kolja Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 With my Intruder project coming into the home stretch, I was in need of a new challenge (of course I have no shortage of them, the question is, which one?). Another member of the ARC forums was thinning out his stash and generously sent a couple kits my way - a Czech Model F3D-2 Skyknight and a Hasegawa A-4E Skyhawk. I figured it would be something of a faux pas, or at least ungrateful, to not bump at least one of them to the top of the queue. After reading some reviews online, though, it appeared the Skyknight might be a bit ambitious for my second project after an almost four year hiatus - however, everyone seems to have nice things to say about the Hasegawa A-4. Also, its TOPGUN boxing reminded me I had a stash of adversary/aggressor markings of my own. So here's the next project - going with the two tone gray and blue: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 My first photo-worthy progress. I've deliberately left off the upper ejection handle as it's quite exposed (and I'd rather attach it later than see it fly off into the ether). As you can see, the nosewheel well (which is exquisitely molded, IMHO) is the same part as the cockpit tub, so I'm painting it white now (and will detail paint some of the ducting and wiring in there) before sandwiching it into the fuselage halves. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 Well, the rest of the summer saw quite an aggressive travel schedule for yours truly (though not at all unpleasant - despite the limited time it left me to build). Hence my absence from the boards and tardiness in updating. But have no fear, I'm still at work! After touching up the nosewheel well, I sandwhiced the cockpit, compressor face and exhaust pipe in between the fuselage halves. Then I added the intakes. Yes, I realize I need not have painted the intake lips and splitter plates white - I didn't think that one all the way through, though it won't be hard to fix. The intakes fit quite nicely with no need for filling, and for the most part the fuselage halves joined together nicely. For the most part I just needed some sanding here and there where small beads of cement had oozed through - and a little more sanding under the nose where, for some reason I don't quite understand, there was a bit of a step between the two halves. I only needed putty on two small seams along the longitudinal joint. Now, I've turned to the wings. The first upper wing half fit practically flawlessly to the one piece lower wing/fuselage keel part. The second upper wing is clamped and drying now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Not seen one of these being worked up before so interesting to watch your progress. Thanks for sharing with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Quite a build already Kolja, Good clean start . Keep it coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Thanks gents. Progress creeps along - not so much a modelling slump, just a lot of other things (all generally positive) going on, so I get some tinkering in when I can. Last week I got the wings together: And then last weekend mounted: Just a little bit of join cleanup needed at the forward bottom at the wing root/fuselage/nosewheel well area all comes together: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex77 Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Nice build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Looks great. I've one of these little gems to build too, though I think i'll go for the green/brown scheme. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Thanks gents. Dave, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the adversary schemes - or most of the gray and white ones from fleet squadrons back in the day, either, for that matter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 So last week I got the wheel wells and landing gear doors interiors painted white, but didn't feel it significant enough to photos. This afternoon, I got around to preshading. Only the second time I've used the technique and still a little heavy handed in spots, as I try to become more than just a 'binary' airbrusher.... but some areas I felt like I had better control and precision so I'm declaring it "progress." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 Been pretty busy lately with other things, but still sneak in a little workbench time; got the first shade of camo down: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share Posted December 23, 2012 Just a quick update before hitting the road for the holidays (been a crazy month or so, with little time for the boards, so apologies for my absence!). As you can see, got the rest of the camo on. Have just a bit more touching up to do where my masking job didn't qutie cut it, then I can apply the first clear coat before moving on: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 Merry Christmas Kolja. Your Scooter looks great so far. Any plans for some heavy weathering in specific areas? By the way, is this a Scooter from VF-126, which was painted with the specific paint scheme around the mid-90s? Looking forward to see it finished! Cheers Sernak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Thanks, Sernak. Hope your Christmas was good. The markings are for VF-45; weathering will be a panel line wash and some light streaking (mainly along the bottom) with artists oils. Maybe some light pastel work too - but nothing too heavy. Most adversaries, at least in my experience, don't seem to look quite as rode-hard-and-put-away-wet as Fleet jets eventually get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) Good evening Koija, Thanks for your reply. To be honest, I haven't seen a VF-45 wearing the specific camo, which makes me realize that you can't never find too many photos for an adversary Scooter!!! As far as it concerns the weathering volume these "birds" had, just take a look - if you have it of course - at Bert Kinzey's book, "Colour and markings of the us navy adversaries". Most of the early and late 80's adversaries had some serious weathering, which makes you think about the quality of the colours these units were using. Looking forward to see your progress. Cheers Sernak Edited December 27, 2012 by Sernak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 I do not have that book, unfortunately. Admittedly some of the pictures I've seen suggest sun fading (which I haven't decided if I want to try and replicate or not), but nothing I've seen suggests anything like what I've seen on Prowlers over the years. I can only presume Mr. Kinzey's seen more 80s adversaries than I have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Quick, albeit picture-less, update - got the first coat of Future applied. It didn't go down as smoothly as I'm used to, which was a bit vexing, but I wicked away some excessive accumulation in a relatively timely matter and the rest of it seems to be leveling out fairly well as it dries (I applied it a little more than an hour and a half ago). Even so, after the decals go on there will be another coat before applying a wash, and then finally a dullcoat so there's plenty of opportunity for my finish to level itself out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted February 10, 2013 Author Share Posted February 10, 2013 Still going. Had the chance to sit down and get some work done this afternoon after a training run (my first half marathon of the year is next Sunday!). I was supposed to help my girlfriend shop for a new TV since her old one died, but since the US federal governments fiscal woes mean she will probably be furloughed for 22 work days soon (we're hoping it will be spaced out!), she decided to defer the purchase. So, modelling time for me - and decals are finally on. Being a fairly uncomplicated adversary scheme, I could knock it out in one session - not one 'sitting' as i had to get up for more beer a couple times... As you can see, on the left side forward of the intake, that blue band is too big so the end of the 'RESCUE' arrow kind of disappears. However, this is the first scheme I can remember doing where multi-part decals cross color demarcations like in this one, so if that's my biggest faux pas, I feel OK about it. How the intake warning, 'NAVY' titles, and national insignia (fear not, after seeing the picture, I fixed the one on the right speedbrake before it totally set) all came out makes me pretty happy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 A long overdue and, regrettably, incremental update - panel line wash and some artist oil weathering, plus the exhaust painted (Testor's Metalizers on both inside and out).Next up is replacing the mounting brackets (for lack of a better term) for the slats; as you can tell I broke quite a few off during the painting process. I figure I should do the replacement work before attaching things like landing gear and doors. I've got a plan - the brackets themselves may not look 100% accurate but will be close, and stronger, and any glaring inaccuracy will be hidden under the slat itself. Wish me luck... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted April 14, 2013 Author Share Posted April 14, 2013 Here's what I've settled upon for fixing the slat tracks. They're handrail stanchions from a HO scale model railroad locomotive. The eyelets for the rail itself, it turns out, are easy to mash flat with pliers to create the mating surface for the slat itself, and not too terribly distinct from the surviving kit one (at least not so much that you'll notice once the slat is on. Here's what the first one looked like, next to the sole survivor. Now that I've given the 2 on the right wing time for the CA to cure, I'll move onto the left wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Good effort, looking the biz, proper modelling - "mashing flat with pliers"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted April 14, 2013 Author Share Posted April 14, 2013 For the record, "mashing flat with pliers" is a very technical description of a quite precise process Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolja Posted June 12, 2013 Author Share Posted June 12, 2013 Rather hard to believe it's been 2 months since I've posted an update - life has indeed been keeping me quite busy (though for the most part with GOOD things, so there's that). Work on this project HAS continued, though as I got into the installing details (and repairing damage done whilst building) phase, there weren't many truly photo-worthy milestones. However, all the small stuff is on - flaps and slats, landing gear and doors, and antennae. Clear parts were unmasked, and survived their excessively long time under tape. Lights, and protruding cockpit details like the ejection seat handle and the control stick, were all installed. Which brings me to where I am now, which is the point of having to make something to conceal the fact that I completely forgot to add weight to the nose of the airplane. If you look at where the main landing gear of the A-4 is, it's much of a stretch to see how a model of one would be something of a tail-sitter - especially with the nosegear giving it such a nose-high stance on the ground. And in fact, Hasegawa even TELLS you to add weight. I just plum forgot. So, last week I got my hands on a small wooden plaque from a craft store. I've stained the beveled edges of it, so now it just needs to be varnished. Meanwhile, I've got a sheet of cheap plastic I'm painting up to look like concrete. That will give me something to tether the nosegear to in order to keep the airplane sitting like it's supposed to. Final pictures soon! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Nice to know this one is still progressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Quinton Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Looking really good, love the camo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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