Upcoming custom A6M2 Rufe

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:45 pm

Hey guys. Has anyone here built a custom rufe before? In the process at the moment of making plaster casts off of the bbi zero for the project. Just wondering if anyone has run into some good research material.

kevrut · Post by **kevrut** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:00 am

That will be one helluva project. Good luck with that, I'd like to see it.

KAMIKAZE · Post by **KAMIKAZE** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 1:03 pm

I'm doing one also Jay. How weird is that!
I'm using an upscale guillow's wooden kit as a guide for the pontoon arrangement.
I can't wait to see yours.

Mark

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:32 pm

Cool. I was thinking of getting the data off of the 1/48 tamiya version for the pontoon profiles. still searching for a good set of plans, see how it goes. Be cool to see your one kamikaze when it's done

Rogue · Post by **Rogue** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:03 pm

That is a great idea!

I may try one myself.

I have a book with decent info, called Aero Detail 7 Zero Fighter.

Keep us updated.

Rogue · Post by **Rogue** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:06 am

Jay and Mark,
Any updates on the Rufe?

Col.Pickle · Post by **Col.Pickle** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:16 am

uhhh.... what's a rufe?

Fox Tare-28 · Post by **Fox Tare-28** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:10 pm

Col.Pickle wrote:uhhh.... what's a rufe?

Are you serious? Its a floatplane version of the Zero. (A6M2-N). Used mainly for recon and training from bases that lacked a landing strip. Armament was the same as a regular Zero (2x20mm cannon, 2x MG's, or 2x60 pound bombs). In the Solomons campaign, Rufes were a frequent menace to PT boats trying to attack the "Tokyo Express". Unfortunately, the large floats and pontoons made the performance of the plane drop by 20% (Go figure) making it easy prey for even first generation fighters.

KAMIKAZE · Post by **KAMIKAZE** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:48 pm

I had to rap up a few projects I have been working on. My son is almost 1 year old now and things are certainly getting interesting. I will jump back on this project soon. I did complete a Japanese field gun and a coastal gun position that are pretty cool.

Mark

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:19 pm

Ha!, kinda forgot about this post (but not the model). Was almost going to buy a bbi zero and just convert that but it's time versus money (like many things). Either try and hunt down a bbi version and pay a CRAP LOAD for shipping, or spend the time scratch building one (which is time consuming from complete scratch and could be time well used on other builds). I did make moulds off of my bbi zero though - which are sitting under my bed gathering dust.......one day.....

kevrut · Post by **kevrut** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:24 pm

Here's a pic.

<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/4436/images3hd2.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"></a><br>Shot at 2007-07-23

pickelhaube · Post by **pickelhaube** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:32 pm

This was a project that I was going to do one of these days.

The Rufe is probably one of the best looking float planes. Up there with the Kingfisher.

Fox Tare-28 · Post by **Fox Tare-28** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:03 pm

pickelhaube wrote:This was a project that I was going to do one of these days. The Rufe is probably one of the best looking float planes. Up there with the Kingfisher.

I always had a thing for the Arado AR-196.

Col.Pickle · Post by **Col.Pickle** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:40 am

OH! Thanks!

Fox Tare-28 · Post by **Fox Tare-28** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:47 pm

Col.Pickle wrote:OH! Thanks!

No problem.

Small Scale Military Headquarters

Upcoming custom A6M2 Rufe

Upcoming custom A6M2 Rufe

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