Pat Donahue's Model 22 Zero in Field Camo

Pat Donahue has waited very patiently for over a year for these images of his Solomons Campaign Model 22 Zero in field applied camouflage to be shown here. Here it is as the first of a series of Zero models long pending. And representing a most unusual scheme too, interpreted from a photograph as shown below. When I first saw the images of this model I presumed it to be 1/48 scale but it is in fact the Tamiya 1/72 scale kit which Pat built to the IPMS/USA new Basic Kit Build rules which replaced the older out of the box rules.

Pat added an antenna wire as it is shown in the instructions. The kit decal seat harness was also used, cut closely off the sheet but not immersed in water just carefully draped over the seat with the edges painted in a tan to match the decal colour.

The amber gray airframe colour is a mix of Sovereign Hobbies Colourcoats paint with the green being Xtracolor from Hannants. All markings were painted on, and the kit stencil decals and aftermarket codes were used.

Pat's model represents a Solomon’s based Zero that had been repainted in the field. There was much conflicting information of the model type and tail codes. Some assert that it was a model 22A but all the photos Pat had of this machine and others like it showed no extended cannon barrels. There are many different ideas of the actual tail codes applied and Pat hopes he got it in the ballpark, as the original markings were censored in the photos. He commented that he would pay some real money to see some correctly exposed photos of those field applied schemes other than "105"! And I suspect he is not alone!

A stunning model which belies the small scale and is testimony to Pat's skill. With special thanks to Pat for sharing the images and details of his model and for his patience in waiting so long  for it to appear here. Pat's previous field camouflaged Zero models can be found here and here. 

Image credits: All model photos © 2023 Pat Donahue; Photo via Pat Donahue.