RAN Skyhawk - Finished

[Andwil]

13 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hopefully the grey behaves for you. 

It did.  Gunze, straight from the bottle no thinner, 15psi one light coat:

 

 

 

Very happy with that.  I’ve left some of the masking on as I have to spray some dark aluminium under the tail, but that will be for tomorrow, along with the anti glare panel and the tip of the nose.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[modelling minion]

No thinner??!! Never even considered trying that one, it has turned out really well though as it looks like a nice smooth coat.

[Andwil]

7 hours ago, modelling minion said:

No thinner??!! Never even considered trying that one, it has turned out really well though as it looks like a nice smooth coat.

It is a new bottle.  When I opened it and gave it a good stir it was so thin and runny I thought I’d give it a go.  Actually a couple of years back when I was still a brush painter, I gave up on Gunze and Tamiya paints for that reason, it was impossible to get decent coverage even after many, many coats.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Anti glare panel and nose were painted today along with the metal area under the tail.  All masks removed:

 

 

 

Only a little touching up required around the nose and the demarcation between the white and grey on the rear fuselage is too high so I will need to mask and respray at the correct level.  But before any of that I have noticed from checking my reference photos that the Australian A-4Gs did not have this chin lump:

 

 

so it will have to go.  I don’t know how I’ve managed to miss it until now.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

 

[modelling minion]

A very neat bit of masking AW, I am sure you will be able to remove the lump without any difficulty.

[Andwil]

So removal of the chin pod, I guess it was associated with targeting for a missile that the RAN didn’t use.  Firstly the area surrounding the pod was masked to protect the paint:

 

 

a bit out of focus sorry.  A few minutes work with scribes and razor saw and it’s gone:

 

 

A bit of touching up of of the paint, the rear fuselage demarcation in the right spot and it’s ready for the decals:

 

 

 

 

This is the aircraft I am doing, number 875 using the CTA Aussies over the seas sheet:

 

 

This aircraft was lost on 2 October 1980 following engine failure on launch from HMAS Melbourne in the Andaman Sea north of Sumatra, the pilot, Lt Cdr Clive Blenner Hassett ejected and was rescued with only minor injuries.  The date of the incident just happens to be my birthday.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

 

 

[modelling minion]

Very neat job on removing the lump AW, it is actually a receiver for ECM equipment.

I do like your choice of aircraft, those red and white checks look great against the usual grey and white scheme.

[Andwil]

Today I got most of the decals on, the CTA sheet has a number of multi layer decals and I like to give 24 hours between layers where possible.  The squadron badge is composed of four layers(!) so I got two on today.

 

 

 

Kangaroos, small stencils and the remaining two parts of the badge tomorrow hopefully.  The only issue I have encountered is that the tail checks do not quite match the outline of the Hasegawa tail so some matching of the red and touching up will be required.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[modelling minion]

That has made a real difference to the look of your A-4 AW, a real splash of colour.

The checks not quite lining up is not surprising, I have used decals for this kind of marking before from sheets designed for the kit I am using and they never line up properly and far worse than the ones you have used, I have no doubt you will be able to sort them out.

[Andwil]

Decals finished today:

 

 

 

Pleased to see this morning that the upper three rows of the “Tablecloth” actually settled over the leading edge of the fin leaving only the bottom pair to be touched up.  Also very pleased that with an application of Mr a Mark Softer the wing roundels set snuggly over and around the vortex generators.

 

On the home stretch now, a bit of tidying up of the paint and then the last few sticky out bits to attach.  I want to get this one finished before my son’s wedding next Saturday.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[modelling minion]

With the decals complete she really does look smart AW, really glad that the decals settled over the vortex generators as it can be very tricky to get decals to behave over them.

Best of luck for your son's wedding next Saturday, I hope the day goes well and that you all have a great time.

[Jabba]

Looking very good with the decals on, always a worry when you have to mask an area where a decal has to go and it does not quite fit in the end. Hopefully that will be resolved quickly. How were the CTA decals ? I ask as I have a sheet and have not used them before.

[Andwil]

1 hour ago, Jabba said:

Looking very good with the decals on, always a worry when you have to mask an area where a decal has to go and it does not quite fit in the end. Hopefully that will be resolved quickly. How were the CTA decals ? I ask as I have a sheet and have not used them before.

Thanks Jabba.  The CTA decals are very good, nice and thin and conform well over lumps and bumps.  They release quickly from the backing paper, which is great if there are a lot to do!  The main things too watch out for are some of the larger decals may fold over on themselves being very thin, and a propensity to stick fast where placed - they can be a bit hard to move around.  But my biggest issue was just locating and cutting out the items from the closely packed and very comprehensive sheet.

 

AW

[Jabba]

Thanks for the advice.

[Andwil]

Up on its stalky undercarriage and last few bits on and it’s done:

 

 

 

I’m not doing any weathering as these planes were kept nice and clean and shiny, and I’m no good at it anyway!  Gallery photos to follow.

 

Thanks for looking, and thanks to the organisers and those who commented and liked.  Now I have to ponder what to build next, if I can get hold of a suitable kit I’d like to do something in the Unarmed GB

 

AW

[modelling minion]

Another excellent entry for the gallery.

I really like the bright and colourful markings of this scheme and you have done a great job of reproducing it.

Thanks for having taken part in the GB and well done for having produced such an excellent model.

[CliffB]

That looks great AW