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LTV A-7E Corsair II - Italeri 1/72


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Hi,

 

Hope you guys had a good weekend.

Mine was really busy with only a few spare times for modelling.

Progresses are made at a very slow pace. The gluing of both parts of the tube is very delicate. This morning, just by un-careful handling, all the gluing point that dried overnight broke. So here is it again, drying…

To relax a bit, I worked on the cockpit and built the rear area. This is a simple but rewarding job.

 

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@Corsairfoxfouruncle thanks to your comments I feel more confortable, going into the right direction. As it is, the inlet tube provides a deep well for the NLG. And when you compare with one NLG wheel, it looks alright.

 

@Vultures1Thanks... and that make sense... to me anyway :D

 

Cheers,

 

Antoine

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There are some Italeri A-7E's around, and maybe the AF IFR plate is on the sprue? Should be possible to do a conversion as it's very similar (aside from antenna's & cockpit details)

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On 1/11/2020 at 11:42 PM, AntoineG said:

Hi Guys,

 

After reviewing Vultures1 pictures and some references, it looks like my initial approach was not the right one. Indeed, as dry-tested, the angle of the tube was too small and the duct was going straight into the MLG gear bay. This could have been corrected but there was a second issue: the top of the edges of the inlet “mouth” are to be sharp. Mine were not and with the method I used, there was no way to get it.

So it was not too bad, but it was far from good.

 

 

 

Hence, a change of approach was required.

As the only fix point in the fuselage was the cockpit, I decided to use it as a reference and to start with the top of the inlet. This part is the continuation of the random which has a round section. Unfortunately, I don’t have any tube with the right diameter. So I used the larger one, I opened it and using the heat of a candle flame, I enlarged it up to the right diameter. After that, it was just a question of cutting it to the right 

Once the plastic shaped, it was cut at hopefully the right length. The following dry fit showed that it should not have been shorter…

 

The top and bottom sections of the duct were glued together, but only at the front, in order to enable some adjustments.

So here I am tonight, with the parts gluing quietly.

 

Cheers,

 

Antoine

Hello Antoine !!

Great job on the Sluf ! I like it !

I seconded my Cousin !! 

Good idea for the intake duct !!

Amazingly, years ago, I worked with a french man named Antoine G...

Also a modeller !!

Sincerely.

CC

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Hi,

 

Thanks all for your nice comments.

 

We're getting somewhere now with the intake.... :)

Probably some putty work to plan, but , hey, not to bad for a first.

 

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On 1/13/2020 at 6:30 PM, Vultures1 said:

Good job on the rear cockpit 'shelf' - neatly done

Thanks. Most of it will be hidden by the canopy though.

 

18 hours ago, stevehnz said:

I'd like to do a USAF D as well.

 

15 hours ago, alt-92 said:

There are some Italeri A-7E's around, and maybe the AF IFR plate is on the sprue?

Italeri proposes indeed the same main sprues in a previous box for a D (ref 1237) . The sprue with the IFR (if we are talking about In-Flilght Refueling) is not in the box for the E version though. Note that the NLG is different too and is specific to each box like other details. I can provide you with a picture of the sprues description form the instruction sheet if you like.

Maybe you'll have more luck with the Hobbyboss kit for the D. If someone can confirm?

 

@stevehnz, @heloman1 and @corsaircorp, thanks for your comments and welcome on board!

 

@corsaircorp is this Antoine G you know coming from Paris area, working in the aerospace industry?

 

Cheers,

 

Antoine

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Hello Antoine,

He used to live in the 78 if my memory did'nt fail.

He was a commando and came from a military family !

Spending some times abroad... Even in the jungle !!

Sincerely.

CC

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Hi guys,

 

No progress since last post. This is a bit frustrating but "c'est la vie".

Thanks Vultures1 for your comments. Only three steps remaining before I can close the fuselage: cockpit, NLG bay and exhaust section. Looking forward to it.

On 1/14/2020 at 10:54 PM, corsaircorp said:

He was a commando

@corsaircorp, definitely not the same Antoine :nah:

 

Cheers,

 

Antoine

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi guys,

 

The last three weeks have been very busy and I was kept away from the workbench by too many travels. By chance, I had some time to come across the A-7D I built years ago. Same origin (ESCI), nice ANG colour scheme airbrushed freehand and inlet duct done using rolled paper. The latest worked fine until the NLG bay. Nevertheless, I remember having a good time building it and, even if it won’t win any contest, it still looks ok to me.

 

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I was able to get back to the new Corsair this weekend and continued where I left it.

While everything was enclosed within both fuselage halves, I took the opportunity to close the NLG bay and to represent the reinforcements of the inlet duct. Not really the ‘H’ shape of the real one, but that’s the best I could do. I will finish to dress it once the fuselage halves are glued together and that the filling/sanding phase is over.

 

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With that done, it was time to remove everything and start working on the cockpit tube.

 

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Side consoles are from Eduard Zoom offering. The control column was also rebuilt as the one from the kit has a square section. Would you imagine flying a high performance jet with a square stick in your hand?

So, its lower half was shortened by 1mm and the top half removed and replaced by a section of control column coming from the spare box, the junction being bevelled like on the true one. Not 100% accurate but at least you can put a hand around it.

 

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Work also started on the seat that needs to move forward and to get some ‘fat’ on its back. Work still on going, so hopefully some pictures next time.

 

Cheers,

 

Antoine

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On 12/01/2020 at 22:29, AntoineG said:

To relax a bit, I worked on the cockpit and built the rear area. This is a simple but rewarding job.

Well done, Antoine! 👍

 

On 09/02/2020 at 23:40, AntoineG said:

Side consoles are from Eduard Zoom offering. The control column was also rebuilt as the one from the kit has a square section.

The cockpit tub became very attractive, I’m glad that you’re working on a Corsair again. Keep up the good job! 🙂

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Hi guys!

 

@Vultures1, glad to read you back too.

@Nikolay Polyakov thanks for your comments and welcome on-board!

 

I've continue the work in the cockpit, first by reproducing the triangular shape behind the seat.

 

The seat has also been fattened, especially at the top that was a bit tinny to my humble opinion. With the addition of Eduard photoetch, it looks quite convincing. Even though the shape of some harnesses could be improved...

 

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Now that  this is done, it is time to put the airbrush back on and start to paint… but this is for this weekend…

 

Cheers,

 

Antoine

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8 hours ago, AntoineG said:

The seat has also been fattened, especially at the top that was a bit tinny to my humble opinion. With the addition of Eduard photoetch, it looks quite convincing. Even though the shape of some harnesses could be improved...

Looks very detailed, you raised the bar for the gentleman-scale modelling.

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Hi,

 

As planned, I started painting this weekend. Nothing really fancy yet. The session was for a first layer of grey (Gunze H337) for the cockpit. I also used it to spray the area I’ve worked on to check for obvious issues. So far so good…

 

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There was one location that I forget to prepare before closing the fuselage halves: the rear fuselage around the exhaust pipe. It is indeed an area that can be seen easily. So here it is, some more detailing with stretched sprues… Well it won’t be square section ribs but, hopefully, it will look the part.

 

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Cheers,

 

Antoine

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Hi Twinpin,

 

You are right to mention the instruments. I usually build/assemble/detail/paint the instrument panel separately as it is much easier (mostly because of access; in 1/72, things can be quite small)

 

Italeri does provide some decals to represent that instrument panel and the side consoles. From my humble point of view, they may be qualified as acceptable.

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As I am planning to install the canopy in an open position, I intend to use Eduard panels that look much better. A bit of the surprise, the instruments themselves are not provided on a transparent acetate support but on paper. This is a first for me with Eduard. The level of detail looks the same, with some colour added to it. So i'm looking forward seeing all in place.

 

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Hope this answers your question.

 

Cheers,

 

Antoine

 

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