Wolfman_63 Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 This next build is Trumpeter’s 1/48 ERA-3B of VAQ-33. This is being built for a Chief Petty Officer who was part of the air crew. The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior was originally built as a jet bomber in the 1950’s. It evolved into a few variants. The KA-3 was used as a refueling craft. The ERA-3B was an ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) role used in Viet Nam and for many years during the Cold War. It performed briefly during the Gulf War then was finally retired in September 1991. I will be adding photo etch details from Eduard. Starting with the cockpit I detailed the 3 seats, rear bulkhead, dash and equipment rack. The photo etch set even includes the handles for the electronic equipment. I then built up the nose radar assembly and the nose gear bay. There were no extra details for the radar but the nose gear bay had detailed photo etch walls and wiring. I added some hydraulic lines as well with 32awg wire. Next was the electronic ELINT cabin that sits behind the cockpit. There were no details except for seat belts so I added some cushions using cloth tape. Next up will be detailing the main gear bays then assembling the fuselage. See all the details and more photos in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-era-3b-skywarrior-vaq-33/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 Wow! one of my favorite jets. I'll be looking forward to this build. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VG 33 Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 Fantastic. I'm looking forward. Patrick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BuNo02100 Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Don’t see many of these built up, very interested in seeing this one come along. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Wolfman63, Nice job so far on the pieces you've worked on. The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior, is definitely "old-school" and you don't see too many examples being modeled. Should be a good one when its all-said and done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Major Walt Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Outstanding work on the flight deck! This has special significance for me. My dad worked on avionics components for the B-66, the A3’s evil blue twin (USAF) when he was stationed at RAF Sculthorpe (my birth place). I wish Trumpeter would produce the B-66 as well... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfman_63 Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 This week’s update covers a lot. With the current virus situation I have more time on the bench. To begin with I used the photo etch accessories to detail the main gear bays, The air brakes, the rear wheel bay, and the tail hook area. I then noticed on the reference photos there is a scoop aft of the air brake on the starboard side. The kit provides a very crude representation of this. I trimmed the edge then scratch built the intake vanes. The kit comes with detailed engines so I built them up and added some detailed plumbing with some wire then built up the engine assembly. Fir the exhaust and the rear engine housing I used pastel chalk to weather them. Starting at the exhaust I used black faded to brown and finally blue to represent the heat discoloration of the panels. Details on using pastel chalk is in my Tips and Tricks section https://davidsscalemodels.com/tips-and-tricks/weathering-with-pastel-chalk/ Another thing that I noticed in the reference photos is they forgot to add the chaff blocks under the air brakes. I had some extra photo etch chaff blocks so I added this missing detail myself. Finally I started to base coat everything using Gull gray on top, white bottom and red for the inside of the air brakes, tail wheel, and side scoop. It is now ready for the decals. See all the details and more photos from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-era-3b-skywarrior-vaq-33/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfman_63 Posted May 1, 2020 Author Share Posted May 1, 2020 The ERA-3B Skywarrior has been finished. This was an interesting kit to build. Some of the things to watch for if you build this are some of the antennas are not included I the kit. The main landing gear can be challenging as noted before. The side APUs will need to be modified. If you mount them as the kit has them they sit way too close to the fuselage. I trimmed off the mount and used a styrene rod to move them a little farther from the fuselage. It is nice that they included the ELINT section, however you can barely see it thru the small window. The decals were very good. They laid down well and with a little decal solvent the underlying details came right in. The overall fit was pretty good with very little putty was needed. The one thing that was kind of a pain is that the injection marks on many parts were on the sides that show, especially on the landing gear bays. The photo etch covered most but there are a few that need to be addressed. Now I just need to wait until the shelter in place restrictions ease up so I can present it to the Chief. Check out the details and photos from the start at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-era-3b-skywarrior-vaq-33/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 That's really nice! It would be even nicer to park a Tomcat next to it for size comparison. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 Just beautiful! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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