Hat tip to Woody for alerting to the surprise announcement of a bold new 1/48 scale Zero 52 to be released by Fine Molds in December this year. Company blurb as shown below.
The kit will be available in two releases as FZ01 (heading image) with decal options for two 381 Ku aircraft 81-161 and 81-163 and FZ02 (below) with decal options for 320-85, a carrier borne 652 Ku aircraft on Junyo, and 8-24 from an unknown unit on Saipan, addressing differences between Mitsubishi and Nakajima variants in both colour scheme and airframe details. According to the blurb the kits will retail for ¥4.950 (approximately £26) but are currently available to pre-order from HLJ at ¥3,600.
The breakdown of parts is innovative, if not revolutionary, and designed for ease of assembly, similar to the Fine Molds magazine special Ki-43-I in 1/72 scale. The kit is split into complete forward and rear fuselage sections, each moulded as a single piece. The canopy frame and transparent panels are also separate to ease painting. From the blurb the wing also appears to be moulded as one piece? (Post blog edit: No, it is in two parts - complete single piece top and bottom wings).
The Tamiya 'new tool' A6M5/5 Ko dates from 2008 (seems like yesterday!) and there are (were?!) planned A6M5 kits from Eduard. The prototype Fine Molds model (below) looks good and I'm all for ease of assembly and an avoidance of build complications from over engineering in construction design.
Image credit : All © 2024 Fine Molds Corporation
14 comments:
I already have dozens of Zero's boxes between 1/72 and 1/48, but in the end I already know that I will also take this one...
The breakdown of the canopy is very interesting, we will have to check the thicknesses , but it would certainly be a big advantage for the painting session (no masks)
I hope to see a build review as soon as possible, there are a lot of pieces and I am especially worried about the engine area ...
Thanks so much for sharing this, Nick. I saw it on Facebook this morning and was very happy indeed.
I tried to build the Eduard Model 21 when it was brand new, frankly it was a miserable experience and I actually gave up and threw the kit away. Overcomplicated, poor fitting parts, poor quality control on some of the extra 3D printed parts. Life is too short to not enjoy a build!
I hope that Fine Molds sells many of these, I know that I will be getting one of each!
Dan
A very happy surprise for us all, indeed. I can say that I was not expecting anyone to release a Zero in 1/48 (although Academy already did with their A6M2) as Eduard was halfway through their A6M releases. Apart from the unique fuselage construction, I also like the optional exhaust heat shields. While I will be purchasing Eduard's A6M kits, I will also grab this version as well.
Thanks all. I like the look of the 'sit' on this one, the dropped flaps and the gap between cowling and fuselage.
Very much looking forward to this, but dread the UK price. Probably have to end up buying from Japan.
Very interesting release indeed with some truly novel features. The fuselage construction is very unusual, though I'd have preferred to have the rear under-canopy decking as part of the rear fuselage like on the real bird. It does limit the possibilities for dioramas and super detailing. The novel canopy option very interesting as well.
Eduard is indeed close to releasing their A6M5 kits. I'm surprised Dan had such issues with it. It's a stunning kit, undoubtedly the most accurate in any scale. Perhaps a bit fiddly in areas, as it typical for Eduard kits.
Fine Molds' latest release definitely looks interesting. Much better than the recent Academy Model 21, which in my view was rather poor with loads of accuracy issues, despite their best efforts.
Probably the usual 100% mark up in rip-off Britain so expect to pay £40-50!
Looks like another winner from the geniuses at Fine Molds !.. including the stylized box art !... I would wish to kindly suggest a new tool 1/72 "Val" for consideration as the next project for the Oracle at Fine Molds
Thanks to Woody and Nick !
I'm tickled for the 1/48th crowd! I will cast my lot with Baronvonrob and wish for a new tool Val.
Thank you Woody and Nick for sharing! Folks at Fine Moulds keep surpassing themselves!
I'm with you two regarding a new tool Val! I would also suggest some Ki-44s and J2Ms.
Interesting, and innovative indeed! I'm just not sure if it's my cup of tea. Some manufacturers offer 3-D kits that include large 'preassembled' sections. I'm not in favour of over-engineered dissected kits but I want to have the opportunity to add something in terms of skills to make my model special. Perfect, easy-to-assemble kits direct the modellers attention to eleborate air-brushing ('wow, the weathering is brilliant'!) instead of the art of modelling. Just my thinking. I'm going to wait for Eduard although I don't know if that's the best idea.
Thanks for the headsup about this surprising entry in the Zero Sweepstakes. It has the advantage of being different from all the others in its approach. I'm in the middle (muddle?) of a Tamiya Model 52/52a kit of 2008 vintage, and that one is still a wonderful model. But as well as it fits, I always have trouble with the seams on Tamiya kits because their plastic is so hard, and with a fuselage or wing-to-fuselage seam, it doesn't feather easily with any filler, whether it's my old standby, superglue, or even Tamiya's own fillers, which can disappear comepletely by the time the joint is sanded and polished. It's my only complaint about their kits.
Fine Molds' engineering suggests little to worry about there as joints occur in the same places as the actual a/c; plus, when I built on of their 1/48 from a few years ago, Claudes, the fit was amazing, and I can't imagine this one wouldn't match it.
Besides all that, after a lifetime of building models - I hate doing seamwork more than ever.
As more close-up pictures of this massively promoted FM kit appear I wonder if anyone noticed how distorted the whole canopy looks after individual "glass" pieces installation into plastic frame. I just don't see the benefit of this design. So much promoted "time saving" in painting the canopy framing is completely lost in the installing of many individual pieces. I also continues to stun me that so many, apparently skilled, modelers praise breaking down the parts on the "natural a/c panel lines". IF you build such a kit you know that no matter how careful you may be the result will be a joint needing puttying and sanding due to serious inconsistency with all the other panel lines. I built FM 1/72 F-4EJ and Ki-43-I and that what happened.
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