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Vought A-7E Corsair II - Revell (Hasegawa) 1/48


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This is my latest - Hasegawa’s 1980s-vintage A-7E, from the Revell box.  I remember seeing this kit when I was at university and being impressed by its standards, and it still holds up today.  For instance, I’m sure it has a better intake shape than the newer Hobby Boss job.  There are some nice little features, especially the pylons.  They come with good sway braces and a chamfered top to fit the wing anhedral - and the locating pins are handed, to make it even harder to fit them under the wrong wings.  The wing isn’t a great fit to the fuselage, but you can minimise the problems by not pressing it too tightly home (mainly at the front), leaving only small steps to fair in at either end.

A-7E top front right

 

A-7E top rear left

 

But it’s not all roses.  As I prefer my aircraft fairly tidy, I closed the boarding steps and avionic bays, and they were hard to do neatly, just as I’d expected.  And the joint between inner and outer wings was poor, as it seems always to be with naval kits.  I thought the outboard pylons would be trouble too, as they attach right on the hinge line, but that worked out okay.  (Still, if I had my way I’d include two completely separate sets of parts for wings-up and wings-down, and hang the expense.)  The other big problem was that all the cockpit glazing was much too wide.  I had to pin down one side with Plastic Weld, let that set, and then pinch the parts and do the same on the other side.  It only half-worked.

A-7E top rear right

 

A-7E underside

 

Tidy, but not clean.  Corsairs were grubby things in service, so I’ve given it a fair bit of weathering.  I might have underdone it with the wheels.

A-7E top front left

 

The decals are mostly from Eagle Strike.  They went on well and I had no real problems with long ones tying themselves in knots, but once on they were strangely fragile, which made panel lines a bit of a problem.

A-7E lower

The Sidewinders come from the kit; the Walleye and the Rockeyes are also Hasegawa, from one of their weapons sets.  They never produced a targeting pod, though, so I got mine from Daco (under their Astra brand).  It was nice - but it was quite expensive, one end was larger than the other, and it had shocking decals that needed Klear to get them to stick.  I suspect I could have bodged one fairly well from an old rocket pod.  So there’s a learning point to take forward, eh.

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Thanks, all.

 

I like that you used colorful markings instead of the drab greys the A-7s ultimately wore.

Absolutely!  It's the one true colour scheme.  I aim to build everything that flew in gull gray and white, and a couple of things that didn't but they should have.

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On 16/12/2021 at 20:10, pigsty said:

Tidy, but not clean.

I very much like the way you did the paint job and mild weathering. Especially the shining beauty of the USN Hi-Viz schemes can get lost if one does too much weatheing (although that might be realistic after some months into a cruise).

Edited by Sierra Mike Sierra
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One of my all-time favourite kits, simple as that. Love the finish, restrained weathering, the seals around the canopy glazing, limited (and period accurate) loadout. Great choice of squadron marking aswell. One of the nicest A-7's I've seen. Well modelled, sir.

 

 

Best from NZ.

 

Ian.

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