Intruders and Prowlers and Growlers 17 Nov. An update at last!

[Massimo]

No comment!!!

[heloman1]

Hi Eric, I've missed your posts, however, good to see you back on the build. I do like all the intakes, vents and drains you've been adding and the nose gears look great. More power to your elbow. I like the boat you brought home, however, remeber it's only a boat!

 

Colin

[Yankymodeler]

9 hours ago, heloman1 said:

Hi Eric, I've missed your posts, however, good to see you back on the build. I do like all the intakes, vents and drains you've been adding and the nose gears look great. More power to your elbow. I like the boat you brought home, however, remeber it's only a boat!

 

Colin

Thanks Colin, I hope to keep a bit more regular with progress now.  The boat is a long term project, will probably be a bit slow on that until retirement.  Then of course there is a Cessna 170 project waiting behind the biplane....

[Yankymodeler]

I was hoping to have a bit more progress to report but not surprisingly a couple steps took more time than anticipated (I can hear the chorus of “Again?!?”) and what I had hoped would be a fairly simple repair turned out to be more involved than I intended. (Again?!?)

 

To finish up the final details on nose gear I had planned on adding a single simple linkage for positioning the launch bar and calling the units complete.   Just before I began, I took a few moments to read my last posting and noticed in one of the pictures that I had somehow broken the end of one of the launch bars (tow link).  Ugh!

 

 

 Well, shouldn’t be too hard to fabricate a small piece, repair the end and move on.  (Please stop laughing)  For some reason, I decided to take a look at some reference photos (bad move as you will see momentarily) and noted that the real launch bar is an H-beam of constant section contrary to the tapered molding provided in the Revell kit. Uh oh.  

 

 For a brief moment I thought I would be able to ignore the discrepancy, repair the broken unit and move on.  But the idea was fleeting, I knew I would never be happy knowing that detail was wrong especially when compared with the more accurate launch bars on the two Kinetic Prowlers.  Besides, my stock of styrene strip contains a selection of H and I beam sections and it would surely be simple to match size and cut appropriate lengths, how hard could it be?  That question was quickly answered when all of the sections proved too big.  Fortunately, the solution was fairly simple; fabricate a length of H section from styrene strip with a short section of rod representing the lugs that engage the shuttle.  Other than tedious the process went smoothly.

 

 

 Once installed, the new launch bars did turn out to be a noticeable improvement, so much so that kit representation of the mechanism that latches the launch bar into one of three positions was now a very visible disappointment.  Since I had allowed this ‘repair’ to evolve to this state, little time was lost in removing the offending component.   The latches and levers were so small they were literally built up from the scraps littering the desk top!  Installation was a simple exercise in patience and fine motor skills (which as usual I found sorely lacking).  In the end I’m pretty happy with the final result.   Having run out of extra work to make for myself, the making up and installing the curved linkage that moves the launch bar that began this little side journey was, shall we say, anti-climactic.

 

 

 

 

In both the Kinetic Prowler and the Revell Intruder kits the drag links for the main gear looked pretty good and my intent was to clean them up, take care of a couple light ejector marks and move on.  Test fitting the link on the Intruders revealed they were too short particularly on the inboard attach point to the gear leg.    I had taken much care to position the gear legs according to reference picture so I was confident the alignment was where I wanted it and the issue was the drag links.  Investigating methods to lengthen either the rod-like upper section or the lower flat ribbed section, I came to the conclusion that building up new links from scratch would yield the best results. 

A prototype was built up from various thicknesses of sheet and strip styrene to verify the concept and mass production quickly followed.

 

 

 Because 10 sets of links were required a simple template was used to speed up the cutting out and assist in keeping the base of the flat lower sections consistent.

 

 

 Styrene strip was used for the flanges but looked a bit plain.  Close inspection revealed the flanges had a shallow rounded cove cross section.  A round file was used to add the contour to the outside of the flanges and provided a finer detailed appearance. 

 

 

Note that there are left and right side sections and the slight differences in the stiffeners on the top and bottom sides.

 

 

The upper section had a bit of interesting detail consisting of a tapered flange on the upper and lower sides of a tubular strut.  Although intricate appearing this was easily replicated by triangular pieces of styrene sheet glued to opposing ‘sides’ of styrene rod.

 

 

 The kit attachment fittings at the forward end looked pretty good so they were cleaned up, cut off the kit parts, a shallow socket was drilled into the end and then attached to the new drag link. 

 

 

The drag link fitting on the main gear leg is represented as a solid protrusion where as the real one is made up of two lugs.  This little tidbit was discovered (of course) after I had installed the landing gear and the improved drag links would only highlight the incorrect mounting so a solution was needed.  Without a better idea a ball-end mill was placed in the Dremel tool and a deep cleansing breath taken….  Carefully taking shallow cuts, material from the center of the molded protrusion was removed leaving the outer ends to represent the lugs.  Surprisingly no damage was inflicted!

As-molded solid fitting

 

Refined fitting

 

 

The drag link assemblies were intentionally made just a bit long and each will require a bit of custom fitting by carefully filing the lower end to fit to the lugs.   I only got a couple of assemblies were in place, and the results are almost worth the effort!  Still to be added are retraction cylinders and the link actuator/locks, but that is material for another update.

 

 

 

Thanks for your interest,  Eric aka The Yankymodeler

[Dragon]

Outstanding detailing!

[Azgaron]

Excellent work so far! Lovely detail!

 

Håkan

 

[heloman1]

Looking good Eric, the new parts are a vast improvement over the kit parts. Keep at it mate.

 

Colin

[jrlx]

Extremely impressive, as always in this thread! Well worth the effort!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

So good to see this thread back!  Fabulous neat work, as always

[matteo44]

Wowww!!

Excellent work!

Fantastic detail! 

[heloman1]

On 2/22/2018 at 4:27 AM, Yankymodeler said:

Thanks Colin, I hope to keep a bit more regular with progress now.  The boat is a long term project, will probably be a bit slow on that until retirement.  Then of course there is a Cessna 170 project waiting behind the biplane....

Eric, you like me, too many irons in the fire. I have my modelling, my art and my lady, who needs more attention than the other two persuits!!! However, that is what keeps us sane and healthy. An idle man is not worth much!

 

I like the way you tackle your modelling.

 

Colin

[heloman1]

Looking at the undercarriage Eric, there is going to be some serious masking come painting time...

 

Colin

[CJP]

Fabulous build thread - your scratch building is amazing

CJP

[Parabat]

Excellent work.

[Lovely Pig]

Just brilliant, I've read and re-read this thread and have marvelled at your attention to detail Eric. 

[Yankymodeler]

  I was on travel for work this past week and didn't check in and was pleasantly surprised, Thank you all for taking the time to comment!  At each update I keep hoping the heavy construction corner is turned, so here's to one more turn in the labyrinth of big projects!

 

Eric aka The Yankymodeler

[Yankymodeler]

On 5/10/2018 at 6:07 AM, heloman1 said:

Looking good Eric, the new parts are a vast improvement over the kit parts. Keep at it mate.

 

Colin

Thanks Colin, always glad to get well informed confirmation that my plastic hacking is making things better.

 

Eric

[Yankymodeler]

On 5/16/2018 at 6:27 PM, CJP said:

Fabulous build thread - your scratch building is amazing

CJP

Thank you, nothing but smoke and mirrors compared to most of the artists who post here.

 

Eric

[Parabat]

10 minutes ago, Yankymodeler said:

Thank you, nothing but smoke and mirrors compared to most of the artists who post here.

 

Eric

You are too modest - fabricating landing gear struts out of styrene sheet 😲

[CJP]

13 hours ago, Parabat said:

You are too modest - fabricating landing gear struts out of styrene sheet 😲

Totally agree with Parabat

CJP

[Yankymodeler]

15 hours ago, CJP said:

Totally agree with Parabat

CJP

You Gentlemen are too kind, humble thank you! 

 

[Yankymodeler]

Hello and welcome back to the hearty followers of this build thread!  Once again, I find I’ve allowed a much longer between updates than intended.  Partly because I am not only a slow builder but also a slow writer as well, taking me far too long to find the words to coherently describe my convoluted building process.

 

Perhaps the more personal disruption to a timely update is an extended recovery period from a retinal detachment in one eye.  To keep a long story short, a couple of surgeries have repaired the majority of the damage but recuperation consists of the eye being temporarily filled with a silicon-based oil to promote healing.  The good news is the prognosis is promising, the down side is the oil drastically distorts vision due to the higher index of refraction of the denser fluid and has to stay in approximately three months.  This interferes with vision in that eye which adversely affects depth perception.   I was surprised at how difficult this makes model work and so what little progress I’ve made has been quite slow and at times frustrating.

 

However, I do have some progress to report so, having run out of excuses and with no further whining, on with the update!

 

After installing the rest of the main gear drag links was time to consider how to add enough detailing to adequately portray the complex design of the Intruder landing gear without the project becoming overwhelmingly intricate.  The shop foreman (me) decided to replicate only the most obvious details and with the undisputed acceptance of this decree by the production staff (also me), the process became simply an exercise in building up enough detail parts from various sizes of styrene bits of rod and strip to represent the plethora of components comprising the landing gear.

 

 

Retraction struts from styrene rod.

 

 

Nose gear retract strut and door actuators

A bit difficult to photograph there was an attempt to create an impression of rod end bearings on the visible end of the nose gear door actuators and a fork for the retraction strut.

 

Because of the sheer number of wheel and tire assembles, I had gotten into the routine of working on a few at a time as a short change of pace from the other parts of the build and leaving them on an unused portion of the work mat for easy access. 

 

The build was progressing smoothly, though admittedly at my usual glacial-like pace, with no real problems of which to speak.  Those who have followed my projects will know each build must have a moment of drama so it was at this point the modelling spirits demanded a tribute.  In maneuvering one of the airframes while adding a retraction strut, I knocked over my bottle of solvent disgorging the entire contents in a torrent that flooded through the area used to store the wheel assemblies.  In an instant the solvent bonded the wheels to the work mat flattening that side and filled the upward facing hubs like miniature swimming pools, swiftly obliterating any semblance of detail.  The inundation was so complete there was not one usable set left undamaged!

 

Impressions remain on the work mat!

 

A few of the damaged wheel sets

 

 

After the shock and panic of clean-up subsided, an inspection of the airframes confirmed miraculously no other damage ensued and efforts soon turned to recovery options.  With only the stock Kinetic Prowler wheels remaining in usable condition, I needed eight Intruder/Prowler and three Super Hornet wheel sets.  I briefly thought about casting copies using the surviving Kinetic wheel sets (they were still in the box on the runners), but I have not had great success in producing my own castings that contain very fine details as found on the Revell moldings. 

 

A fair amount of effort had been expended to refine the kit wheels and tires for no other reason than the personal satisfaction of relying on a minimum of aftermarket components.  But with scant alternatives, I turned to the aftermarket and the beautifully detailed products available from a variety of manufacturers.  Procuring a sufficient number of wheel sets depleted most of the stocks available from various model supply houses (A special thanks to Ilias of The48ers.com for excellent service!) and for those fellow modelers with Intruder/Prowler projects of their own who have had to wait for suppliers to restock, the culprit has now been exposed.

 

 

 

Perhaps this may have been a blessing in disguise as the aftermarket wheels for the Super Hornets are much better than what I am capable of turning the Italeri moldings into and although the kit wheels for the Intruder/Prowlers are very nice, the tread detail of the resin parts will be a welcome improvement.

 

Now onto some discernable progress.  The Intruder had a long service life and as expected each airframe was modified and upgraded, hence it was necessary at some point in the build to make a decision as to which particular aircraft and time-frame would be modelled.  As the A-6E was arguably the most prolific version I wanted a representation of an early and late example.  Suitable subjects were identified and each airframe configured with the appropriate details for the chosen timeframes. 

 

One of the reasons I chose the particular subject for the late ‘E’ was its participation in the last carrier operations by the Intruder even though I had decided on modelling an earlier timeframe.  Then came the moment I made the discovery that the example selected was also one of the Intruders refitted with a composite wing.  

 

The composite wing was a replacement to solve some life limiting fatigue issues that began to appear as the airframes approached 25 years of service in the mid-1980s.  Consequently, the Navy embarked on a program to extend the life of the Intruder by giving them wings largely made of composite material, but retaining aluminum for the control surfaces.  

 

Externally there were a number of visually interesting changes including a unique upper and lower wing fold fairing, changes to access panels and the addition of numerous small raised doubler/stiffener plates.  Here was an opportunity to represent a significant variant of the series.  I did resist the temptation at first, after all the timeframe initially picked for this aircraft had a very weathered appearance and an appealing mix of grey and black markings. Furthermore, there was the consideration of the work necessary to convert to the composite wing and the danger of damaging the already completed landing gear. 

 

But I made the mistake of mentioning my discovery to my Project Instigator Friend.  Those of you who have followed my other builds may recall Scott’s influence on a number of my projects that usually entail a lot more work, but result in a highly interesting key variation on a theme.  Using his usual methods of deceit and trickery he convinced me that the slight amount of work the conversion would involve would be easily offset by the inclusion of this unique version in the series. 

 

Not being able to argue with that logic, I set an end mill in the motor tool, took a deep breath and quickly removed the metal wing fold fairing thus irrevocably committing to the conversion. 

 

 

 

 

The upper wing fold hinge fairings are the most obvious visual evidence of the composite wing, being similar to, but a distinctly different plan view outline than the fairing used on the Prowler.   Much like the construction of the Prowler fairings, a solid blank of styrene of sufficient thickness was cut to planform shape then a motor tool and file used to match the bottom of the fairing to the top of the wing. 

 

 

 

 

The top and then the front and rear contours were shaped with files taking care to maintain symmetry between the left and right side fairings.  Panel lines were scribed with my usual with my usual tools; a homemade scriber and a needle in a pin vise.

 

 

Comparison between the Intruder refitted composite wing fold fairing…

 

…and the Prowler wing fold fairing

 

 

The outboard pylon has a fairing on the outboard side over the folding mechanisms again similar to the Prowler but with a slightly different contour and without the door-like cutout on the outboard side.  A representation was fabricated from, you guessed it, styrene carved to shape! 

 

Removing the pylons was fraught with anxious moments, scribing the base and applying an overload sideways overload removed them with thankfully no damage.

 

The rough blank for the outboard side

 

 

The inboard pylon is slightly different as well in having a fairing where it joins with the bottom of the wing.  A strip of styrene was formed into an appropriately sized blank with a triangular cross section and added to the top of the pylon. The tapered front and rear sections were created by judicious filing and twisting of the blank to conform to the curve of the pylon.

 

Completed inboard (bottom) and outboard (top) pylons

 

Comparison with the Intruder composite wing pylon fairing…

 

 

 

…and the Prowler pylon fairing (Kinetic)

 

 

 

Researching pictures of composite wings showed the access panels were changed from the familiar oval or round plates to what appear as rectangular covers over a large strip-like access area.  This of course meant filling the access panels long ago scribed for the metal wing and re-scribing. 

 

The numerous stiffeners or reinforcements on the upper and lower surface of the wing were cut and shaped from .005” styrene.  Reference pictures indicate specific shapes for each location.

 

 

 

Although a fair bit of re-work was involved, the end result looks the part and will indeed be an important addition to portraying the major variants of the Intruder.  Don’t tell my Project Instigator friend, but I think he was right.  Again.

 

Next update will cover some cockpit work and the long neglected Super Hornets get some attention!

Thanks for your interest,

 

Eric aka The Yankymodeler

Edited November 17, 2018 by Yankymodeler

[corsaircorp]

Hello Eric

How did I manage to miss this thread for so long.

I'll catch up and follow...

An EA 6A at 1/48.... Must have one !!

Sincerely

CC

[Yankymodeler]

1 hour ago, corsaircorp said:

Hello Eric

How did I manage to miss this thread for so long.

I'll catch up and follow...

An EA 6A at 1/48.... Must have one !!

Sincerely

CC

Hello CC,

Welcome to my madness! I hope you can find enjoyment in this epic tail of plastic butchery. 

The Revell EA-6A is still readily available at swap meets and even out of the box is a good representation of the type.

 

Eric aka The Yankymodeler

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Eric, if there are better A6, Prowler or Growler models out there, I will be amazed.  Your work with a dodgy eye is better than I can manage with two decent ones.  Great stuff.