1/48th A-4N Skyhawk IAF - completed

[Hewy]

2 hours ago, modelling minion said:

great looking decal sheet Bosse.

It is indeed bosse,  rich tha ayit looks smashing, I'm  up for building my "m" version  as an Israeli n, i shall use yours as a bit of a reference, although i only have resin cannons and exaust , not the full conversion bits as yours,  but maybe passable  with a squint 🤞, i love the paint schene

[Dansk]

The paint jobs look awesome rich

[modelling minion]

20 minutes ago, Hewy said:

It is indeed bosse,  rich tha ayit looks smashing, I'm  up for building my "m" version  as an Israeli n, i shall use yours as a bit of a reference, although i only have resin cannons and exaust , not the full conversion bits as yours,  but maybe passable  with a squint 🤞, i love the paint schene

You will be fine Glynn, if I can wrangle a KU from it then you will definitely be able to produce an N.

[trickyrich]

10 hours ago, Marlin said:

 

Hi Rich, I can see two styles of font in these pictures, could you be more specific? 

One style is #359 (Type D) and the second is #316 (Type E)

Both fonts are present on the Sky's Decals sheet no-26 that I have, and I don't think I've used all of them, yet. 

 

WOW!!! Whats a great set of decals, plus I had a look at their site what a range! I haven never seen these decals before in all y looking for IAF decals....... gosh I wish they were still available!

 

Type D is the style used later on, the squarer E type is the earlier style. It's a bit hard to work out the correct order as a lot of the photos don't have a date to them, but the "Flying Tiger" logo did came in after 1997. You can see an earlier red tail 102 Sqn aircraft in one of those photos with the type E serial numbers. Plus that stylized A-4 logo on the fuselage sides again I think is only on the early 102 Sqn aircraft, none of the other A-4 squadron appear to have it.  These are some of the best photos I've seen of the 102 Sqn aircraft, the "tidied up" museum ones are marked up incorrectly.

 

Hasegawa included both types in their release of the A-4N

[trickyrich]

13 hours ago, Hewy said:

It is indeed bosse,  rich tha ayit looks smashing, I'm  up for building my "m" version  as an Israeli n, i shall use yours as a bit of a reference, although i only have resin cannons and exaust , not the full conversion bits as yours,  but maybe passable  with a squint 🤞, i love the paint schene

 

thanks, those are the only bits you really need anyway, the rest could either be scratch built or probably raided from the spares box.

 

For some reason finding really good refer photos are a bit hard to find on the net.

[RJ-WobblyHands]

Those camo schemes look really nice ! 

[trickyrich]

WOOOHOOOOO 

 

My decal dramas have been solved! I was going to have to piece together all the required decals for this build as I don't actually have a set for the A-4N. Plus after some searching I couldn't find any online either.

 

But the modelling gods have looked down on me in favour and after some further deeper searching I have found the exact set I need.

 

Armycast (same lot who did the concern set) has a set for all the Israeli A-4 Skyhawks, "Defenders of the Holy land".  It has every variation of the serial numbers, squadron badges, the works.

 

It looks to be the same as that Sky one you have @Marlin, gosh I may have to add a few more IDF Skyhawks to the collection now! 

[Marlin]

5 hours ago, trickyrich said:

gosh I may have to add a few more IDF Skyhawks to the collection now! 

That's the spirit soldier.

 

/Bosse

Edited April 10, 2021 by Marlin
Spelling

[exdraken]

Great progress!

And fantastic camo work!

Did you apply ut to your pair of scissors as well

 

[modelling minion]

6 hours ago, trickyrich said:

I may have to add a few more IDF Skyhawks to the collection now!

Oh what a shame, the pain of having to buy more models to fit your decal stash!

[trickyrich]

16 hours ago, exdraken said:

Did you apply ut to your pair of scissors as well

 

 

 no but those wee scissors were a great help in trimming the blutack sausages 

[trickyrich]

Ok as mentions with the “K’s” update, this is a small one before I head off with work again.

 

So lots of masking and tiny paint jobs to get her already for painting.

 

 

 

 

Plus the drop tanks and stores have been painted, they’re near finished.

 

 

As can be seen I have a couple of choices for main stores: BRU with 500lb “Slicks” or the GBU-8 HOBOS. I can choose either as they are attached by a tiny magnet.

 

 

 

 

 

Plus these are the awesome decals that are on their way….hopefully they’ll be here by the time I get home.

 

[modelling minion]

That looks great Rich.

I like the idea of having the stores on a little magnet so that you can swap them over if you like, very clever.

Those Armycast decals do look very nice, I have their set for the F-5E but haven't used any yet although I have heard good things about them.

[trickyrich]

On 4/12/2021 at 6:54 PM, modelling minion said:

That looks great Rich.

I like the idea of having the stores on a little magnet so that you can swap them over if you like, very clever.

Those Armycast decals do look very nice, I have their set for the F-5E but haven't used any yet although I have heard good things about them.

 thanks.

 

Those decals do look nice, even better, I've just been advised that they were sent today and should be here in 3 days!!! If it's true then a big thumbs up to https://the48ers.com, they look to have some really interesting stuff.... may have to do some more shopping! 

[trickyrich]

Ok as with my A-4K I hadn’t got back to this build as planned, been playing with other projects, but I have now.

 

So clear coat time, and as with the other Skyhawk I managed to get a reasonably shiny coat for a change.

 

 

After all the issues I’ve been having with decals of late (A-4K included), but the decals gods were looking down on me today with this model.

 

These Armycast decals would have to be some of the nicest I’ve ever used! The set covers the entire range of Israeli Skyhawks A-4E,F,H,N’s & TA-4H,J’s, 25 options in all. I think I need another E and TA-4 model at least! 

 

They went on so easily and real hugged the surface, I just needed a couple of dabs of decal softener on the tail where I had to cut the decal but that’s it.

 

 

As can be seen here all the detail under the decal is clearly seen.

 

 

Same again I’ll let the decals settle overnight before doing the panel lines then a flat clear coat. Not a lot left to do, with luck I should have her done by the end of the weekend…maybe.

 

[modelling minion]

Well that is looking excellent Rich.

The decals look like they have behaved perfectly (very pleased to see that as I have just bought a couple of their other sheets) and have settled into the kits details very nicely indeed. I really like the Tiger on the tail, adds a nice splash of colour.

[helios16v]

Very nice.  I was looking at this sheet along w/ the Netz/Barak one you were showing me.  Of course that would mean I would need to add another Skyhawk to the stash as all the existing kits are spoken for scheme-wise.   

[trickyrich]

4 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Well that is looking excellent Rich.

The decals look like they have behaved perfectly (very pleased to see that as I have just bought a couple of their other sheets) and have settled into the kits details very nicely indeed. I really like the Tiger on the tail, adds a nice splash of colour.

 

basically as soon as I applied these decals I went looking for others from them....they are just that good!! Looking at them now in the light you can barely see the edges of the decal, plus the finish of them is not too glossy so they should match perfectly with a clear flat coat. Yeah I was going to go with the outline version I showed earlier, but the coloured Tiger just looked so nice.

 

I am already tracking a TA-4 on evilBay! 

 

2 hours ago, helios16v said:

Very nice.  I was looking at this sheet along w/ the Netz/Barak one you were showing me.  Of course that would mean I would need to add another Skyhawk to the stash as all the existing kits are spoken for scheme-wise.   

 I'm sure @modelling minion would agree you can never have enough!! 🤣

[modelling minion]

2 hours ago, helios16v said:

Of course that would mean I would need to add another Skyhawk to the stash

Struggling to see a problem with this Chris.

22 minutes ago, trickyrich said:

I'm sure @modelling minion would agree you can never have enough!! 🤣

Absolutely right Rich, you can never have too many!

[trickyrich]

I did see the Armycast do a lovely set of 1/32nd Israeli maskings as well....... now someone else has to step up to 1/32nd!!! I'm on the way! 

[helios16v]

1 minute ago, trickyrich said:

I did see the Armycast do a lovely set of 1/32nd Israeli maskings as well....... now someone else has to step up to 1/32nd!!! I'm on the way! 

No, no, no.  I'm just now shifting gears getting away from 1/72 (aside from large scale airframes).  1/48 is good for now.  I've got a couple of 1/32 to dabble with, but that is not going to be my mainstream.  

[trickyrich]

you know you want too....and in that big scale it'll look awesome!!!!   

[Fabrice Simon]

Top work and very inspiring

[trickyrich]

Ok let me get this out of my system first….. I HATE DECALS!!!! 

 

These decals were awesome I loved how they went on, just hugged the surface perfectly and with nearly invisible edges……should have just clear coated them straight away!! 

 

But no…the Gumby I am decided to do the wash coat over them first like I normally do……and nearly F….. them all up….almost!!! 

 

The wash came off everything nice and easily just wiping it off except the decals! Just a touch of enamel thinner was required……and it nearly ate the decals! 

 

After the pressure relief of lots of swearing and cursing I proceeded to finish the job with cotton-buds and hail Mary’s! 

 

Which sort of worked, I only needed to replace 2 decals, thank goodness they supply extras for Gumby’s like me!

 

Clear coat now safely on and it looks all ok.

 

 

Some fading will help tie in the look much better, a bit too clean and fresh looking at the moment.

 

 

... and I hate those spoilers!

 

I’m not too sure how long all those bumps on the nose will last with Gumby around! 

 

 

The underside needs dirtying up as well, I’m really not to sure how dirty these aircraft got in Israeli service, you never see their aircraft looking that grubby (que someone to post photo of grubby aircraft!), so I’m going to err on the side of less for this one.

 

 

The HOBO just has its basic colours on, I still need to do more on it.

 

So not too much to go, I should have her done in the next couple of days.

 

…. Oh and these showed up the other day, the big fella’s is going to be all masks except for the smaller stencilling.

 

 

…and these are going to be scaled up to 1/35th for another project!!! 

 

 

[modelling minion]

Oh dear, decals do seem to be the cause of a few headaches for you lately don't they. I am really glad that you managed to avoid a disaster with them and have to say that she is looking very good indeed.

I think you are right to go with subdued weathering, Israeli aircraft are well looked after especially in the time frame yours is from.