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A-4 Skyhawk Reference


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On 2/27/2021 at 8:49 PM, modelling minion said:

For those of you new to Skyhawks then this site has pretty much all you need to know.

 

http://skyhawk.org/

I've been studying the Skyhawk variant briefings in "Wings of Fame", and they are quite frankly terrifying if you want to build one of the more "exotic" export variants. For example, I don't think the Israeli A-4H or A-4N variants have ever been directly kitted in 1:72. The ESCI Israeli A-4 kit is of the A-4E variant, supplied as attrition replacements after the Yom Kippur war in 1973. The Argentine A-4R Fightinghawk? No way, Jose!

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3 hours ago, klr said:

I've been studying the Skyhawk variant briefings in "Wings of Fame", and they are quite frankly terrifying if you want to build one of the more "exotic" export variants. For example, I don't think the Israeli A-4H or A-4N variants have ever been directly kitted in 1:72. The ESCI Israeli A-4 kit is of the A-4E variant, supplied as attrition replacements after the Yom Kippur war in 1973. The Argentine A-4R Fightinghawk? No way, Jose!

The A-4AR isn't too bad. It's just a lot of little things. The main difference is the nose, but you can get close with just a little sanding of a regular A-4M nose. Condor Decals made a sheet for 1/72 aircraft.

 

 

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It turns out I actually made conversion instructions for a 1/72 A-4AR a long time ago. This may be useful for someone. Print this out at 300DPI and you will have perfectly sized templates for all the additions to the aircraft:

 

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Hi All,

 

Re RNZAF A4K Skyhawks

 

Pretty sure I signed up for this GB, not sure current commitments

will allow me to finish my model in the 3 months but we'll see :footy:

 

Please note the information/reference below are from either 1 to 1 conversations

I have had with serving/previously served persons or my own face to face interactions

with the RNZAF A4K Skyhawk during my time living on RNZAF Bases.

 

For any doing the "Post Kahu" A4K, (this comes from a former RNZAF A4 Av-Tech),

the wheel bays (especially the rear walls) had a brown sealant - The Av Teach showed me

his photos (from when he Served with 75 Squadron) he had taken, so a recent outing to

MOTAT here in Auckland, prompted me to take my own photos of a Preserved RNZAF A4K

dbf7097d-5f00-4310-afc8-b9ae00a1bae1.jpg

f1449056-35ea-4fcd-bb97-fd43c12e074b.jpg

ae35a0bd-1a8d-4624-9a8c-ff0b22456571.jpg

437d283f-0c4d-459a-8342-e3cbfbc4da9b.jpg

 

Post Kahu Cockpit

Oh544-91.t5f7514c1.m600.xEtjy15_N.jpg

(RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions)

 

 

Regarding Pre Kahu RNZAF A4K's, they arrived early/mid 1970 on USS Iwo Okinawa.

WhG7844-70.t5eb9d72e.m600.xG5MCsoB0.jpg

WhG8069-70.t5eb9d72e.m600.xjj0t2Ug-.jpg

(RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions)

 

The Cocooned Aircraft were towed out to RNZAF Base Auckland (Whenuapai) by road

This is (to be) NZ6254 TA-4K (the view below is Upper Queens Street Auckland (Steep hill -

I've walked it many a time^_^))

WhG8034-70.t5eb9d72e.m600.xEXYPu4ZK.jpg

(RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions)

 

The cocooning was removed by hand (painful process ^_^) Note the Straight Refueling probe

also note the "Hindenburg" Tanks were Gloss White

JSPRO59c-70.t5ec45a32.m600.x3diQORuB.jpg

(RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions)

 

Circa 1972 the Bent Probe was added (stopped fuel from being ingested during aerial refueling
AC114S.t5fda82a2.m800.xUEdpAH6p.jpg

AC170S.t5fd94477.m800.xTKcYunqO.jpg

(RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions)

 

Re the Refueling:  RNZAF A4K's did have the capability - Note Refueling Tank in photo below

OhG648-74.t5eb5d4a8.m600.xGBZBzEtH.jpg

(RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions)

 

Note RNZAF A4's did have arrestor gear (hook), the below is NZ6208 touching down at Ohakea

OhG3772-70_1_1.t5eb21d59.m600.x10Rhu6h6.

(RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions)

 

I actually was quite lucky to be in the right place/right time, when an RNZAF A4K touched down and

caught the wire at RNZAF Whenuapai (sorry no photo of said incident ^_^) it was really cool to watch.

 

The SEA Scheme was worn until the Kahu changeover, but note that the Original Lower Grey

applied by Douglas in the US was later changed to a New Zealand Version

 

The RNZAF Roundel on the A4's on arrival were US Insignia Colours as applied at Douglas, with the then

"Silver Fern" being painted and worn for about 6 months until November/December 1970, when

the Kiwi Roundel was introduced and worn from then on

 

Hope that helps with Kiwi Scooters? Hopefully some/all of the above may inspire your builds if doing a Kiwi one

 

Regards

 

Alan

(PS If  any of this knowledge/photos Offends anyone or I come across as a Know it all, , I can remove it)

 

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41 minutes ago, Valkyrie said:

Who can help. What do I need to do to make a C into a Q....?

Please...

Just connect the gap between the upper and lower ends of the Capital C and then draw a sticky out line at 45 degrees at the bottom right hand corner and hey presto a Q

 

 

Edited by Dansk
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@modelling minion shared this in one of my threads: http://hamfisted-modeller.blogspot.com/2020/06/modelling-rnzaf-skyhawk.html

 

and there's another page on the same site with what looks like a pretty good guide to building the Hasegawa 1/48 kit:

http://hamfisted-modeller.blogspot.com/2020/06/building-148-hasegawa-skyhawk.html

 

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20 minutes ago, Dansk said:

does anyone know if the centre drop tank differs from the wing drop tanks?

from what I’ve seen the wing tanks and winglets but the centre one doesnt?

 

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Found this and going to put a @Tailspin Turtle in here. 
 

http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2011/07/douglas-low-drag-external-fuel-tanks.html?m=1

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