1/48 HobbyBoss A-4E Skyhawk

[aidy]

So here it is...

 

DSCN5483 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

Truth be told, I have enough Hasegawa Skyhawks to last me a decade at least, but being the Skyhawk nut that I am, I just can't resist getting one of this HobbyBoss kit to see for myself. Being a HobbyBoss kit, I'm sure it will build up nicely without much fuss and end up looking very much like a Skyhawk, but a cursory glance through the sprues shows many omissions and mistakes. I'll try to fix what I can and learn to live with what I can't.

 

DSCN5484 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

The dimensions and overall shape agrees well with Hasegawa's effort. Fortunately, it wasn't 1/44 like their Hawks. This, however, would be the biggest let down in the kit for me:

 

DSCN5485 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

Apart from the Blue Angels, it's very rare to see Skyhawks with their leading edge slats pinned shut. It's been suggested in another forum that you could use a sliver of masking tape or decals to simulate the strap used to fasten the slats up, but this greatly takes away from the 'correct' look of a Skyhawk on the ground.

 

DSCN5486 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

The trailing edge flaps are also moulded shut, without even any scribing to show their inboard edges.

 

The main wheel well is a bit shallow and less detailed than on the Hasegawa kit.

 

DSCN5493 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

[aidy]

The thing that bothers me most with this kit is the lack of options in the box, given the price they are asking for it.

 

Only the straight refueling probe is provided even though the boxart shows a jet with a bent probe, and chaff dispensers are moulded into place already. You also get only one choice of main wheel hub. Built as-is, you have a rather limited choice of markings to choose from.  A healthy amount of spares from Hasegawa, Monogram or Hobbycraft will help, as would aftermarket parts. 

 

DSCN5490 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

DSCN5489 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

DSCN5488 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

DSCN5491 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

HobbyBoss also repeated Trumpeter's mistake on the 1/32 kit by mirroring the panel details on the weapons pylons.

 

DSCN5496 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

It's not all bad, though. The cannon barrels are nice, and you do get plenty of ordnance to hang.

 

DSCN5487 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

I plan to start the build soon, hopefully britmodeler's resident skyhawk experts will chip in with their input.

 

[matteo44]

Hi,

I am not an expert of skyhawk, but IMHO the kit is not so bad... 

The wheels bay aren't the same of Hasegawa, but with a little scratch work, you can make a good work.

 

Are there sprue with missiles or bombs in this kit?

 

[Mr B]

Cool....will follow.....agreed most hobbyboss kits build up well....and this should not be any different....

 

rgds

[Gene K]

Thanks, Aidy - thorough review!

 

I totally agree with you on the fixed slats and flaps ... the fixed slats are a deal breaker for me..

 

Gene K

[aidy]

Hi Matteo,

 

I'd agreed, it's a nice kit. Test fitting shows that most of the parts go together very nicely. Clear parts are good too, and the shape of the windscreen is better than the Hobbycraft and, dare I say, Monogram kits. The casual modeler who has little more than a passing interest in the A-4 will definitely enjoy building the Hobbyboss kit.

 

As for ordnance, you get two of these:

 

IMG_20170621_064815 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

Plus a sprue from their A-7 kit providing AIM-9 Sidewinders.

[aidy]

Not much progress to report, just some work on the cockpit assembly. Details on the instrument panel and side consoles are somewhat soft, but should be adequate given the size of the canopy. Not much you can see once the canopy is closed.

 

IMG_20170620_204942 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

The seat is impressively moulded in one piece, but lacks any belts or harnesses. No PE belts are provided like in the BAe Hawk kits unfortunately.

 

IMG_20170620_205009 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

And here we have everything put together.

 

IMG_20170620_205027 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

I briefly toyed with the idea of using an Eduard Zoom set to dress up the cockpit, but decided it would not be worth it in the end. Hopefully I can get the cockpit painted soon so I can button up the fuselage halves.

[matteo44]

6 hours ago, aidy said:

As for ordnance, you get two of these:

Plus a sprue from their A-7 kit providing AIM-9 Sidewinders.

Thank you very much for the reply Aidy

 

For the seat belts you can try cutting a little stripes of kabuki tape... 

[aidy]

Cheers Matteo, thanks for the tip. I have a spare set of Eduard PE belts, but might give tape a go as I really dislike working with PE.

[aidy]

I wasn't able to do any painting yesterday, so I took a hard look at the wings.

 

DSCN5497 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

Those slats just really won't do, so I took my razor saw to the wings and within a few minutes, had the moulded in slats removed from both wing halves.

 

DSCN5498 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

Plastic sheet cut to shape were cemented onto the cuts made to form the leading edge of the wings after the wing halves were glued together.

 

DSCN5501 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

DSCN5503 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

DSCN5505 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

I had originally meant to re-use the kit slats later, but I realised too late that I had cut the slats too short. Luckily, I have a spare set of Hasegawa slat which I will use instead. 

 

These joins were also filled with Vallejo putty and will be rescribed later as the A-4E did not have lift spoilers over the trailing edge flaps. I decided not to cut the flaps out, though. 

 

DSCN5511 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

 

[aidy]

Staying with the wings, this hole and the raised triangular panel need to go too. I believe the part HobbyBoss designed to go there is an antenna from the RNZAF's Kahu update.

 

DSCN5504 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

Funnily enough, only one side was given whereas there was a pair of these antennas on the Kahu.

[aidy]

Last night I was able to paint the cockpit. I had earlier started a Hasegawa A-4M, so I took the opportunity to paint both kit cockpits together so we can have a side-by-side comparison. Hasegawa left, HobbyBoss right.

 

DSCN5508 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

By the way, HobbyBoss' instructions would have you fix the control stick backwards, so be sure to rotate it to it's correct orientation before gluing.

 

If you can see in the picture above, I've butchered part C30 - the 'shelf' behind the bulkhead. I installed the part thinking it would help give a more solid guide for attachment, but it turned out to be a touch too big and interfered with the fit of the fuselage halves. My advice, if you plan on having a closed canopy, skip this part altogether.

 

DSCN5507 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

I decided to give Eduard's belts a try to dress up the kit seat. I'm pretty sure I got it wrong, but looks good enough for me.

 

DSCN5512 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

So then, with a lick of paint and the cropped kit decal for the instrument panel, the cockpit is done.

 

DSCN5514 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

DSCN5519 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

Not too far off from putting the fuselage halves together now.

[aidy]

Hi again, I'm back with a few day's worth of progress to share.

 

Got the fuselage halves together without much drama. Fit was typical HobbyBoss which is generally good. The intakes, however, was a bit of a bother.

 

DSCN5521 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

DSCN5520 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

Gaps all around, then. Not too bad, nothing some putty and sandpaper couldn't solve, but not what I'd expect from this manufacturer. Also, I can't quite put my finger on it and can't be bothered with red lines and overlays but the intake profile looks a bit off to me.

 

DSCN5527 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

Next was removing details which were etiher optional or erroneous on the kit. The AoA vane above the refueling probe piping isn't present on this side of the nose so it had to go.

 

DSCN5524 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

There were two static vanes moulded here, Hasegawa did the same as well. If you're fitting the straight probe like I'm doing for this build, remove the front vane. If you're using the bent probe, remove the rear vane.

 

DSCN5525 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

And here it's done!

 

DSCN5528 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

I'm pleased to say the fit of the speedbrakes and other inserts are very good. Very little trimming or putty needed here. Most seams have been dealt with, and I've brushed on a couple coats of Mr Surfacer to check for remaining imperfections and will polish everything off with 800 and 1000 grit sandpaper when it sets later. Here she is at the moment:

 

DSCN5526 by Aidy Abdullah, on Flickr

 

Could probably have it ready for paint very soon. 

 

 

[aidy]

Unfortunately, this looks like where I'll stop. I've cracked the windscreen and it doesn't look fixable. From what I gather, HobbyBoss isn't big on the idea of parts replacement but I'll try asking the local distributor anyhow.

[NAVY870]

6 hours ago, aidy said:

Unfortunately, this looks like where I'll stop. I've cracked the windscreen and it doesn't look fixable. From what I gather, HobbyBoss isn't big on the idea of parts replacement but I'll try asking the local distributor anyhow.

I've got a few (Esci Hobbycraft and Monogram) in the spares box that may assist.

 

I like your build but having a look at your pics its not a kit I'll be purchasing, far too many errors for me.

[VMA131Marine]

Shame about your cracked windshield. Can you smash-form a replacement?

 

Looks like you are doing very nice work on this kit. However, as a huge A-4 fan having worked on them in the USMC in the 80's, there are just too many things wrong with the base kit for me to get one. Fortunately I have a pretty good stash of Hasegawa kits so I won't miss not getting this kit.