1/48 Tamiya Nakajima A6M2 N Type 2 (Rufe)

by Federico Kunz

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Well, this time there is not a big story behind this kit, I guess.  After taking a look at some videos, I suddenly fell in love with the Zero.  So I started some research, especially regarding the available kits. When I saw the Rufe, I started building it right away.  Though it seems to be a pretty old kit, the fit was incredible.  I just added some PE seatbelts.  The instructions were quite clear & the painting guide quite well explained. 

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In the end, my question was regarding the weathering on the boat attachments.  I know, it is Aluminum, but I kept on looking at some drawings & other kits built & they showed the rusty look on them.  So, at the end, I added some here & there.  I think it looks pretty cool, though I could never find a picture showing a glimpse of how it may have looked like.  I guess that some components may have thrown some rust anyway.  Again, I nice kit.

All weathering was performed with the Tamiya set plus some pre-shading & chalk washes.  I discovered the real issue while researching on Japanese airplanes: paint colors!  I was amazed by the divergence of information & styles while decorating these.  I did try my own mix for the Ame-iro which got more into the gray’s scale rather than the desired effect; I didn’t want to go further into it anyway.  Well, hope you all enjoy it as much as I did with this build.

Cheers,

Federico

Photos and text © by Federico Kunz