Brenhen Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I love skyhawks, so I don't need much of an excuse to build one, but this group build will be a great reason to build a few more. I've had the Furball A-4M decals for awhile and have heard great things about them, so I've been anxious to use them. I am planning on using the VMA-214 Blacksheep decals so model a plane similar to this one: I also have the Steel Beach conversion for a 1/48 OA-4M, so I may do that project for this group build as well in the future I always start Hasegawa A-4's with cutting off the slat surfaces from the top wings and gluing them back on to replace the step. I like to get it out of the way early. I also decided to cut out the control surfaces and deflect them slightly for a little bit of variation. While I was doing all that cutting, I decided to also reposition the horizontal stabilizers using the steel beach plates. It turned into quite a bit of work, but I like how it will look. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spejic Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 This is my favorite kind of A-4, so I'll be following this extra closely. The work you are doing on the tail is immense and daunting. What are your plans for the airbrakes? You seem to be doing something there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brenhen Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Thanks Spejic. As for the airbrakes, I will probably just have them closed. I think the light in one of the pictures makes it look like some work has been done to them, but so far I haven't touched them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
a4s4eva Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Great start, I like that you're fixing the slats. That always bugs me Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brenhen Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 I have had very little time lately to work on the skyhawk, so sorry for the lack of updates. Only a little bit of work to show, but it is at least getting to the stage where progress will start to go more quickly. While taking a break from cutting and reattaching the control surfaces, I painted the cockpit and internal fuselage parts to get ready for the fuselage joining. I didn't spend too much time on the cockpit, except for the seat, since most won't be seen once it is completed. I bought the new Aires exhaust resin for the kit. It is very nice looking, but after painting it I realized that it will be almost impossible to see far enough down the tail pipe to see the nice resin turbine blades at the end. For the most part, I don't think this particular add on is needed, though it does come with a very nice exhaust and shroud to replace the kit part. This will be very visible and will be a nice upgrade. Since the nose is clear and hasegawa doesn't supply any detail, I wanted to add the impression of the laser designator and camera in the front. I just added a piece of plastic to close off the nose, then used a photo etch ring to replicate the camera. I'll add the lens once it is painted. One of the few weaknesses of the Hasegawa kit is the fit of the avionics hump. Since it tends to not fit well with the tail, I decided to try a different routine. I glued just the front half of the hump together I then installed the hump, only gluing the rear half to the fuselage. This left a gap in the unglued rear portion of the hump. Once the glue on the fuselage had set, I glued the front half. I will fill the gap in the hump with super glue and sand it out. I figure that would be easier than trying to blend the hump and tail together, which would require sanding the side of the tail at a weird angle. As a last bit, it is always interesting what you can find while doing some research. I grew up a few miles from El Toro, but don't remember hearing about this story at the time. I thought it was pretty interesting. How many of us haven't thought about this once or twice!! http://articles.latimes.com/1986-07-05/local/me-20219_1_el-toro Thanks for looking Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brenhen Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 I didn't get a lot of time to work on the skyhawk this week, but I made some good progress when I did find some time. I got the major construction of the plane finished and started the painting process with some Vallejo black primer. I did this right before a 5 day work trip, so it got plenty of time to fully cure. On the subject of Vallejo primer, when I first tried it I could not stand the stuff. I've now found that by changing the way I applied it, it works really well. The major painting was next. The three toned camo of the late service scooters went pretty well. I used model master acryl for the light grey on the bottom, and mr. hobby aqueous paints for the two top coats. I wanted to get some color modulation in it. I think it will be toned down slightly after the weathering and flat coats and not look quite so varied. While getting ready to paint, I also worked on the gear. I used some stretched sprue, styrene, and lead wire to add a little depth to the gear legs Next up will be some detail painting, masking and painting the wheel wells, and some more work on the weapons load Thanks for looking Quote Link to post Share on other sites
a4s4eva Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Looking great. The gear work and seat are excellent. And I agree there is no idea for aftermarket exhaust on the A-4. nothing to see Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brenhen Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) Looking great. The gear work and seat are excellent. And I agree there is no idea for aftermarket exhaust on the A-4. nothing to see Thanks Calum! And I love the screen name! Well, some pictures of the home stretch. Finished pictures to follow. Thanks to everyone for looking. Between paint coats and clear coats on the plane, I started working on the load out. I used the Brassin mk 20 rockeyes and Brassin LAU-10 rockets. Both were great resin add ons. I also started working on a simple base for the model. I used a pre-cut wood base from a hobby store, covered it in multiple pieces of plastic sheet to simulate concrete slabs, and added an Eduard A-4 photo etch ladder for some color! The base was then painted with a mix of colors to try to simulate well used concrete I'll post some final pictures in the next post. Thanks again! Edited October 21, 2015 by Brenhen Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spejic Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 The final product looks amazing. There are great touches all over, and I learned a lot for when I build my Hasegawa A-4M. The tail in particular was difficult to do and creates a unique effect - it's something you see in sitting aircraft but never in models. Which paint colors did you use? The medium grey on the tail looks a little purple compared to Model Master Light Ghost, but it is the effect I want in my particular model. You seem to have done some post painting modulation of color - how did you do this? Where did you get the TER from? How was the Eduard front wheel installed, and what did the wheel set do that the kit wheels did not? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brenhen Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share Posted October 24, 2015 The final product looks amazing. There are great touches all over, and I learned a lot for when I build my Hasegawa A-4M. The tail in particular was difficult to do and creates a unique effect - it's something you see in sitting aircraft but never in models. Which paint colors did you use? The medium grey on the tail looks a little purple compared to Model Master Light Ghost, but it is the effect I want in my particular model. You seem to have done some post painting modulation of color - how did you do this? Where did you get the TER from? How was the Eduard front wheel installed, and what did the wheel set do that the kit wheels did not? Hi Spejic. Thanks for the comments and great questions. For the paint colors, I used the following paints: bottom layer- Model Master Acryl Light Grey 4765 mid layer- Mr Hobby Aqueous H308 (fs36375) top layer- Mr Hobby Aqueous H307 (fs36320) For the color modulation, I used a technique I learned from another modelers site called black basing. Here is a link to his page describing it and showing it better than I ever could: http://doogsmodels.com/2014/07/03/technique-black-basing/ The TER is from Aerobonus. They also have an MER in 1/48th scale. Both are very detailed and nicely cast. The Eduard front wheel is attached simply with super glue. The fork was drilled, as well as the kit landing gear leg, so that a small brass rod could be glued in to provide a stronger attachment point. The Eduard wheel sets biggest plus is that the nose gear no longer has the molded in front tire, so you get a more realistic looking nose gear. The main wheels are slightly nicer than the kit wheels, and have a weighted look to them, but don't offer a huge improvement. If you need any other info, please let me know. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SERNAK Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Any progress? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brenhen Posted November 3, 2015 Author Share Posted November 3, 2015 Any progress? Hey Sernak. Yep, it's all done! Pictures in the display case http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=288132 Thanks for looking Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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