moeggo Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 Can anyone tell me if Iwamoto's A6M5 Zero (53-102) was Mitsubishi or Nakajima built? Also, do you know what airbase he was at while flying this aircraft at Rabaul? Cheers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Big Kev Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 Can anyone tell me if Iwamoto's A6M5 Zero (53-102) was Mitsubishi or Nakajima built?Also, do you know what airbase he was at while flying this aircraft at Rabaul? Cheers! Do you have any photos or profiles Dave? If so, you might be able to tell from those. The simplest external differentiator was the upper/lower camo demarcation line at the rear fuselage. On Mitsubishi-built airframes it was straight, whereas on Nakajima-built airframes it curved up to the tailplanes. Apologies if you already knew this! Kev Quote Link to post Share on other sites
timc Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 (edited) Well, according to Tamiya, his aircraft was Mitsubishi built judging by the model photograph from their website. Tamiya 1/48 Iwamoto A6M5 If so, the wheel well color is incorrect.... Edited June 5, 2010 by timc Quote Link to post Share on other sites
caiotfjr Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 Well, according to Tamiya, his aircraft was Mitsubishi built judging by the model photograph from their website. Tamiya 1/48 Iwamoto A6M5 If so, the wheel well color is incorrect.... Excuse my ignorance, but what are the differences between Mitsubishi's and Nakajima's built Zeroes besides the camo? I have Tamiya's 61103 kit and would like to know... Regards Caio Quote Link to post Share on other sites
moeggo Posted June 5, 2010 Author Share Posted June 5, 2010 Cheers for your answers. There are no photos of Iwamoto-san 53-102 Zero during the Rabaul campaign. The art profile's I have looked at are conflicting with the camo lines. But the guys over at J-aircraft.com have it sorted! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sakai Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 Excuse my ignorance, but what are the differences between Mitsubishi's and Nakajima's built Zeroes besides the camo?I have Tamiya's 61103 kit and would like to know... Regards Caio Unless you know serial number you can only tell by differencies in coloration and markings-cockpit and cowling color, top and lower camo, camo demarcation like, thinner hinomaru outline. Cheers, Mario Quote Link to post Share on other sites
timc Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Excuse my ignorance, but what are the differences between Mitsubishi's and Nakajima's built Zeroes besides the camo?I have Tamiya's 61103 kit and would like to know... Regards Caio Besides the paint, there are no differences or at least none that can be seen from the outside unless you look very carefully at the stenciling...which is almost impossible to see in many photos. They are pretty much identical (except for serial numbers). There is, IIRC, a slight difference between the spinners of the A6M5's but I may be confusing that with the earlier A6M2 series which I know were different. The paint is where the differences lie, and not just in the camoflauge. Like Sakai said, there are differences in the colors of the paints, not only the top and bottom but the cockpit color and even the components within the aircraft got painted a differerent color between Mitsubishi and Nakajima manufactured A6M5's. The cowls are different colors, Nakajima being semi-gloss black and Mitsubishi being blue-black. Wheel well colors were different between manufacturer's. Even the white surround to the Hinomaru is a different width between manufacturer's. The airframes are identical; Nakajima "license built"(wink-wink, nod-nod) the A6M5 (and the M2) from Mitsubishi prints. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David_Aiken Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 (edited) Aloha All, Thought you might find of interest what the Japanese researchers are discovering... The Iwamoto autobiography came out after his death. Within he cites the two Zeros which he used at Rabaul. One was "2" with a checkerboard of kills which he had sketched in his diary, and the other was "4" with 18 kills. From that, the first kit markings was the Tamiya 1/48 A6M2 showing "2" as 253-102...later it was determined he flew two Mitsubishi A6M5a...(ie: straight camouflage). Then it was shown that the 253 had omitted the first digit and used 53 instead of 253. A photo of ZERO 52 at Rabaul shows 53-. The ZERO 21 from Rabaul display at the Ueno Science Museum has 53- marking on tail as well. Motofumi Fukudomi made the artwork of 53-102 at: http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~cocoro/sub103.htm A magazine article. "Ace Iwamoto, Tetsuzo and Reisen" was printed in the September 2009 special edition of REKISHI KAIDO (History Highway)....new detail about a diagonal command stripe (or stripes) was cited. Just recently an antique worn out photo, often printed in Japan...pointed out 53-104 was in the far right background. Note the 18 kill marks and...the newly found white (or yellow?) command stripe! http://www.hobby-shop.jp/images/sw14126_01.jpg NOW it is questioned whether 53-102 should ALSO have such a shotaicho white command stripe...or did he get raised to a buntaicho (two stripes)? It is assumed that Hasegawa's 1-102 is based on when Iwamoto was with the 201 Kokutai. Iwamoto was with 201 Ku from November 1943 to February 1944 before he was transferred to 253 Ku. However, 201 Ku used a tail code "W1-" before they moved to Rabaul, then W1 was omitted in Rabaul. "1-102" is questionable as is the Nakajima paint scheme. One sensei wrote, "52s sent to Rabaul were Mitsubishi made. Mitsubishi 52s made in Jan 44 were sent to Rabaul. Nakajima started production of 52 in the end of 1943. It is possible yet doubtful some Nakajima 52 were sent to Rabaul." Thus the "Mitsubishi" straight paint scheme is correct for Iwamoto's two A6M5s at Rabaul. The diagonal white (or yellow?) stripes(s) is correct for his "4", yet to have this stripe(s) is still being discussed in Japan. Motofumi Fukudomi made new artwork based on the above "Ace Iwamoto, Tetsuzo and Reisen" article....send me an e-mail for this new atwork... PearlHarborHistory AT hotmail.com Lots of questions still to be answered. Cheers, David Aiken, a Director: Pearl Harbor History Associates, Inc. http://www.pearlharbor-history.org/ Osamu "Sam" Tagaya -one of my sensei- makes a great addition to my memory banks: "Just about everything known about the planes he flew while at Rabaul comes from his own memoirs, published in book form in 1972 by Konnichi-No-Wadai Sha under the title Reisen Gekitsui-O. Everything since then is essentially educated guessing. Some of it is based on sound deductive reasoning. But, in the absence of hard evidence, it all remains conjectural. "Following publication of Horrido and Blond Knight of Germany, Raymond Tolliver had plans to publish Iwamoto's memoirs in English, but he never finished. Some years ago, Henry Sakaida and I discussed teaming up to pick up where Ray Tolliver left off and produce a biography of Iwamoto in English based on his memoirs. But, subsequently, we both got busy with other projects, so that idea remains shelved for now. "The only Zero model specifically mentioned by Iwamoto in his own writings is the Model 21 he flew to Rabaul (Lakunai) on 14 November, 1943 from Truk as part of the 16-plane detachment of 281 Kokutai sent as reinforcements to Rabaul. These planes and pilots were absorbed into 201 Kokutai upon arrival. It is assumed from the context of Iwamoto's writings, although never explicitly stated in his memoirs, that he continued to fly this Model 21, or one of the Model 21s delivered, after assignment to 201 Ku. "It is within the time frame of his assignment to 201 Ku that Iwamoto mentions the practice of painting cherry blossom 'kill' markings on the rear fuselages of planes at Rabaul. He states that regular (i.e. five-petaled) cherry blossoms stood for small (i.e. single-engined) aircraft, while large (i.e. multi-engined) aircraft were represented by multi-layered yae zakura. He goes on to say that "at this time, my plane had the most, and counted over 60". On 11 December 1943 (according to Iwamoto), this plane lost power after take-off and Iwamoto was nearly killed when he was bounced by a division of F4Us while struggling with this disadvantage. He managed to fly back to base, but the plane suffered 167 hits and was deemed beyond repair. "So I had to bid farewell to my plane with 60 plus 'kill' markings on it" says Iwamoto. Note, however, that he leaves no record of the tail number for this aircraft. "Iwamoto comes down with malaria and dengue fever in the evening of his narrow escape from death, and spends about a week in bed. Meanwhile, he is transferred to 204 Ku on 15 December. After returning to flight duty, he racks up more 'kills', and in the context of late December 1943/early January 1944, says "my new replacement aircraft already has nearly 40 'kill' markings on it". He does not, however, record the model or tail number for this aircraft. "Iwamoto is transferred to 253 Kokutai on 25 January 1944 and moves to Tobera. He and the other transferees from 204 bring their planes with them, so it is possible that Iwamoto continues to fly his replacement aircraft with the "nearly 40" kill markings on it mentioned earlier, but we cannot be sure. He stays with 253 until the entire unit is pulled back to Truk on 21 February 1944. It is in the context of this period that Iwamoto mentions the only two specific tail numbers recorded in his memoirs. In the context of sometime during January 1944, he says "the number of 'kill' markings on my plane reached sixty, no less than on my previous plane. But after inspection by the maintenance crew, it was decided to replace the engine, so I had to part with 253-102 for awhile and use 253-104 instead". Again, there is no specific mention of the exact models of Zeros involved. "I hope this goes some way to clarifying the provenance of all the artwork floating around on model kits and modeling magazines out there, and to put any urban legends to rest. "Cheers, Sam" Edited June 6, 2010 by David_Aiken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MVTB Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Hummm.... Keishiro Nagao mentions on his research that Iwamoto probably flew an A6M3 model 22...any hints here???? Tks, Marcus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sakai Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Hummm....Keishiro Nagao mentions on his research that Iwamoto probably flew an A6M3 model 22...any hints here???? Tks, Marcus Who is Keishiro Nagao and where can his research be found? Thanks in advance. Mario New York Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sakai Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 (edited) Just recently an antique worn out photo, often printed in Japan...pointed out 53-104 was in the far right background. Note the 18 kill marks and...the newly found white (or yellow?) command stripe! http://www.hobby-shop.jp/images/sw14126_01.jpg How could that tail code 53-104 be determined from this pic where tail is covered with a branch? There must be another, better quality pic out there, yes? Otherwise thanks for posting this summary David, especially Tagaya-san's analysis is extremely valuable. Cheers, Mario Edited June 7, 2010 by sakai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David_Aiken Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 Who is Keishiro Nagao and where can his research be found? Thanks in advance.Mario New York Keishiro Nagao is the owner of LIFE-LIKE DECALS Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sakai Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 Who is Keishiro Nagao and where can his research be found? Thanks in advance.Mario New York Thanks, I was not thinking in that direction. Some of his markings look pretty conjectural i.e. Kobayashi's Ki-100 so I don't know what think about his "research". Mario Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David_Aiken Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 Thanks, I was not thinking in that direction. Some of his markings look pretty conjectural i.e. Kobayashi's Ki-100 so I don't know what think about his "research".Mario My e-mails with him show he is dedicated and is quite open with his sources. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David_Aiken Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Flavio Silvestri sent me an e-mail about this topic...his e-mail address kicked back as 'bad'. Got a good address for him? TIA David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.