Completed - Desert Storm Air to Air refuelling: KA-6D&A-7E

[red Dog]

Suggest to start to save money for a horse trailer if you want to take it to a meeting

I'm lucky my daughter rides horses

actually it's not that bad.

I'll probably plan the support so it can be separated and have two in flight models rather than a huge one.

[AnthonyWan]

This is gonna be good  

[red Dog]

Some real work done on the cockpit

 

Usual painting with H317 and black. 

 

 

I wanted to try scratching the floor with zinc chromate but i usually mess that step. So this time I tried the MIG chipping fluid.
Painted the floor in yellow chromate, then applied the MIG chipping fluid and painted with a brush the grey H317 (acrylic) 

Once dry, wet a bit to activate and scratch the floor with a toothpick.

 

I even tried that technique on the cockpit button to see if it was giving a better result than hand painting but the liquid remains more active at the base of the button, not at the top resulting in a messy effect. So I discarded the attempt and went looking for my magnifying lenses

 

The IP was given some love as well. gages are first painted white then I use an old set of reheat dials decals. 

It's a bit too white, but it highlights the IP well inside the pit leaving at least a bit of the faceplate visible. If I feel it's too bright in the end, I'll give them a dark wash to make them less visible. 

 

 

Two views of the WIP cockpit. I haven't strated weathering yet.

two invisible details but since it's an inflight the gear handle has been raised and the throttle lever which was in cutoof has been moved forward

 

 

I modified the seat for the comfort of the pilot 

 

The Pilot has been modified to the cockpit configuration by giving him a bath in boiling water (well just after boiled) 

after a one minute bath, the resin softened a bit and I could bend the legs a bit lower to clear the IP and have the lower legs more naturally fitting the seated position.

 

 

 

It might not be perfectly visible on the pictures but the top picture is the modified pilot and the bottom picture is the original pilot with the legs conflicting with the placement of the Instrument Panel.

 

The left arm (Long Master's) was also modified in the warm water for a better grip of the throttle

The right PJ arm is perfect and grabs the center stick. The helmet is a tamiya one 

 

Now that the pilot is all shaped up he can get his white base coat and I'll use the same white to give a coat inside the freshly sanded intake....

Edited May 1, 2017 by red Dog

[F`s are my favs]

I like it very much.

[Eagle Driver]

Red Dog, I see that you haven't payed that much attention to the cockpit this time. You are more into-the-details usually. Is that because you plan to make them in-flight or maybe the pictures gives me the wrong perception?

[red Dog]

Probably because it's not finished

 

I wanted to get the pilot seated in first and make sure I prep the pit for the next step. 

For instance I have a feeling that the rear of the pit will conflict with the closed zacto canopy. So I'll probably need to sand details away.

Because of this the painting isn't finished and weathering didn't even start.

 

I painted the pilot and worked some more on the seat but I wanted to do something else so I started gluing the wings together.
Hence why there's not a lot of progress to show this weekend

[Eagle Driver]

Probably because it's not finished

 

I wanted to get the pilot seated in first and make sure I prep the pit for the next step. 

For instance I have a feeling that the rear of the pit will conflict with the closed zacto canopy. So I'll probably need to sand details away.

Because of this the painting isn't finished and weathering didn't even start.

 

I painted the pilot and worked some more on the seat but I wanted to do something else so I started gluing the wings together.

Hence why there's not a lot of progress to show this weekend

Looking forward for some update!

Especially the canopy parts.

[dutik]

A bath in boiling water?

 

Jesses, the survival training for pilots is the hardest!

 

 

 

Nice work so far. To fit a pilot into the pit is always challenging.

 

Regards

- dutik

[red Dog]

A bath in boiling water?

luckily he didn't complain

 

I'm a bit stranded with the pilot trying to figure out if i should put patches on the flight suit or if they actually removed the unit ID before going to war?

By the wayhow come there is no decal sheets for these items. I mean subduded american flags for shoulder patch would be great

any one know if these are available from somewhere or do we have to revert to homemade decals? (it's small and not easy to do, hence my question )

 

While i debate the above I addressed one of the minor challenge of the kit: gluing the wings in the flying condition.

Although the instructions offer both ways it is well known that the folded wing is the one giving less hassle.

Unfortunately i can't make an in flight with folded wings

 

To avoid a thickness difference between the inner wing and the outer wings one has to deviate from the instructions and glue the top inner wing to the top outer wing and do the same operation for the inner wing. Joining both top and bottom full wing together is much easier.

 

both top wings and bottom wings have been assembled using plasticard and superglue as strenghtener

 

dry fit of the wing assy - that one won't require much putty.

I think i'll use that design to easily secure my supporting stand. i can easily place the stand through the whole fuselage and adjust it before placing the wings into position. That should be a very stable way to support the aircraft in flight.

 

the thickness difference can clearly be seen in the left and right wing viewed from the front. This is much easier to correct with a bit of putty rather than sanding a large part of the outer wing thickness

 

 

A coat of mr surfacer allowed me to smoothen all the closed doors and access panels before gluing mode details on the fuselage

Edited May 15, 2017 by red Dog

[ClumsyDude]

Love this project ... some super modelling happening there.

 

Jim

[Finn]

This video shows flight deck ops on the JFK during Desert Storm:

 

 

a few glimpses of A-7 pilots could be seen and from the looks of it, no patches were worn.

 

Jari

[Starfighter]

Looking great so far! Are you going to convert your A-7 driver into a naval aviator? 

[red Dog]

Thanks for the vid Jari.

 

Are you going to convert your A-7 driver into a naval aviator?

Yep, with a bit or artistic licence

[red Dog]

Progress is slower than I want but I need to ensure that all is carefully planned before closing the fuselage.

 

The tail end of the corsair could use some love but I don't want to spend ages detailling something that will be hard to see. Yet a bit of easy extra detail won't hurt.

 

So I went looking in the stash parts and found some fitting parts that won't be fully realistic but good enough for what I have in mind:

The rear bulkhead was also given a bit of depth with small plasticard square section before painting in interior yellow green

 

The original part is on the right, the spares are on the left

 

incidentally the spare fan goes perfectly on the original part and fits perfectly inside the exhaust.

The other part also perfectly fits the fan part

 

painted and varnsihed

 

Dry fit with too much light (sorry)

 

Not quite a perfect 100% realistic A-7 exhaust but you need to put your nose deep inside to notice - and you also need to be a specialist of the A-7 engine too.

So good enough for me.

Edited May 26, 2017 by red Dog

[Shawn M]

looks great!