Fine Molds 1:72 A6M3a Zero

OK, first off this is a kit I NEVER thought I'd own. This kit is quite hard to come by, especially if you don't live in Japan. This Zero has been rumored to be the best 1:72 Zero kit of all time. A short while later Tamiya released their new tooled  A6M5, which I have built and can say out of all the Zero's I've built that one is by far the best I've built thus far. 

These Zero kits were originally released with the Japanese magazine "Model Grapfix". The A6M5 and A6M2b were each released in 2 parts. The A6M3 "Hamp" and A6M3a appear to be the ones sold as a complete kit. 

There is a top and bottom section to the box. The top contains the engine & cowling parts as well as the clear parts to the canopy. The Canopy is crystal clear and has 2 options and opened and closed set.

The Sakae engine has some incredible detail for the scale and feels a shame to cover it up with the cowling.

The bottom section of the box includes most of the fuselage pieces and decals. The instructions were featured in the magazine, thankfully the seller was kind enough to scan these for me.

I really like the option of the lowered landing flaps, and the 2 options for the ailerons. 

The interior of the cockpit is exquisitely detailed, and molded in a light green plastic. 

Decals for 3 options. All beautifully printed, and the stencils are nice to read and appreciate in this small a scale.

So is this kit better than the Tamiya? I've been wondering this myself, not to boast one above the other but out of honest curiosity. Fine Molds Zero is supposed to be a wonderful kit that surpasses the engineering of the Tamiya kit.

But then why haven't they ever released it again?

I even wrote to Fine Molds in Japan last year and asked them, I never got a straight answer. I don't know if that's in part to a language barrier.

When I get around to building this kit I'm going to build the Tamiya 1:72 A6M3a at the same time. I really want to see how they both compare. I see some things that the Tamiya kit does better. Like the Panel lines, they are smaller on the Tamiya kit and more defined. The Tamiya kit also looks like a small Zero, everything about it looks perfect.

I thought the Tamiya kit went a bit too far in being over engineered, but the FM kit looks like is has more detail to it. It looks like the kit will fit/go together much better than the Tamiya kit. It also has a few sharper details that the Tamiya kits lack. Like posing the wing tips folded, they give you a small section of the interior frame for the wing tips.

Like I said I'm not betting one above the other, but this Fine Molds Zero certainly lives up to it's hype, this is an amazing kit and I'm beyond thrilled and with a bit if disbelief that I actually own one. Not the bigger task, is to try and not screw it up!