DaveJL Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 Hello all, Here is my first entry for this Group Build - 1/48 Hobbyboss A-6A Intruder, marked as BuNo 151585 of VA-75 in late 1965. This is a model I've been wanting to build for a while having seen many Intruders in museums across the USA and also having watched 'Flight of the Intruder' more times than I care to remember! Kit: Aftermarket: Will be using Hypersonic Models ejection seats, Eduard interior etch, New Ware masks and fantastic looking Furball 'Iron Tadpoles' decal sheet. A close up of the latter and scheme: I've also pinched a spare set of MERs (Multiple Ejector Racks) from a Hobbyboss A-10 as I'll be loading this one heavily with 12x MK.82, 8x MK.20 Rockeye and 1x fuel tank. I also picked up a copy of Osprey's Vietnam Intruder book: Cheers Dave 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 A great choice Dave. The HB A-6 is actually meant to be the best one out there (not something you hear very often!) and you seem to be set for aftermarket and references too. I have the same decal sheet and plan to do the VA-35 Black Panthers one in the future, I have the HB E kit and will probably try to backdate it to an A. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helios16v Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 Love this bird. VA-95 was our sister squadron during our '95 deployment. It was also their last, as they were decommed right after we got back to the beach. I miss seeing them flying around NASWI. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 10 minutes ago, DaveJL said: Here is my first entry for this Group Build - 1/48 Hobbyboss A-6A Intruder That sounds promising! A superb choice of subject, with the threat of at least one more entry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted August 13, 2020 Author Share Posted August 13, 2020 51 minutes ago, modelling minion said: A great choice Dave. The HB A-6 is actually meant to be the best one out there (not something you hear very often!) and you seem to be set for aftermarket and references too. I have the same decal sheet and plan to do the VA-35 Black Panthers one in the future, I have the HB E kit and will probably try to backdate it to an A. Thanks mate, I've heard good reviews about it ... looks promising in the flesh and after reading reviews on the 'other' kit, I'm glad I went with this one. 50 minutes ago, helios16v said: Love this bird. VA-95 was our sister squadron during our '95 deployment. It was also their last, as they were decommed right after we got back to the beach. I miss seeing them flying around NASWI. Was that the A-6's last cruise with Navy? Which Squadron were you attached to? I always liked the Intruder. Another of Grumman's finest (just not as fine as the F-14!!) 45 minutes ago, Enzo Matrix said: That sounds promising! A superb choice of subject, with the threat of at least one more entry. Thanks mate. Yes, there may be another thread floating about 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helios16v Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 1 minute ago, DaveJL said: Was that the A-6's last cruise with Navy? Almost. There were a handful squadrons still out or just about to head out for their final deployments before getting sent off to the boneyard. Final A-6E deployments were in 1996. I can shoot you a PM w/ a link to my Flickr if you were interested in some pics of the Intruders from '95. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 14, 2020 Share Posted August 14, 2020 Gosh you certainly know how to pick some favourites.......and get us thinking of adding to the stash!!!! I would love to add one of these to the stash so will follow with interest. I do like the deal set I like the VA-35 USS Coral Sea scheme. I suspect we may see a few of these in this build! Good luck with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted August 14, 2020 Author Share Posted August 14, 2020 17 hours ago, helios16v said: Almost. There were a handful squadrons still out or just about to head out for their final deployments before getting sent off to the boneyard. Final A-6E deployments were in 1996. I can shoot you a PM w/ a link to my Flickr if you were interested in some pics of the Intruders from '95. Thanks mate, that would be great! 13 hours ago, trickyrich said: Gosh you certainly know how to pick some favourites.......and get us thinking of adding to the stash!!!! I would love to add one of these to the stash so will follow with interest. I do like the deal set I like the VA-35 USS Coral Sea scheme. I suspect we may see a few of these in this build! Good luck with her. Cheers Rich. A jet I've always liked but never built! Hope I can do it some justice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 A massive undertaking dave ,size and work, it's a cracking model kit, i reckon hb designed it to be flaps and slats all hanging out ,it fits better that way, needs a bit of fettling if its all streamligned, you'll enjoy this kit, as craig said a rare hobby boss success , 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted August 16, 2020 Author Share Posted August 16, 2020 13 hours ago, Hewy said: A massive undertaking dave ,size and work, it's a cracking model kit, i reckon hb designed it to be flaps and slats all hanging out ,it fits better that way, needs a bit of fettling if its all streamligned, you'll enjoy this kit, as craig said a rare hobby boss success , Thanks mate. I'm going wings folded so will have all the bits tucked in! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAG058 Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Watching with interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted August 16, 2020 Author Share Posted August 16, 2020 1 hour ago, DAG058 said: Watching with interest. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted September 16, 2020 Author Share Posted September 16, 2020 Finally made a bit of a start on this one. After building what seems like hundreds of WWII Aircraft (it's been about 6 really) I'm somewhat glad to be back to a jet. Anyway, I started with the ordnance. Typical Hobbyboss here in that the seam lines need a fair bit of cleaning up. My initial plan was to load this with 12 MK.82s but having looked in greater detail at the parts, I've discovered that the bombs labelled 'MK.82' in the instructions are in fact the 1000lb MK.83, the M117s (750lb) are actually 2000lb MK.84s and the MK.81s are, in fact, MK81s, which I'm not so sure were used that often. So, change of plan - 12x MK.20 'Rockeye' cluster bombs will be loaded on the outer MERs while there will be 2x MK83 on each of the inner MER (latter load out shown in the Furball instruction sheet and in the Osprey book). Pylons and MERs. Both require clean up along the seams. Not much but it's a start. That December deadline is looking ominous for the completion of 3 builds .... 🤣 Dave 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 Any progress, no matter how seemingly small, is a step in the right direction Dave and getting the ordnance built up is one of the most odious tasks ( to me anyway) so getting it out of the way is no bad thing. An interesting load out too, more interesting than just the MK.82's in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 Woohoo! Lookin; forward to this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 woohoo things that go bang in the night....and day!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 Underway! which grey are you planning on using for the top? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 11 hours ago, modelling minion said: Any progress, no matter how seemingly small, is a step in the right direction Dave and getting the ordnance built up is one of the most odious tasks ( to me anyway) so getting it out of the way is no bad thing. An interesting load out too, more interesting than just the MK.82's in my book. Thanks mate. Agree about the ordnance. I always like to get it out of the way first. 9 hours ago, dnl42 said: Woohoo! Lookin; forward to this! Cheers! 7 hours ago, trickyrich said: woohoo things that go bang in the night....and day!! There's plenty of them... 2 hours ago, phildagreek said: Underway! which grey are you planning on using for the top? MRP Light Gull Grey for the upper surfaces. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 MPR that stuff is awesome, she should look amazing. I'll be using the same stuff for my Skyraider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 On 9/17/2020 at 11:57 AM, trickyrich said: MPR that stuff is awesome, she should loom amazing. I'll be using the same stuff for my Skyraider. It's hard to beat. Over a good layer of primer and pre-shading etc I've found it to be almost faultless. So, managed a bit more progress over the last day and a bit. Cockpit was primed black and then sprayed Dark Gull Grey. Once dry, I was able to add the lovely Eduard etch. Some detailed painting and weathering also done. Test fit of Hypersonic's excelled GRU-5 seats: Cockpit ready to be installed: Some work on the fuselage halves next. Airbrakes were fitted in the closed position, which required a bit of sanding to get them right. Some Tamiya extra thin around the edges too. The airbrakes were bolted shut fairly early on in the A-6's life as, I'm led to believe, they disturbed the airflow around the horizontal stabiliser. The wing tip airbrakes were more common. Also to note, the HB fuselage is more akin to an A-6E so there are some areas that need work. Firstly, there's a small exhaust hole just aft of the airbrake. This needs filled and the outline of the 'slime strip' needs sanded off as these were not present on the A-6A: There's also the outline of a RAM air scoop on top of the fuselage half shown in the above picture. It needs removed also (not shown). Next, I worked on the wing pylons and MERs. The two lighter grey MERs are from a HB A-10 kit as the A-6 only has two in the box. I had to remove a few locating tabs on the braces for the correct bomb fitment. On that, I test fitted the bombs and found that the holes on the ordnance did not line up to the tabs on the MERs. So I had to test the bomb fit and then fill the unused holes (which was a royal pain in the backside!) Finally, I worked on the intakes and exhausts. Both have good depth which is nice but there was a tricky seam line to remove on the intake parts. I used some Mr Dissolved putty which worked well: A test of the intakes shows a surprisingly snug fit which is excellent! I'm working the next few days and meant (!!) to be travelling to Lincolnshire at the weekend for a few museum visits (BBMF and so on) so if that doesn't get binned it will be a week or so before I'm back at the bench. Stay safe. Dave 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Nice work dave, those am seats look the biz too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Really nice work Dave. The cockpit looks fantastic, a combination of great painting and the etch has really brought it to life. By the looks of things HB give the same fuselage for both the E and the A and your helpful guide on what to remove makes it seem like I can backdate my E to an A without too much trouble. The Hypersonic seats really do look very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 2 hours ago, Hewy said: Nice work dave, those am seats look the biz too Thanks mate. The seats are very good indeed and are a great fit. 5 minutes ago, modelling minion said: Really nice work Dave. The cockpit looks fantastic, a combination of great painting and the etch has really brought it to life. By the looks of things HB give the same fuselage for both the E and the A and your helpful guide on what to remove makes it seem like I can backdate my E to an A without too much trouble. The Hypersonic seats really do look very nice. Cheers! Yes the fuselage is the same so some work is needed. I've a few resources that I'm using for the modifications. There are some more vents to fill, a few bits to remove etc etc but shouldn't be too tricky. The most challenging looks like it will be the extension of the doppler fairing under the fuselage. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 that cockpit looks really nice, well done. The backward mod work is nicely done, but sorting out those air-brakes looked to be interesting! The bombs may have been a pain but they'll look good all fitted up in the end! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted September 22, 2020 Author Share Posted September 22, 2020 7 hours ago, trickyrich said: that cockpit looks really nice, well done. The backward mod work is nicely done, but sorting out those air-brakes looked to be interesting! The bombs may have been a pain but they'll look good all fitted up in the end! Thanks Rich. Simple mods for the back dating really and yes, the air brakes were a bit tricky but a bit of time will sort them out!! Hopefully the bombs will look half decent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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