crackerjazz Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 You have enviable skills, allthumbs. I can't believe my eyes, looking at that pod. allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Awesome work on the stores - simply stellar. Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Totally agree here - looking awesome so far. Would be great if someone would bring out a conversion set for us mortals some day, don't you all think? allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 (edited) Outstanding. Perhaps these may be of use http://www.aoadecals.com/32001/home.htm http://www.aoadecals.com/32002/home.htm Edited January 16, 2015 by Kagemusha allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 (edited) On 1/15/2015 at 7:25 AM, Kagemusha said: Outstanding. Perhaps these may be of use http://www.aoadecals.com/32001/home.htm http://www.aoadecals.com/32002/home.htm Thanks Andy. And yes, I'm eagerly awaiting release of those sheets. I purchased a set of the 1/48 scale stencils last month and they're fantastic. Steve (of AOA) is a real Intruder aficionado, and it shows in the accuracy and attention to detail of his work. Thanks again. And thanks to everyone else for the positive feedback and kind support you've shown. I'm very grateful. I'm flattered too that some of you have suggested the possibility of reproducing some of these bits and pieces, say as part of a conversion set. Honestly, the thought never crossed my mind last autumn when I started this project. My only goal, if I had one at all, was simply to build a scale model of an aircraft that had always intrigued me - the EA-6A. Now that I'm well underway, my goal is to finish the son-of-a-gun! Having said all that, I am open to any and all possibilities. As I progress, I'll do so with "reproducability" in mind. It's been a long time, decades in fact, since I completed anything (of substance anyhow). Here's a scan from a grainy photograph taken almost thirty years ago - it's one of my last completed models before I started a family and got serious about my career. Remember the 1980's? Speaking of grainy photos, some that I posted on the last update were a bit inferior. I've edited them with the following shots that I took today, taking advantage of a beautiful Arizona sunset... Edited May 29, 2020 by allthumbs Rainer Hoffmann, ghatherly, Greg W and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usmcski Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Just fantastic work, wow. And that Skyhawk looks familiar! Cheers, Ski allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Lovely detailing and execution. Sincerely, Mark allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Beautifull allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) Work continues on the final components of the external stores suite - a pair of 300 gallon fuel tanks. After scratch building the other electronic warfare - specific bits, this was supposed to be easy, right? After all, Trumpeter supply these (six in fact) in the basic Intruder kit...but stay tuned. The A-6 used the popular Douglas designed Aero-1D 300 gallon droppable fuel tank. Tommy Thomason's excellent blog Tailhook Topics contains an informative post on the subject...http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2011/07/douglas-low-drag-external-fuel-tanks.html. This detailed drawing is included in the article... Just a cursory inspection of the Trumpeter offerings reveals some serious shape issues with the tanks: they’re simply too skinny, especially toward the tail. They also lack the prominent fin attachment and access slots on the tailcone. Here's the sexy, but inaccurate Trumpeter offering next to a Hasegawa example lifted from their Skyhawk kit, the latter in white plastic... Hasegawa's version got the nod. Overall length and maximum diameter measure to within a scale inch of published dimensions. The curves and lines appear to be much more accurate too, the only niggle being a slightly too lean tailcone. The only substantial problem with the Hasegawa tanks is a cross sectional asymmetry, as illustrated here... The tank halves must not be allowed to touch, at least in the middle, in order to create a perfect circle. Oddly, the second tank suffers from the opposite problem, requiring the removal of plastic along the mating surfaces to achieve symmetry...very strange indeed! I soldiered on, creating a gap filling spacer for the first set and scraping away material from the second. Another modification took place at the tail end of the tanks. Hasegawa depicts the series of oval shaped slots as deep depressions, which is about all one can ask for given the limitations of injection molding technology, both then and now. But, as close-up photographs of the real deal show, these openings are hollow and reveal the thin metal skin of the tailcone itself... I attempted to grind away plastic from the inside using a Dremel tool. But this proved difficult, not to mention dicey, as one slip with the moto tool could destroy the part in a heartbeat. My "solution," which I hope I don't regret later, was to fill these depressions in the Hasegawa tank before slicing off a portion of the tail. Vacuum formed copies of these end pieces were then grafted back on to the main parts... This approach offered two advantages. First, it broadened the slightly-too-narrow tailcone, and second, it gave the structure a more realistic thickness into which new openings could be cut. Now I just need to create sixteen identical, evenly spaced slits over a curved surface (times two). I've yet to build up the courage. Wish me luck...and fortitude! As things stand at the moment... Thanks once again everybody for your kind feedback and support...back soon with another update. Rich Edited June 12, 2020 by allthumbs Harold, andromeda673, Rainer Hoffmann and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) More boring stuff! I know what you're thinking...when is this guy going to move on to something more exciting like the cockpit or basic airframe? Frankly, I'm eager to get there myself, to turn the page on this external stores odyssey, now six months along. Having said that, I have no regrets. My intention from the beginning was to attack the more challenging, conversion specific pieces first. That included the scratch built jamming pods and chaff dispensers (see earlier updates). Momentum in this area compelled me to carry on with the 300 gallon fuel tanks next, thus rounding out the external stores suite for the project. Following the advice of others, I have treated these bits as models in and of themselves, an important focus that helps avoid compromise and the resulting dissatisfaction of having rushed a part of the build that so often receives short shrift: externally mounted stores. Here's a great close-up shot of the Aero-1D, attached to the right inboard wing pylon of a Prowler. There are almost too many details to point out here: the recessed fuel cap topside and the oval shaped access panels - both surrounded by a series of fasteners, and the pylon mounting hardware, including a purpose built spacer that provides a contact point for the forward sway brace (the latter would dangle loosely given the downward tilt applied to most stores hung from Intruder/Prowler wing pylons). Note also the prominent weld seams that appear around and alongside the tank. Even the fuel cap is ringed by a raised metal bead... These lines show up well in this shot of an Argentine A-4AR "Fightinghawk," thanks to low-angle lighting. Hasegawa replicated these raised lines (indeed the entire Skyhawk kit, which was introduced in the late 1970s, consists of raised panel lines). But they were soon obliterated, given the copious amounts of sanding and reshaping the tanks required (see previous update). To reproduce this feature, I first scribed recessed lines into the tanks. These later served as guide channels for stretched sprue "weld beads." For the girth seams and small fuel cap bead, stretched sprue was wound onto appropriately sized cylinders (brass tube), submerged in boiling water for a few seconds, then quenched in a glass of ice water, preserving the shapes. This made attachment much easier, the rings clicking into place on the tank and secured with Tamiya Extra Thin Cement... Later a beading tool (appropriately) was used to give texture to the weld seams... Edited May 30, 2020 by allthumbs crackerjazz, Starfighter, Greg W and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainer Hoffmann Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 "boring stuff" you say? Not at all! Absolutely brilliant stuff it is. Your panel lines and weld seams are top notch. Keep the pics coming. Cheers Rainer allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee White Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Work continues on the final components of the external stores suite - a pair of 300 gallon fuel tanks. After scratch building the other electronic warfare - specific bits, this was supposed to be easy, right? After all, Trumpeter supply these (six in fact) in the basic Intruder kit...but stay tuned. The A-6 used the popular Douglas designed Aero-1D 300 gallon droppable fuel tank. Tommy Thomason's excellent blog Tailhook Topics contains an informative post on the subject...http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2011/07/douglas-low-drag-external-fuel-tanks.html. This detailed drawing is included in the article... It takes just a cursory comparison against documents and photos to spy some serious shape issues with Trumpeter's tanks. They're simply too skinny, especially toward the tail. They also lack the prominent fin attachment and access slots on the tailcone. Here's the sexy, but inaccurate Trumpeter offering next to a Hasegawa example lifted from their Skyhawk kit, the latter in white plastic... Hasegawa's version got the nod. Overall length and maximum diameter measure to within a scale inch of published dimensions. The curves and lines appear to be much more accurate too, the only niggle being a slightly too lean tailcone. The only substantial problem with the Hasegawa tanks is a cross sectional asymmetry, as illustrated here... The tank halves must not be allowed to touch, at least in the middle, in order to create a perfect circle. Oddly, the second tank suffers from the opposite problem, requiring the removal of plastic along the mating surfaces to achieve symmetry...very strange indeed! I soldiered on, creating a gap filling spacer for the first set and scraping away material from the second. Couldn't you just have paired 1 half of the fat tank with 1 half of the skinny tank, and get the happy medium that would prevent your having to go thru all this trouble? allthumbs and jgrease 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 very, very nice work indeed allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Agreed ! allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) Thanks Rainer, Rich, and Loic...I very much appreciate the feedback! Lee, you ask a good question. Here's the skinny on the tanks...pun intended. Hasegawa did an odd thing with their old Skyhawk kit, at least compared to current practices, including their own. They tooled two different sets of tanks. At first glance they appear identical, and indeed they are, for the most part. But closer inspection reveals different alignment pin configurations and the aforementioned too narrow / too wide asymmetry issues. The "skinny" set is missing more material than the "fat" set carries in surplus. So interchanging the tank halves would still result in a net deficit, requiring gap filling spacers for both units. I reasoned that one "spaced out" tank was easier to manage than two (removing material from the second set was a relative "breeze"). That said, it's still a lot of work: achieving the proper spread, block sanding the seam, and all the while cross checking progress with a circle guage. Was it really worth the effort in the end? That's debatable. But I had ignored the issue on a previous Skyhawk build, and the lopsided appearance, especially noticeable when the circumferential seam lines were created, bothered me. I still believe the Hasegawa tanks trump (sorry, another pun) those provided by Trumpeter in their A-6A kit and provide a better starting point, regardless of how far you decide to take it. But I should mention other options, beginning with the tanks provided in the Trumpeter A-4 Skyhawk kits, A-1 Skyraider kits, A-7 Corsair ll kits, and AV-8B Harrier kits. I have not examined these close up, but it appears they might be different (better?) than the Intruder offerings. Zoukei-Mura supply them in their Skyraider kits too. And finally, a set of resin tanks is available from Fisher Model & Pattern. Again, I have not seen them in the flesh, but they look very good in photographs. I had a surplus Hasegawa TA-4 kit on hand, so I chose this path, however tangled it became! Regards, Rich Edited February 25, 2015 by allthumbs Harold, Greg W, Lee White and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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