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1/72 Trumpeter RA-5C


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Howdy all. One of the presents under my tree this Christmas was the really amazing Trumpy 1/72 scale RA-5C. It's one of the new wave of Trumpy kits and it's really well done. I can't promise progress will be quick (I tend to work several projects at once and I tend to not be extremely fast about any of them, not to mention a baby on the way in early February), but I'll try to keep you all updated as often as possible. I intend to build it pretty much out of the box, it certainly doesn't need an aftermarket cockpit in my opinion (I'll get to that later). The marking options are pretty odd (both shore based units) so maybe I'll see if there's anything else out there, though I doubt it.

Let's take a look at what's in the box before I get started on the construction.

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Here's the box art.

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I

inside the box

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Six sprues plus a couple of individually wrapped parts not on sprues, like the fuse halves

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The intake pieces get extra padding

Next up will be a few detail shots.

Edited by GoBlue96
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Nice to see this kit being built. I have the kit too as its the best on the market.

I have completed building the Airfix kit and the Hasegawa. And many moons ago one of revell which was terrible plastic because it was rock hard!

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It's a nice kit. I've built it a couple years ago, but I did use some aftermarket (Eduard PE, Aires exhausts, Superscale decals), and also took some parts from other kits for the intakes. Engine faces came from a Revell F-4F, and the ducts came from a Hasegawa F-14. The kit mostly represents a late Vigi (the new built ones, BuNo starting with 156), but there are still some shape issues. The intakes are not quite curved enough, and the tailtip needs to be shaved off a bit, it's too horizontal in the kit. (Which I forgot on mine)

Here's mine:

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Edited by Pete
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Very nice, Pete! Here's my shabby interpretation, build mostly OOB with the exception of a radar from the Eduard F-105 PE set.

The biggest issue with the kit is the folding wings and stabilizer. If you choose NOT to fold them, you've got some big ol' gaps to fill.

Very cool airplane!

RA-5Ca.jpg

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Thanks for the replies, everyone. I'm glad some people have posted their builds, it's great to see how it builds up and what you all have thought about it.

thegoodsgt - thanks for the tip about gaps if not folding the wings and such. I was 99% sure I was going to have them folded up, because I can since OOB folding wings are still pretty rare in 1/72, but that pretty much cinches it. I won't be folding the stab, as tempting as that sounds, so I'll deal with what I find there. So flaps down and wings folded as a common configuration? That's what I'd want to do and just haven't seen enough pictures to determine if that was the state you'd find a parked Vigilante or not.

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IMHO, this is one ship that looks really cool folded. You're right about the interior; the Eduard p/e is a good bet but it doesn't seem to need much else -even the seats are OK-ish, but there are some pics of the actual HS1 at The Ejection Site:

HS1 ESIP

-ouch!

Edited by ChippyWho
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A few detail pictures as I get going.

The cockpit is built up by putting pieces on the pit, like the side console controls:

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Side console pieces. I'll paint these before attaching them to the pit. The other two are similar. I can't speak to their accuracy, but they sure look good.

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The center console bases. To these you add film, much like an Eduard set, and then another piece with all the bezels (which I just realized I didn't take a picture of) goes on top of the film. It's really nice.

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The instrument panel film

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The main wheel wells. A couple of small detail pieces get added to this.

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The nose gear

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The main wheels. They're made up of five pieces and are pretty impressive. Also in the shot are parts of the ejection seats.

Next time, some actual construction. I think.

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Nice gift to receive. I started building my Vigilante for the Navy Centennial GB. Didn't get to far with it before the GB ended. But seeing your start of a buildup I'm going to start on it again. Though I did get Eduard's cockpit PE set for this. It really doesn't need it other than having the seat harnesses for the seats. Otherwise the OEM pit would be sufficient. Looking forward to your project. Have fun. I will post a wip on my Viggie once I get the images uploaded to the PC.

Chuck

Fly Navy

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Thanks, everyone. Haven't done too much picture worthy since there is lots of impending baby stuff going on, but the box is still on my workbench and still my only real active project. Will have some shots this weekend.

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