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Magic Fatory A4-M (VMA-131)


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Hey guys...

 

Ok starting the build.

 

The kit:

dIDFDMZ.jpg

 

Will model the 0024 Diamondbacks liveried A-4M. 

 

I'm going to have this guy in flight... wheels partially up taking off from a runway. 

 

Thank you to Jason who created some awesome blurred images ... one of which I will use as the base of the diorama.

 

Thanks to Steve for sharing awesome photos here: 

 And thanks Steve for photos of the Pilot with helmet... Col. Lake, call sign "EAGLE":

 

Eo57yN5.jpg

 

Since this jet will be in flight I needed to pull an old Hasegawa 1:48 pilot I had lying around... started on the helmet.  Tried to replicate best I could.  Will be in a closed cockpit situation so I think it'll be ok...

 

pfJM4ZA.jpg

 

bZCFu2Q.jpg

 

QpIe25O.jpg

 

More to come as events warrant 😉

 

Cheers gang,

 

-Greg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick update.

 

So I’m well into this project and I have to say I’m NOT enjoying this kit at all.

I read and watched a number of reviews of this kit… all extremely positive, with very few negatives. But let me just say, for those thinking of buying this kit, take a few minutes to consider the following before shelling out your hard earned dollars…

 

Cons:

  • Craterous panel lines – way, waaaaaay, too heavy!
  • Incalculable riveting.
  • Soft plastic, so when putting pieces together you don’t aways get a good seam match.  The soft plastic is also hard to sand in that when you sand a flat surface, the plastic is so soft it plastic filed residue keeps hanging on to the edge of the surface you were just sanding/filing.  Kit does not go together very well at all IMHO.
  • Prepare for lots of sanding and putty work (been using lots of Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer to fill the small seams that seem to be left everywhere after assembly), which is all the more complex with all the riveting.
  • Frustrating instructions.  They could have broken out the processes further with more close ups which would have made the build up process so much more enjoyable.  Generally the instructions are hard to read and in some cases hard to follow… so dry test fit as much as possible before committing to cement.  I'm finding myself going back and forth in the instructions way to much even just to understand placement of a piece or what it should look like later in the build.
  • This is definitely not a ‘shake and bake kit’.  You would think that with all the modern tech they could produce kits closer to Tamiya quality… which I was hoping for  based on the reviews, but nope!
  • Way too many pieces to this kit.  It’s almost as though they have made this kit overly complex – unnecessarily over-engineered.  But I think they are planning on different variants in the future so all this over-engineering will mean less casting of new bits for Magic Factory in the end. 
  • No pilot – and very expensive to buy the official Magic Factory pilot(s).  I’ve used an old Hasegawa pilot which works very will with some creative alternations.

 

Pros:

  • Great internals that enable you to display the jet with all it’s hatches open – kit is designed for this.  So if you want to build an A-4 with closed hatches or even in flight… do yourself a favor and buy the Hesegawa kit – which is what I should have done.
  • Great decals
  • Great weapons options
  • We get another Scooter 😊

 

Overall:

 

So overall I would not recommend this kit.

 

Now, if you want to build this kit with all open panels and all ‘dirtied up’ with lots of pre-shading and wear and tear… in other words heavy weathering, then you can easily hide many of the imperfections, including all the heavy panel lines.  But if you want to stay true to the decal sets included - from those dates with those markings, the jets did not have heavy wear and tear and therefore no need for any level of heavy weathering.  And why would you not use the decals sets provided... wonderful decals by Cartograph.

 

I don’t like building models from fantasy land, I would rather replicate what they were like in the real world at the time.  Just my personal preference.  I’m actually dreading the painting process as I just don’t know how it will turn out in the end.

But onward and forward!

 

Kit is not cheap so I felt obligated to give you guys my 2 cents worth before any of you decide to make the purchase.  For me, I should have just stuck with the Hasegawa kit for this project... I was way to optimistic about a new mold that everyone was so hopped up about...

 

Cheers guys and Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canucks!

 

-Greg

 

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Wow, Greg. I can feel your frustration in your post.

 

But it's a great post and I appreciate the way you detailed out the pros & cons.  Very informative and makes me think that I was right in avoiding it and sticking to the Hasegawa Skyhawks.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/16/2024 at 11:06 AM, lgl007 said:

Cool.  You gonna put up some pics for us to see the finished beast?  🙂 

 

-Greg


My finished A-4C is over in the Display Case forum.

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Ok... so progress is slow due to real life getting in the way of fun 😉

 

Here's the old workstation... working on the project...

2C8f01s.jpg

 

Fit is not the best for sure... but I have worked with worse.  Definitely had to use the filler:

 

QKkbGme.jpg

 

At2mCa5.jpg

 

sfpBkUy.jpg

 

CJJOIH9.jpg

 

I've decided this bird will be in the air, taking off with wheels half way up... something I've never attempted before... I'm trying a unique way of mounting this bird via a very thin wire through the mail fuel drop tank... stay tuned.  But to accomplish this I needed to reinforce the mount points for each piece.  Notice the incredibly deep (and prominent) panel lines and rivetting of this kit - I'm not a fan... prefer the more subtle Hasegawa and Tamiya panel lines...

 

IPd5gr1.jpg

 

mkBZdc1.jpg

 

So I've decided I need to some some very subtle pre shading on this bird to give it some depth when finished and used German Gray, basically as a primer...

 

wBURGDS.jpg

 

0XyeD6d.jpg

 

KPypMnF.jpg

 

As this bird will be in flight (take off)... I've gotten the base plate ready as well as the blurred runway I'm going to use:

 

mHYaCvh.jpg

 

eYQeX0t.jpg

 

A HUGE THANK YOU TO Jason (JNordgren42) ... a member of our community... who graciously sent me some wonderful blurred images of runways, wooded areas and oceans, not only for this project but future projects as well... THANKS JASON!!!!  U DA MAN!

 

That's it for now folks.  Will continue to update as events warrant 🙂

 

Best,

 

-Greg

Edited by lgl007
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This is a great idea for a project. Panel lines do remind me of first Kinetic F-16. They do however look pretty nice under a coat of paint. Perhaps giving one additional coat of paint could help?

Powodzenia!

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey everyone,

 

A bit more progress made.  All painted up and ready for the gloss coat before decal application... tried to keep the pre-shading subtle on this one.  Without it, it just looked too 'toy like' and anemic...

 

Masks provided by the kit worked the charm for the canopy and front anti glare black area on the nose.

 

IrtnuPz.jpg

 

rd5i5JJ.jpg

 

AC9RCwb.jpg

 

-Greg

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32 minutes ago, lgl007 said:

Hey Rich, you gotta help me out... got any photos?  Not sure what they look like on the A-4...

 

-Greg

It's the raised fairing on the underside starboard wing, it shouldn't be there.

Steve

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7 hours ago, lgl007 said:

Hey Rich, you gotta help me out... got any photos?  Not sure what they look like on the A-4...

 

-Greg


RY7N0uz.jpeg

Greg,

Part C22 should be omitted. Sorry for not pointing it out sooner!

 

Edited by RichB63
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Oh hell, I already have it glued on... No worries Rich... thanks for pointing it out.  I'll have to think on this... not sure I want to go through all the surgery at this stage of the game.  was hoping it was something simple that wasn't glued on yet 😉  Thanks Rich.  Appreciate the help.

 

-Greg

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