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A-1E Skyraider 1/48 - Crossed the Finished Line


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Small update today. It has been a grueling project. I should mention, though you don't see it in the posts, for every 2 steps forward, it set me back 1. The merging between the upper and lower body was a major part of it. Like the old adage "measure twice cut once". In this case, it's planned, mark, measure, and measure, then cut. This is worth the time spent on because this set the stage for everything attached to the body later. 

 

Anyway, I added the exhaust shields on with cut out brass sheets. I cut slots along the fuselage and insert the shields. At this time, I'll leave the tailplanes off until the legs are on. It's easier to make height adjustment this way. I'm working on the legs next.

 

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On 1/6/2019 at 10:32 PM, Tailspin Turtle said:

Thanks for the observation on the lack of curve on the bottom of the aft fuselage. It is true that the stations drawings can not be relied upon for shape. However, the display model drawing might be more accurate (green lines) in that regard so I’ll take a look at how it overlays on the bottom of the aft fuselage one of these days.

The shape of the lower aft fuselage of the AD-6 display model drawing is closer to your A-1E picture (the latter does have a little curvature). 

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I had to replace the original landing gears with a set from SAC. This looks suspiciously like the Tamiya's parts, even the errors. I cut out the skinny telescoping struts in front, replaced them with metal tubings and re-positioned them at an angle. I did have to cut out the KMC resin wheels brake calipers to sand them down to a lower the heights. Otherwise the brake lines would interfere.

 

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Rise up!.

 

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The legs are temporary glued in with Elmers white glue while I check the wings balance. Not bad, 1mm off. And it's because the starboard side leg is more angled than the port side. Once they are parallel, that should take care of the differences. The time it took to merge in the fuselage did pay off.

 

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This interior is added. I had to follow closely with reference pics for the seats positions. Only 2 seats were added in the rear, not sure what else was left in the rear cabinet when this got to Vietnam. This subject is actually designated as A-1G, at one time in the USN stock.  

 

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I had to cut down the gun sight height lower, or it the glass would get into the windscreen. There were lots of fiddly instrument panel maneuvering. The Cobra instrument panel shroud sits too far rearward. The rear edge should be slightly forward of the windscreen's rear frame. But if it's move forward, the same interference with the windscreen occurred. So I left it in the incorrect spot, hoping once the windscreen is on, the error is not too conspicuous. 

 

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I'm starting to get ready to mix the SEA camo paint. My usual go to paint is Tamiya. My mix for the SEA are as:

 

Tan:                      Flat Earth XF-52 mix with 50% Desert Yellow XF-59. Sometimes less Yellow
Medium Green:  Nato Green XF-67 mix with about 20% Sky Grey XF-19. Add a few drop of Khaki Drab XF-51 to get the green tone to closer to the dark green color.

USAF Green:        RAF Green XF81, add  1% XF61 Dark Green.

Mind you this is not exact science. 

 

Test shot on a scrap wing.

 

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At this time, it'd be best to paint the front fuselage around the exhaust pipes before the engine assembly goes on. Since it will be completed and painted, there'll be no way to paint the fuselage without getting paint on the exhaust pipes and cowl flaps.

 

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Edited by trietmcam
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Why not complete the fuselage and the cowling as separate parts, and connect them at the very end?

This should be much easier, as it is not only the paint you should worry, but also the wash and the varnishes.

Just saying...

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Originally, I was going to use the KMC set, but that didn't work out. The cowl diameter is a little too small for the Matchbox fuselage. Comparing to the Tamiya and the Monogram cowl diameter, the KMC cowl is in between, with Tamiya the widest. I guess it was originally intended for the Monogram A-1H kit. I used a resin set from a startup cottage company about a year or 2 ago, I think it's called Hypercat, the name slips from memory currently. It matched the A-1E fuselage perfectly. 

 

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The whole assembly completed

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On 1/16/2019 at 11:37 PM, DIO said:

Why not complete the fuselage and the cowling as separate parts, and connect them at the very end?

This should be much easier, as it is not only the paint you should worry, but also the wash and the varnishes.

Just saying...

 

DIO, either way,  the exhaust pipes behind the 6 side flaps makes it tedious to paint the fuselage afterward. I suppose I could get a tiny point brush through the tight flap openings to paint the details. Thanks for the suggestion I hadn't thought  off.

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The elevetors have a separate trim tabs with linkages on the E's. They're located at the center of the elevators. These weren't on the single seat variants that I know of. 

 

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The pot side linkage is on the bottom, unlike the starboard side.

 

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Edited by trietmcam
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The Skyraiders had some very large rivets in some areas. I used Archers rivets decals to add them on along the wing roots and wheel wells.These decals are a real time savers. They stick well to flat paint too. I was worried they may come off. I had totally forgotten about it until the paint was already on. 

 

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Build detour. I started thinking about ordnance. The Skyraiders were so well known for dropping Napalms during the war. They were often seen with 6 to 8 loads across the wings. I decided to put on the BLU 10 across the wings. These are the old True Details I bought about 6 years back. Haven't seen them around lately. It says 500 lbs on the package, but I think the BLU-10 were 250 lbs. The details are not really great. I added Archer weld beads to represent the weld lines on the housings, and the fuses in front and rear. I tested out various aluminum shades, but ended up using Testors chrome. 

 

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Images of the past.

 

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Starting on the clear parts. I had to sand most of the thick framing off. Finishing off with Tamiya polishing compounds. 

 

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After getting them to acceptable shine level, I went ahead and spray a coat of clear blue on the inside rear canopy. It took 3 coats to get a deep blue. I added  a final coat of Tamiya clear smoke to get the blue a bit darker to get that deep blue look like the real one. The front windscreen needed a little filler. I used a small pointy brush to get the Mr Surfacer to fill in the gaps. I made a homemade sanding device small enough to sand around the edges of the windscreen. I cut a toothpick at a tapered angle and glued in a small piece of sandpaper. This gets around the tight area very easily without disturbing the vinyl tape that was already in place. 

 

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Things are moving closer to painting. But before that can happen, all the little things protruding out needs to be taken care first. 

 

Gun barrels made from brass and steel tubes added.

 

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Static probe on the tail mounted. I did add a middle rudder hinge to the model. Seems the original kit missed this detail.

 

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ADF and VHF antenna added on top spine, as well as IFF antenna bladed added on the bottom fuselage.

 

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We have a plane, sort of. But this look like it's ready for the paint shop. Some of the misc errors were taken cared of. The rear leg height was shorten. I cut part of the strut off to lower the height. The nose cone appeared to be in the corrected angle.

 

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Just checking to see how the stand measure from left to right.

 

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It's been about 2 months since this project was started. This had been a tough kit bash job. Now's a good time to take a break and resume later. I find it always help starting fresh and energized. Thanks for following. Be back a little later and hope to complete it in a few months.

 

Regards

 

Triet C.

 

 

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The painting is done. Because I already painted the front, the rest of the way went fairly uneventful, though I did have to retouch the over spray back and forth a few times. The top was painted first with Tamiya mix. The bottom was painted last. The bottom was Model Master enamel FS36622, lightened with 50% white to get to scale color effect. I used Blue tack putty rolled up putty to mask the outline patterns, and sprayed perpendicular to the surface where possible to get the sharp demarcations. These planes were slow movers, so the paint didn't fade out like the jets in Vietnam. Everyone of the reference pictures I came across showed tightly controlled feathered lines between the 4 colors. 

 

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I put on a gloss coat right away to protect the paint from rubbing off due to handling. It's necessary to do multiple coats to get glossy level, in this case 4 coats of X-22 mixed with half Tamiya brand thinner. This mixed has worked well for me. I always had problems in the past with the gloss coat creating pebbles finish in the corners. By thinning the gloss paint down, the problem went away, though it required repeated coating to get the shine level. The first 2 coats pretty much eaten up by the flat paint. Once it's dried for handling, the gloss coat has a tough hard surface that can withstand repeated handling without paint rubbing off.

 

Sorry the pictures are kind of grainy. I don't know, maybe it's the reflection of the gloss paint, but I had a tough time focusing. It's not as sharp as I'd like.

 

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The macro lense can catch mistakes the eyes can't see. I see flashes needs to be sanded down at the horse shoe wing reinforcement at the left side wing root. This was a scratch build piece. I thought I did a thorough inspection prior to the paint shop, and still missed this.

 

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