1/48 SOUTH VIETNAMESE AIR FORCE A1E (KIT BASHING TAMIYA/MONOGRAM A1H, MATCHBOX AD5, ACVU MODELS 3D PRINTED COCKPIT, COWL, WHEEL WELLS, METALLIC DETAILS ENGINE KIT).

[dai phan]

Hello everyone,

 

As the F-104 projects are winding down, I am heading toward another ambitious kit bashing project. Stay tuned. Dai 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2025 by dai phan

[dai phan]

The parts are beautifully printed. Dai

 

Edited November 26, 2025 by dai phan

[Geoff M]

Knowing your attention to detail this should be a real treat!  Watching.

[dai phan]

The engine detail is fantastic. Dai 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2025 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Very detailed wing fold mechanism. Dai 

 

[dai phan]

Hello all,

 

I started the conversion and it was much more difficult than I thought when joining the Tamiya and Matchbox fuselage halves. It could be beyond my ability to achieve. However in January 1998 issue of Fine Scale Modeler, the author used the entire MB fuselage and Monogram wings. I have seen some builds on the Net with excellent results using this construction method so I may go this route. I already ordered couple of Monogram and replacement MB kits. I will do the kit bash this way and if that works I will change the title of this thread. Dai 

[ST0RM]

I'm curious to know where you had the difficulty. Where were the joins between the Tamiya and Matchbox fuselage? 
Thats a story in itself. But it is also good that you found a solution and will proceed. 

-Jeff

[dai phan]

45 minutes ago, ST0RM said:

I'm curious to know where you had the difficulty. Where were the joins between the Tamiya and Matchbox fuselage? 
Thats a story in itself. But it is also good that you found a solution and will proceed. 

-Jeff

There is lots of mismatch and I can see lots and lots of putty will be needed. Using the entire MB fuselage and Monogram wings seem to be a better solution as there are less seams to deal with. I just bought the old Fine Scale Modeler 1998 January issue where the author did the kit bash using this method. Will keep you all informed. Dai 

[dai phan]

These are good references for my project, Dai 

 

https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2009/12/widebody-skyraider.html

 

http://nabe3saviation.web.fc2.com/waA1E.html

Edited December 4, 2025 by dai phan

[ST0RM]

On 12/1/2025 at 10:13 AM, dai phan said:

There is lots of mismatch and I can see lots and lots of putty will be needed. Using the entire MB fuselage and Monogram wings seem to be a better solution as there are less seams to deal with. I just bought the old Fine Scale Modeler 1998 January issue where the author did the kit bash using this method. Will keep you all informed. Dai 

👍Good deal!

[dai phan]

Hello all,

 

The 1998 January Fine Scale Modeler had an article where the entire MB fuse was mated to the Monogram wings rather than fuselage to fuselage mating of the Tamiya and MB. I had tried the latter and it seems to be more work than the first method. I am still waiting for the Monogram kits to arrive and will let you know what method I prefer. In the mean time I added styrene reinforcements to the wing roots as advised by the author. Dai 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2025 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Hi all,

 

The Metallic Details engine designed for the Tamiya kit is very nice but it would not slide over the Tamiya cowl as it is slightly bigger than the opening !!! That is too bad as I am planning to use it with open bays. The Matchbox cowl is very poor so I plan to use the Tamiya's instead. The Monogram cowl is slightly undersized. The Monogram kit should be arriving today so I can work on the wings. Dai 

 

PS: I have emailed Metallic Details on my issue. I wondered if they had resized the kit for re-printing? 

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2025 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Kit bashing has begun. Dai 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2025 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Hi all,

 

In the article the author corrected the wing root gaps by cutting the wing in halves, removed some plastic and brought the wings together. I did not do this route as that will shorten the span as well as losing nice details on the bottom of the wings. I just added plastic strips and sand them until they are barely touching the fuselage sides. You do not want this area tight that can spread the wings and lose dihedral. So far the mating of the wings went much easier than I expected but measure 5 times and cut only once! I notice the dihedral on the Monogram wings is not enough (like Tamiya's) so I have to sand some more at the roots and bring the wings upwards. Dai 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2025 by dai phan

[jbryan911]

Not sure if this will help or hinder you. A flying A-1E at the National Museum of WWII Aviation in Colorado. 

 

https://jbryan.smugmug.com/Airplanes/USAF/USAF-Attack/A-1E-52-132683

 

 

Edited December 9, 2025 by jbryan911

[dai phan]

4 minutes ago, jbryan911 said:

Not sure if this will help or hinder you. A flying A-1E at the National Museum of WWII Aviation in Colorado. 

 

https://jbryan.smugmug.com/Airplanes/USAF/USAF-Attack/A-1E-52-132683

 

 

The museum touts as WW2 but many planes are post WW2. I have looked at 3 views of the A1E and the Monogram wings do not have enough dihedral and must be corrected. Dai 

[dai phan]

Greetings,

 

The dihedral on the Monogram wing is not enough and must be corrected. I thin the white plastic strips and will bend the wings up gluing to the fuselage sides. These sides must be rigid withstanding tensile forces or else the tensile force from the wings will pull the fuselage sides out resulting in no improvement in dihedral. I cemented 2 rigid bars to make sure the sides are rigid. With the correct amount of dihedral, very close fit of the wings to the fuselage side is noted. Dai 

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2025 by dai phan

[Cubs2jets]

Dai,

 

Try fitting the wings with the new interior slipped into place.  It may spread the fuselage walls?  Really nice progress!

 

C2j

[dai phan]

Hello all,

 

Interesting discovery. The wings on the AD6 Navy (blue) version is perfect in dihedral. I think the weight from the sprues flatten the original gray one (1980 release) and you can see the difference. I do not think it was retooled but what a big difference as you can see. Dry fitting indicates perfect dihedral without any help of the tape. Dai 

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2025 by dai phan

[dai phan]

2 hours ago, Cubs2jets said:

Dai,

 

Try fitting the wings with the new interior slipped into place.  It may spread the fuselage walls?  Really nice progress!

 

C2j

The cockpit tub won't be arriving until a month from now from Australia (ACVU Models) so I just use the rods to hold in the fuse sides rigid. Dai 

[ST0RM]

Cool discoveries between the various kit releases and age. Crazy how flat the wings got over time. 
Nice recovery. 
 

[dai phan]

33 minutes ago, ST0RM said:

Cool discoveries between the various kit releases and age. Crazy how flat the wings got over time. 
Nice recovery. 
 

I look at the box art built model and it seems the plane has the correct dihedral. When I opened the spare kit and saw the dihedral was spot on, I then knew something was crushing the wings making it flat on my first sample. If you are planning to do this project, get latest Monogram or Revell release. Dai 

Edited December 10, 2025 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Hi all,

 

It starts to look like the A1E now. Dai 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2025 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Time to clean up the parts before final assembly. Dai

 

Edited December 11, 2025 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Greetings Friday everyone,

 

The fuselage has a curve at the end and this needs to be duplicated on the wings. I need to make the wing root/fuselage mating area as clean as possible. Dai

 

 

Edited December 12, 2025 by dai phan