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Revell A-6E Intruder rescribe


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Looking good crackerjazz.

I would close up the fuselage halves before doing any scribing on those areas where the seam is. You'll have to do some sanding along the seam, then do your scribing. Don't go too crazy on the top seam down the spine because you'll be adding the "non-slip" textured walkway area and, that will hide a lot of it.

The panel that you have painted up, the one with the shroud, is for the TRAM version.

Steve

Edited by A-10 LOADER
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Thanks, Steve! : )  Hey, Mr. Happy, thanks for stopping by! : )

 

This area in the back of the cockpit with some of the guts showing won't really be visible with the canopy closed but I wanted to see what the kit part looks like with some weathering.

 

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Test-fitted the cockpit and went around the fuse and glued up the seams.

 

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Weathered the floors a little...

 

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I want to try and fix the throttle and the stick on the BN's side that I lost.  And later on I can do the seats and coaming.     Then will close up the belly and I could start scribing again -- hey, I'm excited about scribing already -- this shouldn't happen  : )

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On 12/8/2022 at 5:39 PM, wardog said:

 The smart thing to do is practice on scrap plastic but I'm not that smart so I used my model as the test mule...

And made a silk purse out of a sow's ear : )   I've yet to see how my scribe lines stand to sludge wash.  I think I'm learning how to control the pressure and depth now, somehow.   Still have a lot to learn, though, and the pin still does slip every now and then.   It can be frustrating especially when after removing the template the ends of the lines don't meet up.   But it can be really rewarding when it turns out really well.  I even look forward to each scribing session now.   I haven't reached the zone though -- like the zen one experiences in the middle of painting the walls of a room going up and down with that brush  -- maybe someday haha.

 

On 12/9/2022 at 9:26 PM, kike said:

For tight spotsI used narrow strips of dymo tape, IMHO is easier to get in place and you don't cut your templates, but that's me, in a small town in Guatemala, so everything is expensive here and hard to get...

Here, too, and so sad to see a lot of hobby shops close down.   But Gundam shops seem to be thriving.  I used to think that modeling is a dying hobby and kids nowadays prefer computer games with quick reward over modeling but this anime model shop I visit for their tools seem to see lots of traffic from young 'uns.  

 

On 12/14/2022 at 5:01 PM, Thadeus said:

For long straight lines I use a tape measure cut up to pieces of different lenght. Might come in handy when doing the upper fuselage lines.

That's an awesome tip, thanks Thadeus!

 

On 12/17/2022 at 3:49 AM, my favs are F`s said:

Howdy! 🙂 A very intriguing and nice looking rescribing adventure! Looks fantastic, but likely a very long adventure on the horizon... then adding rivets...

Hi MFAF, yes looks like a long road ahead  : )  I thought I saw one of those riveting wheels somewhere - will have to check it out.   

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Thanks, Steve!   I just looked at your Intruder dio again and it looks awesome!   : )     Hope I can turn my Intruder into something as good.   

 

I need to close up the belly for more bottom scribing but had to install the mounting pipes first.   I turned the fuselage around in my hands and chose a spot that wouldn't interfere with any of the wing racks, landing gear, doors or any other parts.    I hope I chose correctly.   I'm actually starting to wonder if the drop tank is in the way...

 

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It always hurts punching holes on a fine model but what can you do?      Maybe someday they'll invent anti-gravity and there won't be any need for primitive display mounts : )

 

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Sorry Mr. Intruder..   We'll get this over with as quickly as possible.

 

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Right after this shot I pressed down on the edges and levelled everything flush, applied the glue and let it dry.  Then I wondered at those big open walls in the nose gear bay.   I then looked at the instructions and my eyes grew wide.   It calls from gluing the walls on first  : (      Tamiya glue kind of melts and welds the parts together.  To think that I had to rip it open again gave me the shivers.

 

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Did it anyway....Here's after teardown and re-gluing.   You should all learn from my mistakes.    

 

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A little more sanding and it should be good.

 

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I stared at this for some time.   I wanted to unhook that hook.

 

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Broke out the dremel and started hacking at it.

 

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I'm comparing the arrestor hook to pics online and the "Y" portion looks to be tubular.  Will see if I can make a new hook.   Will also have to figure out how to close up the hole : (   I realize my troubles are really my own undoing.

 

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crackerjazz, your build is coming along great! Now that you've spent considerable time scribing, it isn't as bad as one would think. Still a daunting task, but at least you're now able to approach it with a lot more confidence and skill. 

 

And I know what you mean about drilling those big mounting tubes into an otherwise fine model, never a good feeling. Although not the same, I struggled a lot with the fact that applying the non-skid to the tops of the wings and spine will cover a lot of the scribing work I've done in that area, especially along the forward, wing root sections. All that work, just to be forever obscured. 

 

Again, great job on this old kit! Good luck going forward.

 

-Elmo

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Thanks, Elmo! : )

 

A little progress on the tailhook..

 

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The body of the hook is an i-beam shape  so I kind of carved up the side near the hook and sandwiched the middle with some styrene.  The Y part is tubular -- found some scrap aluminum tubes of the right size.

 

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The rear portion should angle upwards a little so I bent it a bit into shape.

 

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A little putty should take care of the seams.

 

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At first, I started following this build to see the scribing work; now, I also see an excellent scratch-building work.

 

From what it seems, you are going for a banking landing scene similar to your icon, am I right?

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Hi Steve, yeah, the more i read about the Intruder the more impressed I become  -- I thought I might as well build it : ) 

 

Hi Cruiz, yes, that's what I was going for -- so I dont have to build the MK-82s.  But now I realize I have to drop the flaps : )    Wow, i just realized -  the SLUF cartoon I drew is trying to land with ordance, lol.

 

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I decided to replace the kit crew figures with some Tamiya ones but used Tamiya F-14 heads with the open visors.   Had to replace the necks with styrene so I can place them in a more natural position.

 

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I kept losing the wire-wrapped hoses.   They were a bit tricky to attach.   By the way, I was thinking about fixing those gaps in the back of the cockpit but the area will just be hidden when the canopy is closed up.

 

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Thanks, Steve! : )   I've seen you guys do that so I thought I might as well do it too : )

 

Some progress with the kit seats.   I'm wondering why they decided to mold the seat bottoms to the cockpit floor.   Painting would have been easier had they been separate.   I'm comparing the upper half to some reference photos, though, and the detailing on them looks really good.  There are some missing scissor thingies on the top of the seats so I cut off a portion of the top and fashioned a couple to add a little detail.  Added the rocket tubes as well.  Had to hold them in place with some styrene.

 

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Those rails in the back look to be a little too big, I think, which make the seats sit too far fom fhe rear bulkhead.  The little brackets on the back are too far from the rear of the seats.  There's no way to modify the rails now, though, since the cockpit tub is glued place.   It would also require cutting off the molded on seat bottoms, which I wouldn't dare try and it might affect other stuff as well so I'd better leave them as is.

 

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The seats are looking good, really excellent scratch-building there.

Your right about the bottom half of the seat being part of the cockpit floor, not a well thought out idea. This is one of the reasons why I used a resin cockpit for my A-6E, plus the details are much better. Yours will look fine when it's all said and done, keep up the great work.

Steve

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crackerjazz, as mentioned before, great job you're doing here. This kit has many shortcomings, as we all know; however, considering its age, it builds up into a very nice representation of an Intruder. Best of all, it actually looks like an Intruder when finished. Back in the day, Monogram was known for producing very nice models; they'd get the shape correct most of the time and I always considered them to be a notch above Revell kits. As a young kid, I remember sitting in my Junior High classrooms, lost in my own little world as I carefully reviewed the colorful pamphlets that came with their big 48th scale bomber models, such as the B-17 and others. These pamphlets depicted dioramas built by the great modeler, Sheperd Paine and were beyond amazing for the time. If you've never seen any of Sheperd's dioramas, I urge to do so.

 

Keep up the great work.

 

-Elmo

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Thanks, Steve and Elmo!  : )    I had to look up Sheperd Payne's stuff.  That's some truly astounding work.    Looks like he didn't really limit his dioramas to just one particular area -- they seem to cover a whole lot of different subjects.   I can get lost looking at displays like that too.   I visited a museum once where they have these box dioramas embedded into the walls.    The lighting was magnificent and it was just like being there.  Some of them even had the perspective built in so the objects were actually distorted but when viewed from the window looked so real : )

 

Some progress on the crew figures:

 

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Will have to fix those hinges where the tempate kind of moved while rescribing.   Also need to sand down those scribing ridges.     

 

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Next up -- harnesses, coaming, then more rescribing.   Oh wait, almost forgot the walls of the arrestor hook bay -- that I'm not too excited to get back to : )

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Coming along nicely. A word of caution as you progress. The windscreen does not have the best fit; however, with some filling and blending where it joins the fuselage, you can get decent results. Also, watch out for that big refueling probe sticking out, it's just waiting to get broken off by an errant swipe of the hand. I'm using a resin probe and decided to split it where the base and upper section meet, and only glued the base to the fuselage so I can blend it in. I'll attach the upper probe section to its base at the end of the build.

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Thanks, Steve!  Janissary, so nice to have you pop in, thanks! : )

 

1 hour ago, wardog said:

A word of caution as you progress. The windscreen does not have the best fit...

You're right I'd better check the windscreen.  And hopefully the canopy sits flush without glue.   It"s tricky sometimes with these older kits. I had to force a canopy shut once and glued it on and I ended up not being able to clean the sanding dust inside the cockpit : )

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Glued the IP coaming on:

 

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There aren't any tabs undertneath he coaming for aligning with the IP so I just had to eyeball it.   There's a little gap at the front end but I do see some builds online with bigger gaps.    I can't really find any photos of what this particular area looks like in reality so I'll just leave it as is -- I think the windscreen framing will hide it somewhat as well. 

 

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I test-fitted the windscreen and it looks good so far without any modifications.  I may have lucked out on this kit.  I've had different experiences on my A-7E Corsair canopies of the same make in the past.  One fit like a glove while the others needed some cajoling to lay flat.  

 

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The edges line up with the fuselage.  No width issues so far..

 

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I may have to shim this with a piece of styrene but overall I'm quite happy with the windscreen.

 

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I"ve yet to test the sliding section of the canopy, though.  I kind of misplaced it.  I remember keeping it somewhere safe when I took it out as it had these little scratches on it.

Edited by crackerjazz
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Looks good CJ. If your concerned with that gap, where the IP coaming meets the nose, you could flood that seam with some more glue and fill it in. Honestly the front windscreen will hide most of it especially once everything is painted black.

Steve

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CJ,

 

You’ve done such a wonderful job on the old Revell A-6.  and your updates are amazing.

 

I’m gonna have to bookmark this build as you have covered so many steps to be aware of on this kit. 
 

Good luck with the rest of the progress and we are eagerly awaiting your next update.

 

Mr. Happy
 

 

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Thanks, Steve!  Always good to have you stop by, Mr. Happy!  Thanks for the kind words : ) 

 

Painted the coaming and weathered it a bit...

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So much for the happy days -- back to work and to reality!   P   Will try to update again soon : )   By the way, I was looking for some A-6 Intruder movies besides Flight of The Intruder.  Found a tv movie in YT  -- "When Hell Was in Session" where Hal Halbrook plays a downed pilot.  Wish there were more Intruder scenes, though.

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