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"Last Samurai"

Bomber_12th

Bomber_12th

SOH-CM-2025
Here are some screenshots from some first test flights in a new repaint (inside and out) I've put together for the WOP Zero, depicting the Nakajima A6M2 owned/operated by the Texas Flying Legends Museum. They refer to the aircraft as the "Last Samurai", as it is the only flying A6M2 variant, the same type as used by the Japanese Navy at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Still a WIP, but hope to have it uploaded in the next day or so (along with a couple other repaints). Rather fun/interesting tracking down some of the stencils for this one, as well as using some color chips to hopefully get the cockpit and exterior primer colors correct. Of course 99% of the exterior texture work can probably be attributed to ICDP's fantastic paintkit alone.

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I am so tempted to get this Zero for FSX with your enhancements John , looks stellar. Where would you recommend to purchase it from ? Mike :wavey:
 
That dose look a great paint , I do have the JustFlight Zero, It has a nice finish to it and is a lotta fun, might be worth following your example for a paint .. Or maybe even look at the example at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
 
Flyboy208 said:
I am so tempted to get this Zero for FSX with your enhancements John , looks stellar. Where would you recommend to purchase it from ? Mike :wavey:
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having both A2A and JF Zeros, by looking at the model I would say its the WOP Zero from the fighter pack (the better one IMHO)

thanks for posting this john, it has reminded me to get back to my plan of painting the zero sqdns that bombed both Pearl HBR and then Darwin HBR and surrounding bases over 64 separate raids http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/japanese-bombing-of-darwin
 
Looks great John! It's a shame that A2A didn't convert the Zero to FsX native, as they did with the Spit and the 109.
 
So the next logical question would be is the WOP Zero available anywhere? I have all the WOP aircraft except the Zero. How did I manage to miss it?
 
ya know Dave, I think at one time long ago they were selling those aircraft individually and that must have been where I missed the Zero...drat! So if anybody knows where I can get a copy I would be grateful.
 
Ebay is usually a good bet - A2A still sell some of the old Shockwave fighters for FS2004, but not the Zero for some reason.
 
I stumbled over this yesterday while trying to find my IL-2 1946 disks. Posting in case the box art or title helps. This box has the same aircraft as their WWII Fighters release.

The pending new paint got me motivated to load this old (2007) release up and fly. The Zero holds up pretty well- spins are great fun for one thing.

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Thank you Roger, I'm glad you like the results! I still hope to have four more Zero repaints finished up/uploaded for the WWII Fighters model soon, which covers the other four real world flying examples (including a new version of the Planes of Fame's A6M5, as it was re-restored and repainted over the past few years).

For those who don't have the WWII Fighters product (box set), I wouldn't suggest trying to buy it just for some repaints for the Zero model alone (since, after all, it is not FSX-native anyway - though DX10 fixer can come pretty close to creating the illusion). If you don't already have aircraft like the A2A Bf-109E or Spitfire Mk.Ia, however, I would suggest that it would still be a worthy purchase if you were to find a copy, such as off of ebay, since there are free FSX-native upates, provided by A2A, for those aircraft and the others with the exception of the Zero (and an abundance of repaints).

BTW, this repaint that I did for the A2A/Aircraft Factory Corsair, is of one of the aircraft that is also owned by the Texas Flying Legends Museum as well (a hangar/flying-mate to N8280K), and a repaint of "Dakota Kid", another TFL warbird, will be uploaded this weekend: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php/88288-Goodyear-FG-1D-Corsair-quot-Kathleen-quot-zip
(Update here: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforu...10-Goodyear-FG-1D-Corsair-Repaint-Updates-zip)

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Limekiller said:
The Zero holds up pretty well- spins are great fun for one thing.
Click to expand...

One of the reasons I continue to come back to this aircraft in FSX, despite it not being FSX-native, is how strong not only the visuals and sounds are (which are awesome in their own right), but the flight model is also superb. Ever since having witnessed Warren Pietsch fly this very aircraft through a low altitude, low speed, vertical maneuvering aerobatic demonstration, I've been in awe at the aircraft's flight characteristics/nimbleness, and this really comes through in the WWII Fighters Zero flight dynamics. Warren will literally allow the aircraft to stall or snap off the top of a vertical climb in his aerobatic performances, as the aircraft is so honest and controllable at slow speeds, it comes right back to controlled flight as he descends back down again.

Here are some photos my sister and I took of Warren flying the aircraft at the Fagen Fighters air show last year - the first time I had seen the aircraft fly was at Oshkosh 2011, and I don't think I've ever seen a more elegant/graceful flyer - on Friday night of that year, I remember watching Warren Pietsch in the Zero and Greg Shelton in his FM-2 have a take-off distance/vertical climb competition, taking off from runway 9, and although the FM-2 was very impressive, the Zero topped it. The aircraft, like four of the five flying today, is powered by an American R-1830 engine, but it is almost the same type engine as the original Japanese powerplant, the Sakae 21 - both are 14 cylinders, both are very close to the same size and weight, and both have just about the same level of performance (the R-1830, depending on the dash number, about 100 hp more).







 
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