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Paint scheme type zero


bluntmaster280

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I've seen far worse on cars. Have fun with it...I'd have gone the same route eventually if I didn't get mine repainted.

 

 

There was a very pale green, almost white color that might look pretty good as well.

 

a6m2zerotainankokutaiv173mj7.jpg

 

I kicked a lot of ideas around before I settled on a hinomaru color scheme, which played into the Japanese national racing colors from the '60s(off white and red).

 

painted_front.jpg

 

People offended by this sort of thing need to find better things to do with their time. If they're offended by the sight of a CAR painted like an A6M Zero, imagine how they'd flip out about an actual A6M at an airshow! They're irrelevant.

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There are two flying stateside, one with the original Sakae 12 radial, owned by the Chino Planes of Fame Air Museum, the other with a Pratt & Whitney R-1830, flown by the Commemorative Air Force.

 

Evidently these are the only two remaining airworthy specimens, although when I was at Chino 10 years ago, they were working on another. Not sure how that project has progressed.

 

The alloy they're made of crystallizes easily, and loses its structural integrity. They're a tough bird to keep in the air, especially after nearly 3/4 of a century.

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Here's the perfect helmet for use with that truck, and I came about II close to doing my car in the same scheme once I saw this helmet. Then I came to my senses...

 

7forcerr_airborne2.jpg

 

There are several KBC helmets along the same theme available. That is the one I have as well.

 

Warren

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This thread made me think...

 

I am painting my new 240Z light metallic gold/green. It is the new Ford Mustang color "Lime Gold Metallic".

 

lime_gold.jpg

 

 

This would be an easy color to adapt to the "Zero" style paint scheme.

I can imagine three "meatball" race number circles and some yellow decal strips on the leading edge of the hood.

 

Then I think of my Grandfather who experienced eye to eye contact with a Zero pilot who decided not to attack grandpa's seaplane. Everyone held their breath and kept their cool at the guns and nobody got hurt. The Zero pilot pulled alongside theeir PBM Mariner, waved and smiled then flew off.

Grandad figures the Zero pilot was low on ammo and fuel and figured a respectful contact with the enemy was due. The Zero could have killed them all if someone had fired the 50 cals on the seaplane.

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A Mariner is a TOUGH bird to bring down. They were used as patrol bombers and could take heavy battle damage. A Zero, not so much. One .50 will make pretty quick work of a Zero at that range. Remember that they had almost no armor, and didn't have self-sealing fuel tanks. A few tracer or incendiary rounds in a tank and they'd fireball.

 

 

...but understandably, your grandpa would probably rather see you put

this on there:

 

 

am-star-4.gif

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I asked once before if anyone knew if there were either an Army Air Corps or Air Force unit that flew captured fighter planes (like the Migs from Top Gun), and nobody responded...I thought it would be cool to paint the car with whatever scheme that unit used (assuming there were such a unit).

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A Mariner is a TOUGH bird to bring down. They were used as patrol bombers and could take heavy battle damage. A Zero, not so much. One .50 will make pretty quick work of a Zero at that range. Remember that they had almost no armor, and didn't have self-sealing fuel tanks. A few tracer or incendiary rounds in a tank and they'd fireball.

 

 

 

I can tell you that as the Pilot and senior officer, my grandfather KNEW for a fact that he and his crew stood a snowball's chance in hell against a Zero that wanted them dead. I asked him more than once why they didn't shoot the Zero down. He literally laughed and said that they would have been stupid and suicidal to go Toe to Toe with a zero. His plane's only defence was to drop low and pray to god. The Mariner's 50 cals were unlikely to hit ANYHTING. The Mariner was designed to hunt Submarines and ships.

 

Don't let video games get in the way. The Zero pilot pulled alongside them in such a way that he could have been in the sights of several 50 cals. He knew and they knew that the 50s were highly unlikely to hit anything. Once he got close enough to wave and smile... it would have been dishonorable to shoot him with the 50s at close range.

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Don't let video games get in the way.

 

I don't play video games.

 

At any rate, opening up on someone who has no intent to do you harm is dishonorable, indeed. However, bear in mind that Mariners went up against the Kreigsmarine's U-boats equipped with 4x20mm Flakvierling setups and came out the winners. Granted, a Zero's a much different animal from a type VII u-boat.

 

veritech-z, you'll find this site fascinating.

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I talked to gandad tonite about the Type-Zero paint scheme. He jokingly said he would shoot at anything painted that way. He drives a Lexus by the way and LOVES it. He also bought a 1972 240Z Automatic brand new.

 

He cleared up the facts around that encounter. They were flying night missions using radar. They were flying back to base still several hundred miles out. They picked up a blip flying a paralell course at daybreak 30 miles out. They assumed it was one of their planes also returning to base. There was no way to know the size of the contact. They began decending to the water. They thought it was one of their seaplanes also returning to base, but several seaplanes had been shot down by American night fighters and a destroyer also took down a Mariner. They were at a sensitive range comming home to roost and they decided to take evasive manuevers as a precaution as well as a signal to the other plane that they were a seaplane returning to base(No fighter would EVER have dived to the water as a defence). The plane altered course to intercept them and by the time they got a visual they realized it was a ZERO comming along parallel to them. They were still trying to get into the turrets and get the guns ready when the Zero pulled right up beside them and waved exitedly with a big, toothy, ear to ear grin.

Grandpa figures the Zero pilot was hopelessly lost and knew that the seaplane would be making a beeline for base at this time of the day. The Zero pilot used my grandfather's course to figure out his own location and bearing to get home. Grandad says that they were puzzed by the encounter but the manic and gleeful waving by the smiling Zero pilot said it all. The dude was crapping bricks, lost at sea, unable to land and probably with only enough gas to get home(Phillipines). He was SOO GLAD to see another plane which he KNEW where it was going.

Apparently there were few fighters even allowed to fly at night. Grandad has no idea what the ZERO was doing out that early, that far from home.

 

A little about Seaplane self defence. Being a Boat-that-flys, they have no guns on the bottom. The belly is a huge soft target and also carries the fuel tanks. Standard evasive tactic was to dive for the water from their seahunting altitude of around 6000 feet. The altimeters were pressure based and inaccurate. They would pull out of the dive at around 300ft. and decend at around 200ft/min until they bounced off the water. then they would skim the surface while firing from the multiple roof, tail, and side mounted turrets. The men operating the turrets would NEVER fire until the command was given, especially given the multiple friendly fire incidents that had recently occurred.

 

Would a Zero destroy a Mariner? Well the fact is that in my grandfather's encounter, the Zero could have easily killed them because they were still trying to man the guns when he pulled up beside them. They were all worried about getting shot down from the moment the radar contact came up. They all assumed it would be friendly fire they had to worry about. Luckily the Zero was VERY GLAD to see them so he could find his way home.

 

My grandfather knew of no shootouts between a Zero and a Mariner(not that it did not happen). But grandad knew of several instances where Mariners were blasted out of the sky before the attacking AMERICAN plane could even visually identify the friendly target he so easily blew to pieces. I doubt a Zero would have taken any damage in a dogfight with a Mariner.

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  • 2 months later...

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