Exterior “plate” on A-4 intakes question

[BuNo02100]

Was this “plate” on all A-4s?  It’s kind of a pain to work around.  And did it have a panel line or do I need to fill it?  

[jbryan911]

I believe it's only on later models. I sanded it off for my stalled early 'Nam build.

[spejic]

Try to find pictures of the aircraft you are modelling. That support is seen on some E's and F's and not in others. In my photo collection I can't find it on other variants of the Skyhawk, which is no guarantee because this is a thin piece of metal and hard to see on clean aircraft in 1970's and 80's film.

 

There is no panel line on the support itself.

[KursadA]

It is visible on this preserved aircraft - Flickr has many good photos of it:

 

 

[BuNo02100]

Thanks @spejic and @KursadA,  went back over tons of pics and it appears to be time frame and airframe specific.  As it turns out, I finally ran across a pic of the specific aircraft I am depicting and after learning “how” to look for it, it is definitely there.  
 

BW

[Rob de Bie]

From the heart, there are a few more doublers on the fuselage of many A-4 versions. It heavily depends on the lighting whether they are visible.

 

Rob

[spejic]

5 hours ago, Rob de Bie said:

From the heart, there are a few more doublers on the fuselage of many A-4 versions. It heavily depends on the lighting whether they are visible.

 

I did find one example on a A-4L. While I have a couple thousand images of the A-4, you could never tell one way or the other on most of them because of the quality of the film/scan/lighting. But there are also very late A-4E and F's (like those in aggressor squadrons) without them, so it really depends on the particular airframe. I don't see them on Skyhawks with enlarged intakes (probably because they wouldn't even fit), and I have also yet to see one on a TA-4J (again, that is not proof they were no TA-4J's with them) and the Hasegawa kit of the TA-4J does not include it.

 

[Alternative 4]

Royal New Zealand Airforce A-4's and Australian Navy A-4's didn't have them.

[Rob de Bie]

On 2/18/2024 at 7:14 PM, Rob de Bie said:

From the heart, there are a few more doublers on the fuselage of many A-4 versions. It heavily depends on the lighting whether they are visible.

 

I remembered where I saw the additional doublers: two videos about A-4s used as aggressors. Here are two scenes where they can be seen.

 

https://youtu.be/GlCRs-gINUY?si=32VyVQ3bwOtOxsDy&t=1115

 

https://youtu.be/e1i2vVPgG8o?si=wkitZHWC0Op1a28S&t=544

 

That's all I know - don't claim to be an A-4 expert.

Rob