hamfists nz

ps..I know the only time you would see the aircraft in this condition with this loadout might be after landing as a static display at an airshow and having a hydraulic issue on the runway where the pilot had to climb down without a ladder. Some suspension of reality required.

Long time (I mean LONG time!!) lurker, and with inspiration from Anthony in NZ and Calum and others I started working on this kit back at the start of this century. Now I'm no great modeler and thankfully not a great photographer either but this is my hamfisted A4K finally finished after nearly 20 years. It started off with a bunch of scratchbuilding and ended up with the new instrument panel and HUD/HOTAS aftermarket after many years of waiting from Barracuda. Its lovely but that 3D printed material is very brittle when sanded and I ended up messing it up a bit. I'm waiting for some Japanese laquer pens to turn up to do some fine stenciling on the wings and the cockpit framing so that's not quite finished but my leave is almost over so it's time to call it done. The freehand airbrushing went quite well but my shaking hand is terrible around attachments, cockpit, air intakes etc so please don't zoom in too close, two layers of mat clear couldn't smooth out my brushwork. The decals from a NZ company called Old Models Decals are a bit of a disappointment. Some of them no amount of microset could remove the silvering and some of the squadron insignias and rescue arrows were way too big but there's not much out there. I know the light grey is way too light but I had ideas about lots of weathering because NZ6212 had a really tired paint job at the end of service and lots of patchy paint around repairs etc. Special mention to Harold at AMS with some handy advice and parts. Barracuda Kahu conversion. SAC nosegear AMS Resin bent fuel probe Fisher 400USGal drop tank. AMS Resin enlarged Intakes. Flightpath AIM 9L. Old Models Decals. First pic credit to Calum. Once again, enthusiastic amateur with shaking hands and eyesight that's not what it was. Definitely not museum quality: Tamiya rattle cans and Tamiya enamels.

Well I’m assembling the barracuda HUD and instrument panel and assembling all the other parts. I pulled out a bunch of scratch wire in the wheel wells that looked silly and I’m just going with some soldering wire for the brake lines and I’m done with it. This build has been sitting in storage for nearly 20 years. It’s time to get it done. It’s going to be a bit ugly. I’m not an ace with the modeling and I’m noticing my eyesight is no good for tiny details anymore. A question for anyone that has used that resin 300 gal drop tank. It weights more that the rest of the model. Any suggestions on how to attach it to the hardpoint? There’s only 4 little spots of plastic to put the CA on. I doubt it will hold.

I have a set of these..they look very nice but they’re printed..very tricky..you need to put clear coat on them and let it dry before you use ..not for the faint hearted

Anthony has one of the most impressive and extensive shelf’s of doom in the industry

Ok so I’ve got my set. Very impressed. The paperwork says there’s instructions on barracudas website. I can’t find them anywhere. Anyone else had better luck?

It’s supposed to have decals in the kit?

AMS resin https://www.scalemates.com/kits/ams-resin-32029-a-4-skyhawk-correct-bent-refueling-probe--246458

http://barracudacals.com/proddetail.php?prod=BR32386a $21.95

http://barracudacals.com/proddetail.php?prod=BR32386a $21.95

It’s here; https://www.facebook.com/groups/848474938507986/permalink/5737238099631621/?fs=e&s=cl

If you’ve got Facebook, Roy has put out some pics https://www.facebook.com/groups/848474938507986/permalink/5737238099631621/?fs=e&s=cl

Hey Anthony, anywhere we can go to have a look at what’s in the package? I’m having trouble finding pics anywhere on barracuda or Facebook

Does anyone have a link to Callum’s picture reference skyhawk page..google can’t seem to find it anymore.

Anthony must be like a kid on Christmas Eve

Bit of inspiration for you if you haven’t seen it https://hermajestystopgun.com/gallery-her-majestys-top-gun/

Did it still have the original Bristol Centaurus engine and the 5 blade prop? If so, that’s a rare bird..and also a million moving parts and a candidate for engine problems

Any news on the cockpit/hud set Anthony?

Mirages sure are pretty aircraft..where was this one based? Somewhere in Africa?

Augusta/Westland (now Leonardo) AW-169

Use an LED light through a fiber optic type tube with a varying diameter somehow

Looks like Auckland has a new version too:

I see on the barracuda Facebook page that Roy is ‘finishing off a lot of projects’ before he goes to the nationals. Are any of them ours? *fingers crossed emoji

That’s great

Yes, MiG 21’s