Hasegawa

1/48 - Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero Fighter Type 52 "302FG Night Fighter"

Kit Number: 09882

Reviewed by  Fred Amos, IPMS# 6672

MSRP: $34.99 USD Website: www.hasegawa-model.co.jp For list of USA Distributors: www.dragonmodelsusa.com What?! The Japanese had a Zero night fighter? When I started this project and mentioned it to some friends, that was their question. I was just as surprised as they were until I read the instruction sheet. The Hasegawa kit is a standard A6M5 kit with just a few noticeable differences. One difference is a 20 mm machine gun located in the fuselage. The barrel goes up through the canopy enclosure behind the pilot, similar to the German night fighters. The difference is that the bulges on the leading edge of the wings are removed and the 20 mm machine guns replace 20 mm cannons. The kit is molded in Hasegawa's standard light gray plastic. The clear sprue has a replacement rear canopy for the 20mm gun to go through. It also has an armored glass plate that attaches to the inside of the windshield and a clear piece representing the 20 mm gun. The kit goes together without any difficulty, but I did have a slight alignment problem with the upper left wing assembly. I lined it up using the holes for the pilot tube and the machine guns. When the holes lined up I started gluing the parts together. Later I realized that the upper wing tip over-lapped the bottom significantly. I had to sand the wing tip, but when I put the wing to the fuselage there was a gap between the wing root and the fuselage. I may have been at fault with this, but I wanted to let the modelers know about it so they can avoid the problem. Another problem area, for me anyway, was the landing gear. You have to remember that the wheel goes on first then the gear door. I had my gear in place for about 30 minute when I realized my error. I was able to gently pull them out of the sockets and relocate them correctly. I replaced the clear plastic piece representing the 20mm machine gun in the canopy with a piece of steel wire. The decals are very nice and in registry with markings for a total of seven aircraft, mostly serial numbers for the landing gear doors. The rest of the assembly went pretty well with no major catastrophes. I can heartily recommend this kit for modelers with average and above skills. Thanks to Hasegawa Hobby Kits and Dragon Models USA for providing this kit to the IPMS/USA for review.