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Teddy's Big Stick - VA-65 Tigers' A-6E Intruder 161675 - Finished!


Wings unlevel

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My Salty Sea Dog will be Fujimi's 1/72 Grumman A-6E Intruder finished as VA-65's 161675, the CAG bird for CVW-8 while flying off the USS Theodore Roosevelt during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

 

Here's my subject, looking very much the salty sea dog, loaded with Mk 82 Snake Eyes, en route to a target in February 1991:

A-6E_VA-65_during_1991_Gulf_War.jpeg

(Attribution: U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

 

During Desert Storm the jet wore short-lived nose art featuring the comic strip character Garfield wearing a flight helmet and wielding a baseball bat inscribed with "The Big Stick", a reference to US President Teddy Roosevelt's invocation to "speak softly and carry a big stick".

 

Pic here: https://www.dstorm.eu/pictures/nose-arts/a-6/161675_4.jpg

 

My kit is Fujimi's A-6E TRAM Intruder boxing, a 30 Aussie dollar bargain on that online auction website a few months back. Fujimi's are still deemed, by no lesser authority than a number of threads here on Britmodeller, the best 1/72 Intruder kits available (although apparently Trumpeter is about to release a 1/72 Intruder?). I'm looking forward to seeing what @Pappy does with his EA-6A build - that will really show what this kit is capable of, and hopefully give me a few pointers along the way.

 

Unboxed

 

This kit dates to 1987, according to Scalemates. Mine looks in excellent condition, with all the sprues still in their plastic bags.

 

Unboxed

 

Interestingly it actually included two sets of decals, and the box has a 'Bye Bye Midway Anniversary' sticker on the side and what looks to be a bonus decal sheet and decal/paint callout sheet.

 

Unboxed

 

What I assume to be the original boxing's decals (top right) - as it features decals for the box art aircraft and the callouts are incorporated with the kit assembly instructions booklet - are in much better condition.

 

But I have a set of AOA decals' "Punchers & Tigers, USN A-6E Intruders in the Cold War & Desert Storm" decal sheet on its way to me, so I can build the VA-65 CAG jet.

COVER-72010.jpg

I have a few bits of aftermarket already - masks, plus probes and resin wheels which I mainly bought as they were cheap and may or may not use, plus PE harnesses on the way. I also have some excellent reference material.

 

Unboxed

 

Speaking of refernce material, I've also downloaded as an ebook Osprey's excellent "A-6 Intruder Units 1974-96", which has a chapter detailing A-6 Desert Storm ops, which has been very useful to learn about load-outs. Based on that, and for extra Salty Sea Dog GB cred, I'll configure my Intruder for an "Armed Surface Reconnaissance" mission, hunting for Iraqi naval vessels in the Northern Arabian Gulf with a pair of Mk 20 Rockeye cluster bomb dispensers and a single AGM-123 Skipper anti-shlp weapon (a GBU-16 with a rocket motor - apparently it proved a bit of a dud due to propellent issues). The kit comes with Mk 82s, so I'll have to order a couple of Hasegawa weapons sets for the Rockeyes and Skipper.

 

I'm really looking forward to getting this one underway, eventually, once my two other current builds are done. At least I have some great reading material, plus the many fascinating build threads in this GB to follow once it kicks off to keep me enthused on the subject in the meantime!

 

Cheers,

 

Gerard

 

 

Edited by Wings unlevel
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Another great subject. Looks the biz!

23 minutes ago, Wings unlevel said:

Here's my subject, looking very much the salty sea dog, loaded with Mk 82 Snake Eyes, en route to a target in February 1991:

A-6E_VA-65_during_1991_Gulf_War.jpeg

(Attribution: U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Congratulations on finding a subject that actually looks like a weathered model 😂😂😂

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Great choice, and a type that I'm completely unfamiliar with. I look forward to seeing how you get along with it.

 

Just now, Alan P said:

Congratulations on finding a subject that actually looks like a weathered model 😂😂😂

 

This... 🤣

Edited by TonyOD
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3 hours ago, Alan P said:

Congratulations on finding a subject that actually looks like a weathered model 😂😂😂

Life imitating art! 🤣

 

3 hours ago, TonyOD said:

and a type that I'm completely unfamiliar with. I look forward to seeing how you get along with it.

It flew under the radar, so to speak, compared to the F-4s and F-14s it shared the hangar deck with, but it gave the carriers their reach, and teeth.

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Great subject choice Gerard. The A-6 and this era of warfare will make for an excellent Salty Dog GB topic. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with all of this. 
 

Cheers and best of luck .. Dave 
 

 

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9 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Great subject choice

 

7 hours ago, dnl42 said:

Nothing better than an Iron Works aircraft! :clap2:

 

3 hours ago, arfa1983 said:

Intruder incoming! 

All weather and low level, 18,000lb of ordnance, and flying off carriers, the Intruder is one tough jet! Hopefully I can do it some sort of justice.

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On 05/01/2023 at 22:49, Alex.B said:

I have the same decal sheet that I'm planning to use on the Italeri A-6E in the near future.

It's a terrific decal sheet! Mine arrived in the post yesterday after a two week trip from the UK, and it is excellent:

 

 

Decal sheet

 

 

It's a tightly packed sheet, but the quality looks excellent.

 

Here's a close-up of Garfield and the tiger for the tail. Some lovely detail there.

 

Decal sheet

 

The decals' arrival prompted me to make a (very modest) start -  a ceremonial spraying of dark gull grey to begin the cockpit.

 

Dark gull grey

 

I won't make much more headway for another week or two as I'm back to work as of tomorrow, and I have my JASDF Phantom to finish in the prototypes/racers/special schemes GB. But it is good to get this one underway, nonetheless.

 

Gerard

 

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On 12/30/2022 at 9:32 AM, TonyOD said:

Great choice, and a type that I'm completely unfamiliar with. I look forward to seeing how you get along with it.

Fighter pilots make movies, A-6 pilots make... history!

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20 hours ago, daneel said:

Fighter pilots make movies, A-6 pilots make... history!

I’ve read that Intruders crews used to say that, but then they made ‘Flight of the Intruder’! :laugh:

 

 

Terrible movie but some great flying scenes.

 

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12 hours ago, Wings unlevel said:

I’ve read that Intruders crews used to say that, but then they made ‘Flight of the Intruder’! :laugh:

 

 

Terrible movie but some great flying scenes.

 

 

On being informed they would be performing a SEAD mission:

 

Movie: "IRON HAND is my thing!"

 

Real life "YGBSM!!"

 

Pappy

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11 hours ago, Pappy said:

On being informed they would be performing a SEAD mission:

 

Movie: "IRON HAND is my thing!"

 

Real life "YGBSM!!"

What? Next you’ll be telling me aircrew don’t sing Down Town as they roll off the target… 🤣

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1 hour ago, Wings unlevel said:

What? Next you’ll be telling me aircrew don’t sing Down Town as they roll off the target… 🤣

 

I doubt they would be able to hear themselves over the screaming RWR!

 

Pappy

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Properly under way  now, and looking to gather steam. Have been doing a lot of the prep painting work, the cockpit, such that it is, is nearly done, and tomorrow I hope to begin spreading some Mr Cement in earnest!

 

Progress

 

Observations so far? I really like the kit, seems like it is well engineered and will go together nicely. The plastic is a little hard but ok to work with, but the instructions could be a little clearer in places.
 

The kit decals for the instrument panel and consoles went down fine despite their age, but were a fair bit oversize, and didn’t align at all with the detail they represent on the plastic (ie the decal screens don’t align with the raised detail screens on the plastic part).

 

My seats are a work in progress but feel a little crude, so I’ll probably keep the canopy closed. I do have PE harnesses on order so I’ll see if they help.

 

Hopefully in the next update this will really have started to take shape.

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19 hours ago, Wings unlevel said:

Properly under way  now, and looking to gather steam. Have been doing a lot of the prep painting work, the cockpit, such that it is, is nearly done, and tomorrow I hope to begin spreading some Mr Cement in earnest!

 

Progress

 

Observations so far? I really like the kit, seems like it is well engineered and will go together nicely. The plastic is a little hard but ok to work with, but the instructions could be a little clearer in places.
 

The kit decals for the instrument panel and consoles went down fine despite their age, but were a fair bit oversize, and didn’t align at all with the detail they represent on the plastic (ie the decal screens don’t align with the raised detail screens on the plastic part).

 

My seats are a work in progress but feel a little crude, so I’ll probably keep the canopy closed. I do have PE harnesses on order so I’ll see if they help.

 

Hopefully in the next update this will really have started to take shape.

 

G'day WU,

 

Great progress so far (which reminds me that I should do some work on mine while waiting for bits to dry on the SUE but I keep finding things to do!) as it looks like you are about to close up the fuselage. I really like the cockpit decals but also think the detail provided is just so nicely rendered that they beg to be painted.

 

Shame to hear the IP decal does not conform as well but if it really turns to custard you could just strip and paint it "old skool stylee"

 

Looking forward to seeing how it comes together, my dryfit looks promising,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

Edited by Pappy
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Great subject and progress! - gotta love a well used TPS bird. 

 

The Fujimi is still lovely. A word of advice, be careful fitting the centreline underside fuselage parts, mine took quite a bit of fettling and dryfitting to get a decent sit.

 

Also, Fujimi gives you nice deployed slats, but on the real thing these were interlinked with the flaps - which are molded shut. So it's either glueing the slats in the up position, or modifying the flaps to deployed status. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre 

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On 19/01/2023 at 18:15, Pappy said:

Shame to hear the IP decal does not conform as well but if it really turns to custard you could just strip and paint it "old skool stylee"

Haha! I think I’ll live with it, it’s not perfect but my fine brush work won’t be any better I’m afraid! Your cockpit will be an amazingly accurate replica, mine will more be

an indicative representation! 🤣

 

On 19/01/2023 at 18:27, Hook said:

The Fujimi is still lovely. A word of advice, be careful fitting the centreline underside fuselage parts, mine took quite a bit of fettling and dryfitting to get a decent sit.

Thanks Hook, that’s a really timely heads-up. I did know about the flaps and slats so will build with the slats retracted, following Pappy’s expert lead!

 

But yes I’m so fond of this kit I’m now scouring eBay for KA-6D, A-6A and EA-6A boxings!

Edited by Wings unlevel
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23 hours ago, Wings unlevel said:

Haha! I think I’ll live with it, it’s not perfect but my fine brush work won’t be any better I’m afraid! Your cockpit will be an amazingly accurate replica, mine will more be

an indicative representation! 🤣

 

Thanks Hook, that’s a really timely heads-up. I did know about the flaps and slats so will build with the slats retracted, following Pappy’s expert lead!

 

But yes I’m so fond of this kid I’m know scouring eBay for KA-6D, A-6A and EA-6A boxings!

 

I have the Fujimi A-6B but also would not mind another EA-6A and a KA-6D. They are about but usually once ythe postage is added they become a little bit expensive. I was lucky and managed to pick up my EA-6A while overseas last year so escaped the postage cost.

 

I have the Italeri A-6E which is nice in its own way but the panel lines are trench like in comparison and the cockpit is a lot less detailed but at least it is readily available,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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Terrific subject!
 

Just a little insider info: Every Navy squadron has a tactical callsign which is separate from its nickname. VA-65 had the least warlike of all callsigns in Medium Attack Wing 1 (MATWING) at NAS Oceana. While their nickname was the “Tigers,” VA-65’s callsign was “Cupcake!”

 

Thus, the jet you’re building would be addressed on the radio as “Cupcake 500.”

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