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1/72 - Douglas AD-5W Skyraider by Skale Wings - released - new boxing with wings folding set


Homebee

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Thanks Tali!

A new Ukrainian brand, Skale Wings (formerly Ukrop Models), is to release a 1/72th Douglas AD-5W Skyraider kit - ref. VS001

Sources:

http://www.greenmats.club/topic/1784-ad-5w-172/#comment-19682

http://hobbyterra.com/product/skyraider-ad-5w-attack-aircraft-in-1-72-scale-skale-wings-001.html

sw-vs001_2.jpg

sw-vs001_3.jpg

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sw-vs001_5.jpg

 

V.P.

 

MattMemory2.jpg

Edited by Homebee
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At last, that's another load of old kits and self molded radomes I can get rid of out of the stash. I wonder if they plan to do a complimentary AD-4W too, fingers crossed. As then I can dispose of a couple of Aeroclub fuselages and old Airfix Skyraiders. AEW fans are being looked after recently.

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Finally a modern AD-5 kit !

Have to say that the sprues look very well moulded, this looks like a good quality mainstream kit, not a short run. I wish the best of luck to this new company, they may well become one of my favourite ones

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Ohhh Nice, i wonder if it will have RN markings as well as USN, or possibly a separate boxing

RN aircraft were AD-4W based airframes, quite a different beast (single width canopy for starters).

Still, nice to have a new AD-5W.

Edited by Wez
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There were two cockpit versions of the AD-5W used by the US Navy and Marines. One was the solid roofed rear cockpit:

E9.jpg

The other was the plexiglass "Blue room" version:

S7300943.jpg

There was also a very interesting escape hatch under the fuselage :

C23.jpg

Which is not obvious from the sprue shots, I hope it's there as it will save an awful lot of work if it is. My brother and I built these 1:48 AD-5W's as a tandem build on Britmodeller several years ago.

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Some small points: the lower wing piece has the oil cooler exhaust (just in front of the centerline pylon forward attachment point) catapult hooks and armor plate molded on, ala the Hasegawa kit. When I did a conversion using the Monogram Family Model and Hasegawa AD-6, I discovered that it is very likely no AD-5/A-1E was fitted with belly armor (and certainly the AD-5W was not), and on all AD-5/A-1E the oil cooler exhaust was moved to the side of the fuselage just above the wing root and the catapult hooks moved to the MLG struts. The radome covered the original oil cooler exhaust (so the fact that it may be molded into the lower wing is not a problem for a kit of the -5W) requiring it to be moved, and the catapult bridle would have hit the radome if attached to the original catapult hook location. Apparently the basic design for the family version was set with the radome in mind (makes sense as the same radome was previously fitted to the -4W) so all -5 variants had a smooth belly with no exhaust. Some filling will be required if doing other than a -5W.

The MLG strut covers also look to be the same as the AD-6/7, they are the wider style, the AD-5 had narrower strut covers and openings in the lower wing around the strut.

Good walkaround here illustrates the gear doors and lack of oil cooler exhaust on the belly:

http://daytonipms.com/walks/A-1E/index.htm

Edited by LanceB
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There were two cockpit versions of the AD-5W used by the US Navy and Marines. One was the solid roofed rear cockpit:

E9.jpg

The other was the plexiglass "Blue room" version:

S7300943.jpg

There was also a very interesting escape hatch under the fuselage :

C23.jpg

Which is not obvious from the sprue shots, I hope it's there as it will save an awful lot of work if it is. My brother and I built these 1:48 AD-5W's as a tandem build on Britmodeller several years ago.

Strictly speaking, that's not an escape hatch on the belly of the beast. Any door there would be for access to the electronics that filled the fuselage immediately aft of the cabin. However, in trying to find a good picture of the area and looking closely at the picture of your model, I was surprised to discover that for the AD-5W, Douglas appears to have removed the dive brake on the belly and not bothered with covering its well. In other words, the fuselage is recessed in that area. More later...

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I'm sorry tailspin but I beg to differ, in the research for my book on the History of AEW&C "Beyond The Horizon" the existence of the rear floor escape hatch on the AD-5W came up from various US Navy sources and it is mentioned in Roger G Smith's book "Guppy Pilot" as it would have been very difficult for the radar operator to escape from the rear of the aircraft as it would have been nearly impossible to avoid striking the large fin. The pilot was equipped with the "Yankee seat" ejector system although not rocket assisted the seat was ejected from the aircraft, again to avoid striking the vertical fin. Yes the rear dive brakes were indeed removed on the AD-5W's as they were redundant for an aircraft in the AEW role.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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