft..... This is one of them.

Looking forward to it coming together!

ATB.

Andrew
 
Last edited:

Dave Ward

Still Trying New Things
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
8,558
Points
113
Location
South Gloucestershire
First Name
David
Barry,
oh, that looks far too tidy, and much too clean! More like a surgery, than a model bench. I could never keep mine like that, I'd have it looking like a rubbish dump in a day or so!
The Hs129 has always attracted me - I made the Airfix model a long time ago ( 45 years? ), that 75mm cannon being the main attraction!
Dave
 

BarryW

SMF Supporter
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
5,014
Points
113
Location
Dover
First Name
Barry
Hi Dave. ZM will produce other variants with the bigger cannon in due course.

Anyway. I have cut plastic!

The parts are beautifully moulded, crisp, clean with no flash and minimum clean up.

The plastic is very high quality but soft, not soft in the Airfix sense which is easy to work with, but soft with a little elasticity. That gives it some minor sanding issues that I am not very keen on, but there are some advantages, the elasticity means that parts are less fragile and are less likely to break.

I really love the instructions, they leave no ambiguity about part placement showing the parts from different angles with excellent explanations. This model is going to be a fun build.

I have started work on the engines and have been working on the first two stages.

96EDBC87-3764-47F4-A5EC-5D16E2ED2E48.jpeg

Here is how they are left for now.
16FDC1CF-0D37-476A-A488-01F4725AF020.jpeg
 

adt70hk

I know its a bit sad but I like quickbuild kits!!!
SMF Supporter
Joined
Sep 4, 2019
Messages
9,440
Points
113
First Name
Andrew
...and he's off. Those instructions do indeed look rather special.
Jim
Got to agree, almost a work of art in themselves.

Looking forward to this come together.

ATB.

Andrew
 

BarryW

SMF Supporter
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
5,014
Points
113
Location
Dover
First Name
Barry
I did a little more this morning. It is so nice not being exiled to the garage and just being able to just pop in.

The engine is coming together beautifully. The manifolds just click into place, beautiful engineering.
1FD14623-C429-41FE-9A5F-253E5CC3D8C7.jpeg

What I love is how ZM really want to help make sure you don’t go wrong. Just look at this, one step in the instructions for attaching one part, the care taken to make sure you know exactly what to do puts every other model company to shame and I do not exclude Tamiya from that.
6C454849-3EE3-4377-AF7B-E6BDACC6FDCA.jpeg
 

BarryW

SMF Supporter
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
5,014
Points
113
Location
Dover
First Name
Barry
I have completed the construction of the engines, beautifully detailed, not much will be visible when completed.

F1E8459B-B7E4-4DCF-92B1-6E02A7C176AE.jpeg

I will be painting them soon.

While I will be fitting the engines ZM do give you the means to display them separately with a nice little engine mount made from the (now empty) sprues the engine parts came on. I will not bother but this is a nice touch.

C4E3306C-54B2-4F06-92C9-14EA53483695.jpeg

Before I move on to the cockpit this might be a good time to report on the success of my ‘carpet-monster suppression measures’ or perhaps I should say, CSCM, taken in my new modelling room. To which, so far, I can say they are a great success. Every dropped part, however small has been quickly spotted and retrieved. The combination of the blue colour and low nap of the carpet tiles really makes parts stand out while keeping the floor clear of clutter gives nowhere for the CM to hide before pouncing. I have taken to vacuuming after every session as well as, again, by keeping the amount of plastic cuttings down spotting parts is a lot easier.
 

Jim R

SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
13,597
Points
113
Location
Shropshire
First Name
Jim
Hi Barry
Lovely work. All credit to Zoukei-Mura and yourself. Nice to know that a very hungry Carpet Monster is jumping about in a frustrated rage :tongue-out3:
Jim
 

adt70hk

I know its a bit sad but I like quickbuild kits!!!
SMF Supporter
Joined
Sep 4, 2019
Messages
9,440
Points
113
First Name
Andrew
That's coming on very nicely indeed Barry and as you say the engine stand is a nice touch. Also good to hear that the anti carpet monster measures are working well so far.

ATB

Andrew
 

BarryW

SMF Supporter
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
5,014
Points
113
Location
Dover
First Name
Barry
I have made a decent start on the cockpit.

The fit of parts is superb but they are very fiddly so a good ‘third hand’ set up is really needed. This is what I am using:
55D535CE-84C7-459F-9ACE-7CC752629A23.jpeg
Simply a pair of locking tweezer held in a base (both available through John). It works well.

The photos and line drawings in the instructions make it really clear how parts should fit. With the parts below it would have been easy to get it wrong.
8E0BE7EF-CCDB-4CDD-BA7A-096B333965AC.jpeg
86FED660-8CF1-4BFB-B167-693DDBEF016B.jpeg

The seat in place, matching exactly what the instructions show.
B5503724-C785-4BF7-9FC2-73846DCC0718.jpeg

More than any other brand it is important to follow the ZM instructions or you can make life difficult for yourself.
 

Airborne01

SMF Supporter
Joined
Mar 30, 2021
Messages
3,103
Points
113
Location
Essex
First Name
Steve
What better way to christen the new man cave? Oh come on Christy Brinkley with a paint rack, couple of beers, and a big smile ....
 

BarryW

SMF Supporter
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
5,014
Points
113
Location
Dover
First Name
Barry
An inbox review has been posted today on YouTube of this kit. It is interesting to watch.

Anyway I got a bit more work done on the cockpit this morning then I sprayed a coat of RLM066 to the inside of the cockpit and will detail it up later after I have sorted a few more cockpit subs. I also sprayed black MRP primer onto the front area of the engines. Very little of the engines will be seen so I won’t be doing a lot of detail painting and will just use metal powder to bring out detail and give it a metal glint.

2CD40B1B-E205-4F79-81A8-6C2B39A35349.jpeg

A closer look at the cockpit before I painted it There is a lot more to do to this, not just detail paint.
DFCE8B7A-E3BF-4314-9D86-1BCA6D6DA0F5.jpeg
 

Tim Marlow

Little blokes aficionado
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
16,544
Points
113
Location
Somerset
First Name
Tim
Coming on really well. However, it looks like there are noticeable ejection pin marks on the seat base and back there Barry. Are they covered by anything during assembly or are they just not visible when the bird is completed?
 
Top