1/48 EA-6B Prowler - VMAQ-3 "Moon Dogs"

[theaa2000]

Evening folks!

 

So, after almost 3 months of messing around, I have finally finished Kinetics 1/48 EA-6B Prowler and.....I am really glad to see the back of this one! I had read that this was a decent kit, but I had a lot of trouble with basically everything. But, anyway, here's the finished project:

 

 

I used a decent amount of AM stuff on this one:

Ares cockpit

Quickboost small intakes

Eduard pods

Eduard wheels

Superscale decals

 

 

The Ares cockpit required a lot of cutting & sanding to fit, and even with all that done it changed the shape of the front fuselage section which led to a lot sanding to fit the front canopy, which was a little nerve-wracking!

 

 

After a lot of very clean builds, I wanted to build a really dirty, weathered bird, and the Prowler was the perfect choice - so many of my references showed that not only do these things get really dirty (especially where the wings fold), but they also have a lot panel fading & variation, which I tried to replicate here.

 

 

 

 

 

The decals were interesting.... Even though they were Cartograf printings, they behaved very differently to other decals from the same company. They had a long working time which I was not used to, but after realising this, I left them for ~1 hour and they had settled into the panels really well.

 

 

Lots of weathering & dirt!

 

 

 

The kit lights were undersized (somehow?!) so I replaced them with clear sprue, sanded to shape and polished - much better!

 

 

Given all the cockpit details, canopies up was the only option

 

 

Although it's subtle, the orange/gold/metallic tinting is present on the canopies - this was a difficult thing to get right and I kept spraying the canopies and removing the coating as I wasn't happy with it. I eventually settled on a light coat of Tamiya XF-6 Copper. I think I didn't use enough but at this point I didn't want to risk damaging the canopies so I left them as is.

 

 

 

 

Overall, I am happy with how this one turned out, but it was a lot of work, and the kit was a disappointment (not sure I'd build another any time soon). That said, it builds into a decent Prowler so, can't complain too much!

Some WIP photos - these were on my phone so not as nice:

 

 

Here you can see all the tape and rubber bands needed to get the fuselage to conform to the resin cockpit - even still, I needed a lot of filler/superglue to get a decent finish.

 

 

The kit was just not that good - the lighter grey parts had a weird, rough texture and very soft detail, so not sure what happened there? A lot of filler was also needed between the wing roots and the fuselage.

 

 

After a lot of work, the kit was ready for paint! I used the black basing method to simulate the uneven fading - this was accentuated with more fading work once the camo colours had been sprayed.

 

 

I used MRP lacquers for nearly everything on this build - no complaints, and highly recommended!

[stevej60]

Beautiful build and finish!

[theaa2000]

28 minutes ago, stevej60 said:

Beautiful build and finish!

Thanks Steve! I'm happy with the finish, but not sure I'd build this one again!

[Farmerboy]

Wonderful job, really looks the business! Having just built Kinetic’s intruder l share your pain, rubbish fit and vague instructions, glad you stuck with it, good job!

[theaa2000]

6 minutes ago, Farmerboy said:

Wonderful job, really looks the business! Having just built Kinetic’s intruder l share your pain, rubbish fit and vague instructions, glad you stuck with it, good job!

Cheers! There are so many flaws with the kit itself, but you're right, the instructions were somehow even worse! They also call for a round intake on both sides, but it's only on one side....found that out too late!  

[RJ-WobblyHands]

That looks great , a lovely weathered example of a classic navy airframe !  

[theaa2000]

13 minutes ago, RJ-WobblyHands said:

That looks great , a lovely weathered example of a classic navy airframe !  

 

Thanks mate! It was nice to build a really dirty plane and try out some new (to me) techniques.

[exdraken]

wow!

 

what a fantastic Prowler!

 

wonder if I will ever have one on the bench.... 

[theaa2000]

8 minutes ago, exdraken said:

wow!

 

what a fantastic Prowler!

 

wonder if I will ever have one on the bench.... 

  I was wondering how long before you commented - How's it going, Exdraken?

 

Glad you liked it, it was a tough build to get to this point. If you're going to work on one, I'd suggest another couple of bench additions: stressball and a mallet

 

Cheers

[CMSCHLOM]

Nice Job, Worked with this Det. in Afghanistan in the summer of 2005.  Great Marines!

[theaa2000]

24 minutes ago, CMSCHLOM said:

Nice Job, Worked with this Det. in Afghanistan in the summer of 2005.  Great Marines!

 

Thanks mate! Did you get any good photos out there?

[jimmyg352]

That is VERY very nice. It also shows that you have much more patience than me. Mine wouldv'e been in the bin! 

 Excellent job & well done.

[reggie78usmc]

awesome!

[Lord Riot]

Fantastic looking Prowler that. The dirt and weathering looks very realistic.

 

Are Kinetic kits always tough to build? It's strange as they're always expensive but the Kinetic Jaguar is always panned on here too. 

[theaa2000]

8 minutes ago, jimmyg352 said:

That is VERY very nice. It also shows that you have much more patience than me. Mine wouldv'e been in the bin! 

 Excellent job & well done.

 

Thanks Jimmy! There were definitely times I wanted to put this one away, especially when I was trying to get the canopy halves to fit.

 

5 minutes ago, reggie78usmc said:

awesome!

 

Thanks Reggie!

 

1 minute ago, Lord Riot said:

Fantastic looking Prowler that. The dirt and weathering looks very realistic.

 

Are Kinetic kits always tough to build? It's strange as they're always expensive but the Kinetic Jaguar is always panned on here too. 

 

Thanks my Lord!  

 

This is my first Kinetic build, and since I really wanted to build a Prowler, this was the best available (of two choices I think). The kit has some fundamental problems:

Soft fuselage detail

Poor wing - fuselage fit & poor fuselage halves fit

Lack of locating holes for smaller parts

Canopy parts in two halves

Ill fitting main landing gear

 

But there are some redeeming parts:

Really good, thin stabilisers, especially the trailing edges

Excellent drop tanks

Plenty of options for wings, flaps etc

 

So I wouldn't say it was unbuildable, but definitely more work than the Hasegawa Raptor or the Tamiya F-16 was, and with some better design work, it could've been a lot better. However the instructions are unforgiveable  

[CMSCHLOM]

1 hour ago, theaa2000 said:

 

Thanks mate! Did you get any good photos out there?

Yes I did.  The EA-6Bs were generally well cared for, but looked like used wartime aircraft.  The Goldish canopies were hardly noticeable.  They also marked the flap max travel limit with flourescent orange paint.  

 

 

 

 

[theaa2000]

3 minutes ago, CMSCHLOM said:

Yes I did.  The EA-6Bs were generally well cared for, but looked like used wartime aircraft.  The Goldish canopies were hardly noticeable.  They also marked the flap max travel limit with flourescent orange paint.  

 

 

 

 

 

They actually look pretty clean - loads of the other photos I have showed some really messy planes - maybe the carrier based ones were worse? That orange paint is a really cool detail - I'll try to remember that if I'm ever feeling brave and want to try another.

[Sky Keg]

Wow!!!!!  Your perseverance has paid handsome rewards.  I`m certain that this Prowler shines bright in your display cabinet.  Exceptional weathering too!! It really sets off the look of the EA-6B.

 

 

Mike

[theaa2000]

4 minutes ago, Sky Keg said:

Wow!!!!!  Your perseverance has paid handsome rewards.  I`m certain that this Prowler shines bright in your display cabinet.  Exceptional weathering too!! It really sets off the look of the EA-6B.

 

 

Mike

Thanks man, much appreciated! Prowlers have so much character, especially when they're dirty so I'm very pleased with it. However, I've actually run out of space in the display cabinet, so a 2nd one is on it's way from Ikea  So for now it's living on my desk.