1/72 Hasegawa Skyraider AD-4

[-Neu-]

So... I couldn't end off this GB with just the Banshee and Panther. However there wasn't much chance I could build the RB-26 in time... so that will wait for another day. On sunday I had kinda resigned myself to doing only two, then I saw this thread.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234965409-skyraider-ad-4-conversion/

I actually have a 1/72 Hasegawa Skyraider (AD-6 first of the fleet boxing) kit I've been slowly building. Building isn't really an apt description; I basically had been painting surfaces of it with leftover GSB while I was doing the panther and the banshee. I also put some PE on the cockpit... but was really disappointed when I discovered that it didn't have any side control panels parts. Pretty lame eduard... pretty lame.

So with renewed vigour I started on the kit. So much so that I forgot to start off with a photo of the sprues and the like. Its not like I haven't tried to do this before... rushing a kit under the GB deadline. I'm actually batting 0 for 3 in that regards. However I did specially rush a Eurodecals set from ebay seller Rebelalpha (thanks Scott!), so that might be the impetus that I need to get it done.

So this is an AD-4 ... its going to need some "modifications." The biggest one is the armour added to A-1H, which has to all go. You can kinda see some of it on the area below the cockpit behind the exhaust.

And this is what its like without the the armour;

Some rescribing will be necessary.

Its easier to see the removed armour on the belly, which I painted earlier.

10 minutes later....

So the next is the cockpit. A friend of mine gave me a nice set of old Reheat PE for console switches... unfortunately its in 1/48 but it will work.

The tub piece is actually from the eduard set. And here it is all together....

Looks a bit more busy! This was where I ended up last night.

The cockpit was primed black... the Instrument panel is coming together. However... I discovered a big problem...

That space in A17 is where the seat is supposed to be. So I have two options... I can raid another Skyraider kit or I can scratch build one....its not like Ive never done that before:

Anyway, wish me luck... because (in the immortal words of Han Solo) I'm going to need it.

Edited August 13, 2014 by -Neu-

[Mozzy19]

Phwoarr you're cutting it fine! I wish you luck all the same.

Sean

[-Neu-]

Yes... but its actually a really simple kit. I tried doing the same thing with the Hasegawa F-104 kit. That wasn't nearly as simple as this one. I'm also doing it in one tone (GSB) which really simplifies things. The way I see it, I can probably assemble it tonight or tomorrow night, Paint it and gloss coat it friday (I'll use tamiya over Gunze because it dries faster and there won't be a cracking issue in the future), decal it saturday, and finish it up Sunday. I do have a precedent for this... I finished a Eduard Hellcat last year in much the same way.... and it didn't look too bad either.

[-Neu-]

So I'm not done... but pretty close.

Basically what happened is that I ordered my decals to a post office box across in the US... but the border lines were ridiculous and I could not get them in time. So this is where I ended up. I started with making seats cutouts with plasticard, upon which I applied Mori Mori putty. its nice because the polyester often sets with a nice wavy pattern that feels "fabric-y"

This is them, with the completed IP from the Eduard set.

So here its all together painted, with seat belts and in the cockpit... not the best photo, but it shows some of the detail. The seat back is usually black, and the seat is a bucket upon which the pilot (I think) sits on his parachute or dingy. Mostly used vallejo for the paints on the hairy stick in this stage, except the primed black I sprayed on with the AB.

A better one. I washed it all with black artist ink and Tamiya oil sludge weathering powder. I quite like the stuff.

I then assembled it.

The tail needed a bit of help to stay together.

One thing you'll notice is that I broke off the cannon barrel tips... I dropped it accidentally and they broke off... and I could not find them. I rushed to the local model store and got a set of tuned brass ones for Hurricane IICs, which I'll only use the tips to replace the ones I broke. They might be a tad too short but they will look much better. Lastly I brushed on some future in preparation for the decals.

And here we are! I should be able to get the decals tonight, and perhaps finish the kit tomorrow. Feels like its going well... wish me luck!

[-Neu-]

So I'm almost done....

I went to my mailbox and got my decal sheet.

I also swung around the LHS and saw something else I had to buy... the Attack Squadron Tiny Tim rocket. I saw a photo of it in Tommy Thomason's excellent book Strike from the Sea... and just knew I had to have it. Also in that photo you can see the Turned brass barrels that I was going to use, but I've decided against it.... they looked just too small.

Anyway here is the rocket on its own.

Looks pretty good. I already cut the body off of the mold, primed and painted most of it silver. All I need to do is the steel bits and the nose, and we're in business. I also found 4X 1000lbs bombs from an hasegawa B-26 I built. I'm not too sure how or where I'll use them (maybe one on the centreline, or two on the wings with one tiny tim on the centreline... not too sure. On that note while I was rummaging around for the bombs I found this sprue:

Score! Its from a old Hasegawa F9F Cougar kit. it looks almost perfect for the new racks, just a little long in profile. I'll cut it down and attach them tonight.

Next I started decalling. I've used Eurodecals before and quite like them.... this was a post war F-51 I built using the set:

I picked the fourth option: an AD-4 from VA-75 on the Bon Homme Richard, in 1952. Here it is from the Fantasy Printshop's website.

I had to paint the top of the tail medium green. The decals didn't have a match for gunze, so I eyeballed it and used a early War Russian Tank Green.. Decals went on smooth, no problems at all.

Many thanks for looking!

[-Neu-]

Alright... STILL not done but getting there. I finished the topcoat on the Sandy, but I'm not entirely too happy with it. Basically the decal areas you can still see some film... like its more flat than its surrounding area. So what I might do is hit those areas with some more future then do my final coat again. We shall see. I also added the rest of the bomb racks as well.

The other area I finished was the exhaust plume, which we all know is quite prominent on the AD series. I use a bit of technique that a Spanish modeller on ARC showed me. It involves laying down a base coat of black, over which I put a desert brown:

Then I use a bit of black artist oils to add in streaks into the exhaust plumes.

It looks a bit too much, but I'll correct the desert overspray with a very fine coat of black, perhaps masked off a bit so the overspray doesn't cover the oil painting that I added. That should also give the distinctive "kink" in the exhaust that is seen on most skyraiders.

Well, I'm getting there. Just a few more things before I'm done!

Edited August 21, 2014 by -Neu-