1/48 Tamiya Nakajima A6M2-N Type 2 Float Plane

Gallery Article by David Mielke - "VMFA314Knights" on Aug 5 2016

 

      

This model is another old 1/48th scale Tamiya kit that I had sitting in the stash for a long time. Old mold kit but still able to build up into a nice model with some basic skills. 

Click on images below to see larger images

After finding an article by James Lansdale, on the topic of paint schemes for Japanese aircraft, I finally tackled a batch of my Japanese Navy fighters to compliment my WWII U.S. Navy and Royal Navy Pacific aircraft. I had found a reference photo of a A6M2-N that had a number of victories and just had to figure out a way to replicate the markings. Pilot Lt.(jg) Keizo Yamazaki flew with the 802nd AG based out of Shortland Island Seaplane Base around February 1943 and had 3 kill markings in the shape of axes on the tail denoting his victories.

Wanting to keep the build relatively stress free, I built the kit straight from the box (aside from the custom markings and the addition of lots of weight to the forward section of the float and masking tape seat belts). Pretty straight-forward (although custom painting the markings - with the help of a Portrait Cutting Tool - did delay the project a couple of weeks) she now sits proudly on the shelf. 

Cheers,
David Mielke

Photos and text © by David Mielke