Jeff17-The A6M2-N floatplane War Masters 1/72 Airplanes series

Hello, mates!

A friend of mine offered me a War Masters A6M2-N floatplane model. It's a limited edition (Nr0851 on 2000).

Some comments on this series (as well as for the AFVs War Masters series):

It's a collection based on re-dressed and weathered IXO models moulds.

A) THE MODEL

I once bought the Altaya/IXO A6M5 model: it was a disastrous hybrid with the A6M1/M2 nose and the wings and armament of the A6M5.

I supposed that the War Masters A6M2-N (N for Nakajima production) should present the same hybridation and I was right:

- First, it is delivered with the choice between standard gear and floats which, in the case of the A6M2-N, is totally absurd and should give the A6M2/M5 Altaya/IXO hybrid model. A tailwheel is in position, which doesn't exist on the floatplane.

- Secondly, the nose type is correct, corresponding to the A6M2 (apart guns grooves missing on the top of the engine cowling), but the undernose air intake, though correct regarding the ground- based A6M2, doesn't exist in the A6M2-N as it is reimplanted in the upper position of the center float mast.

- Third, the locations of a standard A6M gear are visible and have to be masked with the retracted main gear pieces.

- and fourth, the wings are these, shorter, of the A6M5 and showing the protruding weaponry (2x13.2mm type 3 + 2x20mm type 99 Mk IV) of this more recent plane, instead of the only 2x20mm type 99 (shorter than the Mk IV) completely incorporated in the wings of the A6M2 and A6M2-N.

The rear undernose air intake is OK for the A6M2, BUT UNACCURATE FOR THE A6M2-N !!!

Ian Robertson's superb Hasegawa 1/48 A6M2-N model and resin diorama. Central float mast air intake clearly visible.

Immediate operations to do:

-Elimination of the protruding guns from the wings and masking the external gun positions.

-Gluing the retracted main gear pieces in their underwing location, then try to render them as invisible as possible, as there was no main gear on the A6M2-N but only floats.

-Elimination of the tail wheel and replacement with the retracted tail wheel piece.

-Making of the undertail special piece (cardboard or plastic; go on the net to find better views of undertail aspect):

The new camos and weathering effects are not so bad BUT:

the painter confused the Pitot tube with a gun and so put exhaust powder smoke traces behind it !!

The 20mm gun smoke traces are placed on the external A6M5 20mm gun position, not the real A6M2 inner one !

The War Masters "A6M2-N" model with A6M5 wings !!! Consequently, the model's proportions are inaccurate.

Real A6M2 wingspan proportions. These should have been the same for the A6M2-N.

So we can say that, following the IXO mould quality, this item will never be a model, but a "looking like" toy and asks for a little diy work to only look like an A6M2-N.

Some other solutions could be to adapt the float pieces to a good model of A6M2 with retracted undercarriage (masked as much as possible, as it didn't even exist on the A6M2-N) and repaint the model, then use adapted decals.

One little trick from Papi Jeff !!: after mounting the radio mast on the rear canopy, try to give it a forward AND slightly starboard rake, as for the real A6M2-N. Look at the upper photos to compare the aspect of the A6M2 and A6M2-N radio antenna positions.

Anyway, I'll keep it, but not on my show room front line !!!

If some of you mates can give experiences and advices, please don't hesitate to enter this discussion !!!

B) SOME HISTORICAL/TECHNICAL DATAS (Wikipedia).

"The Nakajima A6M2-N (Navy Type 2 Interceptor/Fighter-Bomber) was a single-crew float seaplane based on the Mitsubishi A6M Zero Model 11. The Allied reporting name for the aircraft was Rufe.

The A6M2-N floatplane was developed from the Mitsubishi A6M Zero Type 0, for the purposes of supporting amphibious operations and defending remote bases. It was based on the A6M2 model 11 fuselage, with a modified tail and added floats.

This aircraft was the brainchild of Shinobu Matsutake, Nakajima Aircraft Company's Chief Engineer, and Atsushi Tajima, one of the company's designers. A total of 327 were built, including the original prototype.

A grounded A6M2N under maintenance on its chariot. On the right background, an early A6M3 model 32 with removed folding wing tips.

Operational service:

The aircraft was deployed in 1942, referred to as the "Suisen 2" ("Hydro fighter type 2"), and was only utilized in defensive actions in the Aleutians and Solomon Islands operations.

Such seaplanes were effective in harassing American PT boats at night, and they were very difficult to detect, even with primitive radar. Close misses killed officers and crews of boats such as PT 105.

They could also drop flares to illuminate the PTs which were vulnerable to destroyer gunfire, and depended on cover of darkness. Since the boats left a phosphorescent wake which was visible from the air, they would leave their engines in idle to minimize this.

It was primarily for this reason that John F. Kennedy's PT 109 was caught off guard in idle and rammed by the destroyer Amagiri, unable to maneuver out of the way in time.

A6M2-Ns at Attu, Alaska.

The seaplane also served as an interceptor for protecting fueling depots in Balikpapan and Avon Bases (Dutch East Indies) and reinforced the Shumushu base (North Kuriles) in the same period.

Such fighters served aboard seaplane carriers Kamikawa Maru in the Solomons and Kuriles areas and aboard Japanese raiders Hokoko Maru and Aikoku Maru in Indian Ocean raids.

In the Aleutian Campaign this fighter engaged with Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. The aircraft was used for interceptor, fighter-bomber, and short reconnaissance support for amphibious landings, among other uses.

Later in the conflict the Otsu Air Group utilized the A6M2-N as an interceptor alongside Kawanishi N1K1 Kyofu ("Rex") aircraft based in Biwa lake in the Honshū area.

The last A6M2-N in military service was a single example recovered by the French forces in Indochina after the end of World War II. It crashed shortly after being overhauled.

The large float and wing pontoons of the A6M2-N degraded its performance by about 20%, enough that the A6M2-N was not usually a match for even the first generation of Allied fighters.".

Specifications:

General characteristics

Length: 10.10 m (33ft 1⅝ in)
Wingspan: 12.00 m (39 ft 4⅜ in)
Height: 4.30 m (14ft 1⅜ in)
Wing area: 22.44 m² (251.4 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,912 kg (4,235 lb)
Loaded weight: 2,460 kg (5,423 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 2,880 kg (6,349 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Nakajima NK1C Sakae 12 air cooled 14 cylinder radial engine, 950 hp (709 kW) at 4,200 m (13,800 ft)