Subject: Re: HLJ - Hasegawa Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero Fighter Type 21 ‘Super Ace’ with Figure
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "David & Natasja Johnson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:16:11 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: David & Natasja Johnson 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2010 4:08 AM
  Subject: HLJ - Hasegawa Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero Fighter Type 21 ‘Super Ace’ with Figure

  Hasegawa

  Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero Fighter Type 21 ‘Super Ace’ with Figure

  1/48 Limited Release

  Product #09904 (http://www.hlj.com/product/HSG09904) from HobbyLink Japan (www.hlj.com)

  Product Article by Dave Johnson on the May 2010

  One of Hasegawa’s March 2010 releases was the Limited reboxing of the 1/48 A6M2b Type 21 Zero. This A6M2b “Super Ace” boxing includes 3 aircraft markings for an resin figure of Tetsuzio Iwamoto. He was one of the top scoring aces among Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force (IJNAF) fighter pilots during World War 2.

  Tetsuzio Iwamoto was born 15th June 1916 and entered into the Imperial Navy during 1934 and he completed his flight training in 1936. His first combat experience occurred in the early months of 1938 in China. Tetsuzio became the top scoring Naval Ace during the Chinese Campaign with 14 aerial kills. Then he was posted to the aircraft carrier Zuikaku in late 1941 to May 1942. During this time on the Zuikaku he flew in the Pearl Harbor Attack and the Battle of the Coral Sea.  

  In 1943, Iwamoto’s Air Group was sent to Rabaul, New Britain and experienced the hardest air combat for the Imperial Japanese Air Force against the advancing Allied air units. Other assignments during his career were Truk Atoll and the Philippines.  After the Japanese evacuation of the Philippines, Iwamoto served in home defense and trained kamikaze pilots.

  After the war, Iwamoto was reported to have fallen into depression after the war. He was summoned twice to MacArthur's Allied GHQ office in Tokyo. Though he avoided being declared a war criminal, he was blacklisted for public sector employment. Summer 1953, he got a stomachache. A surgeon examined him and diagnosed him with an inflamed small intestine. It was found later to be Appendicitis. After a series of operations, he complained of a backache. They decided to operate on him again. With cause unknown, they removed three or four ribs without anesthesia. This led to blood poisoning, Iwamoto died on 20 May 1955. His wartime diary was found after his death, with claims of 202 Allied aircraft destroyed.

  The A6M2b kit has been released a few times already from by Hasegawa over the last couple of years. It’s a fairly typical Hasegawa kit that most of us have come to known with fine recessed panel and crisp rivet detail. The kit is molded in 69 medium gray and clear parts and bagged in a single bag. 

  The 13 piece cockpit has been nicely tooled with some excellent detail in this scale. The seat will require the lighten holes drilled out and an aftermarket seat harness of your choose will be require to make that cockpit to pop! 

  Also included is an excellent 5 piece 940hp Nakajima Sakae 12 engine. The cooling fin’s are crisply molded along with the spark plugs. There are two different crank casings offered on the sprues but only one is required for this boxing version of the A6M2b 

  The dry fit of the parts shows an excellent fit and hopefully the modeler will not require any filler during the build. A couple of the parts have a very small amount of flash. This is mainly on the trailing edges of the elevators.

  There is a nicely cast resin figure of Tetsuzio Iwamoto. It comes with two optional heads, one wearing a flying cap and the other without. The sculpting of the figure is outstanding and the facial features resemble Iwamoto. The figure is a nice addition to the kit and will look excellent painted.

  The kit Markings and decals are for 3 of Iwamoto’s aircraft during 1941-1943. 

  1-       I-102, 201st Naval Flying Group, November 1943 Rabaul, New Britain.

  2-       EII-102, Aircraft Carrier Zuikaku, 2nd Section 1st Aircraft, 7th December 1941, Pearl Harbor.

  3-       OHI-101, Oppama Naval Flying Group, February 1943.

  The print and colour registry on the decal sheet is very crisp. The printed white has been an issue on past Hasegawa releases as being to dark and appearing as a cream colour. This sheet is better, and appears to be an off white or weathered white instead of the cream colour.

  Overall, the simple construction process and offers plenty of detail even for the most experienced modeler. This offering of the A6M2b Zero from Hasegawa is worth having for any WW2 or Japanese collection.

  I would like to thank the team at HobbyLink Japan(www.hlj.com) for provide this review sample. 

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