This is a recently completed Revell kit I did for a test A6M Zero of the Imperial Japanese Air Force stationed in Korea.

The Mitsubishi A6M Zero at one point was bigger than life- with a claimed superiority of any fighter in its heyday. The Zero first flew in 1938 and for its time was one of the advanced monoplanes. Lightly armored, the Zero possessed phenomenal maneuverability and very long range. Although its top speed was quite low, hampered by its low horsepower radial engine, the Zero early in WWII was thought to be almost unstoppable. But as American and British aircraft got faster, heavier armament, they began to meet and exceed the Zero in performance; just a few hits from a burst of .50 caliber machine gun fire was sufficient to ignite a Zero and send it crashing.

The A6M5 variant was a late war development in an attempt to squeeze as much performance out of the aging airframe. A 1300HP Mitsubishi radial, thicker wing skins, and some armor attempted to address the earlier shortcomings of the design, but by then its performance dropped off severely compared to the F6F Hellcat a F4U-1 Corsair. In fact, the A6M5 was actually slower than the A6M2 Zero, with half the range as well. It was unable to turn the tide of war and ultimately was expended as Kamikaze in a desperate attempt to postpone the inevitable.

This Zero has a orange belly, apparently as part of a evaluation, or test, or training squadron in Korea. I gave this plane on top a weathered surface, using dark green and international orange, with brown for the propeller.