Aussie A-4G Skyhawk FINISHED.

[ericg]

After looking at a few photos of the Skyhawk pylons, I determined that there was an issue with the way Trumpeter have designed them. The outer pylons lack a small stiffener on the access panel. They did capture that detail on the inner pylons, so not sure what happened there. I added the detail with plastic card.

 

 

I discovered that the missing stiffener was not the biggest issue with the pylons.... Trumpeter have simply reversed each pylon for the design but should have used the same pattern for each pylon, as the way they have designed them is wrong. The stiffeners should face the starboard side of the aircraft regardless of which side the pylon is installed, that is, the same pylon exists on either the left or right side of the aircraft. Here are all four pylons.

 

 

Now I am the laziest modeller in the world and the idea of rescribing two of the pylons to reverse the panel lines, plus add the stiffeners was really something that I didn't want to do.

 

I simply boxed each of the corrected pylons up:

 

 

Chucked some moulding silicone over them

 

 

Some time later, I have exact copies of the corrected pylons in resin. Now all four pylons will have the stiffener on the starboard side, as Mcdonnell Douglas intended.

 

[ericg]

By correcting the radius of the end of the fairing behind the cockpit, I was then able to proceed with another small modification with the same part.

 

Here is the a straight edge applied to the length of the fairing. It is pretty straight, when it should be ever so slightly curved.

 

 

I applied thick set super glue to build up the hump and then shaped the fairing until it resembled reference photos. A small change, but it is there.

 

[ericg]

Here are all of the pylons that will hang under the model. The four corrected wing pylons that are now in resin, and the center pylon which holds a TER that was donated from another kit.

 

 

I am waiting for some Fisher 4 shot Zuni pods that will equip the outer pylons but for now, everything else seems to be fitting well.

 

[Anthony in NZ]

Oh man, now that is awesome Eric!

 

That fix behind the canopy looks spot on as does that load out.  Love those pylons BTW.

 

Cheers

Anthony

[Tanker459]

Coming along nicely

 

Greg

[alaninaustria]

Stunning work and great solutions to get this kit up to speed mate!! Amazing talent bro!! I am following this build and really enjoying/learning!

Cheers

Alan

[dodgem37]

Nice progress.  What is the name of the resin you are using?

 

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Mark

[ericg]

The resin is Barnes TC890, with grey pigment added into it.

Edited November 2, 2015 by ericg

[alaninaustria]

I think I'll be stealing a few ideas from this build Eric, hope you don't mind mate?

[alaninaustria]

Also, just out of curiousity: what is the triangle of white sheet card for on the rear left underside of the wing?

[ericg]

Hi Alan,

 

Dont mind at all mate. Have you glued your pylons in yet?

 

The plastic triangle is replacement plastic for when I lost part of the kit and knew that I had accidentally swept in the bin. I couldn't be bothered searching for it so I scratched up a new one.

 

Eric

[reconspit]

Very cool, Mr....

[alaninaustria]

Thanks Eric! Yes, my pylons are already on oh well, live and learn eh!!!

Outstanding work! I'm also lookimg forward to your Mirage build!!!

Also, any issue mating the two fuselge halves up? That step is right around the corner for me!

Cheers

Alan

[ericg]

Thanks Eric! Yes, my pylons are already on oh well, live and learn eh!!!

Outstanding work! I'm also lookimg forward to your Mirage build!!!

Also, any issue mating the two fuselge halves up? That step is right around the corner for me!

Cheers

Alan

Hi Alan, No issues at all mate.

 

I like to flick back and forth between builds, usually having a few at the same stage of construction as each other until one edges ahead. This is the one that is in the lead at the moment.

 

I primed the model using Tamiya fine surface primer and then went over it with a fine toothed comb to remove defects and tidy it up a bit.

 

Once I was happy with that stage, I then mixed a special batch of Gunze paint to allow for my interpretation of the two grey colours (they aren't available in Gunze sangyo straight from the bottle.) I am working off the excellent air to air photos that John Bartels took when he was flying Skyhawks in the RAN. There is many different ways that modellers have approached the lighter grey colour in the past, some favouring a slightly green tinge, some favouring a blue tinge. my Skyhawk is on the bluer side, but under the right light, a very faint trace of green can be seen. this photo gives you an idea of the colours that I am chasing. As can be seen, the aircraft were kept very well and show minimal weathering. As such, I decided not to do any form of pre-shading/black basing, contrary to popular methods these days.

 

 

 

 

I free handed the darker grey onto a tank and the horizontal stabilizers over the lighter grey to check the contrast and get a feel of how the colours worked together. I am reasonably happy with it at this stage.

 

 

[alaninaustria]

Really amazing and outstanding work mate! Can't wait for more!!