Hobby2000 OA-4M Skyhawk 1/72

[Vultures1]

This is the Hobby2000 rebox of the Fujimi OA-4M. To the very nice base kit, I added Quickboost seats, Eduard masks, Kelik 3D cockpit decals (first time using these, and they are excellent), a Brengun chaff/flare dispenser, and Eduard LAU-10 Zuni rocket pods (pods in the kit are vastly overscale). Markings are from the kit. The colours are Vallejo FS36320 over FS36495, with Tamiya XF-81 for the green as this seemed a good match for the colour of the kit decals. This was my first attempt at a scheme where the camo has to match up with the decals and I think it turned out fairly well.

 

Chris

 

 

[Rando]

Whoa, that you pulled off that "MARINES" decal is astonishing, tricky work! Really beautiful model.

 

How did you like putting together the Fujimi A-4? I hear it's maybe the best A-4 in 1/72 and it's on my wish list. Looking to get the Hobby 2000 A-4E.

Edited April 1, 2024 by Rando

[Vultures1]

12 minutes ago, Rando said:

Whoa, that you pulled off that "MARINES" decal is astonishing, tricky work! Really beautiful work.

 

How did you like putting together the Fujimi A-4? I hear it's maybe the best A-4 in 1/72 and it's on my wish list. Looking to get the Hobby 2000 A-4E.

 

Thanks @Rando!

 

The Fujimi Skyhawk and its Hobby2000 boxings is a really nice kit and (I believe) currently the best A-4 in 1/72. Because it's modular kit designed to produce various marks there are a few seams that need a little extra attention, like the nose to main fuselage join. One little fix worth doing is to smooth out the step where there leading-edge slats would sit on the wing, but that's an easy job with some plastic card and filler.

 

Well worth getting one (or more!) I would suggest. I've got a single-seater in the stash from which I intend to make an IDF A-4N.

 

Chris

[whiskey]

My favorite version of the Scooter. Great job.

[Rando]

22 minutes ago, Vultures1 said:

 

Thanks @Rando!

 

The Fujimi Skyhawk and its Hobby2000 boxings is a really nice kit and (I believe) currently the best A-4 in 1/72. Because it's modular kit designed to produce various marks there are a few seams that need a little extra attention, like the nose to main fuselage join. One little fix worth doing is to smooth out the step where there leading-edge slats would sit on the wing, but that's an easy job with some plastic card and filler.

 

Well worth getting one (or more!) I would suggest. I've got a single-seater in the stash from which I intend to make an IDF A-4N.

 

Chris

Awesome things to know! I'll be sure to get at least one. Really nice that Hobby 2000 makes this tooling so readily available.

[Dennis_C]

Realy nice Scooter! Makes me to open a box with my Hobby2000 TA-4M. This Fujimi kit in the box does look very nice. 

 

45 minutes ago, Rando said:

Whoa, that you pulled off that "MARINES" decal is astonishing, tricky work!

I think it's not only 'MARINES'. Danger marks on the intakes are also two-coloured. And moreover all the decals on this scheme are either olive or grey. So colour match was very important to make an appropriately looking model. 

[CH-53D]

What a splendid job overall, and particularly in matching the two-colour decals, both in colour and getting the intersections correctly lined up.  Very nice indeed!

 

Cheers

[Vultures1]

1 hour ago, Dennis_C said:

Realy nice Scooter! Makes me to open a box with my Hobby2000 TA-4M. This Fujimi kit in the box does look very nice. 

 

I think it's not only 'MARINES'. Danger marks on the intakes are also two-coloured. And moreover all the decals on this scheme are either olive or grey. So colour match was very important to make an appropriately looking model. 

 

18 minutes ago, CH-53D said:

What a splendid job overall, and particularly in matching the two-colour decals, both in colour and getting the intersections correctly lined up.  Very nice indeed!

Thanks @Dennis_C and @CH-53D, you are most kind

 

Yes, there's a few areas of two-tone decals, including a sneaky little bit on the port fuselage star-and-bar, so getting them all to match up was ... challenging!

 

Chris 

[Dennis_C]

2 minutes ago, Vultures1 said:

Yes, there's a few areas of two-tone decals, including a sneaky little bit on the port fuselage star-and-bar, so getting them all to match up was ... challenging!

Yes - I noted that. 'MARINES' inscription on starboard side that spans across three coloured zones was 'interesting' too perhaps. And I can imagine that making sure that the single colour decals are not trapped into a wrong colour zone was also essential although maybe a bit easier. 

[fox1_BE]

Sharp looking Scooter, Chris! Great work 👍

Indeed, the Fujimi Skyhawks are great kits to work with.

Patrick

[ruudster]

great work!

[kapam]

Superb!

Quite a different looking Scooter to what we usually see.

👏👏👏

[zigster]

Great looking model!

And a 100 points for doing a decal / paint match!!!

It's so difficult (me failing many times).

zig

[kelly9mm]

I have this kit in my stash I obviously must give it a try. Great job!

[JWFP]

Nice work especially with the decals thanks for sharing. 

[Parabat]

Fantastic work, exceptional work on the camo scheme, really tight.

[cpoud117]

Nicely done, I agree with the folks above on the paint/decal matching job, it looks spot-on.

[G-IAIN]

Dammit!  I didn't have my glasses on and initially read the title page very excitedly as a Skyhawk 172.  I eagerly clicked on it, expecting to see a model version of the Cessna 172 I was learning to fly in at the weekend, only to be looking at a fast jet Skyhawk 1/72!  Gutted!

 

 

But that's a great model all the same, well done, looks fabulous!

[SebTartar]

Lovely scooter.

For some reason, I much prefer the humpback variants to the sleeker ones and this camo makes for an even more attractive model!

[PATRICK FROM THE SANDS]

Great Scooter, perfectly done! The camo is top notch, superb rendition at that scale!

[Vultures1]

Thank you all @fox1_BE, @ruudster, @kapam, @zigster, @kelly9mm, @JWFP, @Parabat, @cpoud117, @G-IAIN, @SebTartar and @PATRICK FROM THE SANDS for your kind comments - I really appreciate it! Even it is a Scooter and not a Cessna, sorry 😉

 

It was definitely a learning process and good practice for a future project: an Aggressor F-16 in a 3-tone splinter scheme 😮

 

Chris

[SAT69]

Might sound crazy, but the off color panel on the right side of the fuselage adds to the realistic appearance of the model. I'm impressed with the overall build and the quality of your paint work and markings.

[Vultures1]

9 hours ago, SAT69 said:

Might sound crazy, but the off color panel on the right side of the fuselage adds to the realistic appearance of the model. I'm impressed with the overall build and the quality of your paint work and markings.

Cheers @SAT69, you are most kind

 

I have to give credit to the Hobby2000 instructions for the idea of that odd panel. I found a photo showing the well-weathered original, with one white panel that looks like it was taken from a white TA-4J