a4s4eva

Hope we get some air to ground ordnance

IIRC there was a lock if we were working in there

For the speed brakes I bend them has best I can then line up the lower edge to preserve the Rato attachment detail then sand the upper edges to match the contour of the fuselage. Leaving them cracked is also a good approach as sometime they bled open once hydraulic pressure came off The speed brakes being fully open on the ground with the aircraft parked is possible and does happen (usually for maintenance), but it's not the typical configuration. I'm currently writing an article on building the Hasegawa Skyhawk.. https://hamfisted-modeller.blogspot.com/20

Nice start

I dump the entire Airbrush in a jar of lacquer thinners and place that in the tub of water. Give it about 5 mins in the ultrasonic and then pull it out and rinse and reassemble. I do this every 6-9 months . I'e been doing it for years and the airbrushes (Sparmax DH-103 and iwata HP-C plus) don't appear to be any worse for wear. The O ring in the air valve does swell a little but this does down after 10 mins or so

The line above is the easy way to get good clear images with decent depth of field. As well as the obvious - using a tripod and manual aperture setting. With that I think F16 is about is low as you need to go, any lower just brings slower ans slower shutter speed. Even for close ups you're better cropping a larger /wider image than zooming right in

Do the intake parts on the T bird not fit like they do on the single seater? I've always found them to narrow to correctly mate with the fuselage halves. I solve this by cutting the finished intake piece with generator/CSD fitted down the middle as you can't see all the way down there anyway As for Instrument panels and sidewalls. The Hasegawa decals fit great and look as good as anything else.

Dunno, I've never replaced any seals. I wouldn't even know where to look. The O ring at the back which adds friction to the needle screw stop wore out but I never replaced it as it is really only there to provide resistance to stop the needle stop screw moving from where you set it, . I spray lacquers and I do soak the entire airbrush in lacquer thinners when cleaning it in an ultrasonic cleaner. The thing is pretty indestructible unlike the Iwata...I've had the Sparmax for about 12 years IIRC it cost about $50 USD. As you found out Sparmax are part of the Iwata group. I was to

Depending on how much want to spend the Sparmax DH series are good quality for 1/2 to 1/3 the price of Iwata. Spare parts are reasonable as well Unlike Iwata which are horrendously expensive) . I have a Sparmax DH -103 (0.3mm) and a Iwata HP B Plus (0.2mm) and I use DH 103 for 95% of my modelling.

IMHO you can't beat Tamiya AS-12 Bare-metal silver decanted and sprayed through the airbrush. I use it as the base coat for all silver or Bare metal finishes.

Some links to good guides would be great. All Iv';e seen are ones where people have struggled with the kit. It looks like typical Revell. OK but not great, and built to a price point.

Some info on my blog on Haseagwa spare parts http://hamfisted-modeller.blogspot.com/2019/04/getting-spare-parts-hamfisted-modellers.html

My A-4 walkaround is here https://postimg.cc/gallery/1mmrjjbpg/

I often mask Mr Color within minutes of finishing painting . Especially in Summer where is seems to dry within seconds. The only time I've ever had Mr Color be puled up by tape is where I've used hairspray underneath it to do some chipping .

great idea, well executed. You should take some photos against the sky.