Fine Molds 1/48 A6M5a type 52ko

The A6M5 was a modest update of the A6M3 Model 22, with nonfolding wing tips and thicker skinning to permit faster diving speeds, plus an improved exhaust system (four pipes on each side) that provided an increment of thrust. Improved roll-rate of the clipped-wing A6M3 was now built in.

Sub-variants included:

• "A6M5a Model 52a «Kou»," featuring Type 99-II cannon with belt feed of the Mk 4 instead of drum feed Mk 3 (100 rpg), permitting a bigger ammunition supply (125 rpg)
• "A6M5b Model 52b «Otsu»," with an armor glass windscreen, a fuel tank fire extinguisher and one 7.7 millimeter Type 97 gun (750 m/s muzzle velocity and 600 m range) in the cowling replaced by a 13.2 millimeter Type 3 Browning-derived gun (790 m/s muzzle velocity and 900 m range) with 240 rounds
• "A6M5c Model 52c «Hei»" with more armor plate on the cabin's windshield (5.5 cm) and in the pilot's seat. This version also possessed armament of three 13.2 millimeter guns (one in the cowling, and one in each wing with a rate of fire at 800 rpm), twin 20 millimeter Type 99-II guns and an additional fuel tank with a capacity of 367 liters, often replaced by a 250 kg bomb.

The A6M5 could travel at 540 km/h and reach a height of 8000 meters in nine minutes, 57 seconds. Other variants are the night fighter A6M5d-S (modified for night combat, armed with one 20 mm type 99 cannon, inclined back to the pilot's cockpit) and A6M5-K "Zero-Reisen"(model l22) tandem trainer version, also manufactured by Mitsubishi.

It is no secret that I like the A6M. If you look in the archives, you will see that I have built quite a few over the years. Most of them are in 1/72, but I still have a goodly number of them in 1/48. Most of those are by Hasegawa with some by Tamiya. I have a goodly stash of Hasegawa and Tamiya A6Ms on the 'to be built' shelves, but I'm always pleased to see newer tool kits reach the markets.

When Fine Molds released their A6M5a last year, my usual Japanese sources quickly went out of stock. Those US sellers who got them in had them at ridiculous prices so I waited for the prices to come down. It didn't take all that long so I picked one up. Fine molds has released this in a handful of boxings. Two are Mitsubishi production and two are Nakajima production aircraft. There are also mid and late production boxings, but the subvariant is not indicated though they seem to be the same as this one.

The first thing I noticed is that the fuselage is divided into a front and rear section. The front section is a single piece with an open bottom for the wings. The rear fuselage is all a single piece, which does eliminate the upper and lower seam issue, but also introduces a seam where the front and rear fit together. I'm hoping that this will be very precise and require no filler.

The cockpit assembly is quite complete and uses decals for instruments. Once the cockpit is built, attention turns to the outer framework onto which other pieces are attached. This framework then traps the cockpit subassembly and it slides into the forward fuselage piece.

Attention then turns to the wings. There is a long wing spar that includes the aft portion of the main gear wells. Once the forward gear well pieces are attached, the lower wing inserts are glued in place and the flap wells are attached. We then go to the upper wings and install those inserts before gluing the wing halves together. The ailerons and gun fairings are then glued on and this is attached to the forward fuselage.

Meanwhile, the tail cone is assembled and attached along with the fin and rudder. Then the rear fuselage is attached to the forward section along with the engine firewall. Flaps care then glued on in either the raised or lowered position. Tailplanes and tailhook are glued in place and construction moves on to the engine. It is quite nicely detailed and I don't think anyone will have any complaints. With the ejector exhaust, there will be several exhaust pieces to glue in place, followed by either open or closed cowl flaps. The cowling is then built up and slid into place before gluing the engine to the firewall.

The next few steps work on the landing gear, gear doors and the centerline fuel tank. The clear bits are next. Fine Molds has done something I've not seen on an injected kit before. In addition to the standard clear bits, it offers a separate clear parts framework into which the transparencies are installed. This offers the opportunity to prepaint the frame and eliminates the need for masking the clear parts. A novel idea. The canopy can be posed open or closed. The last parts are the prop, aileron balances, gun barrels, pitot tube and the clear wingtip lights.

Fine Molds has excellent instructions and offers a variety of paint references. Since it is all in Japanese, I could only decipher that some are for Gunze and Tamiya. English generic colors are also provided. Markings are provided for two planes. One is the box art aircraft from 343 Naval Air Group on Guam in 1944 and the other from the 221st Naval Air Group at Kagoshima AB, also in 1944. Both are dark green over light grey, both Mitsubishi paints. The decal sheet is well printed and should be as good as aftermarket. A nice touch is that it includes the wing leading edge ID section, though the cannon fairing will have to be painted. Speaking of decals, there are few aftermarket sheets that cater to the A6M5a so most will be using the kit options.  

Well so far, this is looking to be among if not the best A6M5a on the market. It will take something to beat it. Some will be put off by the price. Others will not be fond of the way the fuselage breakdown is done and that is fine. There are plenty of other kits out there that are nearly as good and build in a more standard way at a lower price. I know I have quite a few 'other' A6Ms to build, so this just adds one more to the stack.

Wikipedia

February 2026

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