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I'm going to attempt to complete 2 Skyhawks in the STGB - a bit of a tall order given the builds I have planned in Anything But Injection and Unarmed, but here we go anyway...

 

First up is a 1/48 RNZAF A-4K Kahu. Since the ANZAC GB is going on at the same time I'm going to put this build in there as well. Maybe I'll alternate posts between here and the ANZAC GB.

 

I'm using the Hasegawa 1/48 A-4E - here's the box shot:

 

Hasegawa A-4E

 

Decals will be from Gekko Graphics. Not entirely sure which scheme I'm going for but plenty of time to decide.

 

First issue here is that this kit doesn't include all the parts you need to make it a Kahu, so I'm going to have a go at 3D-printing them. I've made some progress today on the instrument panel and HUD - here's the CAD render:

 

Kahu IP

 

Pretty happy with this so far. Should look good enough with a few Airscale instrument decals.

 

cheers

Julian

 

 

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A very nice project Julian, welcome to the GB mate.

I do like the Kahu Skyhawks, the Euro one paint scheme helps to make them look quite mean and I quite like the later single green scheme too, much easier to paint! Your IP and HUD look very good and knowing how popular Kiwi A-4's are you could probably start up a business selling them. I have no doubt that you know your way around the Kahu and Kiwi A-4's in general but this site can be quite useful;

 

http://hamfisted-modeller.blogspot.com/2020/06/modelling-rnzaf-skyhawk.html

 

Looking forward to this one, should be great.

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21 hours ago, modelling minion said:

A very nice project Julian, welcome to the GB mate.

I do like the Kahu Skyhawks, the Euro one paint scheme helps to make them look quite mean and I quite like the later single green scheme too, much easier to paint! Your IP and HUD look very good and knowing how popular Kiwi A-4's are you could probably start up a business selling them. I have no doubt that you know your way around the Kahu and Kiwi A-4's in general but this site can be quite useful;

 

http://hamfisted-modeller.blogspot.com/2020/06/modelling-rnzaf-skyhawk.html

 

Looking forward to this one, should be great.

 

Thanks! Yes that site is really good, and there's a link to a very comprehensive set of walkaround photos. 

 

Instrument panel - plus RWR and VOR/ILS antennas - are printed out now. In keeping with my alternating between this and the ANZAC GB thing, you can see a photo over in the ANZAC GB.

 

cheers

Julian

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Can't await to see the instrument panel!!!!

 

Just one thing...From what I remember the Gekko instructions say that the Kahu upgraded airframes didn't have the hump anymore and were painted overall green. So actually no Euro I camo for your bird

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37 minutes ago, coneheadff said:

Can't await to see the instrument panel!!!!

 

Just one thing...From what I remember the Gekko instructions say that the Kahu upgraded airframes didn't have the hump anymore and were painted overall green. So actually no Euro I camo for your bird

Euro I is definitely an option - the Gekko instructions call out which ones were Kahus and there are definitely Euro I birds amongst them.

 

I am still a bit torn though as one of the all green options has a bit of a patchwork of different shades and things like ailerons and an undercarriage door that came from Euro I aircraft, which also appeals to me.

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I like the fact that there are quite a few pictures of RNZAF A-4's in different schemes where there are mix and match panels from other schemes, adds a nice bit of variety. Another tick for the all green option is that when the paint was first applied it didn't adhere very well so you get quite a bit of weathering, especially on the leading edges.

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11 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Another tick for the all green option is that when the paint was first applied it didn't adhere very well so you get quite a bit of weathering, especially on the leading edges.

 

And I think some of them got a bit more variation in the paint from the leading edges being repainted in a darker shade. Right now for all that I like the Euro 1 options, I'm leaning towards an all green bird with a patchwork of different shades and some bits in other colour schemes - from memory NZ6201 fits the bill.

13 hours ago, coneheadff said:

Can't await to see the instrument panel!!!!

 

Here you go:

A-4K Kahu WIP

 

I'm not very good at painting details, this is one of my better ones. I'll be adding Airscale instrument decals for as many of the instruments as I can.

 

cheers

Julian

 

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19 hours ago, zebra said:

Euro I is definitely an option - the Gekko instructions call out which ones were Kahus and there are definitely Euro I birds amongst them.

 

I am still a bit torn though as one of the all green options has a bit of a patchwork of different shades and things like ailerons and an undercarriage door that came from Euro I aircraft, which also appeals to me.

 

I just found my Gekko decal sheet and those late Kahu without hump and Euro I camo are really looking special 

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Thanks everyone! 

On 3/8/2021 at 9:31 PM, coneheadff said:

 

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!!!!!!

Would you mind selling one to Germany or sharing the file? 😁😁😁

 

On 3/9/2021 at 3:49 AM, modelling minion said:

That really does look very good Julian, you could definitely market that. 


The thing about marketing it is that I can’t vouch for its accuracy and it rivals Aires parts for poor fit (a bit of thinning down of the fuselage parts and a little sanding to make the bottom of the IP coaming narrower is all it needs though) so I wouldn’t want to market it.

 

Happy to share the file though. Might have to look into Creative Commons licensing!

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Got some Airscale decals onto the instrument panel today. It's looking pretty good. But you'll have to take my word for it for now as the photograph I took of it was rubbish!

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On 3/6/2021 at 11:45 AM, zebra said:

I'm going to attempt to complete 2 Skyhawks in the STGB - a bit of a tall order given the builds I have planned in Anything But Injection and Unarmed, but here we go anyway...

 

First up is a 1/48 RNZAF A-4K Kahu. Since the ANZAC GB is going on at the same time I'm going to put this build in there as well. Maybe I'll alternate posts between here and the ANZAC GB.

 

I'm using the Hasegawa 1/48 A-4E - here's the box shot:

 

Hasegawa A-4E

 

Decals will be from Gekko Graphics. Not entirely sure which scheme I'm going for but plenty of time to decide.

 

First issue here is that this kit doesn't include all the parts you need to make it a Kahu, so I'm going to have a go at 3D-printing them. I've made some progress today on the instrument panel and HUD - here's the CAD render:

 

Kahu IP

 

Pretty happy with this so far. Should look good enough with a few Airscale instrument decals.

 

cheers

Julian

 

 

Hi J.  I have a nice resin printer but have no idea how to use cad.  What did you use?

 

Dave

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15 hours ago, Davek72 said:

Hi J.  I have a nice resin printer but have no idea how to use cad.  What did you use?

 

Dave

Hi Dave - I'm using OnShape. It's web-based, free to use (but your work is public - which I'm fine with), there are good help pages, and I've found that once I'd got on top of the basics it's pretty intuitive to use. Since it's free and you don't even need to download any software I recommend giving it a go. Just check your computer meets the minimum spec (I think it needs at least 8GB memory). I use a Mac and found it didn't work well with Safari but works just fine in Chrome.

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9 hours ago, zebra said:

Hi Dave - I'm using OnShape. It's web-based, free to use (but your work is public - which I'm fine with), there are good help pages, and I've found that once I'd got on top of the basics it's pretty intuitive to use. Since it's free and you don't even need to download any software I recommend giving it a go. Just check your computer meets the minimum spec (I think it needs at least 8GB memory). I use a Mac and found it didn't work well with Safari but works just fine in Chrome.

Thanks J.  Also a Mac user so I will give it a go.  D

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Wings assembled - just posted a photo in my A-4M thread, won't repeat it here. The only difference between the Kahu and the M is that I've repositioned the anti-collision light on the Kahu as it needs to move across to the other (right) wing.

 

more soon

Julian

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