Douglas A-1J Skyraider "Blood, Sweat & Tears"

[Ridley]

The Tamiya 1/48th scale kit I built earlier this year depicting A-1J 139608 "Blood, Sweat & Tears" of the 1st Special Operations Squadron in Vietnam. It initially started as a SOOTB build, but I became completely absorbed in this project and easily went beyond that. This was the photo that started it all: 

 

 

I added the metal cannon barrels, Quinta 3-D cockpit decals, Caracal Decals, Eduard SUU-14 ejectors and 250lb Phosphorous bombs. I also did scratch-built static wicks and the FM Antenna. Overall another great Tamiya kit. But, I was somewhat disappointed that Tamiya supplied the landing lights with no option to install them on the underside of the wingtips. Something I didn't discover until past the point of return and re-do. 

 

As a former USAF wrench-turner, I can relate to this aircraft's name, and if I could go back in time, there's a plane in my past that would've earned this moniker. In my stash is the Z-M 1/32 scale kit and I'll be re-doing this very airplane again sometime in the future. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by Ridley
Typos

[ColinChipmunkfan]

Excellent painting and weathering Ridley.  Thanks for posting.

Colin

[Ridley]

Just now, ColinChipmunkfan said:

Excellent painting and weathering Ridley.  Thanks for posting.

Colin

Thanks Colin

[Vince1159]

Beautiful job,love the first photo,up close and personal....

[Ridley]

1 hour ago, Vince1159 said:

Beautiful job,love the first photo,up close and personal....

Thank you Vince. That first shot is definitely an attention getter 🙂

 

[Zephyr]

Beautifully done and great attention to detail, especially with the weathering.

The oil on the centreline tank is next level...

[Ridley]

40 minutes ago, Zephyr said:

Beautifully done and great attention to detail, especially with the weathering.

The oil on the centreline tank is next level...

Thanks very much. The oil stains turned out better than expected. They really do pop.

[CaracalModels]

Excellent work! Thanks for sharing, and I hope you enjoyed using the decals.

[Samuraiwarrior]

Wow, what a fantastic job. 

I too think the Skyraider has it all, rugged looks, capable, well armed and solid enough to get you home. 

Love the pictures and the final result. 

Must get mine out of the stash, your build is so inspiring. 

Thanks for sharing. 

 

[Pete Robin]

You've certainly captured that "hard used" look. Very, very convincing.

Regards

Pete

[Pete in Lincs]

Fabulous Spad. A big brute of an Aeroplane. 

[russ c]

Great looking Skyraider there, really nice work

[Ridley]

6 hours ago, CaracalModels said:

Excellent work! Thanks for sharing, and I hope you enjoyed using the decals.

Thank you! Yes, great decals. Very easy to work with and they lay on flat! I had trouble deciding which plane to depict because they were all great choices. I'm looking forward to the F-105 sheet showing on your site. 

 

[Ridley]

6 hours ago, Samuraiwarrior said:

Wow, what a fantastic job. 

I too think the Skyraider has it all, rugged looks, capable, well armed and solid enough to get you home. 

Love the pictures and the final result. 

Must get mine out of the stash, your build is so inspiring. 

Thanks for sharing. 

 

Thanks for the compliments. The Spad has always been a favorite and this build further cemented that love. 

3 hours ago, Pete Robin said:

You've certainly captured that "hard used" look. Very, very convincing.

Regards

Pete

Thank you Pete. Bringing her to life... weathering is my favorite part of the build.

[Ridley]

3 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Fabulous Spad. A big brute of an Aeroplane. 

Thanks Pete.

51 minutes ago, russ c said:

Great looking Skyraider there, really nice work

Thanks Russ

[F-32]

That's a beautiful build

[woody37]

Gorgeous build, grime n all, nice bit of weathering to give it the workhorse look

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

Smashing model. You can almost smell it.

[Ridley]

5 hours ago, F-32 said:

That's a beautiful build

Thank you Sir

5 hours ago, woody37 said:

Gorgeous build, grime n all, nice bit of weathering to give it the workhorse look

 

Thanks very much

[Ridley]

4 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

Smashing model. You can almost smell it.

Avgas, Oil, Grease, hydraulic fluid, sweat... and cordite, I imagine 🙂 

Thanks

[Bertie McBoatface]

7 hours ago, Ridley said:

Avgas, Oil, Grease, hydraulic fluid, sweat... and cordite, I imagine 🙂 

Thanks

And rubber insulated cables and leather. 

[georgeusa]

I think you did an outstanding job on this aircraft.  You have captured the way it looked (maybe a bit too clean though) when it was flying.  I had the occasion to view it in action from ground level and the amount of damage a single Skyraider could do is truely amazing.  You have brought back some memories.

[Ridley]

12 hours ago, georgeusa said:

I think you did an outstanding job on this aircraft.  You have captured the way it looked (maybe a bit too clean though) when it was flying.  I had the occasion to view it in action from ground level and the amount of damage a single Skyraider could do is truely amazing.  You have brought back some memories.

Thanks very much for the kind words. I hope the memories are good ones. 

Kind regards,

Mike

[Roberto]

Beautiful!

[Ridley]

Thank you Roberto