I'm going to take a chance and try to ask a question here

[51fixer]

A question: take the Chino airshow this year, what was more interesting to you? the replica 190 or an original zero?

Personally I'd say the 190, Zero's just don't do it for me, they look like they'd fall apart if you sneezed too close to one.

Surprisingly the Zero is very strong.
As a teen I helped during the POF Zero restoration.
A brake line chafed during one of the early test flights and that brake went flat. It resulted in a departure from the runway on landing and a spin around in the dirt. It was no worse for wear.
Later another brake issue developed with another exciting landing but again it didn't suffer any damage.
This was all back in the late 70s. Later on a brake setup using modified P-51 brakes was developed and to my knowledge it has worked well.
I was pretty impressed with the stoughtness of the Zero. Just don't shoot at it.
Maybe your impressions of Zeros come from a Canadian imported Zero that is now vacationing in HI.

[ZRX61]

Maybe your impressions of Zeros come from a Canadian imported Zero that is now vacationing in HI.

LOL! No that's not it, it's a case of they just don't look "right". Purely subjective opinion is all.

Remember that translucent primer they used? Kawasaki still use it on honeycomb panels.