Trumpeter 1/24 A6M2b Model 21 Zero Fighter

Overview

While the exact type may not be precisely known, the name 'Zero' will trigger glimmers of recognition in just about anyone who has studied a bit of history. The main fighter during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, the A6M series continued on throughout the entire Second World War and fought on all fronts. Its agility made it a deadly adversary in the hands of a skilled pilot.

The Kit

The Trumpeter kit of the A6M is the A6M2b Type 21, which means it is an early Zero, one of Pearl Harbor fame. According to my notes, it differed from the original Type 11 by the addition of a tailhook and folding wingtips. There could be more, but those are the big visual features. So, what comes in the kit? You get right around 200 total parts, including plastic, photoetch, acetate film, and vinyl rubber. The overall tooling is crisp and looks quite good in the box. A small decal sheet (for the size of the box, anyway) provides a single option.

The cockpit is nicely detailed, with the majority of the assembly actually making up a separate cockpit insert. This is useful, as we will see later. The level of detail is high, and some careful paint work will really pay off here. The fuselage halves also have ribbing detail molded into it, but just about every single space between the ribbing features an ejector pin mark, which will be very tough to remove. Luckily, once the fuselage is together none of this will really be visible.

The engine looks absolutely stunning. I don't know about its accuracy, but it looks like a radial engine to me. There is room for additional detailing for those who wish to go all out, but overall it is very impressive. Both rows of cylinders are included, along with the fuel tank, oil tank, exhaust pipes and intake pipes. A total of 27 parts are for this assembly, making it one of the most parts-intensive sections of this kit.

Once the cockpit and engine are done, the rest of the assembly is very straightforward. Trumpeter provides separate control surfaces with photoetch hinges and metal rods to allow them to move. The landing gear is sprung, an interesting feature that I am still unsure of. Interestingly, the kit comes with complete wing cannons, but the hatches aren't open so all you will see in the finished model are the barrels sticking out of the wing.

...............

Now to the issues. Apparently the kit does have an error. For some it could be enough to not build the kit. For others, it's not noticeable. For the rest, there is a fix that involves a bit of modeling, and isn't that why we are in this hobby anyway? After reading all the reviews and looking at the kit, I found that the fix posted by Greg Springer at the J-Aircraft.com website to be the simplest and quickest fix. For those interested in correcting this problem, read his post, print it out, and stick it in the box. Greg has taken some time to make his fix easily repeatable and it sounds fairly simple to do.

Conclusion

While the kit does have a fuselage shape problem, it is by no means fatal in my eyes, and overall the Trumpeter kit can be recommended. Yes, they should have gotten it right from the beginning, but I for one am happy to have a readily available 1/24 Zero that might need a bit of extra work rather than not having one at all.

My thanks to Stevens International for the review sample.