1/72 Academy A-37B Dragonfly

[TheRealMrEd]

Hello everyone!

 

This really not a true work in process, because it's already completed!  But as it was primarily used by me to try out Colourcoats paints from Sovereign Hobbies, as well as other experimentation, I felt that this was the correct forum, vs. the RFI forum, to discuss the paint and other items.

 

To begin, the kit is the Academy 1/72 A-37B, a small little jewel of a kit -- WITH A LOT OF TINY,  FIDDLY BITS! It,s appearance seems quite accurate, save only that the kit seems to be missing what I would call the rear tailpipe pieces. That is, the wing just ends, whereas on the real aircraft there is a fairing, looking somewhat like a brass ferrule is shaped, and it is  not there. Other than that, no real problems. I didn't spot this until way late in the game, so I didn't fix it either:

 

 

Next, I used the appropriate Pavla cockpit set for this model, mainly to get the retractable screen guards for the intakes. They also feature a nifty  "sandwich" style of I.P. construction -- and MORE fiddly parts:

 

 

I used the Mk 82 bombs with fuse extensions from the Hasegawa Weapons set #1, and I got a set of M260 Hydra rocket from CMK, (I think) with six of the little seven rocket type pods frequently used on these aircraft (and OV-10A's). Lastly, I used the drop tanks from the Hasegawa A-37A kit, as they were fatter, and looked more realistic. I just had to add the welding beads or flanges with fine plastic strip and liquid cement. Weapon load:

 

 

Other than that, I just articulated the elevators, and drilled out some ports and the gun tube. I added the clear lenses to the front of the nose, but you can barely see them. Also added the .005 wire whip antennas shown.

 

I also used a new (for me) masking procedure, advocated by Metodi Metodiev over on ARC: LINK

 

This was a rear trial, as this tiny plane has a camo pattern with small over-spray, and a lot of colors in close spaces. The pics will show how well it worked.

 

 

And as I said earlier, I wanted to try out the Colourcoat paints, mostly to see how they compared to the Humbrol of old. I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised!

 

The Vietnam era camo colors I tried were outstanding. First, they cover very well, in a thin coat. Some touch-up was needed after the masking (my fault, not M.M.'s system!). I needed to thin the paint down to an ink, and airbrush at around 5-10 p.s.i.. They thinned down to almost water, and the pigments stayed together in the fluid medium, whereas when I tried this with my Model Master paints, I ended up with "sand and water", as the paint pigments fell out of suspension. Later, after gluing some pieces on, a little brush touch-up was in order and the Colourcoats covered with no discernible brush marks. GREAT STUFF!

 

Needless to say, these will become my go to paints for the Viet Camo jobs in future. Alas, the price in the U.S. of $5.55 per tinlet precludes my use of them for everything else.

 

Without further ado, here are a few pics of the model. There won't be a posting in RFI for this one.

 

 

 

 

 

That's all folks, 'til next time...

 

Ed

[baldwin8]

These pictures are a nice sales pitch for the kit. The paint looks perfect on it. 

[TheRealMrEd]

Thanks Baldwin,

 

The masking technique and the great paint made the job far better than I had anticipated...

 

Ed

[neil5208]

Not a masking technique I've used but your results are impressive, will try out myself

[Vultures1]

Great result and a nice-looking little kit