1:72 Airfix Douglas A4D-2 (A-4B) Skyhawk

[Navy Bird]

14 hours ago, AliGauld said:

I've been lurking in this thread but have to pipe up now and say she's looking splendid.

Looking forward to more.

 

Thanks Alistair! There is more to come and I hope I can maintain a degree of spendidness.    

 

7 hours ago, Hamden said:

Great rapid progress Bill looking every inch a Skyhawk now!

 

Thanks Roger! I had forgotten how nifty the Skyhawk is - I haven't built one in ages. It must have been a lot of fun to fly.

 

7 hours ago, giemme said:

If that is all it takes....   

 

I'm sure others can accomplish it in, I don't know, maybe four and a half decades? Thanks Giorgio!    

 

4 hours ago, Martian said:

I know, I haven't slept properly for nearly forty years.

 

It's the tentacles, I tell you. Slide them over to Mrs. Martian's side.    

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Johnson]

Finally made it in time to follow a Navy Bird build . Another kit lurking in my stash...

 

But not in time to get the Eduard PE set . Why do they discontinue them when the kit is still available? 

 

Anyway, looking very good Bill!

 

Cheers,

[Navy Bird]

8 hours ago, Johnson said:

Why do they discontinue them when the kit is still available? 

 

I've been bit by that many times, and ended up paying beaucoup bucks to some eBay seller. Ugh.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Navy Bird]

Progress has occurred on two fronts:

• First, I grew a beard. Luckily, this did not detract from my time at the workbench.
• Next, I moved the model ever closer to getting some paint. Huzzah!

I added the resin horizontal tails, but not the elevators. The tail will be grey and the elevators white, so this will eliminate some masking. I chose the resin tails from Aires as I felt they had a better airfoil cross-section than those from CMK. In reality, it wouldn't make any difference at all which one was chosen.

 

 

She is up on her legs, and there is no problem supporting the extra weight I added. The cannon fairings were added, along with the in-flight refueling probe. Then came more adventures with photoetch - can you see the teeny handle on the nose gear retraction leg? I have no idea what that is, but it shows up in photos. Eduard provide a base for the antenna which will go right behind the canopy - you may remember that I removed the kit antenna since it was too short. Although they don't show up in these photos, I also added the tie-down hooks on the main gear struts. What else? Oh, yeah, some structural detail in the speed brake bay (forward edge).

 

 

You can see that I filled in the trim tab on the starboard aileron. Why? 'Cause the Scooter ain't got one there - only on the port side. Or so say the references I looked at. I hope they are right!  

 

There was a nasty sink hole on the underside of the port wing near the leading edge. I just noticed that - luckily there was not a matching sink hole on the other wing. Odd.

 

I would like to add the windscreen and blend it into the fuselage prior to painting. Unfortunately, the windscreen came off the sprue without my help and the rear edge is slightly damaged at the top where the sprue attachment was. I have no idea how this happened, but hey - it did so I'll have to deal with it. I suspect the aft frame will end up wider than it should be. Bugger.

 

Drop tanks are assembled and ready for paint. I know that they are not 100% accurate. More like 60% I think. But they are pointy on both ends and have a couple of fins so they should work.   

 

What else? Oh, right - I tried to reshape the bottom of the nose so that it curved up more towards the front. There is not a lot that can be done - if you curve it up too much than the nose gets pointy, and if you sand it back so the nose is more rounded, then you decrease the overall length. Anyway, I went this far:

 

 

And that's it from Navy Birdland. Peace, love, and the Beatles.   

 

Cheers,

Bill

[billn53]

Lookin’ good!

[Hamden]

 

Great progress Bill.

 

  Stay safe      Roger

[giemme]

On her legs!  

 

Ciao

[Fritag]

She's looking neat and pretty.

[Dave Slowbuild]

 Nice work Bill.

Is growing a beard difficult?  I’ve never tried, and I can’t find any YouTube videos that show how it’s done.

[Navy Bird]

5 hours ago, Dave Slowbuild said:

Is growing a beard difficult?  I’ve never tried, and I can’t find any YouTube videos that show how it’s done.

 

Restrict your razor use to trimming styrene model parts, and the beard just kinda happens.     🧔

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. Now that it's here, the beard needs to be trimmed occasionally lest one begin to look like Rasputin.

[Learstang]

On 01/02/2023 at 04:34, Dave Slowbuild said:

 Nice work Bill.

Is growing a beard difficult?  I’ve never tried, and I can’t find any YouTube videos that show how it’s done.

 

As Mr. Bill indicated, it's really quite easy. You quit using your razor and it just pops out of its own accord. Simples! Why I've grown and shaved off and regrown more beards than most of you have had hot lunches! Nice work on the Scooter, Bill! Why does it have a trim tab on only one side? It's not like it should suffer from torque problems, unless the turbine blades are the size of Hamilton Standard propellers, and only rotate to one side.

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

[Navy Bird]

14 hours ago, Learstang said:

Why does it have a trim tab on only one side?

 

Beats me. It was pointed out in this thread on the Airfix Tribute Forum (page 1, post 5). The gentleman seems to know what he's talking about.

 

*****

 

Sorry for the lack of progress. The bird is painted Light Gull Gray with white undersides, but I'm not at all happy with the panel lines. They're rather deeper than I though when looking at the bare plastic - I'll attempt a fix of some kind.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

 

[Learstang]

Yes, his litany of problems with this kit certainly doesn't make me want to buy it, now. If he has a review of the new-mould Buccaneer S.2B, I think I'll pass on it as I already have that kit and I don't need to know of every panel line and intake that was done incorrectly.

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

[David H]

Maybe wet sanding the paint down almost to bare plastic and re painting will make the panel lines shallower?

[Tailspin Turtle]

18 hours ago, Learstang said:

Why does it have a trim tab on only one side? It's not like it should suffer from torque problems, unless the turbine blades are the size of Hamilton Standard propellers, and only rotate to one side.

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

Since the ailerons are interconnected, you really only need one trim tab if it's of adequate size, particularly if you have powered controls.

[basket]

Hello.

As a Scooter addict I'm taking a seat.

 

If it's not too late, you should modify the bottom part of the slats.

On the B model scooter , they have no holes.

 

Keep on doing your superb work on this tiny beast.

 

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Bill, thank you for an exhaustive and useful overview of this build—I, along with many, will be referencing it when we pull out our Scooters—well done and looking forward to the next update—best, Erwin

[NAVY870]

On 2/6/2023 at 8:20 AM, Navy Bird said:

 

The gentleman seems to know what he's talking about

One of my contemporary's.

Quite a knowledgable chap.

 

[Massimo]

 I'm not a Scooter Lover as I'd never fit in one of those narrow cockpits, but I'?m really enjoying this build!!

Look forward to seing that checkered tail!

Ciao 

Massimo 

[Terry1954]

That last picture really shows what a neat little aircraft the Skyhawk is. Looking squat but quite purposeful on those legs.

 

Terry

[Navy Bird]

On 05/02/2023 at 17:25, David H said:

Maybe wet sanding the paint down almost to bare plastic and re painting will make the panel lines shallower?

 

That's kinda the plan. I sprayed several coats of Mr. Surfacer 1000 (thinned with a bit of Mr. Leveling Thinner) into the panel lines. Next I'll sand everything down and see if that helps at all. Maybe, maybe not.

 

On 06/02/2023 at 16:39, basket said:

If it's not too late, you should modify the bottom part of the slats.

On the B model scooter , they have no holes.

 

Welcome Remy! And, yes, it's too late. Silly sod that I am, I asked Tommy about the underside of the slats after I had permanently attached the Eduard PE. Luckily for me though, once the slats are in place on the wings, virtually no one will ever see my snafu. The aircraft that I'm modelling, 142874 in 1967, looks like it's had some modifications that the early B models did not have, like the late style wheels, and the rear fuselage venting intakes. I'll tell folks that she also got a pair of A-4C wing slats during an overhaul!  

 

On 06/02/2023 at 18:32, VT Red Sox Fan said:

Bill, thank you for an exhaustive and useful overview of this build—I, along with many, will be referencing it when we pull out our Scooters—well done and looking forward to the next update—best, Erwin

 

Thanks Erwin. I'm not sure this will be much of a reference build, but at least a few of the kit's boo-boos have been pointed out. There are many more.

 

23 hours ago, NAVY870 said:

One of my contemporary's.

Quite a knowledgable chap.

 

You know all the good guys! (Don't let him see this build as I haven't followed all of his advice!)    😬

 

17 hours ago, Massimo said:

 I'm not a Scooter Lover as I'd never fit in one of those narrow cockpits, but I'?m really enjoying this build!!

Look forward to seing that checkered tail!

 

Good to see you here, Massimo! The checkered tail is what attracted me to buy the Xtradecal sheet and have a go at this build. Did you catch my recent Meteor build? I had some fun with the checkered decals on the tail of that baby! Airfix give you twelve individual decals and tell you to have at it. They did not, however, suggest the several litres of decal solvent required.  

 

 

16 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

That last picture really shows what a neat little aircraft the Skyhawk is. Looking squat but quite purposeful on those legs.

 

Neat indeed. I want a real one.   

 

*****

 

Proceeding with preparation and painting of some fiddly bits (gear doors, wheels etc.) and the drop tanks in anticipation of a successful panel line reduction operation. I also believe that spring is right around the corner (it's been hovering around -15C lately).   

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them. And fix your damn panel lines!" ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations    

[Johnson]

9 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

Did you catch my recent Meteor build?

 

Another one I missed Bill. What a stunning Meteor, absolutely beautiful!

 

Best of luck with the panel lines.

[Brandy]

Looking good!

I'm no expert but I think the "handle" might be a tie down point to lash it to the deck.

 

 

[David H]

Somehow, i missed the Meteor. Looks Brilliant!

[Navy Bird]

On 08/02/2023 at 08:28, Brandy said:

I'm no expert but I think the "handle" might be a tie down point to lash it to the deck.

 

I suspect you may be right on that.    

 

18 hours ago, David H said:

Somehow, i missed the Meteor. Looks Brilliant!

 

Thanks David. The Alclad aluminium was sprayed over a glossy grey base as I wanted it to be a suitable surrogate for High Speed Silver in its fresh state. That's my story anyway. It's the old MPM kit by the way.  

 

On 08/02/2023 at 05:21, Johnson said:

Another one I missed Bill. What a stunning Meteor, absolutely beautiful!

Best of luck with the panel lines.

 

Thanks Charlie. Read on for an update on the panel lines.

 

*****

 

First, a trip to the Billy Shears Fixing a Hole Department:

 

 

Airfix have moulded the air brakes in the configuration for mounting JATO units. Since my aircraft belonged to a utility squadron I guessed that it would be equipped with the "normal" air brakes. You can see the difference in the photoetch bits from Eduard, as they give you both styles:

 

 

As you can see, the PE has yet to be removed from its fret, so if I've guessed wrong, now is a great time to tell me.   

 

Now, those panel lines. I sprayed three coats of Mr. Surfacer 1000 into the lines, followed by sanding with 400, 600, and 800 sandpaper. All of this was after the model had been painted in Light Gull Gray and White. Here is how she looks after all these shenanigans:

 

 

 

I have no idea if this will work. For sure there are still panel lines present as I can feel them with a fingernail. Hopefully they're not as deep as before. I'll shoot some Light Gull Gray and see how it looks.

 

Cheers,

Bill