Zero .40 ARF

SEAGULL MODEL

Fly the terror of the Pacific

In the early years of WW II, the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M virtually ruled the skies. How did this fast, maneuverable fighter earn the diminutive nickname of "Zero" when it easily outscored its P-40 Warhawk and F4F Wildcat opponents? There's a simple answer: when it was first built, the last digit in the Japanese calendar year was a zero. Although only one flyable Zero is left in the world, you can re-create the drama and terror it inspired with this ARF .40 version from Seagull Model.

THE KIT

The Seagull Model Zero .40 ARF features built-up balsa/ply structures and is covered with UltraCote. It comes with a complete hardware package, main gear and tailwheel, assembled pushrods, fuel tank, plastic spinner, precut canopy and painted pilot. Additional features include hinged and pinned control surfaces, painted fiberglass cowl and installed throttle cable and engine mount. All of the major pieces are individually wrapped to prevent them from being dinged and scratched.

LET'S GET STARTED

* Wing assembly. Before I started assembly, I spent about 10 or 15 minutes removing the wrinkles in the covered pieces with a heat gun. First, you must install the main gear in the precut slots in the wing because the gear helps to maintain the wing at the proper dihedral. Each gear wire is secured with two nylon gear straps.

I marked the center of the dihedral brace with a vertical line and inserted the brace into each wing half. The brace fit rather loosely, but when I connected the wing halves, they fit snugly. I joined the wing halves and the brace with 30-minute epoxy and let the assembly dry overnight.

I used my soldering iron fitted with an old tip to seal the covering material and open up the wing-bolt holes, and then I glued the supplied bolt-hole reinforcement plates onto the wing. Following the instructions, I easily completed the aileron linkages and the aileron-servo installation and positioned the control horns. I made sure that the aileron linkages were perpendicular to the aileron hinge line and not parallel with the wing's centerline.

* Engine installation. The supplied fuel tank didn't fit as far forward as I liked, so I replaced it with a Sullivan 10-ounce rectangular tank fitted with a three-line setup for fill, carburetor and pressure. After threading the fuel lines out through the front of the firewall, I braced the tank with a few pieces of scrap balsa.

The manual recommends that you power the Zero with a .40 to .48 2-stroke or a .50 to .82 4-stroke, and I chose an O.S. .46 FX because it could be bolted right onto the mount and lined up perfectly with the installed throttle linkage. The original Zero had a 3-blade prop, so I went with a Zingali 10x6, 3-blade, black fiber-glass prop and a matching 2½-inch black spinner.

Fitting the cowl was not difficult. I measured the muffler and marked the approximate position using tape attached to the cowl. I removed material with my Dremel tool fitted with a high-speed cutter, and then I switched to a drum-sander attachment and kept trial-fitting the cowl until I was satisfied. I epoxied the four mounting blocks into place and marked each of their centers with a small X. I put a piece of tape on the fuselage at each block, and I continued the horizontal line from the block's centerline onto the tape. I then marked another line 1 inch from the vertical centerline of each block. With the cowl held in place, it was easy to mark the positions for the mounting screws. Using the same trick made it easy to locate and drill out the hole for the mixture screw.

* Tail-feather assembly. I installed the tailpieces quikly and easily with 30-minute epoxy. When you use a hobby knife to remove the covering on the surfaces to be glued, be sure not to penetrate the underlying balsa. Installing the pushrods required a little patience and many references back to the pictures provided. I had to put two small bends in each of the pushrods to align them with the control horns.

There's plenty of room in the fuselage for the radio installation. I used a Du-Bro Quick Mount for my switch harness and routed the antenna wire out of a small hole drilled in the tail block. The small tail of the antenna rests inside the fiberglass tail fairing and cannot be seen. The fairing is held in place with small wood screws. I replaced the supplied chrome screws with black ones.

FINAL ASSEMBLY

All I had left to do was to glue the included pilot and canopy on with Zap-A-Dap-A-Goo II and add some of the supplied decals for the finishing touches. I had to bolt 14 ounces of lead to the engine mount to get the CG to the rearmost suggested location, and although the finished weight was 7 pounds 7 ounces (1 pound over the recommended flying weight), the Zero's flight performance didn't suffer.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Seagull Model Zero fighter is a great value for its $160 price tag! It can be assembled quickly, the parts fit is outstanding, and it has good flight characteristics for a sport-scale airplane. I enjoyed building and flying this plane and recommend it to anyone who's looking for a nice sport-scale aircraft.