A Mickey D's A-4 Restoration

[LorenSharp]

Thanks Craig,, On the outside there isn't much detail on the real thing. It's the inside that i wanted to show a little bit more.The tail hook I managed to lose somewhere( probably with the original cockpit).

[Fabrice Simon]

an ambitious project ! I take a seat

[LorenSharp]

After getting the control tabs on I added the ailerons, horizontal stabilizers and rudder.

I did a pre-shading with black on the panel lines, unfortunately I deleted the image I took, but after that I layed down the white bottom and gull gray upper surfaces and the red areas for the forward slats and speed brakes.

 

[LorenSharp]

From there I printed out the braces for the forward slats,

Just when I think I've printed out the smallest parts I've ever done, I print something smaller.

and in a fit of insanity thought why not? and printed out new navigation lights for the wingtips and upper and lower fuselage.

I used  my Dremel to remove the moulded lights.

[LorenSharp]

Gluing the lights in just required a touch of sanding to make the shape conform perfectly.

The tip lights are two part on the real thing. the front is the traditional red/blue-green and the rear portion a clear light.

 

[LorenSharp]

finally for this episode I added the forward slats and painted the lights.

Tomorrow if time permits I'll begin installing detailing out  the landing gear and where I can update the detail of the gear bays and doors. So until next time comments, suggestions and ideas or even a good old fashioned raspberry are always welcome.

So stay safe, stay healthy and model on!

 

[Fabrice Simon]

what a great job on your scooter! replacing the slat supports is a must do, it adds an undeniable plus of finesse and allows the tendency of these parts to disappear during assembly to be treated with a deserved contempt. And what a pleasure to cut them voluntarily...

[modelling minion]

Excellent work!

You really are doing a fantastic job on updating the old Monogram classic and your paint work looks very good too.

[LorenSharp]

2 hours ago, Fabrice Simon said:

what a great job on your scooter! replacing the slat supports is a must do, it adds an undeniable plus of finesse and allows the tendency of these parts to disappear during assembly to be treated with a deserved contempt. And what a pleasure to cut them voluntarily...

 

1 hour ago, modelling minion said:

Excellent work!

You really are doing a fantastic job on updating the old Monogram classic and your paint work looks very good too.

Thanks guys. It came down to necessity. Of the original P/E. Braces I only had 3 so I used those to make new ones as I  knew trying to cut out new ones would have been an excercise  in futilility and not be near as good.

 

[LorenSharp]

Pressing on, now id the time to add the exhaust. Assembles and painted burnt metal and evethough t doesn't show up well some Alclad hot metal blue and sepia for the end.

and printed out   new 20MM cannons,

 

[LorenSharp]

Next started work on the landing gear. I took some thin beading wire to make new brake lines for the main gear than gave a wash of acrylic paint/alcohol to bring out the highlights.

Then did the same to the wheel wells.

 

[LorenSharp]

Outlined the doors in red

Added the wheel set to the plane

Now the Scooter  finally stands on its own

with engine installed

The exterior fuselage lost 80% of the panel lines during the cleaning, so I used my  mechanical pencil to add some additional detail.

Not a perfect solution for the panel lines, but don't have a scribing templet for the odd pieces and trying to re-scribe might cause more damage to the finish than I would like.

But it is getting closer to the final rollout. so Stay tuned for more.......

[helios16v]

Ah the ole mechanical pencil.  That was how I used to do all my panel lines back when I was building in high school.  I really should go pick up an old book I've got lying around and brush up on some of the older techniques that still work as well as weathering in a bottle, if only a bit more work.  It's just so easy any more to just click on the button and have something delivered (or run down to the LHS if yours actually carries anything worthwhile).  I think we all forget some of the old basics from when we didn't have everything at our fingertips.  I know I'm guilty of it.

[modelling minion]

More very nice work.

The exhaust looks great and the extra detailing on the landing gear is very good too.

Nice use of the pencil for touching up the panel lines, a lot easier than rescribing.

[LorenSharp]

Not quite as fine a line as I would like. I'm experimenting with a 005 Prismacolor marker to see II can tidy it up a tad. Just wish it came in a lighter gray colour rather than pure black. I may be able to "tone" it down with some alcohol and a cotton bud.

[LorenSharp]

Short update today as I got my 2nd Covid shot today and not quite up to snuff as compared to the 1st shot. But no matter. Added detail to the flaps in the form of small actuators made from spare rod and added the last of the P/E parts to the canopy finishing off the really fine stuff.

Speaking of fine stuff....

Also finished the office with  the addition of the bang seat and windshield.

[LorenSharp]

Before adding any more the the final bits, mostly underneath, I'm going to put the decals on.

These Aeromaster decals are very thick. Thicker than I've had before.It's taking more setting solution than normal to get them to conform. Particularlyon the insgnia covering the right side at the refueling probe. the set split this into 3 parts. The top and bottom were fine but the center that surrounds the pipe was a pain in the backside to conform. The other pain was on the Left wing insignia that covers part of the wing vortex generators. We'll see how it dries. I may have to cut that small portion away and paint the area by hand.

I still have the left side(port) to finish up, but I'll let these dry first and rest a bit to let this shot do  its voodoo that it do so well.. I see the light at the end of the tunnel.... Hopefully it's not another train approaching I'm come on.... this is not the train build area...

or is it? Oh well, Stay safe and Stay healthy guys, until next time.

[modelling minion]

Nice work on the decals so far.

I have used Aeromaster decals a lot of times and have noticed that some sets are thicker than others, I hope that you are able to get the rest to conform to the model.

[LorenSharp]

Thanks MM , they should be ok, those were the only 2 spots where I had issues. There was also the arrest of hook, but decal didn't work at all,so that will have painted stripes.

.

[modelling minion]

I had real trouble with the arrestor hook stripes on my Kiwi A-4G, and they were the ones from my Hasegawa A-4M so are quite new, fortunately my Kuwaiti one didn't need any.

[Fabrice Simon]

microsol is my friend with all types of decals, with a special thought for those of tamiya and hasegawa... I apply many layers of it spaced of 30 mn until obtaining a good result. Some cases require several days

 

[LorenSharp]

I use both micro sol and micro set and it took a lot on these decals, but in the end I finally had to paint the stripes on. Such is life 

 

[LorenSharp]

Down to the final added bits, These had been lost so it was a matter of printing new ones.

Landing light,

Catapult Hooks,

Anti-sway Braces

Arrestor hook. This gave me a fit with the decals not want to wrap and adhere properly, so I painted the stripes on instead.

[LorenSharp]

Updated the center line bomb rack with new cabling made from beading wire and didn't have info decals or warning labels so again tried to paint on a reasonable facsimile.

I wanted to add the arming spinners to the bombs but didn't have anything small enough in the spares box so just used fuse contacts instead.

And finally all added together on the underside.

Thanks for following along  on this little journey into madness. The final images are up in the  RFI here:

[LorenSharp]

In all her finery, My restored McD's A-4 C/D Skyhawk

It's not a perfect restoration, but  considering the condition when I started came out a whole lot better than I expected. most notably loss of the surface detail during the striping and cleaning