1/48 Hasegawa A-4F Skyhawk - FINISHED 9/28

[doogsatx/]

Aug 25, 2014 9:06:19 GMT -5 TRM said:

Nicely done Doogs!! The bays just Pop with a coat of white!!!

I know, right? The bays are easily one of the best things about this kit. Some of the best I've ever seen outside of resin. It's almost a shame that they're on the underside...

[wbill76]

That's looking pretty sweet there Doogs, some very nice detail in the bays...if you hadn't said anything I would've assumed they were resin.

[doogsatx/]

Weapons planning!



A few frustration points.

- Hasegawa helpfully gives you the LAU-7 launch rails, but doesn't tell you jack about them. There was a critical adapter piece I only ID'd thanks to someone else's build on the interwebs. Weak sauce, Hasegawa.

- The Multiple Ejector Rack in Hasegawa's weapons set doesn't fit Hasegawa's Skyhawk. The mounting points don't align at all.

My mind isn't made up, but at this point I'm tempted to put a drop tank on the centerline and use TERs and Snakeyes on the inboard pylons. The outboards would pack Sidewinders, as that seems to be all they ever pack outside of FAC aircraft with rocket pods.

I've got some resin ordered - Aerobonus (random Aires brand) racks and Eduard ordnance.

[deafpanzer]

I love weapons... I think you know already, right? Looking good...

[venom1]

Champion effort there Doogs, those bays really are the ducks guts!

Have a couple of these in my stash, so I know the pitfalls to look out for now.

Cheers,

Sam

[doogsatx/]

Paint!

Gunze C338 FS36495 Light Gray. There's a lot more tonal variation than the camera managed to capture, but I opted for less wear on the bottom since it's just not as exposed to the elements.

[doogsatx/]

Woohoo! On to the topside tonight! Love this part of a build, when the paint finally starts flying in earnest.

This particular Scooter wears a three-tone gray camoflage - light on the bottom, dark up top, and a middle tone in a band on the fuselage that extends up the tail, as well as on the trailing edge control surfaces. This last one goes on tomorrow (providing no rain messes with my plans).

To get the darker gray upper camo going, I again used my black base, "marble" coat, and a thinned, misted top coat.

[venom1]

Love it!!

Cheers,

Sam

[wing_nut]

Boy howdy that's pretty.

[wbill76]

Always love it when your builds get to this stage Doogs. Hope the weather cooperates!

[doogsatx/]

We got hit by some nice late afternoon thunderstorms today, and the humidity was such that painting wasn't an option tonight. So...I got a start on some resin that showed up this week.

I have such a love/hate relationship with resin. "Here, let's put the pour stubs you have to cut away exactly where you have to join up the two pieces! Have fun!" Ugh.



My way around the aggravation involved hollowing out the bomb and retarder fin parts. I'll use plastic rod to make some stubby dowels.

The Eduard Mk.82s are a definite improvement over the Hasegawa ones, particularly in the detail on the retarder fins.



But the real beauties are the Aerobonus TERs.

[DeafStuG]

Looks good..

[doogsatx/]

Bit of a two-parter tonight.

First, the bombs! Eduard's Snakeyes are pretty, but not terribly well-engineered. The pour stubs attach exactly where you join the main body to the retarder fins, which is lame since it makes the cleanup there super critical.

I decided to go a different way. After drilling a pilot hole, I used a grinder on the Dremel to dig craters in each side. 1/8" plastic rod was then fitted to provide a more positive join.



I also removed the mount posts and drilled out holes where they had been. These conveniently line up exactly with the Aerobonus TERs. I'll be using brass wire to get a good join between them.

[doogsatx/]

Next up - paint! Tonight was the final, middle gray.

[Marcel du Long]

Very nice progress so far.



Are that cockroaches in the back??? 
Marcel.

[doogsatx/]

Sept 7, 2014 2:24:23 GMT -5 Marcel du Long said:

Are that cockroaches in the back??? 
Marcel.

Miscellaneous bugs...mostly various beetles and crickets, a few moths...

[TomN.]

Great work Doogs!

Your builds are really making me want to build a jet!

Tom

[wbill76]

Even the june bugs are in awe of your work on this one...one look and they keel over out of jealousy!

Nice solution on those bombs Doogs, I hear you about the AM guys and their decisions on things like pour stubs sometimes. I suppose production challenges trump modeler's concerns when it comes to things like that but still!

[doogsatx/]

Sept 7, 2014 11:55:53 GMT -5 TomN. said:

Great work Doogs!

Your builds are really making me want to build a jet!

Tom

Go for it! In some ways, I find them easier than props, but in others (specifically dealing with the intakes and ordnance) they're more of a challenge.

[doogsatx/]

Did some touch-ups on the Skyhawk last night and fixed the landing gear issue by grinding down the left gear mounting post a bit so the plane will sit level.

Then I played with the TERs and bombs. The bombs were painted in Gunze Olive Drab, with the fins having a bit of dark green mixed in for a different tone. The phone camera's made a botch of the color...they're both lighter and more olive than the green shown here. I'll have to get pictures with a real camera...

[doogsatx/]

Gloss coating. Ugh. It's one of those things that seems to be the bane of my modeling. Since I got back into the hobby four years ago, I've never found anything that works consistently.

With the Skyhawk, I decided to try a method I saw somewhere a few months back (can't for the life of me remember where...apologies for not crediting where credit's due) of spraying Tamiya Clear, then coming back over it with a light coat of straight lacquer thinner (Gunze Mr. Leveling in my case). The results? Holy cow. Like magic.



I can't remember the last time I got such shine off a gloss coat. Here's hoping the decals play nice!

[deafpanzer]

Looking great!!!! Can't wait to see it with decals... am afraid to ask you how many decals you will apply due to its size. 50? Maybe more?

[TomN.]

That does look great Doogs!

Any dry time between the clear and the thinner or do just move it right along?

Tom

[doogsatx/]

Sept 10, 2014 18:57:12 GMT -5 TomN. said:

That does look great Doogs!

Any dry time between the clear and the thinner or do just move it right along?

Tom

Move right in, one after the other

[TRM]

Looking really nice there Matt! Love the pre-shade! Love the work on the ordinance too!! You managed well for the resin game!! Almost there!!

[doogsatx/]

And...decals are done (on the Scooter at least...still have ordnance and gear strut stencils). Really, really impressed with the Furball decals. They snuggle right down into even some really challenging surface details. But man, not a lot of room to adjust after they've been placed.

[DeafStuG]

Good job @ smooth paint surface.

[wing_nut]

Enough to bring a tear to ones eye.

[doogsatx/]

Tonight the Snakes got their turn.

[Leon]

Nice job on the clear coat and decals Doogs.