Airfix has had something of a rennaisance since being bought out by Hornby. Granted the production of kits has moved to the Far East and some of the new releases have been more miss than hit, but they are really starting to come on song now. Their new 1/72 scale A6M2b (released November 2011) is a great looking kit on the sprues and outclasses their ancient tooling by a country mile. So lets see what we get for £6 of our hard earned cash.
The box is end opening and thin in profile, meaning it will be tricky to part-build the kit and put it to one side, but also it won’t take up much space if left in the box. The box art itself is beautiful and I have to say I really like the new CGI art that Airfix use on their new releases, they are becoming classics in their own right.
The reverse of the box shows the single paint scheme that is provided and acts as the painting and decal instructions at the same time. The single decal option provided is for an aircraft from 201st Kokuta that was based in Papua New Guinea during 1944. I must admit to being fairly clueless to the finer detail of the Pacific Theatre, but it was my understanding that the A6M2 variant of the Zero was one of the earlier versions and as such would have been a less common sight during 1944 as newer models like the A6M3 and A6M5 replaced them. That said, I will trust Airfix’s research this time as I have nothing to contradict them.
Now looking at the sprues we see are met with 46 light bluey-grey plastic arranged on three sprues, with a separatley bagged clear sprue that contains the single piece canopy. The moulding looks to be of excellent quality and the panel lines are quite restrained in comparision to some of the other airfix releases that have been accused of trench warfare by some of the vocal members of the modelling community (not wholly without merit it must be said). What is nice to see is the nose cowling is moulded in one piece and the radial engine includes both rows of cilinders and this should give a nice impression of depth when the model is built up.
Another thing that is great to see on the underside of the wing are the finely moulded rivets on the centre section of the wing. Airfix are starting to catch up with the market leaders here it seems. Also another good point to note is the undercarraige legs are moulded seperately from the landing gear doors, something some of the other new aifix releases did not do. I can't comment on the accuracy of the placement of the panel lines, nor frankly do I care much. Being 1/72 scale I expect some simplification has taken place but the overall look of them is very good.
One thing that is worth mentioning is the cockpit detail. The cockpit floor is curved like in the real aircraft, and the rear of the machine guns are included next to the instrument panel. Thats some nice detail for a basic kit. Speaking of the instrument panel, the detail is provided by a decal, which is acceptable in this scale although those with AMS (Advanced Modelling Syndrome) will look to replace with some resin and etch (when they become available). One thing to note about the cockpit floor is the rather unsightly ejector pin marks where the pilots feet would be. This will be difficult to fill and sand, but once the cockpit is closed up and the canopy is in place it is unlikely to be all that noticable, if at all.
As for the canopy it is moulded as a single piece and is respectably clear. It should be adequate for the majority of people I would say. The decals are matt but look decent and are in register. They are much better than earlier Airfix decals and should work well on a glossy surface with some decal softner to help them into place.
So, verdict time. I think this kit is great and is well worth the price it is being sold for. The limited release Fine Molds A6M2 may have it beaten on detail, but it also comes at 3 times the price of Airfix's offering. Currently it is the best value for money A6M2 out there and I definitley plan on building it sometime in the future. I think I will source some Pearl Harbour decals however, as I would prefer this early Zero to be in those markings.
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