Jump to content

Airfix Douglas F4D-1 Skyray [Finished]


Recommended Posts

Here is a USMC VMF-115 not sure of the date but the uniform on the marine places it around the early 1960’s. 
 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/328410997826412744/


From wiki. 

The last operational squadron was VMF(AW)-115, which flew the Skyray until February 1964.”

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Here is a USMC VMF-115 not sure of the date but the uniform on the marine places it around the early 1960’s. 
 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/328410997826412744/


From wiki. 

The last operational squadron was VMF(AW)-115, which flew the Skyray until February 1964.”

Thanks again! So it looks as if some of the old pods were still in stock at that time. That's not really surprising, given that they were probably not used much (if at all) in anger.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The age of decals meant that they required some touching up around the edges and other areas to hide the yellowed carrier film. This has the added bonus of helping to keep the decals in place. I didn't want to varnish the decals. They have a natural satin finish very similar to both Hu 129 light gull grey and Hu 130 white, but Humbrol Satin Varnish has a noticeably different finish. The wing roundels were tricky to apply over the wing fold joint, and required some touching up.

 

As for the walkway boundaries: I initially considered using some spare walkway markings from an Italeri B-57, but they seemed too thick. So I looked at another option. On some decal sheets - particularly Airfix - the different sections of the sheet are marked off by solid lines. In fact, on pre-Cartograf sheets, there is a solid boundary line all around the decal sheet. I took a scissors to the leftovers from an Airfix U-2 decal sheet, from a kit I built about 15 years ago. And here is the result. It took some time and effort, and some trial and error, and there is still some minor touching up required.

DSC01045_dre_020.jpg

 

DSC01046_dre_020.jpg

 

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Excellent use of the spare black lines on the walkway boundaries, thats getting the most from a decal sheet!

I must go through my spare decals to "harvest" them for future use. I had thought before about using them for something like this, but never took the plunge.

 

Anyway, back to the Skyray. I've now attached the remaining stores, and noticed something: The display stand cannot be attached in the intended forward facing position. It can only be attached backwards, and then very carefully. This reveals that slot is too far back, meaning the kit is nose-heavy. The notch at the top of the stand stopped the plane from nosing down, when it attached facing forward.

DSC01047_dre_025.jpg

 

It's not quite as bad as it appears in this photo, but there really is no space between the tail of the centreline navpac unit, and the stand slot. Why did Airfix not offset the stand slot, as it did with the Fw 190 A/8 kit, released around the same time? The plane would have tilted slightly to one side, but that often happens anyway.

DSC01048_dr_025.jpg

 

To resolve this, I could do some surgery on the top of the stand arm, to allow it to be attached facing forward.

 

Anyway, I now just have the arrestor hook to paint and attach, and some more cleaning up/detail painting to do, before painting and decalling the fin and rudder. So this kit is well in hand.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My 109 is the same - I had to leave the drop tank unglued so I could wiggle the stand past it.

I don't ever recall having an issue with any stands as a kid. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

I often had trouble getting my models to sit right on the stands and also found that some sat a lot better with the stand the other way round.

If the notch at the top is positioned towards the lighter end of the kit, it should hold it level, but if it's at the heavier end, it will have no effect. That's what has happened here.

 

10 minutes ago, Jinxman said:

My 109 is the same - I had to leave the drop tank unglued so I could wiggle the stand past it.

I don't ever recall having an issue with any stands as a kid. 

As I said earlier, I wonder why Airfix did not offset the stand slot in more kits? It might have been difficult with such a slim fuselage as the 109 though. The other option would be to put a slot in the centreline drop tank (or bomb, or torpedo, or whatever). I'm trying to remember if Airfix ever did that.

Edited by klr
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, klr said:

If the notch at the top is positioned towards the lighter end of the kit, it should hold it level, but if it's at the heavier end, it will have no effect. That's what has happened here.

 

As I said earlier, I wonder why Airfix did not offset the stand slot in more kits? It might have been difficult with such a slim fuselage as the 109 though. The other option would be to put a slot in the centreline drop tank (or bomb, or torpedo, or whatever). I'm trying to remember if Airfix ever did that.

The Jaguar has a stand slot in the fuel tank, which Airfix show as on the centre line, though usually the Jag carried two tanks, one on each wing.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Richard Humm said:

The Jaguar has a stand slot in the fuel tank, which Airfix show as on the centre line, though usually the Jag carried two tanks, one on each wing.

Bingo! That was it. I've built that kit twice, but not for some time. The Jaguar centreline tank was big though, with a very sturdy pylon. That approach would not have worked with the Skyray navpac.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

I seem to recall several kits with stand slots in the centreline pylon, though the only one I can be certain about is the Monogram Tigercat I did a few months back.

 

Pete

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, PeterB said:

Hi,

 

I seem to recall several kits with stand slots in the centreline pylon, though the only one I can be certain about is the Monogram Tigercat I did a few months back.

 

Pete

The Monogram Bearcat as well has a slot in the centreline fuel tank. I happen to know this because I was looking at one only yesterday, as a possible candidate for an upcoming GB ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, klr said:

The Monogram Bearcat as well has a slot in the centreline fuel tank. I happen to know this because I was looking at one only yesterday, as a possible candidate for an upcoming GB ...

I'll be interested to see how you approach fairing the wings into the wing slot.  It'll probably be 10-thou shims for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, JosephLalor said:

I'll be interested to see how you approach fairing the wings into the wing slot.  It'll probably be 10-thou shims for me.

I did enough dry-fitting to come to a very similar conclusion ... anyway, I'll cross that bridge when I (hopefully) come to it in a few weeks time.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

... and finally, it's complete. Well, I'm calling it finished anyway. I decided to take off the rocket pods so I could paint the white bands fore and aft. Then I "lost" one of the pods, had to take the time to assemble, paint and attach another, and of course just after I'd done that, the lost pod turned up. As mentioned, the decals for the fuel tank stripes were very brittle. I also doctored the stand so that it could be attached the right way around, meaning that the kit sits nice and level:

DSC01162_dre_025.jpg

 

DSC01163_dre_025.jpg

 

Not my best effort (by a long shot), but it's put me in the mood to build some more USN/USMC jets from the period. More pics ye olde gallery in 5 minutes.

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/1/2020 at 9:12 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Here is a USMC VMF-115 not sure of the date but the uniform on the marine places it around the early 1960’s. 
 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/328410997826412744/


From wiki. 

The last operational squadron was VMF(AW)-115, which flew the Skyray until February 1964.”

Very belatedly, this reminds me on of an old saying: That when the US Navy has no more use for a type of aircraft, it "donates" them to the Marines. So the Marines are often the last to use a particular type.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lovely work on this, it gives me hope for the one I have in stock. I've just finished the thread from the start, as if you couldn"t tell from the rash of likes, I like your approach to this, the walkway outlines are an especially good idea, I shall save mine in future. :)

Steve.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...