#164 A6M2-N Pacific Pit Stop
Building the old 1:144 ARII kit of the Nakajima A6M2-N, captured in a little diorama making a pit stop at an isolated Pacific island.
Notes
I originally started this kit as part of a batch build with some 1:144 A6M2-N kits by Sweet, but in comparison the ARII (originally Crown) kit really showed up as different and simplified. As a result, I split it off into its own project, and probably had more fun for it.
There’s something very satisfying about take a small, cheap kits and enjoying the process of turing it into a diorama over a few weeks.
The Kit
Nakajima Type 2 Fighter ARII No. 23030-200 1:144 is a 1992 new boxing by ARII of the 1975 tool from Crown. I purchased the kit for ¥620 from Leonardo LG2 in Sep-2023.
See instructions.
Paint Scheme
| Feature | Color | Recommended | Paint Used |
|---|---|---|---|
| lower camo | IJA Gray Green | C128 | H336 |
| upper camo | DARK GREEN(MITSUBISHI) | C124 | H59, H330 highlight |
| propeller | Propeller Color | H47 | |
Build Log
For such an old kit, it is quite a fine molding - simple but clean.
the kit is simplified, but the lines are clean and true.
The kit unfortunately didn’t come with decals for the tail, and I don’t have any good replacements so it remains blank.
Base Construction
I decided to mount the plane of a small base representing a beach landing.
A Pacific Island Beach
For the water, I used paper and multiple layers of painted gloss mod-podge.
Trees
I used some trees I think I picked up from amazon. They are a little over-scale, but the main issue was to overcome their “plastic-ness” with a thorough repaint.
Figures
I modified a 1:150 figure from Yamada Kagaku to take the place of the pilot.
The ground crew come from the Tomytec CN-NI118 Diorama Collection Sunbathers 1:150.
Final Gallery
Credits and References
- this project on scalemates
- Nakajima Type 2 Fighter ARII No. 23030-200 1:144
- on scalemates
- instructions
- Purchased for ¥620 from Leonardo LG2 (Sep-2023).
- Diorama Human Soldier Yamada Kagaku No.3279 1:150
- Tomytec CN-NI118 Diorama Collection Sunbathers 1:150
Research References
- Nakajima A6M2-N - wikipedia
- 二式水上戦闘機 - ja.wikipedia
- https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2023/11/01/nakajima-a6m2-n-rufe-part-i/
- https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2023/11/08/nakajima-a6m2-n-rufe-part-ii/
- https://naval-encyclopedia.com/naval-aviation/ww2/japan/nakajima-a6m2n-rufe.php
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