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I gents,

I'm Olivier, from Brussels - Belgium and I am a scooteroholic :thumbsup:

I have a TA-4J, a OA-4M and an A-4 that i plan on doing free kuwait. All are 1/32scale.

I decided to take the opportunity of this GB to finally start the OA-4M. I started by ordering the BB TA-4J cockpit tub and since the decals in the box are pretty old, I started doing my own.

The OA-4M will be bandit 04 from the H&MS 32 with an interesting paint scheme for a OA-4M: green and grey.

skyhawk_Gb.jpg

i might even scratch the target tow if I found enough information the orange colour gives a nice touch :cheers:

Anyone knows what store would counterbalance the two system? a drop tank maybe?

Here's the progress on the decal so far... It's not finished yet since I need to finish the colour changes and the demarcation lines between the green and grey. But before doing this, I need to make colour checks to see if the sprayed paint match the colour of the electronic file...

Once the decals are done, I will be happy to share them with anybody who needs them.

OA-4M.jpg

It will be some time before the BB cockpit is delivered and I need to clear the bench from two F-104G first

Edited by Red Dog
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  • 2 weeks later...
I gents,

I'm Olivier, from Brussels - Belgium and I am a scooteroholic :)

I have a TA-4J, a OA-4M and an A-4 that i plan on doing free kuwait. All are 1/32scale.

I decided to take the opportunity of this GB to finally start the OA-4M. I started by ordering the BB TA-4J cockpit tub and since the decals in the box are pretty old, I started doing my own.

The OA-4M will be bandit 04 from the H&MS 32 with an interesting paint scheme for a OA-4M: green and grey.

skyhawk_Gb.jpg

i might even scratch the target tow if I found enough information the orange colour gives a nice touch :)

Anyone knows what store would counterbalance the two system? a drop tank maybe?

Here's the progress on the decal so far... It's not finished yet since I need to finish the colour changes and the demarcation lines between the green and grey. But before doing this, I need to make colour checks to see if the sprayed paint match the colour of the electronic file...

Once the decals are done, I will be happy to share them with anybody who needs them.

OA-4M.jpg

It will be some time before the BB cockpit is delivered and I need to clear the bench from two F-104G first

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Hi gents,

Sorry for the lack of updates - I started regraving the panel lines and still wait for the TA-4J resin cockpit to be delivered, hopefully next week.

Regarding the decals,

I won't sell them - but you can have the artwork for free.

They currently are 1/32 but it wouldn't be a problem converting to 1/48 since they are vectorized at this time.

I just consider them unfinished for now because I first need to check the decal colours so they match the gunze colour I plan on using. I also need to make the blurred boudaries between the grey and green - but doing that will get me out of the vectorized drawings...

So if you guys are patient, you'll get the artwork as soon as I'm able to compare the colours.

Would that be okay with you?

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I want to do the TopGun "Marines" A-4M bort 51 that has a similar scheme...keep 'praying' to the Adversary decal Bobs gods for these... Perhaps yours could do double-duty with just a few minor tweeks...Hmmm. :D

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Good news, the TA-4J cockpit set arrived.

A bit pricey but heavy resin, especially for the tub.

Here are some pictures:

OA4M_1_resin.jpgOA4M_3_resin.jpgOA4M_2_resin.jpg

Now I'll need to get a correct picture of the OA4M offices to see where are the differences with the TA4J so I can do some scrath detailling.

That skyhawk stuff start to get on me already. Since planning that OA4M, I decided to scrap a old TA4J I did in an adversary scheme and make a VT NTC and I took a very old hasegawa skyhawk from my stash that I originaly planned as a A4KU using microscale decals. Both 1/32.

I highly doubt I can do the three of them before the end of the GB :cheers:

Anyway, I got myself the A4M BB kit for the kuwaiti scooter. I may use the nose for the OA4M though, if suitable

Still in the general planning phase.

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  • 2 months later...

That is a late start for this scooter as I was unable to work on it for the past months.

Hopefully, I will press during the holidays to bring it to life and might finsih before Feb 1st...

I started by preparing the resin cockpit and doing some surgery on the fuselages to fit the cockpit correctly and the A-4M resin parts. At this time, I'm not sure yet if I'll use the resin for the nose and tail conversion. I might keep those around for a future skyhawk and use the hasegawa plastic bits instead.

OA4M_4_dryfit.jpg

OA4M_6_dryfit.jpg

The BB cockpit set fits very well once the inside of the fuselages are sanded smooth.

OA4M_5_seats.jpg

I'm wondering about the seat position, especially the back seat. It looks too low, what do you guys think? Should I lift it up a little?

OA4M_7_flaps.jpg

And finally I was wondering what would be the best way to separate the lower flaps from the main wing. I want to have the lower flaps down on the bird. I'm hesitating between sawing it out and milling the flaps out and replacing it with plastic card.

The sawing afraids me because I'm concerned with damaging the upper flap.

I also started rescribing panels lines, do you guys have any good reference drawing of the panel lines for the scooter? At this time I use the walk around drawings

merry Christmas to all of you.

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Nice work so far Red Dog. The seats look about the right height to me. You can find some drawings at airwar.ru or maybe you can use a Hase 1/48 kit as guide.

Would like to see how you're going to solve the lower flap problem. It's one of the things that stalled my build.

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Thanks for your input Aidy,

I have the drawings from airwar.ru, I noticed quite a lot of differences in the publications I have as far as the panel lines are concerned, I guess some extrapolation will be needed :)

The lower flaps really is a problem. Ultimately I think the best approach would be to cut it out completely and replace both the upper part and the lower part with thinner plasticard. I didn't feel like touching the upper wing so I milled the lower flap out, withouth getting too close to the chord line. I finished the work by sanding it even. I was quite concerned the mill might melt the plastic at the chord line where it's the thinnest.

The lower flaps will be recreated with plasticard.

One wing to go, i'll post picture when both flaps are done.

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Engraving work continued during the holidays. Most of the scooter is now regraved.

To take a break on the boring engraving, I painted the cockpit. Obviously, the seats aren't finished but I am now getting ready to close the fuselage.

OA4M_8_cockpit.jpgOA4M_9_cockpit.jpgOA4M_10_cockpit.jpg

OA4M_11_cockpit.jpg

I must say, the TA-4J BB pit is great. I found the fit to be very good and even the OA-4M back hump fits perfectly with the backside of the tub - although that part is pretty different than the TA-4J.

The side walls needs to be carefully trimmed down to have a good fit and the left side are somewhat harder to fit than the right side. No big deal.

Edited by Red Dog
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The week-end was spent finishing the scribing job and adjusting different parts on the fuselage (intakes, nose, tail antenna) The wings are also assembled and almost ready. I plan on doing some rivets, but probably after the primer.

OA4M_14_gravure.jpgOA4M_15_gravure.jpg

OA4M_17_wing.jpgOA4M_16_flaps.jpg

The last picture shows the inner face of the upper flaps that has been minimally detailed. The lower flaps will be done in plasticard

The underwing stores will be a snakeye (from the F-18 academy) and a LAU-10 rocket pod (scratchbuild) and two wing tanks. Centerline will remain empty. I planned on doing a MER with 25lbs exercice bombs but those are impossible to find and I don't feel like scratching 6 of them.

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Red Dog, same as others have said...your scooter is looking awesome! Great job on the re-scribe; I haven't the guts to do it on mine...just sticking with the Hasegawa raised lines. Your work on the BB cockpit is first rate as well. Watching with interest,

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