1:48 Zero refurb

[tor lives]

Hi guys,
Well having seen and been inspired by all those great Zeros down at the "Air Base", I went and recovered this old thing from the darkest reaches of Ray's Davis-Monthan AFB, (aka the old RAAF blue trunk). This dear old thing was recovered from a discarded diorama many years ago, (picture me bin-diving into a large dumpster in an effort to retrieve it....hey pride takes a back-seat when there are thrown-out models to recover ). She had many "mods" done to her as part of her centre-piece role in said diorama including lot's of bullet holes and cut-out panels, (all of which will need to be seen too).
She was motorised but I am not sure what brand she is, (perhaps someone can identify the manufacturer for me...cause I would be interested to know).
I plan to finish her in a "what if" civil Air Racer scheme of predominantly gloss dark blue scheme with gold trim....and she will carry the name "Sleek Zeke"
As can be seen though.....much work to be done, (why do I do this to myself??? )





She has already had her "caustic soda" paint-stripping bath, and initial work has commenced on panel repairs/replacement. I have also fabricated a replacement cockpit centre section transparency
Does anyone have spare 1:48 Zero undercarriage parts by chance...as can be seen, she is missing some landing gear components.
Ray

[hrtpaul]

This'll be cool to see. I love the idea Ray. As for the u/c legs, you might be able to buy some SAC items if you have no luck finding some replacements

[Nillus]

Bahaha!
Someone really stitched the wing!

[_BlackHawk_]

SAC do metal legs for about 13 bucks. True Details do wheels, another 4 bucks and Quickboost make undercarriage door covers that's about another 10 bucks. Factor in post and a vac canopy, might as well buy a second hand Hasegawa Zero at Model Expo. Everyone dumps them because no one builds jap aircraft so you'll get one for 20 bucks. I know you like refurbishing kits but at some point it becomes economically pointless.

It also looks like the old Lindberg kit as that one came with an electric motor.

[tor lives]

SAC do metal legs for about 13 bucks. True Details do wheels, another 4 bucks and Quickboost make undercarriage door covers that's about another 10 bucks. Factor in post and a vac canopy, might as well buy a second hand Hasegawa Zero at Model Expo. Everyone dumps them because no one builds jap aircraft so you'll get one for 20 bucks.

It also looks like the old Lindberg kit.

Thanks for that good info Brad
I know conventional wisdom and common sense suggests that I should just buy a cheap new kit but, fiscal common sense aside, I get an awful lot of satisfaction out of bringing these, in some cases, decades old banged-up and battered little old models back from the "dead"....it's the challenge!!.
Was the Lindberg kit motorised??? cause this one is, (although the little motor has long-since seized).
Ray

[_BlackHawk_]

Yes the Lindberg kit was motorised. It's not very accurate either and the box art qualifies for 'box art mistakes' with a hideous colourscheme on it.

I've tried the old refurbishing thing, but I ended up giving a couple of models away to dad's friend and the rest to some kids. Some others got butchered for spare parts.