zebra Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 About 6 weeks left and I reckon it's not too late for another entry - or two in this case. A pair of Hasegawa 1/48 Skyhawks. First up is an A-4C. This will be a Naval Air Test Center aircraft, using Two Bobs decals: The NATC used Skyhawks to test ordnance at China Lake in the 60s and 70s so it needs something to test. I found a photo online of the aircraft in question carrying an orange and black Walleye guided bomb, so I'll be using a Daco resin Walleye. Other aftermarket will be a Quickboost seat and Hypersonic corrected nose undercarriage door. The second one will be a Brazilian Navy TA-4KU, known as an AF-1B in Brazilian service. This is the Hasegawa TA-4J with a resin conversion by Phase Hangar. I built an OA-4M using the Phase Hangar conversion late last year - it was pretty straightforward, this should be the same, if not easier, as it's slightly simpler as i don't have to replace the kit's nose. I'll be using Quickboost seats on this one, and decals from FCM. I've made a start already - a bit of paint on the interior, fitted the jetpipes and so on. Nothing that's really worth photographing yet - will post an update soon. cheers Julian 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Great to see these two Julian I do love a twin seat Skyhawk, a timely reminder to get my finger out on my own build although I'm completely out of some paints now white being the main one.Good luck with these to I'll be checking in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Always better to build in numbers, mass production and all that! Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 (edited) You've picked a couple of less common and more interesting Skyhawks there Julian Edited April 27, 2020 by Col. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Probably the first time that I've seen a twin-seat Skyhawk being built. What a great choice Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex77 Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 That is a lot to take up, you've got some busy weeks to come! Enjoy the build! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 I'd better get on with these two. I haven't put anything extra into the cockpits - just assembled, painted and used the kit decals for the instrument panels. First stage of the mods to the two-seater is done - removal of the fairing behind the cockpit to make room for the ECM hump. Here are the completed fuselages waiting to be cleaned up: thanks for looking Julian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Brilliant choices for both, I'm sure you'll have them both nailed by the deadline 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 I've been concentrating on the Lincoln and the decals for the EC-24A and NKC-135A so not a huge amount of progress - but did get the resin hump onto the TA-4KU's fuselage: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 More progress: One thing here that I wouldn't usually do is close the leading edge slats, which I've done for the A-4C. There are two photos of the aircraft I'm modelling - BuNo 147781 - here, with the slats closed and carrying a Walleye so I'm going for that configuration. Interestingly it also seems to have coroguard on the leading edge, which also seems unusual. More soon, but I might need to get back to the EC-24A and NKC-135A for a bit. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 17, 2020 Author Share Posted May 17, 2020 More progress - I'll be painting these soon: cheers Julian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex77 Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Some nice progress, well done! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 I seem to have forgotten to post a few updates! A-4C is half way through painting: The AF-1A has some paint on as well, just haven't photographed it yet. Maybe tomorrow. cheers Julian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 More paint on both Skyhawks: I think the dark grey on the AF-1A is a bit on the dark side, but I think I'll stick with it. cheers Julian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 31, 2020 Author Share Posted May 31, 2020 Painting done and decals on. First the A-4C: Decals went on ok but the national insignia needed an awful lot of Micro Sol to bed down over the vortex generators, which worked ok in the end but there are a few small tears in the decal that I'll need to touch up. One stuff-up - the China Lake on the tail is misaligned - I put the Lake on first and didn't realise I'd put it in the wrong place until the China went on. Going to have to live with it I think. Next the AF-1A - the FCM decals went on very nicely: I'm pretty confident these will be finished next weekend. Thanks for looking Julian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Both looking great Julian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Oh wow How could I miss them ! Love both schemes, kinda very early and very late in their active career! The Brazilian one looks smart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted June 8, 2020 Author Share Posted June 8, 2020 I seem to have forgotten to take photos along the way again! A-4C is finished, AF-1A isn't far off. Here's the A-4C - more in the gallery shortly: cheers Julian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 AF-1A update - nearly there. Just got to paint a couple of blade aerials and the drop tanks. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Love the Brazilian ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 AF-1A finished: More in the gallery shortly. Thanks for looking Julian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex77 Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 Well done on completing these 2 in time! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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