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1/48th Revell-Monogram A-6E TRAM Intruder


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Greetings everyone,

I decided to keep with the Grumman theme and, try and reacquaint myself with a kit that I started around 1999 - 2000 ?? This was my 3rd kit after getting back into the hobby and I think it's time to finish her up. Next to the Tomcat, the A-6 is my favorite Naval Aircraft. These are all the pics I have of her up to this point. The cockpit is a mix of the Verlinden Update set, Black Box and, I believe True Details seats.

I have to get my thoughts together and figure out where I left off and, what's next so, please bear with me. After seeing Wardog's A-6E, I had no intentions of working on her but, she deserves to be finished and I'll do my best to get her there. I will admit after working on my 1/18th scale Tomcat, this 1/48th kit will be quite the challenge again but, I want to see if I still have it. So, let's see where this goes.

 

Steve

 

IMG_3310_zps950719b9.jpg

 

IMG_3302_zps904463e8.jpg

 

True Details seats with scratch-built ejection handles made out of copper wire.

 

_MG_7901_zps06f0244c.jpg

 

The kit boarding ladders were replaced with the Verlinden ones.

 

_MG_7898_zps8c33a68f.jpg

 

_MG_7897_zps7027568a.jpg

 

This is where she stands at the present. I have also purchased the Eduard MER's for the Rockeye's.

 

IMG_5539_zpsupgzfqxy.jpg

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Hello Steve,

 

I'm glad you've decided to resurrect her and as the pictures show, you're off to a great start; I'll be watching with great interest. You can't go wrong with another Grumman product and the A-6 is definitely a worthy subject. Although it comes nowhere near in size comparison to your Tomcat, the 48th A-6 is still a good size model coming in at just under 14in long which is not small by any means.

 

Good luck on this build!

 

 

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On 11/29/2018 at 11:31 AM, wardog said:

Hello Steve,

 

I'm glad you've decided to resurrect her and as the pictures show, you're off to a great start; I'll be watching with great interest. You can't go wrong with another Grumman product and the A-6 is definitely a worthy subject. Although it comes nowhere near in size comparison to your Tomcat, the 48th A-6 is still a good size model coming in at just under 14in long which is not small by any means.

 

Good luck on this build!

 

 

Thanks for the kind feedback wardog, I appreciate that.

Working at this scale again really makes me tip my hat to you for your amazing skills being shown on your A-6.

 

Steve

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1 hour ago, A-10 LOADER said:

 

Working at this scale again really makes me tip my hat to you for your amazing skills being shown on your A-6.

 

Steve

 Thanks Steve, however, I still feel that most modelers could do the same if they chose to spend years on a build. Additionally, I don't consider 48th scale to be that small as what's really impressive is work in 72nd scale or smaller. Also, none of what I do would be possible without the optical aids shown below. Thanks again and I'm looking forward to more progress on your build.

 

RK-kAst2meQM5Jz8c0siepdwmrighAaCOEBLM2tU

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On 12/2/2018 at 1:44 PM, wardog said:

 Thanks Steve, however, I still feel that most modelers could do the same if they chose to spend years on a build. Additionally, I don't consider 48th scale to be that small as what's really impressive is work in 72nd scale or smaller. Also, none of what I do would be possible without the optical aids shown below. Thanks again and I'm looking forward to more progress on your build.

 

RK-kAst2meQM5Jz8c0siepdwmrighAaCOEBLM2tU

1/48th is small after working on 1/18th and, none of it would be possible without my OptiVisor.

On 12/2/2018 at 11:29 PM, dnl42 said:

Wow, that's fast! Looks great, too!

Thanks but remember, all this work was completed way back when.

 

Steve

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Greetings all,

I managed to get a little bit done on the project over the last couple days. All the MK-20's were cleaned up, the fuses were sanded off on 10 (mine will have the covers on them). The other 2 will be for a future Tomcat build. Holes were drilled to accept small brass wire (that will be used to mount the Rockeye's to the MER) and, the parts got painted. I know it doesn't seem like much but, I'm still getting use to working at this scale again and, it's been quite the challenge.

Thanks for having a look.

Steve

 

IMG_6265_zpstk5gwotg.jpg

 

IMG_6266_zpspyju6bwc.jpg

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Today's update is more of a question really. Has anyone else encountered this problem before ?

I purchased the Eduard MER's and MK-20 Rockeye's for the Intruder. They are very well detailed but, there is a fit issue. I'm wondering if the MER's were mislabeled as 1/48th but are really 1/72nd ??

 

Here's a shot of the kit MER (top) against the Eduard one.

IMG_6268_zps2lm7rghv.jpg

 

Here is a shot of the Eduard MER with their Rockeye's. The wires were drilled right where the suspension lugs were molded on the Rockeye's. As you can see they do not line up or fit correctly and, the nose covers aren't installed yet.

IMG_6269_zpsfxthoskc.jpg

 

This third shot shows the kit MER with the Eduard Rockeyes. The wires will have to be moved closer together and the bombs shifted slightly of their center of gravity in order for me to be able to attach the fuse covers.

IMG_6267_zpsomuihi8a.jpg

 

For what this resin stuff costs, you'd think it would fit better. Epic fail, IMO, Eduard.

 

Steve

 

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Hello Steve, love the work you've done so far, especially the gru-7, I'm building the hb  tram version in 48th, on a different forum as yet, and I've invested in 4 eduard mers, as hobbyboss only give you 2 in the box, and a slant  4 (16)  eduard snakeye configuration,  for a Libya raid  uss coral sea, bomb truck, (War horses) 

I'm not that impressed with the eduard mers either ,I think they look short in the middle too,  but  the kit  ones are longer, and to be honest they aren't a bad part for kit stuff (mine were warped like that too) eye balling a reference picture seems to back this up

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7 hours ago, my favs are F`s said:

Awesome, Steve! This beauty is one my favorites too! I was on the edge to choose it as my next and second 1/32 model, but after 3 Northrop models i needed something different. Nevertheless, keep up the good work and mood, and make her gorgeous although in this "tiny" scale! 🙂

Thanks, I will do my best.

6 hours ago, CaptainObvious said:

It's too small!!!
But alright... twist my arm and I'll follow along if I must...
Nice detail work by the way. :rolleyes:
-co  

Thanks, I wish there was a 1/18th scale A-6E.

6 hours ago, Hewy said:

Hello Steve, love the work you've done so far, especially the gru-7, I'm building the hb  tram version in 48th, on a different forum as yet, and I've invested in 4 eduard mers, as hobbyboss only give you 2 in the box, and a slant  4 (16)  eduard snakeye configuration,  for a Libya raid  uss coral sea, bomb truck, (War horses) 

I'm not that impressed with the eduard mers either ,I think they look short in the middle too,  but  the kit  ones are longer, and to be honest they aren't a bad part for kit stuff (mine were warped like that too) eye balling a reference picture seems to back this up

Thanks for checking in and your response, according to Eduard they make the" Best Resin Around." It says so right on their packaging.  😄

 

Steve

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Steve,

 

I completely understand your frustration over spending good money on aftermarket products that fail to make the grade. Unfortunately, this is the norm now and It's up to the modeler to finish what should have been done by the aftermarket companies. In most cases, aftermarket products are a huge improvement over what's offered in the kit and usually worth purchasing. However, I too do not want to waste my already limited bench time re-working something I shouldn't have to.

 

There are those that take a different stance on the quality issues and say we should just be happy the AM items are available to begin with, which I agree with to a point. However, that is no excuse for sub-par products.

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Hey Steve, I got that warpage on my Eduard MERs as well.  I tried the boiling water technique and ended up with pretzels so that was some money down the drain.  I then purchased some Aerobonus MERs which are secured on blocks that prevent warpage.  I'll try to measure them tonight but I believe they're also shorter than the kit parts.   The front fairing has sharp sides that will need sanding to shape, and looks smallish.   You need to add cables, and the swaybraces are fragile.

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21 hours ago, wardog said:

Steve,

 

I completely understand your frustration over spending good money on aftermarket products that fail to make the grade. Unfortunately, this is the norm now and It's up to the modeler to finish what should have been done by the aftermarket companies. In most cases, aftermarket products are a huge improvement over what's offered in the kit and usually worth purchasing. However, I too do not want to waste my already limited bench time re-working something I shouldn't have to.

 

There are those that take a different stance on the quality issues and say we should just be happy the AM items are available to begin with, which I agree with to a point. However, that is no excuse for sub-par products.

Exactly and since both pieces are made by the same company there's no excuse for them not to fit. Apparently the QA guy must have been home sick.  😆

1 hour ago, crackerjazz said:

Hey Steve, I got that warpage on my Eduard MERs as well.  I tried the boiling water technique and ended up with pretzels so that was some money down the drain.  I then purchased some Aerobonus MERs which are secured on blocks that prevent warpage.  I'll try to measure them tonight but I believe they're also shorter than the kit parts.   The front fairing has sharp sides that will need sanding to shape, and looks smallish.   You need to add cables, and the swaybraces are fragile.

Thanks crackerjazz, I'm just going to use the kit MER's with the Eduard Rockeyes. I'll just have to adjust my brass wires and shift the bombs slightly off their center of gravity, in order for them to fit with the fuse cover's on.

 

Steve

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Here is a MER about to be put on an A-6E:

 

DN-SC-88-01699.jpeg

 

For those that don't know, the lugs, on top of the MER which fit onto the bomb rack in the pylon, are 30" apart while the hooks on the MER rack, the holes beside the swaybraces where the bomb lugs fit into, are 14" apart. So that should give you some idea of a scale to go by to see how under scale the MERs you have are.

 

Jari

Edited by Finn
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22 hours ago, crackerjazz said:

Here's a comparison of the sizes.  I was going to recommend the Aerobonus as the detailing looks awesome -- maybe cut it somewhere in the middle and extend it, add cables and rework the spearhead.    But, yeah, I guess you're better off with the kit part.

 

31389144847_2a388cbf32_b.jpg

Thanks crackerjazz, it's a shame the Aerobonus part is wrong as well because the bomb racks have some very nice details to them.

Jari, thanks for that reference shot !!

 

I managed to get some time at the bench last night and installed the fuse covers to the MK-20's, what a PITA that was for me !! My hands/arms are getting worse and this was quite the struggle for me to accomplish.

 

IMG_6274_zpsmtfdu7pg.jpg

 

Now that the covers are installed, I can move the brass wires accordingly to fit the bomb racks better and have the proper spacing between the bombs when installed on the MER.

 

IMG_6275_zps12h5lk8k.jpg

 

Thanks to those who are following along. If only there was a A-6E in 1/18th scale !!  ☹️

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  • 2 weeks later...

Greetings everyone,

Small update for today but, still progress.

I managed to get some things masked off last night and, a little spray booth time in this afternoon. I sprayed the tires and the canopies and once the main canopy is dry, I'll glue it to the resin piece and paint them together.

 

Steve

 

edited-image_zps5wbylq6e.png

 

 

Edited by A-10 LOADER
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Spent most of today laying out and drilling the locating holes, on the port side MER,  for the Rockeye's. I'm still hoping that those holes on the MER's won't be noticeable once the bombs are in place, we'll see. Some wires had to be moved/re-drilled on the bombs to better fit the bomb racks on the MER. Obviously, the wires are too long and they will get trimmed before installation. So, one down and one to go, then I can add the swaypads to the bomb racks and making sure everything lines up. Not really sure what part of this I thought was a good idea, it seemed good in theory.

Thanks for following along everyone.

 

Steve

 

edited-image_zpsplggs4py.png

 

 

 

edited-image_zps64kela5c.png

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by A-10 LOADER
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Very nice work!

 

It's a shame about the AM sizes and fit. I'm used to issues with cockpit parts' model v. actual size, but external stores really should be spot-on! 

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14 hours ago, dnl42 said:

Very nice work!

 

It's a shame about the AM sizes and fit. I'm used to issues with cockpit parts' model v. actual size, but external stores really should be spot-on! 

Thanks dnl42 and, yes your correct, especially for what the AM people charge for their stuff. I could understand if I were using different AM companies parts but, they are both made by the same company, no excuse IMO.

The tricky part comes next, getting all the MK-20's to line up correctly when the swaypad braces are glued to the MER's and, having all the swaypads contact the MK-20's.

 

Steve

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Steve, I'm going to attempt the same tricky bit  as you this weekend,  lining up  poor fitting eduard  parts, I've been putting it off since I found the size discrepancy on mine , but I must move on, it  isn't going on the shelf, I'll be watching yours, all the best

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Thanks Hewy, good luck to you as well.

I got the rest of the locating holes drilled into the starboard side MER and everything seems to line up really good at this point. The next step will be to make the swaybraces line up on the Rockeye's. I'll cut down the wires, on the bombs and, use the Rockeye's to help me keep things in a straight line. That's the plan for now anyway, fingers crossed. Thanks for following along.

Wishing everyone a healthy and Happy New Year.

 

Steve

 

edited-image_zpssx7twrcg.png

Edited by A-10 LOADER
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