U.M.I. Resin | Mitsubishi A6M5b Model 52b Cowling

Reviewed by Rato Marczak

UMI is a relatively new company which has been producing a number of resin items to enhance your models.This set provides the cowling to convert your Hasegawa Mitsubishi A6M5c Zero to a A6M5b Model 52b version. The latter had a different nose gun arrangement, resulting in unsymmetrical gun openings on the top of the engine cowling. The diffences to the 52c cowling provided by the Hasegawa kit is quite visible. UMI elected to make a single piece conversion. All you need is to replace the kit's part by the new resin cowling and add the flaps provided by the kit.

The cowling is well molded in white PU resin with recessed panel lines and fasteners. The carburetor air intake grille is decently represented. Our sample was virtually free of bubbles, but there are some flash to be removed. Looking to the part against a bulb light, I found a couple of spots where the part is very, very thin, requiring attention during sanding/handling to avoid cracking. This is a very simple conversion to make an interesting Zero variant.

Review sample compliments of Unlimited Models Inc.

© Rato Marczak 2005

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This review was published on Saturday, July 02 2011; Last modified on Wednesday, May 18 2016