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A-7E Corsair II - Hasegawa 1/48 (Twin build - Completed)


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12 hours ago, GW8345 said:

Just for future reference, the Breech Leads (firing cables) were not uniform on the way they curved. Those were flexible cables that were connected once the weapon was loaded and the cartridge was installed so the curve would be however the Ordies left them. You don't have to make them uniform, they weren't uniformed in real life.:thumbsup:

 Correct.

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Hi GW, A-10 Loader, thanks!  Luckily, even with the forming tool I couldn't make them uniform so these cables probably look authentic : )    

 

It looks like the modifications  to the Hasegawa parts are worth the effort.   MERs from the A-7 kit and Weapons Set A oob:

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After mods:

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Had a disaster earlier today, by the way.   I was painting the cables with some Alclad, dipping the brush into the bottle and setting the bottle aside, being very careful not to knock it over ---- and then I did -- and the paint came gurgling out onto the table and into the container of completed MERs!   I frantically fished the MERs out and had to take a breather before examining each very slowly with my heart a-thumping.   Only one casualty (first one from left) that will need repainting, whew!   It could have been a lot worse, though.  Those Alclad bottles are really prone to tipping over.

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Gee Whiz crackerjazz ... this build of yours ... the details ... those mind-bending, un-bee-leev-able ... and gorgeous little details ... is Phee-Nommy-Nall!

The creative methods, even to your jig building ... is ... just ... head-shakingly incredible!   :thumbsup:  

 

Keep up this terrific build! We're all taking notes ... I'm sure!   :woo:

Pete

 

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Time to put the vacuform mask to the test.  First a couple more for base paint...

 

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Then I tried the single ring mask.

 

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Hey, I just read Mr Color C38 Olive Drab 2 is closer to the real color than Olive Drab 304, which I used,  or Green 303 so I think I might try C38 on the next batch or repaint these which look too brown, I think.   I've also been thinking about printing some metal masks that can slip onto the ends to make double-ring painting easier.  Or...  maybe... ultimately fallback to good ol' Tamiya tape.

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I won't get too hung up on trying to match the exact color for the bomb bodies, they are usually stored outside so the paint will fade to various shades of olive drab.

 

Also, there are different manufactures for Mk 80 Series Bomb Bodies so there will be variances in the color. I've loaded some bombs that were very close to Dark Green (34079) and some there were very faded olive drab (that was in the 80's and those bombs dated back to the early 70's).

 

Also, it was very common for the tail fins to be a few shades off from the bomb bodies since they are stored separately and (back then) were older than the bomb bodies.

 

hth

GW

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Hi Aigore, GW, Joel, thanks!  Got a question, GW.  Are the single-ring and 2-ring bombs mixed up when loaded or do they go to particular positions?  And would they be symmetrically loaded between both wings?   Wish I could see the whole aircraft in this photo but this section seems to show an assorted mix?  

 

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Edited by crackerjazz
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Hi Joe, i haven't see any 2 ring bombs untill now!! They seem to me to be the same as the 1 ring ones!! And i would assume that the loading should be symmetrical due to the asymmetrical load factor! I have the tactical manual with all the loading proposals but i can have access to it on the weekend. Tell me what kind and number of ordance you want to load exactly and i can tell you if it is possible!! I can count 20 MK-83?? So 10 each aircraft?? With 8 mers...4 each aircraft?

 

John

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2 hours ago, crackerjazz said:

Hi Aigore, GW, Joel, thanks!  Got a question, GW.  Are the single-ring and 2-ring bombs mixed up when loaded or do they go to particular positions?  And would they be symmetrically loaded between both wings?   Wish I could see the whole aircraft in this photo but this section seems to show an assorted mix?  

 

26760192938_d700f5453d_b.jpg

 

There was no restriction to which station or position when mixing since the only difference between the bombs was that one was thermally protected and the other wasn't. In the picture above, the thermally protected bomb would be the third bomb to be released from that MER* and appears that there are only 3 bombs loaded on that MER so it would the last off.

 

Mixing of the Non-Thermally Protected (NTP - single ring) and Thermally Protected (TP - two ring) bombs was very rare and only occurred during the 72/73 timeframe. This was the time period that the TP bombs were being introduced to the fleet and there weren't enough yet to outfit the carriers completely. Beginning in 74, you would not find any NTP bombs onboard ships since the war had ended and the TP bombs were in full production.

 

* Release order of a MER (in order of first to last) centerline aft, centerline forward, left side aft, left side forward, right side aft, right side forward.

 

Sme addition info concerning the photo;

 

There is an AGM-45 Shirke loaded on the mid-board station (station 2) and the weapons skid pictured was used for transporting pre-loaded MER's, which was hoist loaded onto the aircraft. The MER appears to be only loaded with 3 Mk 82's (both centerline stations and the forward left station). The panel that is open on the pylon is known as the "spider" panel since it was the access point for the wiring harness going from the pylon to the bomb rack, the harness had multiple cables attached to is so it looked like a spider when removed. That panel was also occasionally used to store the bomb rack safety pins when the aircraft went flying but we (VA-82) stopped putting the safety pins there since they were "rattling" around in there during flight and damaging the spider harness (we started putting the pins in the left hand av-bay instead). The ordnanceman is running the arming wire for the nose fuze and what's ironic is that the bomb is thermally protected, but the fuze isn't.

 

HTH

GW

 

 

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Hi John,  for the 1st Corsair I wanted to go for low-drag MK-82s (6 per)  on stations 1,2,7,8.   And for the 2nd Corsair --  low-drag MK-82s on stations 1 and 8,  and Snakeyes on stations 2 and 7.  Will do some more ordnance painting over a couple days .  I find the experience zen-like at times doing something over and over until I  realize there's dozens more to do --  I'm suddenly jolted out of the reverie and stress kicks in : )    Hi GW lots of great info there, thanks!  Wonderful to know I don't need to paint dual rings which are harder to do -- or maybe I'll throw in a couple).   I had Vietnam-era A-7Es in mind.

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CJ, that painting jig is pretty clever but, and please don't take this the wrong way,  why didn't you just drill out the end in the tail fins, since they are hollow on the real ones anyway and, stick something in there to hold them while you paint them ?

Everything is looking really good so far, keep it up.

 

Steve

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Hey, Steve, no worries.  I actually tried it but the tail end of the 1/48 bombs are too small  :(    I tried really thin rods but they wouldn't support well and the bombs kind of spun on their axes whenever I got to the fin which acted like a windvane.  Also, there's a bit of a back story to it.   The missus is highly sensitive to paint smells so I do all my painting in the cold garage which I could access only from outside.  I needed a compact carrier for the bombs so I could dash to the garage,  paint a batch quickly, seal them in a box and run back into the house to dry them.  The bombs fit snugly on the jig and the front wall helps mask the fuzes while painting.   Lately, too, I found it helpful in aligning decals.  

 

'Twas rather windy the other day and dust would blow into the garage while I painted.   The gloss paint was a real dust magnet:

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Had to seal them in the box as soon as I finished spraying a layer, would wait until the paint was touch-dry then paint another layer.

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I may have to do the weathering again -- it all seems to have disappeared after gloss-coating.  By the way I used Mr Setter and Mr Softer for the first time.  I noticed it kind of etches the gloss coat a little?  Or maybe because I tend to use too much.  I have to be careful with it.

Edited by crackerjazz
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CrackerJazz, 

  Talk about a glossy decaling surface. Your bombs are smooth as silk.  

 

  I keep on forgetting just how lucky I am that my wife let me take over one of the spare bedrooms for my combination model and computer room. I do vent the paint fumes out the window with an exhaust fan when I remember to turn it on, so I'm sure she can smell even the acrylics, let alone the lacquer base clears I use even with the door closed. And in all these  years she's never said a word about it. Just that the compressor always made way to much nose, so I  bought a Iwata silent compressor. And she never blinked an eye when it appeared on the charge card. 

 

I can only imagine what it must be like trying to paint in a garage this time of the year. Then in the heat and humidity in the summer. 

 

Joel

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  • 2 weeks later...

You're really lucky to have such an understanding wife, Joel!   Makes the hobby a whole lot more enjoyable.

 

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The swaybraces that attach the MERs to the pylons look pretty good, but the ones attaching the bombs to the MERs needed some reshaping.

 

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I found reshaping them while on the sprue made things a bit more manageable as the little buggers have a tendency to launch when held with tweezers.

 

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Broom head for some thin wire.  Don't worry, it's clean  : )  I bought it sometime ago for the sole purpose of having an unlimited supply of thin rods : )

 

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0.24mm -- I knew they'd be pretty useful.

 

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Glued the "bolts" on with gel glue.

 

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Then I tried using 0.5mm styrene rod -- looks better I think, as those 0.25mm black rods seem too thin.  Easier to work, too, as I didn't have to drill any holes. 

 

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I'm taking my time with these things.   I just need to make 96 of them (ulp!)

 

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Got the Stingers decals!   I really wanted the Argonauts for this build but couldn't find any.  There's something about that big sword on the tail.    But I'm bound to build one of these Stingers A7s anyway with brash and colorful markings,  I might as well build them now.   There's a bit of yellowing  -- not sure how noticeable that'll be when the decals are slapped onto the model.   

Edited by crackerjazz
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  • crackerjazz changed the title to A-7E Corsair II - Hasegawa 1/48 (Twin build - Completed)

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