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Hello all,

 

I have the itch to do a 1/72 RA-5 Vigilante. I've looked at the Airfix, Hasegawa, Kangnam, Revell, and Trumpeter kits online. No real enthusiasm exists for the Kangnam kit so it seems that ones a non-starter. Airfix has it fans though its obviously old and I don't think its been reissued in the last 10 to 15 years which could make it harder to find and the decals, being old Airfix, would probably be shot (raised panel lines too). As I understand it the Revell is a knockoff of the Hasegawa kit but with engraved panel lines and apparently not bad decals (Hasegawa has reissued it's RA-5 kits fairly regularly so finding one isn't or shouldn't be an issue and their decals are generally useable...generally:rolleyes:). The Airfix, Hasegawa/Revell Vigilantes seem to be given the nod for accuracy shape wise, but lack details and supposedly have tricky fit issues. Lastly there's the newer Trumpeter kit. It has been criticized for its rivets, incorrect spine, and some fit issues here and there. But its more detailed, the decals look good, its easy to find and the spine is only really noticeable to those that really know the Vigilante or if its sitting next to the Airfix/Hasegawa/Revell kits.

 

Bottom line, I want a simple to build and as hassle free as possible Vigilante. Which one should I be going for?

 

Help, hints, opinions, thoughts, build shares are all welcome!

 

Thanks and regards,

Don

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Trumpeter, and if you pose the canopies in the raised position the issue with "crease" in the fuselage is not as obvious.  Also XMM Resin offers full length intake trunking.

 

Regards,

Murph

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Thanks Murph! The tip on posing the canopies open is a good one. I also wasn't aware of the aftermarket intake trucking either.  I was leaning towards Trumpeter and I can grab one from my LHS for $25 which doesn't seem to bad at all. So, I guess I'll go Trumpeter.

 

Regards,

Don

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The Trumpeter kit goes together nicely. You just need to reshape the top of the vertical tail. It builds into a later RA-5C with LEXs and modified intake shapes (156XXX BuNos). The Revell kit builds into the earlier RA-5C. Here's mine:

03KFZFH.jpg

Edited by picknpluck
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Nice looking Vigilantes guys :thumbsup:! It really is an elegant and "fast" looking aircraft. I picked up the Trumpeter kit yesterday and I am quite happy with what I see in the box and am pretty excited to get cracking on it. Thanks everyone who contributed to this thread. Much appreciated.

 

Regards,

Don

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4 hours ago, JackMan said:

Looking at Teeradej's beautiful model, the Hasegawa kit seems to capture the graceful lines of the Vigilante better.

I have a friend, retired Navy and he worked on Viggies. He has several 1/72 kit by the various mfgrs. He thinks the Hasegawa has the best shape. He's wanting to detail the Hasegawa kit with the Trumpy parts like landing gear, cockpit, etc.. 

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10 minutes ago, Slartibartfast said:

Who made a 1:72 A-5A? That's what I built as a young teen. I want say it was Revell but might have been Hasegawa.

No one has made a 1/72 A-5A, Revell and Monogram made a "box scale" A-5A that comes out to be about 1/96 scale (IIRC).

 

Right now, if you want a 1/72 scale A-5A you will have to convert a RA-5C.

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1 minute ago, GW8345 said:

No one has made a 1/72 A-5A, Revell and Monogram made a "box scale" A-5A that comes out to be about 1/96 scale (IIRC).

 

Right now, if you want a 1/72 scale A-5A you will have to convert a RA-5C.

 

Yup! It can be done:

 

HasA-5Aweb.jpg

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yeah, Paul might remember that a fairly famous modeler built an A-5A conversion, in a fairly famous magazine,,,,,,,about 1995 or so?

 

don't remember the exact month, but it was the issue just before Paul's CVW-6 article

 

edit, geez, that really was 23 years ago?

 

Edited by Rex
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4 hours ago, Rex said:

yeah, Paul might remember that a fairly famous modeler built an A-5A conversion, in a fairly famous magazine,,,,,,,about 1995 or so?

 

don't remember the exact month, but it was the issue just before Paul's CVW-6 article

 

edit, geez, that really was 23 years ago?

 

January 1993, I still have that article.:thumbsup:

 

On day I'm going to attempt to convert an RA-5 to and A-5, one day.

 

BTW, I still have that CVW-6 article somewhere too.🙂

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