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ESCI A-4E Skyhawk - 1/72 --- VC-1


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Finished on the last day of the year.

 

Venerable ESCI kit, still holding itself

 

I used Mr. Paint lacquer colors.

Alclad Aqua Gloss varnish

Decals came from an old microscale sheet (72-114) and worked still well (puhh..)

Wheels from Aires

Target from Hasegawa Weapons Kit nr. IV

 

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Happy new year!

 

Ben

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Hi Bearmatt,

 

as usual, an excellent scooter in a smashing scheme! Congrats, and a great New Year to you and family!

 

I have the A-4E Esci in my truckload of doom, but it is the version without the hump. Did your model have engraved lines on the fuselage and raised ones on the wings? If yes, did you do anything about the raised wing details?

Last question: where did you get this spectacular decoration from?

 

Great show!!!

JR

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Thank you all.

 

JR, as for your questions:

 

Panel lines: You're right, however, the slats, flaps and aileron lines come engraved too.

I didn't re-scribe the whole wing tanks access panels etc. Several reasons not to do so:

First of all they stay untouched during the build, nothing to sand on the wings, except the joint on the lower part. With a bit of care, you can manage not to destroy the raised details. (I usually use Tamiya tape to protect these. Once the tape is sanded "through", I just get a new layer over it).

Second reason is that you can emphasize raised panel lines very easily by drybrushing them - they will look almost like engraved...

Third reason - time: This would have been a tedious and difficult job and the 50-60 hours I've spent on a small kit like this are already plenty.

What I had to do tho, was to deepen all panel lines on the fuselage, in order to give them a washing later on. They were not deep enough and in some places even gone missing...

The hump had raised panel lines too - I rescribed that part fully, corrected some of the panel lines at the same time and added the small air intakes left and right (evergreen bits)

 

The decoration for this Scooter came from an old Microscale Sheet (72-114). They are of excellent quality, very thin and rather easy to handle. Even the very big star n' Mohawk decal settled nicely). Only downside was the blue arrow decal for the vertical stab, which was way too big. I copied the original sheet down to 80% and cut a mask out of it

 

Happy new year to you too, JR

 

Ben

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33 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Scary as it must’ve been when taking off and landing knowing how low that thing sits.

I was thinking of this too! I wonder how long the take-off distance must have been with such a config! Two external tanks, this target...and probably no big option of lifting the nose too much?...

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Very nice build of a lovely little kit.

One comment if I may, you'll need a set of the straps that lock the slats up (they go from the jack point

under the wing to the upper surface of the slat)

The slats are aerodynamically operated and are extended on the deck.

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11 minutes ago, NAVY870 said:

a set of the straps that lock the slats up

Thanks Steve.

Would you have a picture reference for this, where I could see how it looks?

 

(That's probably the downside of the Esci kit...no slats nor flaps down option)

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Yes, I must agree, nice Scooter.

 

16 hours ago, NAVY870 said:

One comment if I may, you'll need a set of the straps that lock the slats up (they go from the jack point

under the wing to the upper surface of the slat)

 

16 hours ago, bearmatt said:

Thanks Steve.

Would you have a picture reference for this, where I could see how it looks?

 

(That's probably the downside of the Esci kit...no slats nor flaps down option)

My thoughts on the ESCI kit, too. That sounds like an interesting fix. Would those locks be used much? I don't recall seeing them.

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The slat lock is a simple red nylon strap.

It has a small flat hook on one end that clips on to the trailing edge of the slat and

a "pip" pin that inserts into the under wing jack point.

If I can find a pic I'll post but its a rare beast, the only time we used them was when an aircraft was left on the 

flight line and it was windy (the August westerlies at Nowra are fearsome)

Edited by NAVY870
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Thanks Steve for that reference. Indeed a simple solution for slats up option. (Tho there are still the flaps left...:unamused: )

But it's good to know exactly where the slats holder are located. Already have an idea how to make them from scratch.

 

Cheers

 

B.

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