Hasegawa TA-4J (OA-4M) - Finished

[Peter W]

 

Time to show the entry for this group build. It's the Hasegawa 1/48th TA-4J that's going to be finished as a USMC OA-4M. Progress could be slow whilst I finish up my current project but hopefully not too long.

The kit

The bits

The decals

 

Going to enjoy this one.

 

Pete

Edited May 16, 2021 by Peter W

[modelling minion]

What a great project Pete. I really like the OA-4M, looks a lot meaner than the average two seater. Very interested to see how you tackle the conversion, looks like you have a good selection of goodies to throw at your build. 

A popular decal sheet too, do you know which option you will be building?

 

Craig. 

[coneheadff]

Great project Pete!

 

I just received the OA-4M conversion set from Phasehanger and it seems to be more "complete" conversion than that from SB.

It has the Super Fox intakes and a guide where to cut the canopy. 

 

Shall I post some photos of the set?

[modelling minion]

58 minutes ago, coneheadff said:

Shall I post some photos of the set?

I think that a few of us would fine that useful so please do.

[Peter W]

4 hours ago, coneheadff said:

Great project Pete!

 

I just received the OA-4M conversion set from Phasehanger and it seems to be more "complete" conversion than that from SB.

It has the Super Fox intakes and a guide where to cut the canopy. 

 

Shall I post some photos of the set?

I did debate getting the phase hanger set but just figured that I’d go with what I already have. That of course may change once I get into it a bit more. By all means post some pictures of the set though.

 

Pete

[coneheadff]

All right. Here we go...

 

The instructions are great and shouldn't be a problem to follow.

I only added a wash so you can see the great detail.

The nose looks a bit rough, but it's absolutely smooth and flawless.

As I said you get everything you need for the conversion...including the Super Fox intakes. You could rob them from Hasegawas M kits, but they are not included in the two seated Skyhawk kits.

It's not that obvious, but they are definitely a bit bigger than the regular intakes.

 

Sorry for the pics, but I only had my mobile phone at hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Scooby]

11 hours ago, coneheadff said:

Great project Pete!

 

I just received the OA-4M conversion set from Phasehanger and it seems to be more "complete" conversion than that from SB.

It has the Super Fox intakes and a guide where to cut the canopy. 

 

Shall I post some photos of the set?

I was going to build the same for the group build, I paid for my Phasehanger set a few months ago (I knew at the time he had a back log) and I am still waiting for it. I actually made a big order so he is casting a lot of stuff for me. His is the best set on the market.

[Peter W]

I figured that the best place to start with this one was by hacking off the bits that aren't needed and getting the resin ready to add a later date. It all went fairly painlessly and fitted really well, fingers crossed that it stays that way.

 

 

Already looking more aggressive than a standard trainer.

 

Back soon

Pete

[modelling minion]

That all looks very promising Pete, and as you say has really changed the look of the trainer into something more warlike.

[Peter W]

Spent a little bit more time on this one working out the kinks. I tried a set of the Phase Hanger Resin Super Fox Intakes, which were bought for an A-4M that I have, up against the fuselage for this one (Pic 1). There is a step of about 1mm between the two parts, so no way I'm going to waste them on this build. For the same reason the Hasegawa A-4M kit intakes would cause the same problem, if I swapped them out for the TA-4J ones. I then tried the resin intakes against the TA-4J kit ones and there is a 0.7mm difference between the intake width (Pic 2). now that might mean a lot to some people but life is too short for me to lose any sleep over. I can only assume the Phase Hanger OA-4M conversion set has made some compromises in this area too as the main body of the intake would need altering to make it truly accurate. I've therefore made the choice to go with the kit intakes and carved the required duct into these (Pic 3). A bit of work left to do but better than the alternative.

  

 

Next came a job that I can control, the step on the leading edge flaps. I'm sure that there are a lot of different ways to deal with this but I like easy, so I cut the leading edge out first (Pic 1) and then glued the wings together. After that I just taped the leading edge section back in flush with the top of the wing and run some glue around it (Pic 2). Once that had dried, masked either side and flooded the joint with super glue (Pic 3). Final job was to clean this up and see what it looked like (Pic 4). It still needs a tidy up at the ends but a whole lot better than ignoring it.

 

Next job is to get some paint on the internals and get on with that bit.

 

Back soon.

Edited March 15, 2021 by Peter W

[modelling minion]

That is some very nice work, the slat area looks very good indeed.

As for the intakes I don't blame you, the difference between the kit parts and the replacements just isn't worth the hassle and extra work needed to blend them in, and if you don't tell anyone we won't. 😉

[zebra]

Nice work

 

I don't think those would be the right intakes anyway - fairly sure (but happy to be corrected) the OA-4M had standard intakes. The seamless intakes in the Phase Hangar OA-4M conversion are the standard ones (and fit quite well) not Super Fox. Here's the one I built a year or so ago:

 

 

[coneheadff]

10 hours ago, zebra said:

Nice work

 

I don't think those would be the right intakes anyway - fairly sure (but happy to be corrected) the OA-4M had standard intakes. The seamless intakes in the Phase Hangar OA-4M conversion are the standard ones (and fit quite well) not Super Fox. Here's the one I built a year or so ago:

 

 

Great looking OA-4M!!!

 

You're most probably right about the intakes.

Just after reading your comment I remembered reading a post somewhere on the net that they DIDN'T have the bigger intakes. 

Can't remember where I read it, but it was a fellow modeler who had done a lot of research before converting a 1/32 model.

Sad I can't find the build anymore. 

[modelling minion]

That really is a great looking OA-4M Julian, definitely something I will have to try in the future.

[Peter W]

12 hours ago, zebra said:

Nice work

 

I don't think those would be the right intakes anyway - fairly sure (but happy to be corrected) the OA-4M had standard intakes. The seamless intakes in the Phase Hangar OA-4M conversion are the standard ones (and fit quite well) not Super Fox. Here's the one I built a year or so ago:

 

 

I guess it makes sense when you think that the OA-4M was converted from the TA-4F airframe. Coneheadff just threw me a googly when he mentioned the super fox intakes in his post and I didn’t think beyond that, shame on you coneheadff 😂. Nice looking build though zebra.

 

Hopefully be putting an update on later too.

Back soon

Pete

Edited March 21, 2021 by Peter W

[coneheadff]

Sorry for that Pete!!!

I just completely forgot about that post until Julian mentioned it.

 

Alex

[Peter W]

Time for an update. The cockpit came under the radar next and finding pictures of an OA-4M one proved nigh on impossible, so I just went with what's in the box along with the resin seats. Almost definitely not accurate but who looks after it's built anyway 😉.

 

Still got to matt it all down but that can be done later.

 

And one last one of how it looks as I type.

 

It's all going together quite well so far and, fingers crossed, continues to go that way. 

 

Back soon

Pete

[modelling minion]

That is very nice work Pete, good job on painting the cockpit tub and instrument panels, very neat.

[Peter W]

1 hour ago, modelling minion said:

That is very nice work Pete, good job on painting the cockpit tub and instrument panels, very neat.

Thanks modelling minion, pretty happy with it as these tired old eyes are making the detail stuff ever harder. 

 

Pete

[modelling minion]

18 minutes ago, Peter W said:

Thanks modelling minion, pretty happy with it as these tired old eyes are making the detail stuff ever harder. 

 

Pete

Tell me about it Pete, glasses on, glasses off, holding things up to the best light, using a magnifying glass, getting older is no fun at all!

 

Craig.

[Hewy]

Top job on the cockpit 👍

[Peter W]

On 3/27/2021 at 7:39 PM, Hewy said:

Top job on the cockpit 👍

Thanks Hewy.

 

Though it about time that I did a little update to show that progress is still going on. I am getting ever closer to the point when I can give it a good wash and get some undercoat on, just a few bits left to stick on.

 

The resin parts all went on without too much trouble and just a tiny bit of filler to blend them in.

 

Next the wings went on and only needed another bit of filler in the wing seams, which has got me here:

 

I also spent a bit of time on the bit I have been ignoring for too long, cutting the front wheel out of the kit part. I did end up separating the fork from the main strut to make it easier and then glued it back afterwards with a small metal pin to give some strength. 

 

All ready for the resin wheels to go in later. I've got to make up another pin for them but that will be done in due course.

 

Definitely having fun with this one and be back soon

Pete

 

[modelling minion]

That is looking really good Pete.

You have got very good joints where the resin meets the plastic.

Nice job removing the nose wheel too, not something I had considered doing.

[Peter W]

45 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

That is looking really good Pete.

You have got very good joints where the resin meets the plastic.

Nice job removing the nose wheel too, not something I had considered doing.

Hi Craig, there was a point when I wished I hadn't considered it too 😄. Not too unhappy now it's done though. 

[coneheadff]

Great job on the NLG!!

 

I did it the easy way and took the Eduard wheels...this set includes the lower part of the leg. So you can just cut away the original part, drill a hole in the leg and insert the resin part.