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For the "In the Navy" group build I pulled a very old kit from the loft: Hasegawa TA-4J Skyhawk in 1/32 This kit was one of the first 1/32 Hasegawa kits (after their F-104) that was released around 1981 along with their single seat A-4E Skyhawk. I am sure many of folks here know or even have made this kit, but the last decades I have only seen a few made. It is still the only TA-4 trainer in this scale. As it is so long ago, I thought it would be nice to first show the contents of kit #S024: The sprues are in white plastic with some common sprues with the single seat A-4. Most notably is the longer fuselage. You get a few less "stores" in the TA-4 kit with only the wing fuel tanks. The few panel lines are raised and very tiny raised rivets are seen as well. That was the technology those days and it does not look bad at all. The decals in this kit are for a single US NAVY VF-126 "bicentennial" bird in 1976. The decals have "yellowed" over the years. I will stick them on a sunny window for a few weeks to brighten them up again with sun light. Or will make another scheme with different decals. This kit has a good outline and although the cockpit interior is basic (with optional 2 very crude pilots), it does have instruments and side panels with raised details. Very nice. But I will use an AVIONIX (probably ex- Black Box) resin cockpit set #32040 that I found in the loft as well. The resin parts are seen here and look good but the bottom mould block at the floors is rather thick. The consoles have very fine raised detail for the instruments. These are very tiny and a paint challenge. The ESCAPAC seats seem to be of type 1G-3. ============= For this Group Build model I will follow some suggestions during constructions as nicely explained by Mike for a TA-4G seen here at LSP (2014 article): https://www.largescaleplanes.com/articles/article.php?aid=2072 Some of these are: - inscribe panel lines - remove the "step" at wing nose with drooped slats - open main air intakes - improve cockpit interior - add detail on landing gear and in bays Other nice improvements would be: - to droop the trailing edge flaps - lengthen exhaust pipe - add detail inside the canopy I have plenty of reference books at home. But will also look at the many walk around photos that my modelling friend of WWW.IPMS.NL Cees made seen here: https://www.ipms.nl/walkarounds/walkaround-jets/561-walkaround-a4-skyhawk Many details on the single seat A-4 and TA-4 are similar. ================ Still I do not know what NAVY scheme to make the model in for this Group Build.... I have a few aftermarket US NAVY decals sets but also decals also to make an Australian Navy TA-4G. But first I have to sort out a few unknowns and may ask some questions here at LSP. Cheers, Meindert

A question for the Skyhawk Experts: can the Aires Wheel Bay (& Gun Bay) (#2172) be used to improve Trumpy A-4M? Thx in advance for your advice! Happy modelling, Stefano

Hi all Here is my RAN A4G Skyhawk finally finished 4 months after my last post -it is a shelf of doom rebuild. WIP link here - https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/76932-ran-a4g/page/3/&tab=comments#comment-1167121 The main list of parts used and some of the detailing as follows - Avionix A4E resin cockpit Aires resin Wheel bays and white metal landing gear set AMS resin wheels Eduard slat and vortex generators etch SAC Buddy Pod Master refuelling probe and cannon barrels Flight Path USN Carrier Deck set provided the ladder and wheels chocks Maketar paint mask for RAN roundels - fin checks masked by hand - very fiddly! AOA A4 airframe stencil decal sheet Scratch intake and exhaust blanks push moulded wing navigation lights & hazard beacons scratch built forward engine bay door port scratch built detailing added to landing gear & wing pylons various Quickboost bits and pieces like scoops a generous donation of spare Hasegawa A4 sprues from a fellow modeller SE Finally in her allocated spot in the display case. cheers CJP

Here are the models that I like the most: Chance Vought F4U-5 Corsair Armada Argentina. It's the Hasegawa F4U-5N with Phoenix aftermarket decals. Airfix's 1:72 A-4Q Armada Argentina and Hobbycraft's 1:48 A-4P of the Fuerza Aérea Argentina. Airfix's 1:48 Canberra as B-109 from the Fuerza Aérea Argentina: And finally, a what if Ta 183 in Argentinian markings. This was inspired by the Pulqui 2, aircraft built according to Kurt Tank's plans in the Fabrica Militar de Aviones in Argentina after WW2.

Although I like building 1/32nd scale aircraft I do tend to prefer adversary and aggressor aircraft in 1/48th scale. Out of the 51 adversary Skyhawks I have planned to build these are the ones that have been finished so far. All are Hasegawa kits with decals from Afterburner, Fightertown, Classic Airframes, Twobobs and Gekko Graphics. Painting was done freehand with mostly Xtracolor enamels. Jens

Hey, Why not peanut..... a 2sd for the GB. Since my 'Red Devils' (mud mover) is well under way, not to say 90% done, and getting weirdly addicted to this group built.... I decide to jump in with another Scooter, my Israeli A-4N was so quick with no fit issue from my POV.... I decide to go on, and should have enough time to do it before December. For this one, I will use Edward S.A. interior, Quickboost seat and antenna, True Details wheels.... And as for the decals, I remember reading two years ago, a nice built article in Wing Master no:86, did a trade last month for that same CAM sheet (32-089). So here I am, all my stuff came in today, got everything and should start shortly.... See ya, Dan.

Vietnam A-4's were supposed to be the second AOA release after the initial USMC A-6A sheet about a year ago but they got pushed back for various reasons. They are up for release finally (in 1/32) - estimated to be available in January. Rather than one extra-large release again (like the last A-6A sheet…) this time they've been broken down to somewhat smaller sizes: Part 1 (32-010) 10 schemes (also will include stencil sheet 32-012) VMA-223 Bulldogs – 5 schemes covering 1966-69 from Chu Lai VA-94 Mighty Shrikes – 4 schemes, 3 cruises (Bon Homme Richard 1968, 1969, and 1970 - replacement for the very inaccurate “BOBBIE†CAG jet) VA-106 Gladiators – 1 scheme (Intrepid 1968-69) Part 2 (32-011) 9 schemes (also will include stencil sheet 32-012) VMA-311 Tomcats – 4 schemes covering 1966-70 from Chu Lai VA-144 Roadrunners – 2 schemes, 2 cruises (Kitty Hawk 1967-68, and Bon Homme Richard 1969) VA-155 Silver Foxes – 3 schemes, 2 cruises (Coral Sea 1964-65, Ranger 1968-69) Stencil sheet will also be available for individual sale in limited number. Profiles posted - see page 2 And yes, the intention is to release in smaller scale at later date. Now in stock and available to order www.AOAdecals.com (Click image for larger view)

I know the Trumpeter kit doesn't come with the A-4 specific ladder, is there any aftermarket one available? Or does the old Hasegawa kit come with it since the 1/48 versions do? Thanks

I rewrote this (Jan 9) - these will are released. A package of AMS Resin's previously released A-4C conversion (for Trumpeter kit) along with new AOA decals. Now available: http://aoadecals.com/32013/ $60 US / $69 international - which includes AMS Resin conversion and the the AOA decal sheet (free shipping in US) This conversion package would include three A-4C's from Vietnam. To my knowledge, none of these schemes have ever been done in any scale before: VMA-214 Blacksheep 1966/67 VA-146 Blue Diamonds 1964-65 VA-216 Black Diamonds 1964-65. Decals are on one full size sheet, and as usual include stencils as well as specific squadron drop tank markings for two tanks each (and helmet decals for all three schemes as well).

I've been a lurker here on LSP for the most part, aside from a stalled Su-27 build I started a while back. That build stalled due to a leak in my roof that caused the ceiling in my workspace to collapse. That was over 5 months ago, and the room is finally rebuilt (the walls had to be torn down to remove the wet insulation). I wanted to do a completely new build to get my mojo back, and I had the Hasegawa A-4E sitting on the shelf. I had gotten the kit a while back, along with SAC metal gear and a Quickboost ejection seat. In the interim, I picked up a set of True Details wheels and the box has been sitting on the shelf since. So now I've finally pulled the kit and got a start on it. What I haven't photographed was the clean-up and installation of the intakes, as well as the removal of the molded in ejection seat base. I've also cleaned up the canopies and gave them a dip in Future. Here's a shot of the intakes after installation and cleaning up the minor gaps with Mr Dissolved Putty: And a shot of the cockpit and loose parts as they stand: I still have to clean up the seat now that I removed the molding plug. The gaps on the sides of the cockpit where the seat base was removed have been filled with two pieces of styrene on either side of the joint between the cockpit floor and the gear bay. The last thing I did was add a little bit of plumbing to the nose gear bay to busy it up a bit: My next step will be priming and painting the cockpit and nose gear bay and fuselage interior so that I can get the fuse halves together. Thanks for looking and please feel free to pepper me with questions, comments, and observations.

I recently rediscovered Hasegawa's OA-4M in the attic. It seems that the rear IP is that of a TA-4J while I would assume that the rear cockpit would resemble the IP of an A-4M. Rear cockpit photo of a TA-4J from www.a4skyhawk.org Can anyone help me with pics on the rear OA-4M cockpit? Thanks in advance! Erik B.