1/72 airfix skyhawk holiday build

[S5 modeller]

Hi chaps, it's that time of the year again, holiday time.

Earlier this year, when the starter set group build was running, I took an airfix tomahawk starter set on holiday.

This has now started a new tradition for me, so as I'm on holiday now, I will be building the airfix Douglas a-4b skyhawk.

Don't know how old the tooling is, but there is no flash on the kit, and the details are nice and crisp. The panel lines are a little deep, but it will help as I'm going to be brush painting it.

Not too many parts, only 3 sprues.

Only one marking option included, but on an earlier release there were 2, plus stencils.

Started randomly with the wings. Nice one piece lower wing/fuselage insert. The two upper sections slotted neatly into place. Nice vortex generators too.

Don't know what airfix were thinking here, but they put two massive sprue gates on the spine. They're going to be awkward to clean up.

That's pretty much all I've done so far, but just starting on the cockpit now.

Hope you like it so far.

Matt

[R159]

We're off for a holiday next week, I'm planning on doing the same with a a Tomahawk starter set.... Hopefully my volunteering to do the packing won't look too suspicious....

[Howlindawg]

The first kit I ever bought was an Airfix Skyhawk in a bag.

That was probably 40+ years ago.

Even as a child I thought it was a lovely looking brid and my opinion hasn't changed.

Enjoy the build and good luck with the stealth WIP updates whilst on holidays.

[ArmouredSprue]

That will look good.

I have one of this in my stash. Mine came with 2 versions + stencils decals and I think it's because yours is a pack designed for beginners (comes with paint, glue etc) and therefore why it only have one version.

Good luck!

[Martian]

I always take a kit away with me on holiday to do some basic modelling for a change and find it really relaxing. The kit you have there is the new Airfix moulding so you shouldn't have any issues with it.

Martin

[PlaStix]

Ah.........holidays and building kits.....lovely!

Edited July 20, 2016 by PlaStix

[Supertom]

That's the new mold and it's a fantastic kit. I've got another two in the stash. It's going to make for a great holiday!

[S5 modeller]

Thanks for all the comments and interest.

Not too much progress to show, as the actual holiday got in the way of play. With 30 plus degrees temp in skegness, it was too hot to do much. I'm back home now, and have picked it up again.

The cockpit is underway, not much to show as there isn't much detail to see. Going to build it gear down with the pilot in residence, just to make the cockpit look a bit more busy.

Instructions want you to insert 5g of nose weight. Went to my local fishing tackle shop, and picked up some lead shot.

This is how it ended up. There's nowhere near enough room in the nose to put any weight in, so packed it all behind the cockpit. Used the rest of the milliput to pack out the nose, then pushed the two fuselage halves together, just to make sure it all fit in.

Whipped the cockpit out quick, so it didn't get stuck in, and am now waiting for the milliput to dry.

The pilot is up next.

Hope I'm not boring you with my slow progress, but once the cockpit is finished and the fuselage closed up,the pace should pick up.

Matt

[AdrianMF]

That looks a lot more detailed than the previous Airfix version! I built that one with my daughter and she still has it on a shelf. The new one looks like 1/48 or bigger, the detailing seems that fine and crisp.

Regards,

Adrian

[Rick Brown]

I've wondered about this kit for awhile, so watching with interest.

I'll probably sneak a little T1 Gnat in my bag for my IOM trip.

It's not easy building in our medium size tent, but it just about possible!

Rick.

[S5 modeller]

Looks like holiday builds are quite popular.

Wasn't sure if this was a recent tooling, or not, but the lack of flash made me think it might be.

The cockpit is nearing completion.

Just used the kit decals, as I don't think much will be visible with the pilot in. Just waiting for the decal to dry on the instrument panel then I can assemble it.

Talking of the pilot, work has started on the painting.

Got him speared up the rear on a cocktail stick. The instructions would have me paint him all over matt black, but I'm taking a bit of artistic licence here. He's sat there next to a couple of his 1/48 brethren, for a mig build I'm doing at the same time.

Shame he's not as detailed as the pj-production pilots.

Just waiting on paint drying, then I can get on with the assembly.

Matt

[azureglo]

Looking good Matt, I'm moving again so all current modelling activity will be perving others builds like yours! It is a recent tooling, 2012 according to Scalemates.

A

[S5 modeller]

Thanks azure,but it's not a patch on your builds. Sorry to hear you're being kept away from the bench.

Got some more work done.

Whilst waiting on the cockpit I decided to move on a bit.

Started work on the intakes and trunking.

Mounted the compressor face to the bottom of the intake trunking, and slapped some paint on it.

Also painted the splitter piece white. This sits in the intake, and prevents any see through effects into the fuselage.

Painted the fuselage sections white, that form part of the intakes. All these parts had two coats of white acrylic, that just wouldn't cover, then two coats of enamel gloss white. This seems to have solved the problem.

That's all for now, untill next time.

Matt

[Howlindawg]

This certainly looks a lot nicer than the old kit that I remember.

I may have to keep my eyes open for one.

[S5 modeller]

Can't reccomend it enough.

Just got back from a late showing of star trek:beyond ( a mighty good film, would recommend you see it).

Although I need to be up at 5am for work ( the time is currently 00:17) I'm still too pumped up to sleep, so thought I'd sneak in a bit of cheeky bench time.

Thanks to a rather climactic scene in the film, I'm blasting beastie boys through my headphones, and got a drop or two of the black stuff. Purely medicinal you understand.

Decided to fit the intakes. Now the instructions would have you fit part 15a on the port side. Now I can't blame the drink, as I've only supped a bit, but part 15a don't fit.

Here's the port fuselage half, with part 16a fitted. Me thinks someone at airfix had a wee dram when they drew the instructions up!

Here's the starboard fuselage with part 15a fitted.

Being this is a new tool kit, I will say now that both these parts were a very tight fit. Had to scrape some paint off the joining areas to get them in. Mind you, this has resulted in a rather nice fit. A bit of glue/plastic ooze is evident round the joins, so when it's set a bit of a light sanding should see a nice join.

So, to summ up, if anyone else gets this kit, watch out for the instructions. This is the only error I've found, so far.

I can hear my bed calling now, so I'm off into the arms of morpheous!

Matt

[Martian]

Good progress but I will be interested to see if you are at work on time after the beer and rum!

Martin

[amblypygid]

I seem to recall having a few problems with my intakes, but the top fuselage seam was also tricky (too tricky for me in the end), and whoever designed the canopy's sprue-gate needs a clip around the earhole. Other than that it's a very nice little kit, though I'd recommend painting the red on the intakes as the decals really don't conform to the curve at all (if you're doing the USN scheme).

[S5 modeller]

Good progress but I will be interested to see if you are at work on time after the beer and rum!

Martin

Thanks Martin. I did indeed reach work in time, but with a slight headache.

Amblypygid.

Which red line are we talking about? I've heard of people painting the red lip on the outside of the intakes, and just using the arrow off the decal sheet. If it's the internal red stripe, then I'm kind of stuck. Perhapse in hindsight I should have painted that before jumping in two footed with my size 13's, and glueing the intakes on.

Hope to finish the pilot today, after work, and hopefully close the fuselage up.

Matt

Edited July 26, 2016 by S5 modeller

[PlaStix]

Good to see your progress with this project. Looking good!

[amblypygid]

Amblypygid.

Which red line are we talking about? I've heard of people painting the red lip on the outside of the intakes, and just using the arrow off the decal sheet. If it's the internal red stripe, then I'm kind of stuck. Perhapse in hindsight I should have painted that before jumping in two footed with my size 13's, and glueing the intakes on.

Sorry, Matt, I should have been clearer. It's the external line that is the problem - I remember the decal as being perfectly straight, but the surface is slightly curved. So if you can match the colours, paint the lip and use the decal for the arrow.

[S5 modeller]

Thanks plastix, I'm trying my best.

Thought you might have meant the external decal. Think I might use the decal to make a mask to paint the arrow, don't have to worry about matching the colour then.

Mister postman delivered me a new toy this morning.

A swann morton no4 handle, 100 number 26 blades, and a blade remover/disposal unit.

All for the princely sum of £17.90 including postage.

Can't wait to try it out. Certainly works out cheaper than the £3 odd, for 5, x-acto blades I have been using.

[S5 modeller]

Hi chaps, I'm back again.

Work has continued apace, and I have progress to report.

Finished the pilot and glued him into his seat. I fitted the cockpit, intakes, exhaust and ballast.

Had a bit of trouble closing the fuselage in places, but got there in the end.

Nice bit of plastic ooze here, hopefully it will make the seam easier to clean up.

This was the worst part to close up, the intakes made it a bit of a tight squeeze.

Just going to let it all harden up over night, and will tackle the clean up tomorrow.

Matt

[S5 modeller]

Hello again.

Had a look at cleaning up the seams on my skyhawk today, but didn't feel in the mood to do it.

Instead I decided to stick the wings on.

Did I mention how much I like these new tool kits? The wings fitted beautifully, with minimal gaps, almost click fit. Not much filler needed here, if any.

I've also put the centre line weapons pylon on, next up the gun fairings.

Inching closer to primer!

Got a couple of questions though, dear viewers.

How many wing pylons did they have? I only ask, as airfix say to only open the inboard flashed over holes, but I got carried away and open the outboard ones too. There are enough pylons in the kit for both, and enough stuff to hang from them.

I am having the leading edge slats in the open position, should I have the airbrakes open in the fuselage too?

Can anyone tell me if the parts in the photo, with the number 28 next to them, are bombs or long range fuel tanks?

Hope I'm not being too thick to answer my own questions.

More later.

Matt

[troschi]

Hi Matt,

step 28 are the external fuel tanks.

Open airbrakes are unlikely when the a/c is on the ground and engine off. But I see your scooter is piloted.

I also have the kit on my bench and got hold of some reference books but haven't achieved to study them completely yet.

Just a speculation, the A-4 A/B had another (weaker) engine than the following versions and according to the photo material, most of the depicted scooters carried the tanks. But the outer wing stations were empty then. I opted for the tanks and a single Bullpup on the centerline station for mine. I also thought about a triple ejector rack...

[amblypygid]

should I have the airbrakes open in the fuselage too?

I opted for closed after I looked at how the markings covered them, and the surgery required if the brakes were open.