madmusky Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Rich Some Damn fine work going on sir, great attention to detail. Darren allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandy 1 VX 4 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 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. Regards, Rich A-7 Corsair II Are worse yet They have a big mid flat section added to them. FYI Nice work on this EA-6 Wish you can make molds of all your work. It would make a great conversion for us . I would pick one up Cheers allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 (edited) Thanks Darren, Vandy... Again, I'm flattered by the compliments and the suggestions regarding reproducing some of this work, say as part of an EA-6A conversion set. Well it turns out I'm currently in talks with a prominent aftermarket supplier. The state of the project is quite preliminary at the moment, but, if all goes as planned, a high quality resin conversion set will hit the market later this year. So stay tuned! Regards, Rich Edited March 9, 2015 by allthumbs Greg W, ajw1977, Harold and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandy 1 VX 4 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Thanks Darren, Vandy... Again, I'm flattered by the compliments and the suggestions regarding reproducing some of this work, say as part of an EA-6A conversion set. Well it turns out I'm currently in talks with a prominent aftermarket supplier. The state of the project is quite preliminary at the moment, but, if all goes as planned, a high quality resin conversion set will hit the market later this year. So stay tuned! Regards, Rich Keep us updated on the conversion. Maybe we can get Dave Roof (Leather Neck) or Eli (Zots) to do the decals for it mark31 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaninaustria Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Amazing work and some great ideas in this build for the rest of the gang! "all thumbs" my arse... You've got talent bro! Cheers and thanks for sharing with us! Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
322SqnNL Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 That would be quite the honor! Has me thinking if someone would want to make corrected parts for the 1/32 Matchbox-Revell Spitfire 22/24 based on the corrections I made and am making to mine. Kagemusha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I look at this and realise i need to go back to school and learn how to do things properly... ...simply beyond comparison.. can't wait to see what is next.. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony T Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 ^ what he says Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 That would be quite the honor! Has me thinking if someone would want to make corrected parts for the 1/32 Matchbox-Revell Spitfire 22/24 based on the corrections I made and am making to mine. Maybe you should contact Grey Matter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 (edited) Once again, I'm grateful for all of the enthusiasm, support, and kind feedback...thank you all sincerely! This update focuses on the ejection seats. All EA-6A's were delivered with the Martin Baker GRU-5, or "early" seat. By the mid 1970's, the fleet had been refitted with the GRU-7 "late" seat. My vision is to model a black tailed VMAQ-2 bird circa 1977, so dash seven it is. Here are some shots of the real deal... The seats in the kit are okay, but I planned on upgrading to resin examples provided in the Avionix A-6A Intruder cockpit set. These are beautifully cast and well detailed - a significant improvement over Trumpeter's offerings. I was quick to sing their praises whenever the topic came up over on the LSP discussion board. But other posters were more critical, suggesting there was something "not quite right" about them. This led to further scrutiny on my part and an eventual reappraisal... I still like 'em a lot, but there's room for improvement, especially with regard to the headrest area. Compared to reference photos, the Avionix headrest comes up short in profile, lacking the characteristic forward lean of the prototype. In addition, it appears too wide when viewed from head on. Taken together, these errors give the upper seat assembly a stout, blocky appearance. I decided to scratch build new headrests and spines. These will graft onto the Avionix seat buckets and backrests, which I thought were very well done and worth preserving. This approach, while time consuming, allows for the freedom and opportunity to improve other details. And just to be clear, I'm not dismissing the Avionix set, which I still rate as very good. Painted up and decorated with stickers and placards, they would dress up any model for sure. But I was curious to see what I could come up with on my own. Still in somewhat of a scratch building mindset after the tail pod and electronic warfare suite, I reached for my supply of Evergreen brand sheet plastic stock... And some comparison shots next to an unaltered Avionix example in all gray... There are still more details to add (modern ejection seats are devilishly complex, Rube Goldberg like contraptions - it's part of what makes them so interesting to us modelers), but the basic structure is complete. More next time... Rich Edited April 17, 2015 by allthumbs Harold, Kagemusha, Greg W and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitali Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Looks good only I do not like when manufactures drap the parachute risers down like they do. They should be up towards the top of the parachute pack as they are attached to the inertia reel which is spring loaded and retracts the risers back against the parachute pack. If you need any help I know every piece of the GRU-7 seat. Cheers, Vitali allthumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 (edited) Looks good only I do not like when manufactures drap the parachute risers down like they do. They should be up towards the top of the parachute pack as they are attached to the inertia reel which is spring loaded and retracts the risers back against the parachute pack. If you need any help I know every piece of the GRU-7 seat. Cheers, Vitali Good point Vitali. I think I'll redo those risers too. And heck, at this rate, I might as well.... Oh dear, you must know what I'm thinking now Edited April 17, 2015 by allthumbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Rich, Exceptional attention to detail; your approach to the "weld seams" is brilliant! Awesome work! Barry Harold 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Terrific work Rich, if you haven't thought about casting those seat's headsets, or indeed the seat whole, you should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Very nice ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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