Knight_Flyer Posted August 31, 2015 Posted August 31, 2015 As this is my first GB, I'm gonna join with an Airfix Skyhawk that is nothing complicated. I've seen a few good comments about this kit in the RFI and it will be interesting to see how I get on. The kit itself comes in 3 sprues and 1 clear part of canopies. Decals are actually for a Vietnam deployment squadron - VA-95 Green Lizards. However I prefer the VA-15 Valions scheme and in the process of obtaining replacement decals. According to documented evidence, those are the two main squadrons to operate over Vietnam flying the A-4B. I still plan to build the Bird Dog and maybe another plane if there's time left. 4
snapper_city Posted August 31, 2015 Posted August 31, 2015 Can't go wrong with a Scooter. Not sure on the squadrons but I can check my Eduard Vietnam Scooters tomorrow when it wont disturb the misses going through the stash. 1
Knight_Flyer Posted September 2, 2015 Author Posted September 2, 2015 Interestingly I came across another squadron flying the A-4B over Vietnam - VSF-3 Chessmen https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A-4B_VSF-3_crash_landing_in_USS_Intrepid_(CVS-11)_1967.jpg Don't know if there are others and I'm not familiar with the VSF squadron prefix either. I'll probably stick with the Valions scheme though.
PlaStix Posted September 3, 2015 Posted September 3, 2015 Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one. 1
Mitch K Posted September 3, 2015 Posted September 3, 2015 Interestingly I came across another squadron flying the A-4B over Vietnam - VSF-3 Chessmen https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A-4B_VSF-3_crash_landing_in_USS_Intrepid_(CVS-11)_1967.jpg Don't know if there are others and I'm not familiar with the VSF squadron prefix either. I'll probably stick with the Valions scheme though. It applies apparently to units deployed to provide minimal fighter cover (and later attack duties) aboard the ASW carriers (e.g. of the Essex class). These, AIUI, were too small for the "real" fighters of the time (F8/F4) so the A4's were intended to protect the carrier as well as provide attack capability. 1
Knight_Flyer Posted September 4, 2015 Author Posted September 4, 2015 It applies apparently to units deployed to provide minimal fighter cover (and later attack duties) aboard the ASW carriers (e.g. of the Essex class). These, AIUI, were too small for the "real" fighters of the time (F8/F4) so the A4's were intended to protect the carrier as well as provide attack capability. That appears to make sense, so if the squadron had two roles then "S" being anti submarine and "F" being fighter hence VSF.
Giorgio N Posted September 4, 2015 Posted September 4, 2015 As Mitch says the VSF squadrons (of which only 4 ever existed, two active duty and two in reserve) supplied detachments for air cover on the smaller ASW carriers. These detachments usually consisted of 4 aircrafts. Air cover on the ASW carriers had previously been supplied by A-4 detachements drawn from USN or USMC attack squadrons but at some point 2 specialised units (VSF-1 and VSF-3) were created. The Skyhawks used for this task were armed with one sidewinder under each wing. Both units initially used A-4Bs and later moved to the C variant before being disestablished with the end of the ASW carriers 2
Knight_Flyer Posted September 4, 2015 Author Posted September 4, 2015 Appreciate the information, also answers the question of ordnance for flying air cover, I was wondering if they were armed with sidewinders. Might do a VSF-3 Skyhawk as a future project if I like the build of the Airfix kit.
Knight_Flyer Posted September 6, 2015 Author Posted September 6, 2015 The build has begun... well almost. Quite a few parts need to be prepainted before the fuselage halves can be closed. I've started this off and managed to get as far as putting together the cockpit tub along with the consoles in the form of decals. Did have a dry run with the fuselage halves and there is a bit of free play with the fit of the tub. Locating lugs would have helped secure it which seems to be the case with later Airfix releases. What I plan to do is glue the tub to one fuselage halve and then dry fit the other halve. I can then adjust the tub till it's perfect and leave the glue to cure. Nose weight will be added to the front and back of the tub. Hopefully it should prevent the model being a tail sitter. For now, the prepainting continues... 5
Knight_Flyer Posted September 16, 2015 Author Posted September 16, 2015 Progress has been slow due to other priorities in life, however I have managed to assemble the fuselage and wings. The fit of the model in general unfortunately isn't very good. A fair amount of filing, sanding and filler is required. The intakes which are separate parts are quite bad as there's a "lip" that is meant to slide into the fuselage. It doesn't really work as the lip is too thick and also needs to slot in between with the intake fan assembly. In the end I sanded off the lip and sanded the intake some more after a dry run discovered the rest of the part wouldn't fit. Airfix got the part numbers wrong in the instructions as well. Overall I see it as part of the model building process and shows the importance of doing dry runs to identify problems before it's too late. Replacement decals are on their way and should arrive before I start varnishing. Next step is to add the other parts to the model and to use filler for the rest of the gaps. Hopefully it will be ready for primer and painting. 1
Knight_Flyer Posted September 20, 2015 Author Posted September 20, 2015 Primer is applied and started putting on the first coats of white paint. Had this been a boneyard GB I would have called the model done by now Added other parts:- canopy- air brakes- refuelling probe I'm taking a risk by fitting the landing gear at this stage as I wanted to stand the model while the paint was drying. Two problems occurred with intstalling the gear. The attachment points on the sprues are way too thick and I broke the support strut for one of the mlg. Lesson learnt I tried being careful with the other and managed to bend that one. Luckily I was able to repair one and straighten the other. Assuming you have intact structs, the main landing gear can only be attached to the bay one way and is pretty much aligned, also feels sturdy. It's almost the same for the wheels except it goes on one way and is not aligned. Probably ok if you want your scooter to look like it hit the deck hard otherwise they need to be adjusted before the glue is set. The canopy is a poor fit and I'm going to leave it as is, got a feeling anything I try will only make it worst. Apparently the replacement decals are still in the post and I may have to go with kit ones if they don't arrive. Until then, the painting carries on. 2
jean Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 What a great looking plane... My advice: be patient with the decals and start something else while you wait on the postman! It's going to look awfully nice! JR 1
Knight_Flyer Posted September 20, 2015 Author Posted September 20, 2015 What a great looking plane... My advice: be patient with the decals and start something else while you wait on the postman! It's going to look awfully nice! JR Thanks Jean. I think it's a good idea to start something else. Some masking will be required for the Skyhawk and I should give it time for the paint to dry properly. Otherwise it might come off with the tape. Hopefully it will all come together at the end.
snapper_city Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Looking good. The decals shouldn't take too long to arrive. 1
TEMPESTMK5 Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 Good afternoon You Skyhawk is looking very good Patrice 1
TEMPESTMK5 Posted September 23, 2015 Posted September 23, 2015 Good morning Knight_Flyer I have this kit in my stash and I will try to build it for this Gb if I have enough time .. Patrice
Knight_Flyer Posted September 23, 2015 Author Posted September 23, 2015 Good morning Knight_Flyer I have this kit in my stash and I will try to build it for this Gb if I have enough time .. Patrice Good luck, I should be able to complete mine before the end of the GB. Can't have too many Scooters 1
Knight_Flyer Posted September 27, 2015 Author Posted September 27, 2015 Now back to the A-4 after starting the Bird Dog. Was a good idea leaving it a while for the white paint to dry, doesn't feel like it's going to come off. Have start putting down a few coats of the upper surface gray. Not entirely happy with the paint and had to thin it a lot before it would brush properly. I've posted a photo and because the paint is quite thin I'll probably need to do more coats than usual. After that's done, do the red on the intakes. 3
jean Posted September 29, 2015 Posted September 29, 2015 From where I am sitting, it looks very neat! Well done for being patient!!! JR 1
Knight_Flyer Posted September 30, 2015 Author Posted September 30, 2015 Thanks jean. Final coat of grey went on today and more being patient to be done. Leaves me with a choice of either doing the ordinance or work on the Bird Dog.
snapper_city Posted October 1, 2015 Posted October 1, 2015 Reasons like waiting for paint to dry is why it's great to have more than one build on the go. 1
Knight_Flyer Posted October 3, 2015 Author Posted October 3, 2015 Ok, so now I'm really at the point of building 2 models at the same time. Final coat of grey is done drying and I've managed to do the red on the intakes as well as clean up some of the areas where the paint got under the tape. The gear doors also got the red outline and it was a PITA to do a neat paint job. Maybe next time I'll try using a sharpie or something. Anyways it's done and I'll add them to the model before applying the klear for decals. Yup they finally arrived along with a set of replacement wings... for a Wildcat. 2
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