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RAN A-4G Scooter on the go


Mick Drover

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The reason for me participating in my first GB is essentially to get back on the modelling wagon. I didn't so much fall off...I just had a break to allow for the newest member of our family to settle in. Our daughter Ella was born in October and I've been itching to get back into the plastic since June when the gear got packed up for a while. I know it's not a long hiatus but it was for me. Anyway enough of the excuses...on with the build.

885 met its end on the 21/10/1980 after the catapult failed when being shot from HMAS Melbourne, SBLT Daivid Baddams was rescued shortly after the aircraft stacked it. The colour scheme represents 885 late in its career with the Royal Australian Navy, that being the air superiority colours.

Here is the kit and progress so far.

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Construction commenced with the usual cockpit, instrument panel and bang seat painting with the result below.

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Seat straps will be manufactured from strips and discs of Tamiya tape painted appropriately as the woefully moulded represetation of straps was scrapped off the orignal parts.

A quick dry brushing with some Light Grey Vallejo paints and the seat is just about done.

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The copyright on the box is 1987 and I think it starting to show a little in the plastic as some of the mating edges of the fuselage halves seem to have a bit of a lip where they butt join. This is particulary noticeable on the nose components of the kits. I've run around the seam with an Olfa P Cutter to make a bit of a trench in which I've used a combiniation of CA, Mr Surfacer and Mr Dissolved Putty to fill the resulting 'trench'. The photo below shows the effect of the trench around the seam. More Mr products to follow here...

Bottom

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Top

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I'm not quite sure if the kit will sit on it's bum when it has WOW. A lead sinker is conveniently CA'd into place behind the cockpit sitting on top of the forward wheel well.

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Barger, just noticed the bent antenna...to be fixed...or replaced with some plastic card perhaps?

As the engine face and intake trunking is barely visible down the intakes I've put minimum effort into it's tidiness. Pardon the seam but I wasn't to concerned with it.

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The moulded on arrestor hook has been removed to allow for seam clean up and ease of painting (fuse and hook). In this case Mr Dissolved Putty has been used to fill the offending trench. The internal fuselage seam in the rear of the engine housing will cleaned up too!

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The wings have been glued and tidied up. There is a nasty step in the slat well where the upper and lower wings surfaces meet, enough of a step to bring out the steel files. The final clean up was done with Micro Mesh sanding and polishing pads. The results can be seen below.

Starboard

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Port

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Be careful of those slat guide arms!!!

The flaps have been cut out as they will be displayed in the lowered position. Some clean up needs to be done in the main wheel well as they are a top and bottom affair.

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I'll have the kit sitting on the ground with two drop tanks. A bit of clean up and a spray of Mr Surface 1200 from the rattle can and voila!!!

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Where it stands at the moment.

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To be continued...

Edited by Plastic_nuts
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Boy Mick you don't muck around getting back into it! That is nice progress, pity about the fit but it looks like you have it under control.

Looking forward to further progress, at this rate I expect the next update will have it finished? :D

:cheers:

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Thanks Ray and Deon.

The kit is a little gem when in comes to surface detail. Just enough for the scale without it looking like a spider's web. Here's where I am at the moment after a calming :drink: to settle the nerves.

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The fit issues aren't too bad although the nose to fuselage has resulted in a bit of a gap between the forward wing root and forward fuselage on both sides. In order to keep the components square I've had to allow a few gaps to open. The next few pics show what I mean.

The underside will be corrected with some Evergreen sheet sanded to shape. Not a real biggy but irritating enough.

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The gap you can see just below the IFR probe will be clamped tomorrow evening to bring the two mating surfaces together. Tonights glue work needs to go off before I can attempt that section.

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I'll deal with the port side using some Mr Surfacer 500 built up in layers and then given the once over.

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The seam between the uderside of the wing and fuselage has been bogged up with Tamiya Putty.

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The wheel weels have been cleaned up which aren't really all that clear in these photos.

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Along with the awkward seam in the jet pipe.

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I'll be glad to get this stuff out of the way so we can hopefully hit the spray booth over the weekend. Oh yeah...and a dlollop of Mr SUrface on the spin where the fuse meets the nose...

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Comments most welcome :door:

To be continued...

Mick

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi again,

Been a few weeks since the last update so I thought I'd better do a bit of a catch up.

Luck would have the day after the last lot of photos were taken the model suffered from a bit of rhinoplasty. The nose came off after picking it up the next day. I don't know if it wasn't enough glue (probably) or small glueing area, but it came off anyway. It allowed me to clean up the gap between the wing root and forward fuselage section. The resulting area is a lot tidier than what it was intially as seen below.

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The sundry items have been painted accordingly and the model is about ready for paint. The grey you see is some Mr Surface 1200 from the can to check for any seam problems. All good so far.

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I'll let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves.

I hope you like it and any questions and suggestions are most welcome.

Mick

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Nice progress Mick,

It's good to see the Scooter is still underway and progressing so well. I can't pick the difference with the re-attached nose but it's good to hear that you're happier with it.

Looking forward to seeing it with paint on.

Andrew.

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Nice progress Mick,

It's good to see the Scooter is still underway and progressing so well. I can't pick the difference with the re-attached nose but it's good to hear that you're happier with it.

Looking forward to seeing it with paint on.

Andrew.

Thanks Andrew,

Time is precious at the moment with family duties and a new one to look after. The nose section has a small piece of 5 thou plastic card between the wing and the rear of the nose section. A bit of Mr Surfacer 500 and a bit of deft sanding and the problem was fixed.

The light gray should go on tomorrow although I'm going to see how it goes with a few drops of Gunze clear blue to give the light gray the blue hue that is sometimes seen in photographs of Aussies scooters in the air super scheme. I'm sure it is caused by a combination of the gray relecting blue light from the atmosphere and the filter that was perhaps used on the day the photographs were taken. The series of photos of 885 that I have were taken on the same sortie. In one photo the dark gray/light gray is quite defined however in another photo from the same flight, the light gray has a noticeable blue hue in it.

Mick

Edited by Plastic_nuts
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Hi again Mick,

Your idea for imparting a blue tinge is novel and I'm keen to see how it turns out; what light grey will be using as the base though (presumably something by Gunze or another lacquer-based brand)?

I agree about the appearance of the lighter grey in that scheme. As a fallback option for you, may I suggest US Aircraft Grey - FS16473 - as this also has a blue (occasionally green!) cast which to my eye closely resembles the actual colour. I used this colour on the same kit many years ago and was very happy with how the scheme turned out. Sadly, the kit no longer is any state for photography and I don't have any photos from that time.

Sorry to ramble on. Best wishes for this weekend and I hope the clear blue goes well. I'd love to see how it turns out.

Andrew.

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Always good to see a skyhawk.

Nice clean build so far.

And a nice Aussie camo, also.

I'll have to dig the web to see if something's available in 1/48.

I may be wrong, but there is no haseg limited run boxes with an RAN scooter?

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thats a terrible affliction to have- plastic nuts!!!!!! looking real good Mick, like the WIP shots too, keep them coming, how are you going to do the camo, blu-tac?

Bruce

Hi Bruce,

Terrible affliction indeed...I have thought about changing it!!!

I'll probably go for the hard edge Tamiya tape edge. I think it would be suitable for 1/72. If I was doing the 1/48th jobby I'd definately go for the blue-tac sausage technique.

How goes the Sioux? Getting close I hope?

Mick

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Hi again Mick,

Your idea for imparting a blue tinge is novel and I'm keen to see how it turns out; what light grey will be using as the base though (presumably something by Gunze or another lacquer-based brand)?

I agree about the appearance of the lighter grey in that scheme. As a fallback option for you, may I suggest US Aircraft Grey - FS16473 - as this also has a blue (occasionally green!) cast which to my eye closely resembles the actual colour. I used this colour on the same kit many years ago and was very happy with how the scheme turned out. Sadly, the kit no longer is any state for photography and I don't have any photos from that time.

Sorry to ramble on. Best wishes for this weekend and I hope the clear blue goes well. I'd love to see how it turns out.

Andrew.

Hey Andrew,

No need to apologise about the rambling...that's what these forums are for I say!!!

I'll experiment with the combo of blue and grey before committing paint to model. The greys I'm looking at are all Gunze.

51 Light Gull Grey

325 Grey FS26440

332

Light Aircraft Grey BS631C/627.

I've noted the FS colour you've suggested and I'll give it a shot by itself and see how it goes.

Hopefully pics will follow post club workshop on Sunday.

Mick

P.S. Have you got anything on the go for the GB???

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Always good to see a skyhawk.

Nice clean build so far.

And a nice Aussie camo, also.

I'll have to dig the web to see if something's available in 1/48.

I may be wrong, but there is no haseg limited run boxes with an RAN scooter?

Thanks Antoine,

I've always wanted to do the air super scheme for an Aussie Skyhawk. I just need to make sure I get the colours right!!!

Hasegawa would be your first port of call for an Aussie Skyhawk. You'd want the A-4E/F boxing to start with. There's been a recent post (last few months) of the small mods required to make the kit suitable for a G model Aussie version on aussiemodeller.com

Hawkeye decals in Australia do an Aussie Skyhawk sheet and Gekko graphics of NZ have also done some Aussie and Kiwi Scooters in the past.

Drop me an email if you need any more details or directions!!!

Mick

P.S. You might already be aware that Hasegawa is releasing a 1/48 TA-4J and Afterburnerdecals are looking at releasing a sheet of exclusive RAN two seat scooters...something to consider...start saving the pennies!!!

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Hawkeye decals in Australia do an Aussie Skyhawk sheet and Gekko graphics of NZ have also done some Aussie and Kiwi Scooters in the past.

Gekko Graphics of New Zealand! :analintruder:

Actually Mick I live in South Australia. :thumbsup2:

Cheers

Richard Chafer

Gekko Graphics.

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Thanks Antoine,

I've always wanted to do the air super scheme for an Aussie Skyhawk. I just need to make sure I get the colours right!!!

Hasegawa would be your first port of call for an Aussie Skyhawk. You'd want the A-4E/F boxing to start with. There's been a recent post (last few months) of the small mods required to make the kit suitable for a G model Aussie version on aussiemodeller.com

Hawkeye decals in Australia do an Aussie Skyhawk sheet and Gekko graphics of NZ have also done some Aussie and Kiwi Scooters in the past.

Drop me an email if you need any more details or directions!!!

Mick

P.S. You might already be aware that Hasegawa is releasing a 1/48 TA-4J and Afterburnerdecals are looking at releasing a sheet of exclusive RAN two seat scooters...something to consider...start saving the pennies!!!

Hello Mick,

As a matter of fact, I'm collecting haseg limited edition 1/48 skyhawk boxes (Only three so far, Argentine, RNZAF and Brasil, still searching for Kuweit, Singapore and Israel).

AFAIK, there's no Aussie skyhawk in their special edition, but I'd like to have one anyway, so it's nice to know that I can come back to you to get some directions.

I'd learned two days ago about the new re-release ( :analintruder: ) of haseg TA-4J, but I've another plan for this one (Israeli). But you never know, I can change my mind.

By the way, any good web page about Aussie scooter on the net?

Thanks a lot, and an happy end for your current build.

;)

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By the way, any good web page about Aussie scooter on the net?

I hope you don't mind me stepping in here Mick.

Antoine,

Try this for starters (not just Aussie A-4s though- added bonus of Kiwi and Singaporean stuff!) and at the bottom of the page there are links to other sites of relevance, in particular Calum's galleries. Hope this helps.

Andrew.

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..... Actually Mick I live in South Australia. :thumbsup2:

Cheers

Richard Chafer

Gekko Graphics.

Pushing my luck here..... sorry Mick!

Richard,

How's the heat? Hope you and the family are bearing up okay. Any word on the release of your Kiwi A-4 sheets in 72nd?

Andrew.

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Try this for starters (not just Aussie A-4s though- added bonus of Kiwi and Singaporean stuff!) and at the bottom of the page there are links to other sites of relevance, in particular Calum's galleries. Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot.

They didn't come up in my google search... Or they were way too far!

;)

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Another one of my favourite jets.

And its looking good so far.

Hey Daz,

Thanks mate. I'm keen to get it finished and onto the Merlin...I may even get a third started...who knows?!

Mick

BTW...bring on the SLUF

Edited by Plastic_nuts
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Gekko Graphics of New Zealand! :analintruder:

Actually Mick I live in South Australia. :thumbsup2:

Cheers

Richard Chafer

Gekko Graphics.

G'day Richard,

Sincerest apologies for that. Was the company originally strted in NZ or am I mistaken with someone else???

Confused.

Mick

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Hello Mick,

As a matter of fact, I'm collecting haseg limited edition 1/48 skyhawk boxes (Only three so far, Argentine, RNZAF and Brasil, still searching for Kuweit, Singapore and Israel).

AFAIK, there's no Aussie skyhawk in their special edition, but I'd like to have one anyway, so it's nice to know that I can come back to you to get some directions.

I'd learned two days ago about the new re-release ( :analintruder: ) of haseg TA-4J, but I've another plan for this one (Israeli). But you never know, I can change my mind.

By the way, any good web page about Aussie scooter on the net?

Thanks a lot, and an happy end for your current build.

;)

Hi Antoine,

This link describes the mods required to convert the Hasegawa A-4E to A-4G configuration

http://www.network54.com/Forum/219149/mess...Reproduced)+---

Andrew has provided some good links to Motty and Calum's websites.

I hope this helps.

Mick

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Pushing my luck here..... sorry Mick!

Richard,

How's the heat? Hope you and the family are bearing up okay. Any word on the release of your Kiwi A-4 sheets in 72nd?

Andrew.

No worries Andrew. What's happening on your bench at the moment?

MD

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No worries Andrew. What's happening on your bench at the moment?

MD

Haven't got 'round to starting some threads here yet, but have finally settled on two entries for this GB. They're not what I foreshadowed (Post #111 on pg.6) last year when expressing an interest, but you've got the A-4G covered and the other intended build, an RN Phantom, wouldn't have been eligible as it is too far progressed to qualify. So, just this weekend I've dragged out from the stash a Hasegawa RF-4B and a Trumpeter RA-5C, both in 1/72. Plastic has been cut from the sprues, so these are very exciting times (for me anyway). Appropriate posts will be made in the near future ....... standby.

Cheers,

Andrew (and before you ask, no I can't remember what I was smoking prior to making that post last November. That said, we do still use such formal and floral language in letters to our superiors on rare occasion).

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