Academy 1/48 A-4E/F Skyhawk

[pourquoi61]

This should be a quick build(famous last words). I will be getting together some decals and buying specific paints from Vallejo.





Recessed panel lines, not many parts and a full bomb loadout.



Decals which will not be used.


Should be fun.
Thanks for dropping by.

[pourquoi61]

Okay this is a basic kit and my plan is not to spend on after-market products.
There are only eight parts to this build not including painting so in part one we build the cockpit.
The tub sides have ejector pin marks in so I decide to cover them with strips of plastic card. The real thing has some kind of padding on the sides.
Place the cockpit in the fuselage halves and mark with a pen.

Cut plastic strips into smaller strips.


Glue to the inside at roughly 15-20 degree angle.

Once dry cut off the excess to look a bit like this.

Trim the bottom to fit the cockpit in and sand off the extra where the canopy fits.

Sand down the edges till you have a nice curve sweeping up to the cockpit edge.

Next I put some weight in the nose of the aircraft. Blu-tac was used as an edge and I believe it is ballast bought from my local railway/model shop super glued in. YOU MUST MAKE SURE THAT THE BALLAST IS FLAT AND LEVEL WITH FUSELAGE HAVES SO BOTH SIDES FIT FLUSH BEFORE ADDING THE SUPER GLUE.

I then painted the sides and tub Games Workshop Codex Grey.

The padding was painted green, I used what paint was available.

Cockpit partly painted and dry fitted, you have to keep checking.

Thanks for dropping by.

[pourquoi61]

On with the build and it is time to glue both haves together, but first I am using some old seat belts to fill out the cockpit.




Both haves go together ok, a little bit of sanding has to be done.

The air intakes go on with just a little sanding.

Next we move on to assembling the wings, the top and bottom haves go together quite well.


Once the wings have dried I put it up to the fuselage for a dry fit, only to find more sanding.

After about 1 hour of sanding and test fitting the wing was on.



Some more filling is needed on the underside.

My decals have arrived and I know that they are for a F-4 phantom but I am not paying £18 for decals, so these will do.

My paints have arrived also.


Thanks for dropping by.

[pourquoi61]

Ok, on with this nice little build. You may have noticed a medium sized gap on the underside of the aircraft.
I first masked the gap and filled it with filler, once dry I sanded it smooth.


I am building this aircraft with the avionics hump because I feel this makes the plane look very cool.
The "hump" comes in two halves which when glued leaves a little step in the top, so some sanding is required which removes some panel lines.
Sorry forthe poor picture.

I have never rescribed anything but have read and seen it done in magazines and on You Tube.The results are not brilliant but I have done it using an Olfa Scribing tool and a bit of PE.
Another poor picture, SORRY.

On with the hump which needs a little filler, then the tail planes and exhaust.



So that is the first four steps done.
Thanks for dropping by.

[ElCapitan]

Great work so far, I'm really looking forward to seeing the paint scheme!

[pourquoi61]

Great work so far, I'm really looking forward to seeing the paint scheme!

Thank you, my idea is to fade the paint scheme and dirty it up as I have read that they were heavily used and took a lot of casualties during the Six Day War with Egypt.

[pourquoi61]

Ok, so the oversized padding is given a dark green wash.


The bombs are removed, sanded and painted.

The ejector seat handle is painted and glued on. Well I think that's what it is.
Canopy is glued on.


So what is an A-10 doing in this blog? Well I am after some missiles.
AGM-65's



A bit big I know but here is a picture of one in action.

Thanks for dropping by!

[pourquoi61]

Canopy time and the canopy on this one is very faint on raised detail.
So thin strips of Tamiya masking tape are cut and used to mark out the edges of the canopy.

Filled in with larger pieces of tape.

Then I gave the tape a coat of Humbrol maskol.

Once dry, pieces of sponge were cut and placed into the air intakes and wheel wells ready for a coat of matte black paint.


Thanks for dropping by.

[TommyKillander]

Great job with the Skyhawk

It will look really cool with that loadout

Keep up the good work!


Tommy

[pourquoi61]

Great job with the Skyhawk

It will look really cool with that loadout

Keep up the good work!


Tommy

Thank you and I do hope it will.

[pourquoi61]

Now pre-shaded, the underside is given a light coat of Vallejo light blue.

Once dry this too was also masked ready for the first coat of Vallejo IAF Sand.

With the IAF Sand dry, Blu-Tac sausages were rolled out and used as a border for the next colour.


While watching the Humbrol YouTube channel they showed the use of Maskol to protect paint when doing a multiple paint camo.
So I used it.

Then sprayed the Vallejo IDF/IAF Green.


Once dry the Blu-Tac sausage rolls came out again for the Vallejo USAF Brown, only this time I sprayed free hand.


Once dry the Blu-Tac sausages and Maskol were removed and I must say the Maskol worked very well.
The only downside was that the sausages with Maskol on them were no longer usable.

That's all for today and thanks for dropping by.

[pourquoi61]

5 DAYS LEFT>>>>>>>>>
So let's get a move on.
The model has been given a coat of clear gloss and once dry the decals were added.
The decals went on okay, but lots of water was required to stop them anchoring down to wherever they touch.



The model looks too new, so I faded the paintwork by adding a couple of drops of flat white to matte clear and mix it till it looks like this.

I spray the mix on the green and brown paint mostly, onto the decals to blend them in and mostly on the top surfaces to replicate sun bleaching.
Once I was happy the model looked like this.

Once dry the model received a clear coat again, top and bottom.

When the clear coat was dry I gave the model a sand clay-based wash.

While waiting for the wash to dry I wanted to paint the bomb tips yellow and as I was in a hurry I wanted a QUICK FIX. LOL.
So I found a small micro sol lid and put a small amount of yellow paint in, just enough to cover a small tip of the bomb.
I then just dipped the bomb end in, pulled it out and touched the end on a piece of kitchen roll to remove the excess.
NOT ACCURATE BUT QUICK.


The wash now dry, I removed the extra with damp paper towel to leave......

Same with the top.



That's all for today and thanks for dropping by.

[xSCAR45]

Looking good for the most part. I would wipe off a little more of the clay wash before calling it done though.

Once you're finished I'm sure she'll look good.

[pourquoi61]

Looking good for the most part. I would wipe off a little more of the clay wash before calling it done though.

Once you're finished I'm sure she'll look good.

Thanks for that, will do.
Like other peoples feed back as sometimes a different perspective can help improve the build.

[pourquoi61]

This will be the last post before final reveal.
I next mounted the bombs on the carrying racks and left to dry.

The model was given a coat of Tamiya clear.

Once dry I fitted the landing gear which went together very well indeed, only the wheels are showing their age.


This leaves the last few bits and bobs.
Thanks for dropping by.

[TommyKillander]

Wow!

The cammo looks fantastic !

Good luck with pushing it over the finishing line and make the reveal


Tommy

[pourquoi61]

Wow!

The cammo looks fantastic !

Good luck with pushing it over the finishing line and make the reveal


Tommy

Thank you so much it will be done on Friday.
Many thanks again.

[papatika]

This cute little thing looks great!
You have plenty of time left, don't worry!