✈️ Zero (Japan): step-by-step build

The long-winged Japanese fighter with a black nose and big red circles on its wings.

The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a light Japanese fighter plane that could fly very far. It had long, rounded wings and a big red circle, the hinomaru, on each wing. This is a Technic-parts model inspired by it, not a real flying plane: white and grey beams make the body, red beams make the circles, and the propeller turns freely on its axle.

• Level 3 of 5 (medium)
• About 40 minutes
• 25 steps, 81 parts
• Powered by: Push
• Series: Aircraft from 21 Countries

What you will learn

• Pins: Grippy or Smooth: Pins join beams together — some hold tight, some let things swing.
• Triangles Are Strong: A triangle cannot be squished — a square can.
• Centre of Gravity: Keep the heavy stuff low and in the middle and your model won't tip.
• Axles: An axle is a cross-shaped rod — anything on it turns together.
• Axles & Wheels: A wheel on an axle turns dragging into rolling.

Parts you need

• 4 × L-beam 3×5
• 21 × Blue long pin
• 20 × Black pin (grippy)
• 2 × Beam 11
• 3 × Beam 9
• 4 × L-beam 2×4
• 1 × Boomerang beam 3×7
• 5 × Beam 5
• 7 × Beam 3
• 1 × Long pin-axle block
• 2 × Axle 3
• 5 × Beam 7
• 2 × Bush
• 1 × Axle 6
• 3 × Train wheel

Steps

1. Lay the floor of the fuselage: take a light grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: the tail-wheel leg), then push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a light grey 11-hole beam onto them.
2. Lay the floor of the fuselage: push 2 blue long pins in and press a light grey 9-hole beam onto them.
3. Lay the floor of the fuselage: push 2 black pins in and press a black 3×5 L-beam (short leg up at the nose) onto them.
4. Add the roots of the wings and the tail: push 1 black pin in and press a light grey 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
5. Add the roots of the wings and the tail: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a light grey 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
6. Add the roots of the wings and the tail: push 2 blue long pins in and press a light grey 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them, then slide a light grey 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto the blue pins that stick out.
7. Add the roots of the wings and the tail: push 2 blue long pins in and press a light grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them.
8. Add the roots of the wings and the tail: push 2 blue long pins in and press a light grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them.
9. Build the top of the fuselage, the cockpit and the tail fin: push 2 black pins in and press a white 11-hole beam onto them.
10. Build the top of the fuselage, the cockpit and the tail fin: push 2 black pins in and press a white boomerang beam (its bent end leans back: the tail fin) onto them.
11. Build the top of the fuselage, the cockpit and the tail fin: push 2 black pins in and press a clear 5-hole beam (the cockpit) onto them.
12. Build the top of the fuselage, the cockpit and the tail fin: push 2 black pins in and press a red 3-hole beam leaning back along the fin onto them.
13. Fit the propeller: push 2 black pins into the upright leg and press the long pin-axle block onto them.
14. Fit the propeller: push an axle into the block, slide on the dark grey propeller beam and lock it on with a bush (the propeller spins freely on the axle).
15. Build the tailplane: push 2 blue long pins in and press a white 3-hole beam onto them.
16. Build the tailplane: push 1 blue long pin in and press a white 3-hole beam onto them, then slide a light grey 3-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out.
17. Build the tailplane: push 1 black pin in and press a light grey 3-hole beam onto them.
18. Build the right wing: slide a white 9-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out, then push 2 blue long pins in and press a white 7-hole beam onto them.
19. Build the right wing: slide a red 7-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out, then push 2 blue long pins in and press a red 5-hole beam onto them.
20. Build the right wing: slide a white 5-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out, then push 2 black pins in and press a white 3-hole beam onto them.
21. Build the left wing: slide a white 9-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out, then push 2 blue long pins in and press a white 7-hole beam onto them.
22. Build the left wing: slide a red 7-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out, then push 2 blue long pins in and press a red 5-hole beam onto them.
23. Build the left wing: slide a white 5-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out, then push 2 black pins in and press a white 3-hole beam onto them.
24. Put on the wheels: push a 6-long axle through both legs and put a wheel on each end.
25. Put on the wheels: push a 3-long axle through the leg, with a wheel on one side and a bush on the other.

Play time

Blow on the propeller to spin it, then fly the model around the room in your hand!

Real-world inspiration

Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the Japanese carrier fighter of the Second World War (long rounded wings, black cowling, hinomaru roundels).

Credited demonstrations and component sources

• Mitsubishi A6M Zero — Wikipedia: Public reference for the real aircraft's shape and colours; this is a Technic-parts model inspired by it, not a flying or tested replica.