Just call me Ray Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Ideally the most advanced representation of the Skyhawk that is represented in OOB kit form! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 What scale are you talking about? Except for the Israeli A-4N, and earlier IAF Skyhawks that were regunned with the 30mm cannon, they all came with the Colt 20mms, including the A-4M. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Just call me Ray Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 Any scale is fine as long as it's 1/48 or below, and I'm referring to the "autocannon delete" modification that most Skyhawks flying for "air forces" have nowadays. The article that inspired this, because it does actually look really cool when loaded to the hilt with every upgrade: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40404/top-aces-aggressor-a-4s-are-now-the-worlds-most-advanced-skyhawks but notice it's cannons are long gone. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skyhawk524 Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 36 minutes ago, Just call me Ray said: Any scale is fine as long as it's 1/48 or below, and I'm referring to the "autocannon delete" modification that most Skyhawks flying for "air forces" have nowadays. The article that inspired this, because it does actually look really cool when loaded to the hilt with every upgrade: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40404/top-aces-aggressor-a-4s-are-now-the-worlds-most-advanced-skyhawks but notice it's cannons are long gone. Those are A-4N's, which are former Israeli Air Force. As Dave mentioned, they were upgraded with 30mm cannons, which required the larger fairings. Only Hasegawa has released a 1/48 kit of the N, and like most Hasegawa A-4's, it isn't the easiest to come by. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Just call me Ray Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 (edited) Sure, thanks! I'm also open to kits representing late Argentine or Brazilian A-4s. Edited April 30, 2021 by Just call me Ray Adding more panache :p Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spejic Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 (edited) 10 hours ago, Just call me Ray said: I'm also open to kits representing late Argentine or Brazilian A-4s. Unfortunately, there are no kits for Argentinian or the very latest Brazillian A-4's. The Argentinian A-4's modifications of the A-4M are pretty much all in the cockpit with a bunch of new antennas and bumps. I have a list of changes with correctly sized templates for 1/72. If you want to see it I can post it, and I can resize it to 1/48 if you wish. The original Brazilian A-4 (the AF-1 Falcão) was just a A-4KU, which is pretty much an early A-4M. But the upgraded AF-1B has a new cockpit, new antennas, and some complicated structures on the nose. If you are serious about making a 1/72 version of the AF-1B, then I can help with that too. I was working on such an aircraft and scratchbuilt the nose structures and have made resin copies of the nose. edit: note that the AF-1B currently doesn't carry guns. They might be fitted later or as needs arise because the area is still painted black to hide powder marks which wouldn't make sense if the guns were never to return. Edited May 1, 2021 by spejic Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JackMan Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 2 hours ago, spejic said: Unfortunately, there are no kits for Argentinian or the very latest Brazillian A-4's. The Argentinian A-4's modifications of the A-4M are pretty much all in the cockpit with a bunch of new antennas and bumps. I have a list of changes with correctly sized templates for 1/72. If you want to see it I can post it, and I can resize it to 1/48 if you wish. The original Brazilian A-4 (the AF-1 Falcão) was just a A-4KU, which is pretty much an early A-4M. But the upgraded AF-1B has a new cockpit, new antennas, and some complicated structures on the nose. If you are serious about making a 1/72 version of the AF-1B, then I can help with that too. I was working on such an aircraft and scratchbuilt the nose structures and have made resin copies of the nose. Yes, please post those! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Just call me Ray Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 7 hours ago, spejic said: Unfortunately, there are no kits for Argentinian or the very latest Brazillian A-4's. The Argentinian A-4's modifications of the A-4M are pretty much all in the cockpit with a bunch of new antennas and bumps. I have a list of changes with correctly sized templates for 1/72. If you want to see it I can post it, and I can resize it to 1/48 if you wish. The original Brazilian A-4 (the AF-1 Falcão) was just a A-4KU, which is pretty much an early A-4M. But the upgraded AF-1B has a new cockpit, new antennas, and some complicated structures on the nose. If you are serious about making a 1/72 version of the AF-1B, then I can help with that too. I was working on such an aircraft and scratchbuilt the nose structures and have made resin copies of the nose. edit: note that the AF-1B currently doesn't carry guns. They might be fitted later or as needs arise because the area is still painted black to hide powder marks which wouldn't make sense if the guns were never to return. I'm not married to any particular scale, I just put 1/48 as an upper limit, as a matter of fact if anything I prefer 1/72 just for space concerns. But then again of course I wouldn't mind you posting and sharing too 🙂 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spejic Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 10 hours ago, JackMan said: Yes, please post those! Sure. I've updated it to make it clearer. Print it at 300dpi for 1/72 aircraft. A good image view program like Irfanview will let you do that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spejic Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 5 hours ago, Just call me Ray said: I'm not married to any particular scale, I just put 1/48 as an upper limit, as a matter of fact if anything I prefer 1/72 just for space concerns. But then again of course I wouldn't mind you posting and sharing too 🙂 I have a build thread on the construction. It might help: It wasn't finished because I had canopy issues and it's currently sitting not collecting dust in a plastic container until I get the will to fix it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JackMan Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Great Stuff, spejic ! Thank you! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Glynn Jacobs Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Excellent stuff Spejic! Also note that the nose cone changed as an earlier F-16 radar was added. This has been one of my largest stumbling blocks as I have had a hard time getting it correct in profile. In the cockpit, (by the way, your instrument panel looks FANTASTIC!) the hand grip on the control column is changed to (I believe) the same one used on an F/A-18. Looking forward to using these drawings but I sure wish SOMEONE would make a resin nose replacement! (OR a complete conversion set with cockpit, E.C.M. gear, nose, and electronics hump!). Thank You, WARDOG Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spejic Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 3 hours ago, Glynn Jacobs said: Also note that the nose cone changed as an earlier F-16 radar was added. This has been one of my largest stumbling blocks as I have had a hard time getting it correct in profile. I just kind of eye-balled mine. Since the new nose is shorter and the parts are thick you can pretty much get away with sanding the Fujimi nose to shape, filling the lines, and adding the lightning things. I didn't add drawings because photographs are always a little distorted at the edges (where the nose would be) and I don't want to seem like the arbiter of what the nose should look like. There's also a new small cooling intake in the nose and a handful of other differences (like the cloth(?) used between the HUD and the windscreen, or how they don't have that quilted stuff on the sides of the cockpit) but I didn't feel they required templates for the parts so I didn't list all of them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Glynn Jacobs Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 Hi Spejic, Understood about the nose. My skills with scratch-building at 62 leave a lot to be desired, especially on compound shapes! Yeah, I also saw the panel line and cooling intake changes from the regular A-4M. There IS a canvas covering between the HUD and windscreen and the lack of quilted insulation on the cockpit sides. I'll be using the rear ECM bullets from my old Hasegawa OA-4M kit and I'll fabricate as many of the other parts as I can. STILL wishing that ResKit would make conversion parts though! I've flown the TA-4J trainer in the Navy and I can tell you the A-4 is fun to fly! A bit tight in the cockpit, (I'm 6'2") and a little tough to land in cross-winds because of the high, narrow landing gear but real fun when doing acrobatics or mock ACM. Ah, the good old days! Anyway, Thank You again for the excellent details. One day, I'll move this project further up on my list! Take Care, WARDOG Quote Link to post Share on other sites
a4s4eva Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 On 5/1/2021 at 6:52 AM, Just call me Ray said: Any scale is fine as long as it's 1/48 or below, and I'm referring to the "autocannon delete" modification that most Skyhawks flying for "air forces" have nowadays. The article that inspired this, because it does actually look really cool when loaded to the hilt with every upgrade: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40404/top-aces-aggressor-a-4s-are-now-the-worlds-most-advanced-skyhawks but notice it's cannons are long gone. What does Auto cannon delete modification mean? It don't think it's actually a thing? if you are asking why don't they have cannons fitted, its because unless you are using the guns regularly there is no reason to. And clearly all the civilian ones won't be doing gunnery -ever. They have simply removed the guns (saving weight) and fitted the fairing over the wing roots. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 The 20mm cannon armed ones (as well as the A-4Ns, which never had the 20mm cannons) they used the wing root fairing to cover the notch where the gun barrel was. For the ex IAF aircraft armed with the 30mm cannons, they blanked off the end, but kept the underwing fairing. I think I’ve seen a few with a clear lens on the end of one of the 30 mm fairings, which indicates that they might be using the fairing for a camera or some other sensor. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.