21st Century Toys | 1/32 A6M2 Model 21

Reviewed by Darin Bellis

Additional notes:

I missed a few details when initially reviewing this kit. It has been brought to my attention that incorrect parts have been supplied (A6M3 style cowl with no scoop and different gun troughs). The box top depicts a model built from the correct parts. Since this is an early 'Market Test' kit, it is possible that the correct cowl and scoop as shown on the box top and pre-built Zero shown below will be supplied in future releases. Also, the ailerons are not correct for the A6M2. The kit's ailerons depict the A6M3 and later type ailerons.

The world-famous Zero needs no introduction. However, a few words on early Zero kits available in 1/32 would be in order. Until recently, only one kit of the early A6M2 was available in 1/32 and was boxed by Tomy, Swallow and Doyusha. The plastic parts of these kits remained more or less the same for each boxing, with different decals. The early Tomy boxings also included parts to motorize the model, and the latest Doyusha kits are currently (as of Jan '07) out of production. The recently introduced Tamiya A6M2 represents a state-of-the-art kit, but at a state-of-the-art price. For those of us looking for an early Zero kit to build, the only options were to either find one of the old Tomy/Swallow/Doyusha kits, or shell out big bucks for the quite expensive Tamiya kit.

Until now.

21 Century Toys has released a 1/32 kit of the A6M2 that is basically their pre-finished/pre-built "die-cast" A6M2 in unfinished, unpainted kit form. The retail price for this kit is shockingly low at less than $10 US! What kind of kit can you get at this price? Let's take a look...

The parts bags are held steady in the box by a pair of cardboard strips that trap the bags and (supposedly) prevent things from bouncing around in the box. All 5 of these 21st Century kits that I bought had the parts shuffled to one end with the result being the box top refusing to close all the way. For a box that is not shrink-wrapped or sealed in any way, this presents a problem as the kits are exposed to the rigors of customer abuse while sitting on the shelf at Wal Mart.

All but 3 of the parts are injection moulded in a hard, milky-white plastic and packaged by assembly step in plastic bags. There are no sprues at all. Unfortunately, the 3 clear plastic parts are bagged together, but in this sample do not appear to have suffered from damage or scratches as a result. A pre-painted, articulated pilot "action figure" and rubber tires are also separately bagged. There is a small plastic vac-pack holding the hardware and other small parts.

The instructions are clear and concise, but there are no part numbers to reference during assembly. Each part will have to be visually identified, but this doesn't appear to be a problem because there aren't very many parts that look even remotely alike.

The markings shown in the instructions are for 3 different Zeros, two overall gray-green and one green over gray. Color call outs are listed for both Model Master and Tamiya brand paints. The decal sheet is absolutely gorgeous!

I won't comment on the accuracy of the markings because I'm no expert, and I'd rather leave that to those that can comment authoritatively. The decals themselves are beautifully printed in what appear to my eye as accurate colors and in perfect register. The only drawback that I could see is there is only one data block decal supplied for the three different airplanes.

The main airframe parts were checked against my slim references for accuracy of shape and size. Everything seems to be well within 1/16" of being dead-on, with a few exceptions. If my references are correct, the kit's wing at the tip is 5/16" too wide in chord, and the root is 1/8" too wide in chord. Yeah, that wide wing is somewhat noticeable, and would be difficult to fix.

The fuselage itself looks great, except for the chord of the fin/rudder at the base which appears to be 3/32" too wide in chord. Height and width measurements are all within 1/32" on the rest of the fuselage, cowl, canopy and horizontal stabilizers.

The surface detail is engraved, but a bit heavy-handed similar to the old Matchbox kits. On the upside, the panel lines and other surface details appear to be correctly located. The rudder, elevators and ailerons have fabric ribbed effect delicately moulded in, but no attempt was made to represent the fabric texture of these surfaces. As can be seen in the images, there are holes in the wing bottom and right fuselage half for screws. These are addressed by the inclusion of plastic caps for the holes, but some filling and sanding will almost certainly be required to erradicate the inherant blemishes completely. More shots of the surface details:

Since I have the pre-built/pre-finished version of this kit, it seems fair to include a couple shots of what the kit should look like if built "OOB":

There are overly thick trailing edges on all of the flying surfaces. Again, very much like the old Matchbox kits. Some filing or sanding of the mating surfaces will be needed if the modeler intends to bring these areas to an acceptable level. The wing dihedral angle is flatter than it should be. Some careful sanding and test-fitting where the wing tops meet the fuselage fillets should cure this problem.

The wheel wells are almost devoid of any detailing, but are fully boxed in. There are some prominant ejector pin marks in the wheel well area on my samples. I'm no expert on Zero wheel wells, so again, I'll leave this area to those that know more.

The landing gear legs are fairly well represented. However, they are provided in what appears to be the fully-extended, in-flight position, which is 3/16" too long if the model is to be displayed sitting on its wheels. This could be corrected with a little effort and would really enhance the stance and overall look of the completed model. The gear doors are moulded a bit thick, and one-piece. No attempt was made to represent the small door at the top of each landing gear leg, so you'll have to make your own if you want them on your model. The tires for the main wheels are rubber, and very crisply moulded with radial tread. All of the 'toy-like' features of the die-cast version such as retractable landing gear and sliding canopy are retained in this kit version for those that want to utilize them.

In conclusion, this kit is an extremely good value at its less than $10 US retail price. One would be hard pressed to find just a 3-option decal sheet for early Zeros at this price! If looked at from a "Matchbox-quality" kit point of view, it is still an outstanding value. While it certainly isn't Tamigawa quality, it is not priced in their league either. Even with the overly wide chord of the wing, the shapes certainly capture the look of an early Zero very well. Availability in the US so far seems to be restricted to Wal Mart retail stores. Hopefully these kits will become available from web-stores as well.

Very enthusiastically recommended to all those that find the level of detail and accuracy acceptable.
I know I'm happy with it!

References:
A6M Zero In Action, Squadron/Signal Publications
Imperial Japanese Navy Aces 1937-45, Osprey Aviation

Review sample courtesy of my wallet.

21st Century Toys | 1/32 A6M2 Model 21

Reviewed by Darin Bellis

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