1/48 Hasegawa AM6 “Zero” Type 22 by Edward Fuquay

1/48 Hasegawa AM6 “Zero” Type 22

Gallery Article by Edward Fuquay

Hasegawa’s 1/48^th scale kit is a gem. I bought this when it was released some years back and it became part of my ever-growing stash of models. I was very happily surprised at the ease of assembly and good amount of detail for this scale.

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I built the kit straight out of the box, only adding some hydraulic lines in the cockpit, the brake lines on the main landing gear and a photo-etched pre-painted seat belt from Eduard.

I experienced some difficulty in lining up the wing parts, but a handful of binding clips with rubber band strips glued with thick CA to their clamping edge solved the problem. The rubber strip prevents the metal clamp from marring the plastic and provides a firm grip. The wing to fuselage joint presented minor fit problems, but these were taken care of with a little scraping, sanding, filing and buffing.

I painted the internal surfaces with Floquil Japanese Interior Metallic Blue, pre-shaded the entire model with Floquil Jet Black. The engine cowling was painted with a mixture of Pactra’s Royal Blue and Floquil’s Jet Black 3:9 ratios. The engine cylinders were painted in aluminum and a black wash added to enhance the cooling fins. The crankcase, engine block, valve covers, front of the propeller blades and spinner were painted in Floquil’s Bright Silver. The back of the propeller blades were painted with Floquil’s engine black. The external color used was Floquil’s Imperial Japanese Light Gray. I used Hasegawa’s decals (which over the glossy surface conformed very well) and then I sealed the model with Testor’s Metalizer Sealer. It did not take me very long to finish this kit.

Edward Fuquay

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