almac Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 Afternoon all. My contribution to this GB is yet another Airfix A-4Q.  Stevej60 and John Masters are also building this and I thought about doing something else as I have a fair few to pick from but this one is one I’ve wanted to do for a while so we have three in this GB. This one will be mostly OOB apart from a Quickboost seat and a TER and MK 82 Snakeye from a Hasegawa Weapons set. I will also fashion the circular antenna thingy on the tail from something, I’ll work that one out later. The resin seat will be a test of my detail painting which is not a skill I have but I’ll give it a go.  Anyway, here’s some pics of the kit and bits.    Cheers Allan 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 Nice too see another Argentine aircraft in the mix Allan I reckon we might see a few more,good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 Welcome to the GB Allan. No problem with having another Airfix Argentine A-4, it is a really nice scheme which is why it is so popular. The addition of the resin seat will be an improvement over the kit one. I hope you enjoy your build. Â Craig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almac Posted March 8, 2021 Author Share Posted March 8, 2021 Afternoon all. Some progress over the weekend. The rudimentary cockpit is painted and in place as are the intakes and tailpipe. The intakes were not the best fit and I covered the joins with sprues goo and when dry I’ll sand and rescribe.   The look a bit messy now but should clean up ok. The resin seat will be done later.  Cheers Allan 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Nice work Allan, these Airfix Skyhawks certainly seem to go together quickly. The fit of intakes is a pain on many kits but once you've smoothed over your sprue goo you won't see the join. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Skyhawks wear any scheme well, but the ARA Qs are just so neat 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 7 minutes ago, Valkyrie said: Skyhawks wear any scheme well, but the ARA Qs are just so neat Can't argue with that! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 On 3/8/2021 at 10:31 PM, Valkyrie said: just so neat That blue/white with the sun...and in big letters... Â ARMADA...I mean, I know it just means 'Navy' but still... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 1 minute ago, John Masters said: Â ARMADA...I mean, I know it just means 'Navy' but still... It does have more impact than "Navy" doesn't it, and has more of an exotic feel to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Yeah ARMADA! means business....there’s loads of us armed to the teeth don’t mess, definitely jumps it up a notch.  1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almac Posted March 12, 2021 Author Share Posted March 12, 2021 Morning all. Some more progress last night. I sanded down the sprue goo filler on the intakes and it’s nice and smooth now. I’ve been looking at the other Airfix builds in the GB and they look if the intakes were less problematic. I think the poor fit on mine, and another I did a while back, happened because I put the intakes on after the internal intake parts were fitted. I have another kit I may do for this GB and I’ll try putting the intakes on first to see if that makes a difference. Anyway, wings were assembled and fitted to the fuselage with no issues, with jjust the join at the rear underside neading tidied up.   Cheers Allan 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almac Posted March 12, 2021 Author Share Posted March 12, 2021 Evening all. For me this is a super fast build! I’ll soon be ready to start the painting. Small bits and bobs fitted today without much issue.  Some cleaning up needed but not too much. The tailplanes are not glued on, I’ll leave them off to make the painting stage easier. I’ve been looking at pictures of this plane which show it being loaded with bombs during the Falklands war and it’s got a MER and I think eight mk82 snakeyes so I’ll need to hunt for more. Just looking at my poor efforts at scribing on the underside which need redoing.   Cheers Allan 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 Very nice work Allan, these Airfix Skyhawks certainly seem to go together very quickly and very nicely. If she was carrying a fully loaded MER then you only need 6 bombs mate, hopefully that makes finding what you need a bit easier. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 @almac Allan I have had a rake through the extensive Airfix Skyhawk inventory and have 4 extra of the snakeyes I could pop in the post if you like?  3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almac Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 Thanks @Valkyrie for your kind offer but I’m sure I’ve got plenty spare myself.  Thanks Allan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almac Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 Just won an auction for Hasegawa weapons sets 1-4 for £25 so I’m well stocked for munitions now 😀  Cheers Allan   3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 5 minutes ago, almac said: Just won an auction for Hasegawa weapons sets 1-4 for £25 so I’m well stocked for munitions now 😀  Cheers Allan   You did well there Allan, and as you say you should be well stocked for whizz bangs for quite a few builds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almac Posted March 20, 2021 Author Share Posted March 20, 2021 Afternoon all. Not much to show for this week. I’ve tidied up the seams and errors in prep for starting the painting. Unfortunately I’ll probably have to revise my open canopy with the Quickboost seat as the canopy has given me some issues. One of the canopy sprue joins is in a really daft place between the two prongs that fit into corresponding slots in the fuselage. There was also lots of flash and the plastic is really brittle which made removing it very difficult. Needless to say I made an a**e of it and broke the prongs and they don’t fit well. So I think I’ll have to cut them off, close the canopy and fill the indents. Hopefully I’ll get something done today but with the Milan -San Remo bike race on Eurosport and bikes needing major maintenance maybe not.     Cheers Allan  4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Really sorry to see the problems you have had with the canopy Allan, Airfix's sprue attachment points can be a bit "interesting" at times and are known for being quite large too so I think that you will be far from the only person to have suffered this kind of problem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almac Posted March 28, 2021 Author Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) Well, one week later and not much progress. I spent some time correcting my savage attempts at rescribing. I am truly awful at this even though I attempt it on most of my builds. So for this one no more rescribing for me. Any way last night I painted up the kit seat and masked and glued the canopy on. Having let it set overnight it looks ok. Tonight I’ve been bodging a minor modification to the kit by making the semi-circular antenna on the tail. This was done drilling holes into the tail at the appropriate area, I think, and then supergluing the ends of paper clips into the holes. It sounded simple to me but was tricky but I’ve got them on. They probably will get knocked off and disappear into the ether at some point but I’ve got lots of paper clips should or when that happens.Anyway here are some pics of what I did. The first shows the holes I drilled next to my principal reference picture.       Next up is how the kit looks for now.     I may prime the model tonight as I’m not too tired yet.  Cheers Allan Edited March 28, 2021 by almac 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almac Posted March 29, 2021 Author Share Posted March 29, 2021 Well I attached the refuelling probe and sprayed Mr finishing surfacer 1500 for the primer. All was going well and then I broke the refuelling probe! I’ll keep it off till the end and hopefully it’ll go back on ok. I really like the Mr surfacer primer as it gives a nice smooth base for painting. Hopefully that can continue tomorrow.    Cheers Allan 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 Nice work Allan. The aerials on the tail are a very noticeable feature of the A-4Q and your solution to them looks very good to me. Nice smooth paint job too with the primer, should make a great base for the paint. Don't worry about knocking off the refueling probe, something that anyone who builds Skyhawks has done before and will probably do again. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ-WobblyHands Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 Looking good, a nice black Skyhawk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Yeah good rings, great idea. I used rubber coated wire but the paper clip idea definitely adds finesse. Drilling holes too, another good tip, I just glued them on and hoped they stayed. Looks nice 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basket Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 Nice start ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now