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1/32 Trumpeter A-4E Scooter: 8/4/17 Crossed the finish line


Joel_W

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Nice work, Joel! You'll have this one licked in no time.

 

Kev

Kev,

  Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I've got a long way to go to cross the finish line. And If I've learned one thing about Trumpeter kits, they'll hold a surprise or two right to the every end.

 

  Honestly, so far the Scooter is worlds better then the F4F-3 Wildcat. I'm really enjoying this build.

 

Joel

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Guest Peterpools

JA

Terrific work on addressing the slat housing on the wings and the vortex generators. It's quite obvious as we have all pointed out that Douglas Aircraft should have kept us molders in mind when designing the Scooter.

Keep 'em coming

Bro

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JA

Terrific work on addressing the slat housing on the wings and the vortex generators. It's quite obvious as we have all pointed out that Douglas Aircraft should have kept us molders in mind when designing the Scooter.

Keep 'em coming

Bro

 

Bro,

  Thanks so much for the thumbs up.  To tell the truth I was more then just a little leery about how my method on the slat housing would turn out. Looks like for once I made the right decision. 

 

   Maybe if Douglas had paid more attention to us modelers, they still be in business today. :hmmm: 

 

Joel

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Fantastic work on the slat retraction area Joel. I have always been lazy about addressing that issue, but it is obvious that correcting it really improves the appearance. Keep up the great work!

 

Tony,

  Thanks for finding the time to stop by and checkout my Scooter build to date. It's always much appreciated my friend.

 

  And yes, correcting that infamous step that Hasegawa created on their 1/48 scale Scooter, does indeed make a huge difference in how the wings look. I've been guilty of that myself on my early build of that very Hasegawa kit.  Here's a picture of it and you can see just how unrealistic that step looks. If for no other reason, just think about all the turbulence and buffering it would have caused. You're a pilot, so no one knows better then the guys who fly.

 

A-4F_106.jpg  

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Great work Joel and really pleased to see you addressed that area...massive improvement!

 

Anthony,

  Thanks so much for your evaluation of my addressing that main eye sore. Coming from you it makes a huge difference.

 

Joel 

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  • 2 weeks later...

   After finishing up the leading edge slat areas, my attention turned to continuing with the wing sub assembly. Each main wheel well was primed with Mig Ammo Gray Acrylic primer. When dry they were air brushed with Tamiya XF-2 Flat White.

 

kB957C.jpg

 

   Once dry they were each glued into place in the upper wing. The fit was really excellent, with no filler needed anywhere. Once the glue had dried, I air brushed on a few coats of Tamiya XF-2 Flat White. You'll notice that I didn't bother painting the MG compartments to the far left, as they would have their covers glued closed on the finished Scooter. I glossed each Well with Testors Glosscoat, followed by a Black Oil wash, then sealed with a 50/50 mix of Testors Dullcoat & Glosscoat for a more operation look.

 

   Next up was gluing the upper halves of the wings in place. Again, the fit was truly excellent. My only issue was that a few more alignment pins would have made it a whole lot easier.

 

Eco4mo.jpg

 

  The Mg covers were also glued into place. The fit was just ok at best. so some sanding and re-scribing will have to be done.

 

z0Xqjt.jpg

 

  The leading edges of the inner slate were a perfect fit, requiring just the basic clean up.

 

kSWEnq.jpg

 

  The Starboard wheel well trailing fairing has both a fuel vent and the gas dump. 

 

3pbeH5.jpg

 

The Trumpeter gas dump part was pretty crude, and would need a little detailing so it looked more the part.

 

rp7Rib.jpg

 

   I cut off the top and formed the airfoil out of plastic sheet. The vent itself is just plastic strip glued in a pear shape, and a few pieces of strip used for the support side pieces.

 

VPNJ2j.jpg

 

 

7rOSpD.jpg

 

   I test fitted the wing assembly to the fuselage, as I was rather disappointed in the overall fit. My goal was to have the joint properly align without any need for clamping it into position. After 3 days of filing, sanding, and scratching my head, the fit is almost perfect. Just a tad more to go.

 

T4tdt9.jpg

 

i6Rjff.jpg

 

   I still have quite a bit to go to finish up the wings so that they're ready to be glued to the fuselage. And speaking of the fuselage, I've also got plenty left to do to get it ready as well. For starters I still need to finish the final shaping of the guide hole through the vertical Stabilizer, and the list goes on.  I'm really looking forward to getting a nice coat of primer on. Shouldn't be more then a few weeks at most.

 

Joel

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Fantastic work Joel! I plan on grabbing the Bondi your using tomorrow. I can really see how effective it is in your photos.

 

Tony,

  Thanks so much for stopping by. Glad that you like my modest efforts to date. And you're going to love the Bondo. Just remember that it's lacquer based, so there is a slight smell to it. But then so again is the old Standard of Standards: Squadron Green Stuff.

 

Joel

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