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Fresh from the sheer pleasure of building Airfix's 1/24 Hellcat, and now, as the man said, for something completely different..... ....Although not that different really, since it's got an engine and wings and flies through the air...but from a different era and, if first impressions are to be believed, a different and less forgiving building process. For some reason I've always liked the look of the A-7 Corsair, aka "SLUFF" (an acronym that always seemed a little inaccurate and unfair to me), but have never built one throughout all my modelling years. I've also never yet built a kit by Trumpeter, so why not kill two birds with one stone I thought....also that colourful box art depicting one of the two possible colourful CAG schemes has been staring at me for too long. There are various reviews of this kit available online, so rather than go on about what's in the box I'll get straight on with the build. Without knowing much about this offering from Trumpeter I was initially intending to build it straight out of the box, since it was not a cheap kit to start off with so I didn't want to spend much more on it. However, having studied the parts I did decide to add a couple of aftermarket items as will be seen below. All of the reviews I've read about this kit state that Trumpeter moulded the engine intake too flat. Even their box art depicts a nice round intake, whereas the model's intake has a very definite oval shape with a flattish bottom. A very quick internet search revealed that a company in the USA called Zactomodels makes a replacement resin "lip" that can correct this fault. Further research revealed that the same company also made a replacement resin seamless intake and more accurately shaped canopy. I say "made" because the intake trunk and canopy set are no longer mentioned on their website and after much searching none are available to buy through any retailers. I thought I'd at least have a go at correcting the shape of the intake so I invested in the replacement lip. Looking at the cockpit and comparing it with photos of the real thing, the front panel didn't seem too bad, but the kit's side panels seem to be a generic collection of lumps and bumps and do not compare well to the actual aircraft. The seat is also interesting. Two types of ejection seat are supplied with the kit, namely the earlier "Escapac IG-2" seat and the later "SJU" seat, although the instructions only show how to build the SJU seat. The parts for the SJU seat are also on a separate small sprue "N" thus: Whereas most of the Escapac seat parts are mixed in on sprues D and E I'm assuming sprue D is the same as that included with Trumpeter's 1/32 A-7D version, hence their (perceived) need for the new SJU seat sprue for the "E" version. However, another quick bit of research revealed that the switchover from Escapac to SJU seats for the A-7E started in the early 1980's and took a few years to ripple through. The supplied decals are for two 1970's aircraft so, for me, Escapac is definitely the way to go and maybe Trumpeter got it wrong by instructing that the SJU seat should be used for these aircraft. As I say there are no instructions on how to build the Escapac version but it isn't hard to work out which bit goes where....there are only 6 parts! Even so, comparing kit to real thing, I think the Escapac seat supplied is a little light on detail, so I decided to go with Eduard's photoetch set, part 32558, which is now discontinued but luckily I was able to source one on ebay. The two seat cushions supplied for the Escapac version are also devoid of any detail, so I decided to add some texture by using a layer of milliput suitably prodded and poked. Here's a picture of the parts with the milliput added and the Eduard set. After bit of gluing, bending, cursing and painting, this was the end result: Many pictures I've seen show a pipe coming from the back of the lower seat cushion, so I decided to add that for a bit of interest...not sure what it is though! I also refashioned the 2 canopy breakers at either side of the head rest out of thin styrene sheet to give a bit more depth. As far as the rest of the cockpit goes, as I say I don't think the side panels are accurate, however a resin replacement is not cheap so I'll stick with what is supplied. So, with the usual painting, dry brushing and detailing I end up with this: As can be seen, I also added a few extra pipes using fuse wire, again just to liven things up a bit. Next will be the intake and installing the resin lip replacement.....

Hi everyone ! My latest completion . A-7E painted as a Hellenic Air Force fighter - bomber . The Italeri kit is an old one but it's nice to build . OOB except for the AIRES ejection seat . Hope you like it

Hi, Here my Hasegawa kit built with help of Rhino seamless intake, Aires wheel wells, Eduard etch and New Ware canopy masks. Additional weapons for SAM suppression is from Hasegawa's weapon set. Thanks for looking!

Hey BM looking for kit recommendations to do :- RAF Tornado (scheme from the last 10 years)any help on payloads also would be much welcome. Finnish Hawk (in the recent 2 grey scheme) A-7E (Late 80's almost 90's).I've had a nosey on this one and it seems a toss up between the hard to get Fujimi or the Esci mould?. Super Etendard (most current scheme/variant) any help on payloads on this one too. Harrier GR.3 (Falklands maybe post Falklands).Any help on smart bomb loads would be great too. Thanks in advance Shane.

2nd GB entry - really just to prove that I don't just do modern, low viz jets....and this great looking kit has been sitting in stash for far too long. I intend standard out-of-box build. Kit decals (which look great) and some eduard photo etch (which seem 50 years old!) I'm really hoping thatthat tin of green paint, when opened (a) still works and (b) is a match for the airframe I am modelling

More from Red Flag 83-2 at Nellis AFB. Exercise took place over three weeks in Jan-Feb 1983. Attack Squadron 87 (VA-87), the Golden Warriors with A-7Es... BuNo 158672, Modex AE400 BuNo 156807, AE401 BuNo 156832, AE411 BuNo 156862, AE412 BuNo 157458, AE414 Thanks for looking, Sven

Hello, Here are my two 1/72 Fujimi A-7E Corsair II's that I just finished. The US Navy one was done in VA-146 markings during the 1971-72 cruise on the USS Constellation. Decals from Wolfpak, Rockeyes from Eduard, painted with Modelmaster and Tamiya. The Greek one was inspired by one of the Corsairs that participated in that big live firing demonstration that was all over the internet a couple years ago. M117's are from Eduard, decals from Icarus, painted with Gunze paints. And both of them together. Thanks for watching. i hope you like them. Pete