Has anyone gotten one of the new Seagull A6M Zero's? I'm really interested.........I have one of their old original Zero's but this one looks to be bigger and a lot more detailed........even with mechanical retracts. I'm looking for reports on this bird.

Thanks,
Andy

somebody has to have one would like to here more myself even a few pictures

I heard it's really nice and would be a great plane to "bash" making it more scale. Only the Seagull Duel Ace had building issues with the engine nacelles. But every Seagull I have built in the past has been fantastic other than that aircraft. ( I think that's why they discontinued it) Hardware isn't bad and can be used. The only thing I usully replace in some of their ARF aircraft is the pilot busts. They are terrible in my opinion.


Pete

Here are some pics of mine. Its not very scale out of the box, throw away the decals, spinner and the pilot. And then start from there, also the covereing is to glossy, so a matt clear finish was applied. Mine is powered by a Saito 125a, witha 3 blade prop and a Tru turn spinner.

Ahh, the simple steps to making a good looking sport scale warbird! Yes, get rid of the pilot. What Matt clear finish did you use? Did you have to wet sand the Ultra so the matt clear finish had something to grab on?

Pete

I used a product call Lustre Coat, I got it at my local hobby shop. No surface prep is required except make sure the surface is clean, and then just spray it on. Its also fuel resistant, but after applying have to be careful ironing the covering, need to put a cloth between iron and covering or it will burn.

This is how it looks on the box and when completed...Plenty of room for improvement.

I see you are in Australia.........I haven't seen or heard of anyone here in the USA that has one.

Its a pity you havent seen it, Seagull have released a lot of new birds in the last year. Its a beautiful flyer the Zero, and doesnt have any bad habits, the takeoffs are so to scale..

http://www.seagullmodels.com/News.asp?m=1

Herbs,
Well, I jumped in and ordered one!! I have one of their original Zero's but this one looks to be bigger and better. About throwing the decals away......where do you get replacements? Also, you said no surface preparation before spraying Lusterkote?

I have a couple of candidates for which engine I'll install........I have an OS91FX 2-stroke and I have an OS91FSII 4-stroke. I'm also considering a DLE20 but I'll wait until I get the bird to make decisions.

Cheers,
Andy

Hi Andy, regarding the decals by mate owns a vinal cutting machine, and he was nice enough to do me some new ones. With regard to the lustrekote, i made sure the surfice was clean, applied decals and then sprayed, just make sure its not to cold or to hot when applying. Your engine choices are fine, but you cant beat the sound of a four stroke in a warbird.

Herbs

Thanks Herbs,

For some reason or another I have not been able to get into this thread for the last few days so it's nice to see your response. I'm excited about this model, the Zero and the P47 are my two favorite warbirds of the WWII era. Like I said, I had the original Seagull Zero from several years ago but they quit making it and I didn't want to wreck it so I quit flying it. It is not near as detailed as this one but was close enough to satisfy my need to own a Zero. Right now I'm in the middle of assembling the TF 60 sized P47 ARF and I'm putting a DLE20 in it. I was going to put a DLE20 in a PT17 I have and I still may but I want to see how it will look in this bird...........might have to buy another.........

Regards,
Andy

 I have just managed to get one of the very last ones available in Australia.
I was wondering if you could give me any info on problems you encountered while building her, i will be using a DLE 20cc fuel motor and would also like to matt down the gloss finish, i see you have applied lustrekote has this this proved to be a good choice or has it affected the film in anyway?
I have read some threads about the CG being off and not what Seagull recommend (although they are going down the electric route) how have you found this? lastly what does she fly like i will be changing the retracts for servoless units have you had any problems with the supplied units.

Dave,

I haven't started mine yet and am still arguing with myself over which engine to use............a DLE20 or an OSFS91II 4-stroke. I was pondering about changing out the retracts myself but the supplied units look OK so I'll be using them until I have troubles. I probably won't assemble mine until winter. I have enough planes air-ready to get me through the flying season......which is short here in Oregon. I, like you, just grabbed one while they were available. Seems like everytime a plane comes out that I like, they either are on backorder or have been discontinued. Please keep us informed as you go along............I am anxious to hear what you think.

Regards,
Andy

Hi all. I've just started mine today. It looks great although the flaps were a bit twisted. Easily sorted with a bit of steam and covering inside the flap with green ultracote. I've got a Saito FA115 out of my deceased P51.  I have been told that the published balance point is way out, too far forward. Anyone know about this? I'd hate to lose it for a print error.<div>Happy landings.</div>

Ok, I've taken everything out of the box and ordered my DLE20 for this bird. Now does anyone think the provided pushrods are a bit light?? I'm thinking about replacing them all. Also, on one page of the assembly book it shows a retract servo for each wing panel and on another page it shows a single retract servo in the center of the fuselage............meaning you have to hook up the pushrods everytime you take this thing to the field. Anyone out there noticed this or how did you assemble yours?

Cheers,
Andy

Hi Andy, I have done the two servo's on each wing version, which I believe is for when you need to remove the wings for transport. The other version has one servo in the fuse if you dont have to remove the wings for transport. I also used 2 x MG BB servo's for retracts so I could adjust the end points. I used the the standard push rods supplied except on the gear where I used stronger ones.

Herbs

Herbs,
Did you use just standard servos or retract servos?

I used standard ones Hitec 645MG's

That is awesome!

I have made good progress with my Zero of late.
I decided to cut down the oversize cowl to a more scale appearance which involved some glass fibre work , some light weight car body filler and a lot of reshaping by hand and finally to getting it looking right sanding on a lathe.
I have installedmy retracts which are e-flite 85 electric units, i have applied a Topflite lustrekote over the film to dull it down (it looks great).
Because i cut the cowl down by 55mm thishasrequiredme tomake a custom firewall for the DLE 20cc which is mounted further back, i have calculated i need approx 400g of extra weight up front to get the Cof Gcorrect and all up she should weigh 4.8kg.
This also means the fueltank has been moved arft right over the balance point so thats a bonus.
It should have its maiden soon , i have added picutres toa build thread on RCGroups under Fuel Warbirds ,Seagull Zero build log.

I like the look of this Zero except that judging from the pictures, the landing gear is raked too far forward for scale appearance. This is apparently done for obvious reasons but I wonder if it looks feasible to mount it at a more scale angle without it having too much tendency to nose over. I fly off a paved runwy so it shouldn't be as much of a problem as from grass.

Bill

I've flown this one a lot and I believe you could indeed reduce the rake angle. I built mine as per the plans and installed the blocks to induce the forward rake. Just leave them out or add just what is needed.

I'm considering buying one of these, what is your opinion, is it worth the time and money to get her airworthy?