Wing work Pt 2

Well I am still trying to reshape the leading edge slats area on the wing.  Sheet plastic laid down with sanding and painting, still find goofs.  Just read over on ARC of actually sawing out the whole area, shimming with sheet plastic, and re-gluing so the step vanishes as you attach the back flush with the rest of the wing.  I also cut out the navigation lights on each wing tip.

While I await been working on other parts.  Making progress on four Escapac seats.  Might use up the KMC wheels on this kit.  The Classic AirFrame ones are the same as the KMC ones except far smaller in diameter.

Cockpit Questions

A-4N with wide-angle HUD and MFD installed were a blank plate was on Crystal A-4Ns.  This is possibly the RADA modification.

Doing a bit more digging to see if the RADA upgrades were done to any of the Israeli TA-4s, especially the one I am building - 544.  So far I have found zero pictures of a two-seat Ayit with the big HUD display, only the original gunsght.  Here is a close-up of the front cockpit circa 2008 of an unidentified TA-4.  This is a head-on view of 544, again 2008, and we see the original gunsight.  This is TA-4H 542 landing in 2008, still no large HUD.  Here is A-4N 302 in 2008 and notice how the windshield is filled from the side by the large HUD and warning lights.  So it appears no two-seat Skyhawk had the RADA modifications.  If new information pops-up, I will post it.

And it looks like the answers to my camoflage questions for 544 have been answered with this picture of 545 landing.  Xnir is the bomb when it comes to awesome pictures.

TA-4J Rear Instrument Panel

Cockpit TA-4J 158500.  Taken w/Canon AE-1 35mm SLR and 400ASA film.

While various things dry with the TA-4H, thought I might post a picture from my scrapbooks.  This picture was taken during the Keesler AFB Open House in 1991.  Can see the color of the padding at the bottom of the instrument panel, stick, and an extra instrument surrounded by placards where the radar screen would be in a TA-4F.  Will post more pictures of this TA-4J soon.

Wing work Pt 1

So far all that has been done is clean up the pieces and glue them together.  Then I added small strips of styrene to try and remove the infamous step in the slats.  Which I will find out after sanding the strips down.  Next will cut out the navigation lights on the wing-tips.

For Kurnass77, thought I would add a patch he might recognize.  Maybe in the future for a 'what-if' build, build an Italian A-4.

TA-4H 544 Pt. 2

Taken Sept 27, 2008 by Xnir.  All Rights Reserved by Xnir.

Here is a very nice picture of 544 taken in 2008 by Xnir.  The Ayit is basically clean except for the centerline practice bomb dispenser.  Notice how the moving tail is angled down and the flaps are down, but the leading edge slats have not slid down.  Plus how long legged the Scooter is.  Xnir's site is on Flickr and has awesome pictures of Israel, civil aviation, Ra'am, Netz, Sufa, US-60, AH-64D, and other very neat subjects.

The Stash

While I am doing an assembly line production of late model Escapac ejection seats in 1/48 scale, thought I might list the Skyhawk kits in the stash.

In 1/32d scale I have all three Hasegawa kits - A-4E, TA-4J, and Hi-Grade OA-4M.  One of each.

In 1/48th scale is where things have certainly gotten a bit out of hand.
1 Monogram Pro-Modeller A-4F
4 Monogram A-4E original production run kits.
3 Monogram A-4E Hi-Tech kits.
2 Monogram A-4F Blue Angels re-issues.
1 Monogram OA-4M
2 Monogram-Revell of Germany OA-4M kits.
1 Hasegawa A-4M
1 Hasegawa TA-4J
1 Hasegawa A-4SU.

Nothing in 1/72d or smaller scales.  Intervention anyone? LOL

Israeli Decal Sheets

There are two companies who are currently producing aftermarket decal sheets for Israeli A-4 Ayits.

IsraDecal has identical sheets in 1/32d and 1/48th scale, IAF-57 and IAF-60.  Both decal sheets have the Flying Tiger outline for the tail though the IsraDecal pictures do not show it for the 1/48th scale sheet.  Price direct from IsraDecal is $25US and $26US respectively.  Or can be ordered via places like Sprue Brothers or Earl's Hobby Hanger.

Sky Decals also offers decal sheets in 1/32d and 1/48th scale for Israeli Ayits.  Like the IsraDecal sheets can model aircraft from any squadron that flew Ayits including the Flying Tigers, Smashing Parrots, and Flying School.

So it looks like I won't have to create any custom decals for my project.  My scanner, Adobe, and spare time rejoice they won't be used for custom decals.

KMC Upgrade Kit

KMC Resin Upgrade Kit for the Monogram A-4E/F Skyhawk

Part of the stash I have accumulated is a complete upgrade kit from KMC.  Thank you eBay.  It comes with a complete cockpit tub with the area behind the bulkhead that is missing from the Monogram kit.  The ejection seat is a very nice resin piece except for the excess resin at the top of the ejection seat that needs to be removed.  A control column comes in two pieces.  The wheels are the same diameter as the Monogram wheels but detail wise they resemble the Classic AirFrames and Hasegawa wheels.  Like the Hasegawa, Classic AirFrames, and Pro-Modeller kits we get the front of the J-52 jet engine.  Get the five underwing pylons, four rocket pods, and enough sway braces for all pylons.  For the A-4F Super Fox, the ALR-45 antenna hot-dog is included.  KMC also includes the hatch on the bottom of the fuselage between the flaps where Remove Before Flight tags are stored, sometimes called the Hellhole; instructions tell the modeller to put plastic to close up the hole when you drop this hatch - for the super detail freaks who don't want to close up the hole, will need to add the aft fuselage attachment bulkhead, wiring, hydraulics, and bottom of the J-52.  There is one more part in this kit not pictured on the box and that is a nice resin instrument panel.

Trivia Answer

Here is the answer to why one of the OA-4M model kits is dark gray and the other is light gray.

The original OA-4M Skyhawk model kit, Kit # 5436 from 1985, is molded in dark gray.  The light gray kit is the Monogram of Germany re-issue, Kit # 74020 from 1994, by Revell AG.

Kit #5436 has decals for one OA-4M.  Bu No 154307, tailcode YU, side number 06, assigned to H&MS-12 'Outlaws' assigned to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan.

Kit #74020 has decals for two aircraft.  Bu No 154651, tailcode WA, side number 07, assigned to H&MS-12 'Outlaws.'  Second aircraft is Bu No 152874, tailcode SD, side number 305, assigned to Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River NAS.

Tale of Tails - TA-4H

Close-up of the TA-4H tail.  Can see how far down I removed the ALR-45 and fairing.  I built up from sheet plastic the new tail tip and sanded it down to roughly what it should look like.  Once the fuselage is put together I will attach the tip and do final shaping.  Can also see where I removed one of the ECM fairings that had been on the jet-deflector or sugar-scoop.

Tale of Tails - OA-4M

Here is the rudder of my built OA-4M showing the ALR-45 antenna and the fairing that was used to merge it with the rest of the tail.  And yes I know I need to dust the model.

The Model Kit

The model kit I chose is the Monogram OA-4M Skyhawk.  To build a TA from this kit, the avionics hump must be removed.  I used a razor saw to remove it.  Also removed was the ALR-45 antenna on top of the fuselage along with the ECM bulges on the sugar-scoop and the nose along with the oil cooler just in front of the reinforcing strip under the tail-pipe.  I have not added the chaff/flare dispensers yet.  Above picture shows how much modification has already been done by comparing with an unmodified OA-4M fuselage.

Conversion kit is the old Missing Link Models one.  When I removed the ALR-45 fairing, I cut down to the panel line just above the pitot tube.  The tail tip from the conversion kit is the rounded type found on TA-4F/J aircraft so can't be used to build a TA-4H.

Trivia question, why is one kit molded in light gray while the other is dark gray?  Stay tuned for the answer.

TA-4H 544

First Skyhawk I will tackle is a conversion.  I will be converting the Monogram OA-4M Skyhawk into TA-4H 544 of the Flying School Advanced Sqn.  Side view of 544 is found on page 27 of Amos Dor's The A-4 Skyhawk Ayit.  The above image shows 544 later in its life, June 28, 2010 when it was assigned to the Flying Tiger Sqn.

Please note the extra blade antenna in front of the windshield.  It has all five hardpoints which only TA-4Fs and TA-4Hs had.  It is also armed with 20mm cannons and not the locally installed DEFA 30mm cannons.  Aircraft will also have the tailpipe extension which became standard after the Yom Kippur War.  Also note 544 has the bent refueling probe.

Markings for 544.  In Flying School service the nose radome is painted orange along with the entire rudder.  Except for that, camoflage pattern is standard IAF.  For Flying Tiger service, remove the orange markings.  Add the Hebrew script behind the Star of David on both sides.  And a flying tiger outline on the tail with squadron patch above.

The version I plan to build is 544 in earlier service with the Flying School.  Or when 544 served with Flying Tiger Sqn.  Either way I have to create some custom decals.

Project Skyhawk

Lets see if this experiment works.  Please follow along as I build the Douglas/McDonnell-Douglas/Boeing A-4 Skyhawk.  For a plane first flown in 1952, it is still serving in the front lines of several foreign operators.  Which says something about the basic soundness of the design.

I like aircraft in 1/48 scale so Skyhawk kits in that scale will be the focus.  The model kits of choice are: Pro-Modeller Monogram A-4F Skyhawk, Monogram A-4E Skyhawk, Monogram OA-4M Skyhawk, Hasegawa A-4M Skyhawk, Hasegawa A-4SU Super Skyhawk, and the Hasegawa TA-4J Skyhawk.

So shall we get started?