Reblog – The Zero Hunter: Let’s Visit All of Japan’s Restored, Replica and Wrecked Zero Fighters!

My friend over at wayfarerdaves.com has published a guide to all of the preserved A6M Zeros in Japan. Dave explains that he did not care about the Zero when he came to Japan, but as he traveled and visited museums, he kept seeing them more and eventually began to appreciate the Zero’s aesthetic. Now he wants to see them all and that’s a worthy goal. I tried to find a way to reblog the post over here but I could not find the button to do that. So here is a link to the post:

https://www.wayfarerdaves.com/?p=5149

I get what he means about learning to appreciate the Zero’s aesthetic and needing to see them all.

When I got back into the hobby around 2007, it was all about Corsairs for me. I bought some and I built some and I planned on building more. That changed a bit in 2009 when I came across an ad on Kijiji where a local was selling off a few nice kits – including a Tamiya A6M5 Zero in 1/32. That kit was not my main interest area or in my scale. But I had read about these kits and how wonderful they were to build. So, I decided to take the plunge and buy this bargain of a kit.

Boy, am I glad I did! Not only did I meet someone who became a good friend; my build of this kit sparked an interest in all things Japanese aviation. I enjoyed the build so much that I ran out and got the 1/32 A6M2 Zero soon after. Come to think of it – these Zeros were the first models that I felt confident to show others and they were my first IPMS contest entries.

It didn’t stop at 1/32 though. Nope, I have collected a number of kits to capture every variant of the Zero in 1/48. For some strange reason I have only built one – the Hasegawa A6M2 type 21. But these kits are addictive I tell you:

Last thing

Dave has a lot of interesting travel posts on his blog and quite a few of them would be of interest to modelers and aviation enthusiasts. His idea of seeking out every Zero on display in Japan has got me thinking of the practicality of seeking out every Corsair in North America. That would be one interesting hobby on its own!