Brian P: Fightertown Decals Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 (edited) Been wanting to build an A-6E late TRAM for a long time and once Kinetic had this model out of the box, I was sold. I've done a pretty comprehensive comparison of the Kinetic and Revell kits, and my personal conclusion is that in almost every way, I would build the Kinetic over the Revell. YMVW but I'll include my breakdowns and thoughts as I go. In the interest of full disclosure, my company name - Fightertown Decals is on the Kinetic box for doing the decals. I have no stake in Kinetic that I feel bias my personal feelings. BUILD LIST: Kinetic A-6E TRAM Fightertown Decals 48059 Booming Intruders Eduard PE Royal Resins wheels Verlinden GRU-7 ejection seats (other stuff as the build progresses) Fuselage out of the box. Kinetic molded this intentionally to easy use of aftermarket for intakes. Edited August 20, 2013 by Brian P: Fightertown Decals Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian P: Fightertown Decals Posted August 19, 2013 Author Share Posted August 19, 2013 (edited) Starting off with the cockpit. Although I tend to collect aftermarket cockpits, I'll take styrene plastic whenever possible. I don't like working with CA glue. The Kinetic cockpit is up to the standard of the Black Box cockpit as much as injection plastic allows. I know there are a few fictional details that got translated but I don't know the difference. I decided to sand off the instrument panels and replace with the Eduard color PE for this build. Normally, I'd prefer the 3D buttons and switches but the panels look really good and I'll take the flat trade off. Edited August 19, 2013 by Brian P: Fightertown Decals Quote Link to post Share on other sites
xavi84 Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 (edited) Nice to have you aboard Brian! How much did those decals run you? :P Edited August 19, 2013 by xavi84 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian P: Fightertown Decals Posted August 19, 2013 Author Share Posted August 19, 2013 A couple thousand $ actually. Fortunately, I've been able to to sell off a few hundred to friends to offset the cost ;) But the benefit is I've got a few spares in case of mistakes. Hahaha;) Brian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
xavi84 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Haha well played sir. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian P: Fightertown Decals Posted August 20, 2013 Author Share Posted August 20, 2013 A little cockpit progress. Hollowed out the round pieces on the deck. Added rivet detail to the back wall. Kinda tough to see but tried to angle the light to catch it. Using the phone camera so these aren't the best pictures but hopefully work well enough. Added a detail strip to the refueling probe. It's too wide and thick but I'll sand it down. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 This will be very cool to see your Kinetic kit and Phantom's Revell version. Which markings are you going to do? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian P: Fightertown Decals Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 VA-165 501 final cruise. "Puff". As in 'Puff the magic dragon' Ultimately it will be part of a larger diorama with a few VF-24 jets on Nimitz for their final 95/96 cruise. Brian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Karl Sander Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 A couple thousand $ actually. Fortunately, I've been able to to sell off a few hundred to friends to offset the cost ;)/> But the benefit is I've got a few spares in case of mistakes. Hahaha;) Brian I see what you did there Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian P: Fightertown Decals Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 Some wing and exhaust prep work. The exhaust is much like the Revell kit with the improvement that there is full exhaust ducting. Point Kinetic. And the aft end fits if you force it together but then there is a gap to the fuselage. It's looking like attaching the top and bottom sections to the body and then filling any seams on the exhaust. After seeing other people replace the exhaust with brass tube, I decided to do the same. I tried styrene but the tubes are too large and I only found brass tube that fit perfectly. Cutting away the plastic Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 VA-165 501 final cruise. "Puff". As in 'Puff the magic dragon' Ultimately it will be part of a larger diorama with a few VF-24 jets on Nimitz for their final 95/96 cruise. Brian In 1/48!? That's going to be an awesome sight! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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