I've seen numerous variations on that theme, some better than others, in this case making the decision
to use the instruction sheets as a background was a mistake. The result is far too busy and detracts from
the effect.
IMHO the Zero is covered with far too much schmutz, the carrier based aircraft used in the Pearl Harbor
attack were all relatively new and maintained to an almost fanatical extent by the IJNAS ground crews.
But at least they didn't cover it with exaggerated paint chipping, I've seen more than one model of
an early war service Zero so chipped to hell it looks like a beat up Imperial Army fighter circa 1944.
Sorry folks the IJN aircraft built for shipboard service simply didn't chip like wartime IJA aircraft or
the land-based IJN types that were never intended for ship-board service. Like the USN and FAA the
IJN had very stringent metal protection and paint standards for shipborne aircraft, also the reality is
that their paint was no worse than that of any of the other major combatants and the lacquers were
actually better than those of their opposition. Japan had an old tradition of using lacquer to protect
metal and actively pursued using modern chemistry to create coatings with the same effectiveness
as the traditional plant sap lacquer. They succeeded admirably as I can attest from handling original
Zero airframe relics where the transparent blue-green* aotake is still tenaciously adhering to the
aluminum.
*the colour shifts over time and exposure, the areas that had been exposed to the air were more
green, the areas that were under riveted lap joints since construction were far more blue and the
colour is quite intense.
