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Sea knights and skyhawk help needed


speedbird

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Hi guys, just a couple of unrelated questions if I may? Firstly does anyone make a replacement cockpit glazing for the Airfix CH-46 seaknight? I got the kit from the Huddersfield show but on opening the box at home I found the cockpit glazing useles. It seems it had not formed properly during the injection process. 

Secondly does anyone know if there are any decals available for an Israeli A-4 Skyhawk? I’ve got the old frog kit I want to bash together but have no decals at all.

Cheers guys

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Isradecal have done 1/72 A-4 Skyhawks in the past but you might have to search around for a sheet.

 

As regards the Sea Knight just out of interest is the fault in one of the rearmost side panels?     The first example of the kit I ever bought when it was brand new had one of the side panels moulded as a curve rather than a right angle although a very low-tech answer way back then was to drag a film of white PVA glue over the space once the cockpit piece was in place which dried almost clear.    'Almost' perhaps being an apt term to describe many 1960s modelling fixes.

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Hi des.. it is on the port side rear / side panel. It hasn’t Formed in the mild properly and instead of forming a nice clean corner, it’s sort of rounded and only has half the side/door panel if that makes sense 

Beppe thanks for that, I’ll have a look for them. Any idea where I might find them?

Edited by speedbird
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I suspect the answer on the canopy is almost certainly not - another suggestion  instead of white glue would be clear acetate sheet. Cut the offending bit of canopy away, cut some clear acetate to fit and fix it in place with white glue.

 

pat 

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15 hours ago, speedbird said:

Hi des.. it is on the port side rear / side panel. It hasn’t Formed in the mild properly and instead of forming a nice clean corner, it’s sort of rounded and only has half the side/door panel if that makes sense 

Sounds exactly like the same problem in the same place as I had back when the kit was first released in 1965 , was 12 at the time and under pressure to complete the Friday pocket money Airfix kit from Woolworths same day or by Saturday morning at the latest.     Knives sharp enough to actually cut were a definite 'no-no' so twisting parts from sprues and rubbing them down with a matchbox was the best I could do for tools and not surprisingly I never found that white PVA worked quite as well for windows as the writers in Airfix Magazine at the time suggested , always dried a bit foggy.     But nonetheless great fun at the time and the impression that there was something new every week.

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Oh happy days.. this kit was one of the very first kits I ever built by myself so on a bit of a trip down memory lane at the moment.. I’m gutted I can’t build the darn thing now 🙁one day  I’ll learn to check second hand kits before handing of the cash.

Edited by speedbird
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1 hour ago, speedbird said:

Actually pat I’d thought of that and it might work if I can get the acetate sheet to curb slightly.. worth a go I suppose.. cheers

 

Try using masking tape to hold a larger  piece of acetate sheet over a rounded surface like a metal pen tube or heavy duty screwdriver  etc. pour some boiling water over it and use a clamp or something similar to hold it in shape while you cool it in cold water.     I have found that when the tape is removed it springs back a bit but with some trial and error can leave you with a gently curved piece of plastic to work with without the stress marks left from bending it cold ....... something else I didn't get to do when I was 12.

Edited by Des
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Cheers for the help guys, I’ll try and make a replacement side panelout of acetate and see what happens.. if it works out I’d like to show it off on here but I have no idea how to upload a pic now  whatshis name has stoped third party hosting.

Edited by speedbird
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It sounds like many have similar stories from their youth about the Airfix Vertol 107, as it was marketsd in those days.

 

I bought mine when it came out in the 1960s while my mum was taking us to my nan’s. My plan was to get it done that day! Impatient or what! ;).

 

Since then it has always held a place in my heart and I’ve always found the sighting of one to be exciting. I remember I was at school at one time, attending a physics (lesson) on the top (third) floor and I heard the characteristic thud-thud-thud. I’d not seen one before. Eventually a US machine came scooting over the trees in a west-east direction over East Grinstead. I was distracted, as you might imagine! ;)

 

Martin

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Just in case the problem hasn't been solved yet: Does the missing portion coincide with the door ? If so, you could remove the whole door and build it open, that may help you a bit with curvature. At least the kit has a well-detailed cockpit with at least 9 parts including the bulkhead :P - does your issue come with the cut-out-stick-on instrument panel ?

Re Israeli decals, the original issue of the Matchbox kit came with Heyl Ha'Avir option (as well as Frog, of course), and Esci also had a boxing of their kit - it may be that someone has the relevant sections of a kit sheet. I'm also quite certain Microscale had at least one sheet including A-4s, but probably long out of print.

Have you tried at AirDoc ? As Andreas Klein is very interested in Heyl Ha'Avir, he may have made a sheet of his own. And anyway, he stocks IsraDecal so may some sheets, though I somewhat doubt the Hasegawa/Frog really would be worth them... Incidentally, the kit (at least the fuselage) is said to be significantly overscale, so any aftremarket sheet may have some fit issues.

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