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A-1H Skyraider - Hasegawa 1/72


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Hello Mud Movers! This will be my first entry into an ARC Group Build; thanks to Ryan for accepting my application and to Jonah for telling me about it. After taking a break from scale modeling for several months I've returned with refreshed interest. I've started on the 1/72 Hasegawa A-1H Skyraider, using Eduard PE set 72-227 and will finish it with decals from Eagle Strike, Sheet 72062 "Skyraiders of the Fleet". I began this build shortly before learning of the Group Build, so I will post a few shots of work completed so far.

If this works, a view of the cockpit will appear. The Hasegawa kit is fairly featureless here, relying on decals as usual in this scale. The Eduard brass sandwich panel and side consoles add a lot of detail. Hopefully some will be visible down in the deep cockpit after completion.

IMG_2395_L.jpg

More to come!

Mike

Edited by massbalance
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I plan to add the PE seat harness later on just before the seat is installed. After the cockpit was glued to the right sidewall, I added some fine nylon screen to the oil cooler insert that sits below and behind the engine. I didn't get a picture of that, but I'll try later. After painting the baffle black, the face was drybrushed with Testors Metalizer Magnesium to pop the screen detail out.

Upon joining the fuselage halves, I noticed that the bottom of the fuselage behind the wing was slightly concave when it should be flat. I should have added a spreader from a piece of sprue before attaching the wing. Instead I took the hard way around and tried to blend it with thinned Squadron White Putty, my usual filler. A coat of primer showed this mistake clearly. After sanding in vain and losing all the recessed lines on the belly, I cut a new speed brake and the surrounding pieces from .005" sheet styrene. It seemed like the easiest way to restore the lost panel lines and make the belly contour flat.

IMG_2411_L.jpg

Other than that fix, which was self-induced, the remaining seams required very little filler. This kit is very, very nice!

Mike

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I noticed after getting the big pieces stuck together that the vertical stab and rudder are angled with respect to the centerline of the fuselage. Aircraft designers use this trick often with prop planes to compensate for the large torque reactions caused by the rotating prop. You can see a good example of this with the Hasegawa 1/48 P-47 kits; the offset fin is quite noticeable. Whether this is correct for the A-1H, I don't know, but I suspect it is. I could not tell from the drawings in the Squadron Walk Around book. I decided not to try to straighten it, because it looks like the fin is also angled in my Tamiya 1/48 A-1J kit.

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I was very pleased with the overall fit of the little Spad. ;) The wing roots required only the barest trace of filler, and I carefully rescribed the few panel lines that were damaged during sanding of the top and bottom of the fuselage. We're talking 1/16" here and there, not bad at all.

IMG_2414_L.jpg

After the primer and touchups were done, I started prepping the landing gear, gear doors, and the many pylons. I looked in the stash and wouldn't you know it, of all the Hasegawa Weapons Sets I have on hand, I don't have one with regular ol' iron bombs... Thanks for looking!

Mike

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Primož,

Thanks for your kind words! This plane isn't much compared to your excellent work on the He-111 :cheers:

After prepping all the pylons, drop tanks, and landing gear parts, I airbrushed it all using Testors Acryl Flat White. I usually have trouble getting acrylic whites thin enough to spray yet still having any opacity, but this paint worked fairly well last night. Thin to the consistency of milk and build it up in thin layers, as usual. After drying it looked a little thicker than I would like but I can live with it.

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I have always wanted to try using pencil for panel lines, and this may be the time. Do any of you guys have recommendations? I have a drafting pencil that I can sharpen as fine as needed, then I thought I would seal it with a coat of Future. Should work well on a gull gray / white scheme in 1/72.

Thanks, Mike

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  • 1 month later...

Well a lot has been going on lately, but I managed to mask and spray the Gull Gray upper surfaces of the A-1H along with the anti-glare panel and Dark Gull Gray "Corrogard" leading edges. Next time, I will add the pylons after painting the leading edges - it will be much easier to mask. As you can see, I also painted base colors for the Mk 82 iron bombs.

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The only trouble I've had with this kit occurred when I tried to attach the cowl flaps. I had to thin them from the inside and taper the front edges to get them to fit in place. It's really not much of a problem since the cowl flaps are small, but they do need to look right. The carefully painted exhausts are barely visible afterwards. I didn't prime the cowl flaps so naturally the Acryl Gull Gray peeled off of one when I un-masked.

IMG_2628_s.jpg

After a few small touch-ups it will be time for clear gloss and decals!

Thanks again for looking!

Mike

Edited by massbalance
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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks to HÃ¥kan and to everyone who has commented! I appreciate the support.

I made a few small paint touchups, then shot a coat of Future on the A-1H. The following night I began applying the decals. I'm using the Eagle Strike set 72062, "Skyraiders of the Fleet". These have performed well with MicroSet and Microsol. I used a little Solvaset on the green at the top of the rudder to help the decals wrap over the top, and it worked great.

IMG_2633_s.jpg

I considered going with one of the late 50's Dark Sea Blue schemes, but this small model shows up better in the high-viz colors I think.

IMG_2635_s.jpg

I still have the Bureau numbers, RESCUE arrows, and data stencils remaining to do. I don't have reference photos of AG 500, so I'm not sure if she had red edges on the gear doors. Most A-1 pictures I have don't have the red edges, but there are one or two I have seen with them. They do add color, but may not be accurate.

Cheers, Mike

Edited by massbalance
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