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Gulf Warrior, Kuwaiti A-4KU Desert Storm 1991. Finished!


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Well seeing as how I am running this show I thought I had better get my build thread started!

 

Having a few A-4 kits in the stash and quite a few decal sheets to choose from I thought I would build something a little more unusual and the fact that this is the 30th anniversary of the Gulf War made my choice a simple one, a Kuwaiti KU. The ironic thing is that this is the one operator that I don't actually have any markings for! But when you see how few markings they actually carried this becomes far less of a problem as the only national markings carried are a small national flag on the tail and I have found something suitable on a sheet for 1/72 Strikemasters of all things.

 

And so to the kit, I shall be using Hasegawa's excellent A-4M as the KU is a version of the M built specially for the Kuwaiti's. Here are the obligatory box top and contents shots;

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All nice and new and as yet un-butchered plastic. I shall be building this pretty much OOTB with the exception of a replacement resin ejector seat and obviously being a Hasegawa kit I shall have to find some weapons from the spares box.

 

For an idea of how this should look when finished here is the only picture of an in service Kuwaiti A-4KU I have found from before the Iraqi invasion when they got the words "Free Kuwait" painted on the fuselages after they had managed to escape to Saudi Arabia from where they helped to continue the fight to free their country.

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A relatively unknown fact is that during the 3 days before Kuwait was totally overrun these aircraft even managed to claim some air to air kills against Iraqi helicopters with their 20mm cannons.

 

Looking forward to getting started on this one.

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

Edited by modelling minion
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nice choice and something different scheme wise as well.

 

You might want to check the nose on this one. Looking up the sprue guides for the Skyhawk, the "Free Kuwait" version and it uses the same new sprue "S" as the N version which has a very slightly different nose, different panel lines and no clear point. Plus a again very slightly different tail top.

 

here are photos of the differences, the top is your A-4M version, and below is the A-4N with "S".

 

IMG_5567-L.jpg

 

I think you might need to loose those extra bits for the nose as well.

 

Plus I just found this for you as well, has all the aircraft serials and photos of them as well, plus even load-out info!!! (looks to be an awesome Gulf war reference site)

 

https://www.dstorm.eu/pages/en/kuwait/skyhawk.html

 

Gee I can be helpful sometimes!!  :D

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3 hours ago, trickyrich said:

Gee I can be helpful sometimes!!

Frightening isn't it!

 

Seeing the noses next to each other is very helpful and shows me exactly what is needed to get an acceptable KU nose. It looks achievable to me and means fairing in and painting over the glazed end of the nose, leaving off some of the bits I would probably have knocked off anyway and removing some panel lines.

 

The Desert Storm site is very useful and I will be referring to it during the build.

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Good lord,  you think you've  got somthing planned to military precision,,,and🙄

..Any way, I'm  going to have to enter with a 72nd scooter, cause you lot have just aboot cornered the market in the 48th scale , probably the best scheme so far craig after trickys idf version👍

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15 minutes ago, Hewy said:

Good lord,  you think you've  got somthing planned to military precision,,,and🙄

..Any way, I'm  going to have to enter with a 72nd scooter, cause you lot have just aboot cornered the market in the 48th scale , probably the best scheme so far craig after trickys idf version👍

Cheers Glynn.

Don't worry about building the same scheme or subject as others, there's always room for multiple builds of the same subject. Happy for you to take part no matter what kit you are building.

6 minutes ago, Dansk said:

Another great scheme craig. Hopefully you’ll build the hasegawa fast so we can all copy you and avoid any pitfalls 😁

Cheers Paul, I wouldn't hold your breath as far as the speed of the build goes though as, like most of us, I am slightly over committed build wise at the moment. i will try and get my Hind mostly done so that I am only building Skyhawks from next weekend.

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Just now, modelling minion said:

Don't worry about building the same scheme or subject as others, there's always room for multiple builds of the same subject.

Well it may be a 48th example after all mrs hewy has worked some techno magic and won me an hasegawa a-4 m from the tinternet, a bit of help/research is now in order as to extras and scheme /operators

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4 minutes ago, Hewy said:

Well it may be a 48th example after all mrs hewy has worked some techno magic and won me an hasegawa a-4 m from the tinternet, a bit of help/research is now in order as to extras and scheme /operators

Wouldn't be the A-4M that just finished would it? I was considering having a crack at it myself.

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Craig ,correct me if im wrong but is the Israeli n version using the same nose as your ku/m, for the life of me barring the lumps and glass tip the shape looks the same basic shape as the m in our kit

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2 minutes ago, Hewy said:

Craig ,correct me if im wrong but is the Israeli n version using the same nose as your ku/m, for the life of me barring the lumps and glass tip the shape looks the same basic shape as the m in our kit

You know Glynn I believe it is. If you look further up this thread Rich posted a pic of the M and N noses supplied by Hasegawa which shows that I should be able to do the necessary mods.

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Confession time I'm afraid.

Whilst looking through my A-4 decals today (always dangerous!) I came across this sheet;

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/fights-on-decals-fod48002-skyhawk-a-4-ta-4-adversaries--1011030

 

I forgot that it has 4 A-4M's on it in adversary markings and one of them is even more different because it has the hump removed, oh bugger! This is the problem with having too much choice I suppose. So I now have to decide whether to stick to my original plan or go all Top Gun. I do have a Hobbycraft A-4N which could become the KU or the M for that matter. Oh dear. Any thoughts guys?

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The A-4KU instrument panel looks like the late A-4M instrument panel on the top (the raised part) and like the A-4F panel on the bottom. The Hasegawa kit comes with both, so it would probably be easier to make the Hasegawa one the KU if you plan on fixing the instruments. I don't know if the Hasegawa instrument panels will fit the Hobbycraft kit.

 

But you can still work on the wings and exhaust and intake while you think about it.

 

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On 07/03/2021 at 19:50, modelling minion said:

Whilst looking through my A-4 decals today (always dangerous!) I came across this sheet;

Ahh   "the sangreal"of a-4 decal sheets as far as I'm concerned , the only drawback is no ordinance,  I've  searched for that sheet for a while, keep it safe

Or, build one 👍

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25 minutes ago, Hewy said:

Ahh   "the sangreal"of a-4 decal sheets as far as I'm concerned , the only drawback is no ordinance,  I've  searched for that sheet for a while, keep it safe

Or, build one 👍

It really is a very nice sheet Glynn, with some great options on it, it would be a shame not to use it.😉

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Just now, modelling minion said:

It really is a very nice sheet Glynn, with some great options on it, it would be a shame not to use it.😉

I agree, the brown/sand, desert scheme 👍

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The decals are printed by Cartograph too craig so they should go down very nicely.

Your display cabinets must be a veritable feast for the eyes with all these exotic schemes you seem to find on each build. 

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23 minutes ago, Dansk said:

The decals are printed by Cartograph too craig so they should go down very nicely.

Your display cabinets must be a veritable feast for the eyes with all these exotic schemes you seem to find on each build. 

Cheers Paul, the cabinets are full to bursting! The only issue is that not many of the schemes go together, though if I change my mind and go with the Desert coloured adversary it should go quite well with my Hind.

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