EA-6B Prowler (02 April: Done!)

[Starfighter]

Very nice work! Keep in mind the Prowler did not have the same windscreen as the Intruder, it was significantly lower and the lower edge curvature was different. This is also obvious when you compare the side view of your fuselage with the drawing you have posted. 

[easixpedro]

19 hours ago, blackbetty said:

very nice work. a vac front part would be of use....

^^^^^^This! It’s the truth. Don’t look at me though, as my skills are just ham fisted enough to muck this up without adding vacuform....

16 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Very nice work! Keep in mind the Prowler did not have the same windscreen as the Intruder, it was significantly lower and the lower edge curvature was different. This is also obvious when you compare the side view of your fuselage with the drawing you have posted. 

Actually they’re the same. Looks a bit different, but they had the same part # in the supply system. Regardless, my poor scratch building skills will necessitate some serious sanding to make the nose resemble something akin to a Prowler!

[Greg W]

Earlier in the post, you asked about photoetch screw heads, Aber and Alliance Modelworks make sets with multiple sizes. Links below.

 

https://www.am-works.com/lw35026-screw-heads-round-various-sizes-phillips-and-flathead/

 

http://www.aber.net.pl/detal,593.html

 

Hopefully, the above products have the sizes you need. 

 

You are doing an absolutely wonderful job on this! It's a real pleasure to follow along and learn from your example. 

 

Greg

[Starfighter]

6 hours ago, easixpedro said:

^^^^^^This! It’s the truth. Don’t look at me though, as my skills are just ham fisted enough to muck this up without adding vacuform....

Actually they’re the same. Looks a bit different, but they had the same part # in the supply system. Regardless, my poor scratch building skills will necessitate some serious sanding to make the nose resemble something akin to a Prowler!

 

I'm not talking about the flat screens but the entire windshield assembly including the frame and bulged side windows. the flat portions may be identical, but I am pretty sure the side windows aren't the same on Intruder and Prowler. 

[easixpedro]

On 9/22/2020 at 2:38 AM, Starfighter said:

 

I'm not talking about the flat screens but the entire windshield assembly including the frame and bulged side windows. the flat portions may be identical, but I am pretty sure the side windows aren't the same on Intruder and Prowler. 

OK folks, a quick mea culpa.  I almost dismissed him outright, but Ben might be right.  I'm not 100% sold yet--still doing some digging.  But it's looking like he's correct.  

 

Short story--reached out to a bunch of folks from the community--everything from old Sailors to the head tech rep that worked on her from day one. I got ALL sorts of answers from yes they're the same, to not sure, to who the heck cares?!  As I said earlier, the two windscreen panels are the same. They even had the same part number in the supply system. Supposed only difference between the 2 aircraft was where they got drilled to accept the screws that held them in place on the canopy bow (I'm not that big of a rivet counter...) It's the curved side ones that are looking different. It was bothering me, as I couldn't remember any difference and what I've built thus far lined up with my drawings and the rather poor drawings from the manuals (cause we all know how drawings work).

 

Here's some pics I used to illustrate where the difference is. I grabbed 2 pics from seaforces.org and then superimposed them.

 

Here's a Prowler:

 

Here's the Intruder:

 

You can see they're taken from nearly the same spot, so the perspective is good (close enough for my SWAG). Here I made the Intruder transparent and overlaid it on the Prowler. To check that they're the same size, I lined up the splitter on the intake. The forward gear doors and the nose gear are also lined up...

 

Finally, I lined up the windscreen to take a look at the side sections. You can see for yourself that the lighter section (Intruder) is indeed bigger than the Prowlers.  Not by much mind you, but definitely bigger. Again a SWAG on my part, but I'm guessing it's around 3 inches max. Even had a comment that it wouldn't be noticeable in this scale. YMMV, but 3 inches equates to around 2mm in 1/32... enough to be noticeable and that I'll account for it. Will mull it over before I decide how to tackle it--on the plus side I'm going from bigger to smaller, so I could actually sand of some of it to account for the difference. Easier than trying to make my own clear parts (which I'll still have to do for the canopy...and don't ask about the gold coating, cause I'm dreading that!!!!)

 

So in short...do your homework. And don't count on those of us that spent a lifetime in and around a particular airplane (tank, ship, whatever) to remember, or even know. Just my .02 worth!

 

Thanks for following along and the comments!

-Peter

 

 

[Starfighter]

Good post, Peter!  I have used the kit's windshield and just sanded the lower edges to obtain the proper shape. I recast the windshield first to make some tests before fiddling around with the kit part. 

 

By the way, if you'd like to see how a Prowler with an Intruder windshield assembly looks, check out the 1/48 Monogram Prowler. They seem to have used a non-modified Intruder windscreen and it makes the model look extremely strange IMO. 

[easixpedro]

OK Lads, small progress this weekend. But wanted to share regardless. 

 

Managed to make the center section between the fore and aft cockpits. Built it similarly to the rest...by just planking sections of styrene together. Allowed me to use the leftover piece of the Trumpy canopy to get the profile right.

 

 

And here it is with some sanding and a bit of putty. I also feckled around with using that Trumpeter canopy. Wont work (could, maybe) cause if you look carefully, it's kind of bowed (blown). That profile is good for the forward canopy, but the arch precludes its use on the aft canopy. Will end up having to form them myself... You can also see that I've started sanding the windscreen. Have taken off a little less than 2mm...going slow here so I don't ruin the part. Goal with all of this is to get the clear stuff assembled before I start on the interior. I won't attach anything so I can set it aside till its needed. Guaranteed that if I built out the cockpits,  I'd end up with a ton of sanding dust inside my closed up cockpits...

Till next time!

Peter

[easixpedro]

Well...

 

Haven't updated this since September 2020!?  But I took a break to clear my head and work on that Airfix Hellcat.  Just completed that one and hauled out the box to see where I'd left off.  Still haven't sorted the canopies.  As I mull that over, I thought I might as well start on the wings. Got all the flaps and slats built up. Also worked on the flaperons (the things just forward of the flaps--the Prowler didn't have ailerons).  All in all, a fun winter's afternoon.

 

Here's one of the wings built up. Managed to fill all the rivets with Perfect Plastic Putty. Trimmed off the wing fences--the inboard needs to be relocated, but both need to be made into a bit more scale thickness. Trimmed off the wing fold hinge  and then made my own. Pretty easy--just took some plans that I found on the net, scaled them in PowerPoint to the size of the wings and printed them off. Used that to trace onto some scrap styrene and was off to the races. Have some more sanding to do, but pretty pleased with the first attempt! Other things to note, differences from the kit: Trimmed off the innermost section of the wing--the Intruder has a much more pointed section, which I just sanded down to match the wing profile. Also added a fairing at the wingtip--don't use the kit piece as they're different between the 2 a/c. 

 

Next up, hopefully getting the bottom of this wing done to show those differences for anyone else crazy enough to attempt this...!

-Peter

[Marcel111]

Very impressive build, wow!

 

Marcel

[easixpedro]

OK, quick update as I battle through the wings.  

 

Managed to work on the wing fold fairing and get it situated.  I sanded the basic profile till I was happy then added the folding doors on the top out of .10 sheet styrene. I scored it and snapped it, but didn't break it.  I might go back and add the piano hinges out of stretched sprue or something.  You can see where I primed it once already to see how it looked. Lot's of sanding later, we have this. Flaps and slats are just sitting there to see how it'll look.

 

Here's a comparison of the port and starboard wings. Pay no mind to my sloppy application of perfect plastic putty! Wing fences won't get attached until I'm done scribing the correct inspection panels etc.  Trumpeter is close, but it is an A-6 wing, so there are some differences that I'll have to sort.

 

The other major difference besides the fairing is the wingfold fairing on the pylon.  Made this by layering styrene and then sanding it. You'll also note the piece of sprue peaking out of the small square. I closed it as Trumpeter has that on both sides of the pylon--it's only on the port side. It's where the safety pins were attached to the bomb racks to keep stores from being jettisoned.  I'll add some stuff inside this to replicate the receptacle for the pin and it'll look good.

 

Here's the other side.  You can see it filled. Also remember how I said not to use the antenna fairing from the kit?! I my haste during a quick 15 minutes of dorking around one night I did just that...  Should have (did) know better, just was rushed and then had to cut it off.  And fill and sand to pay my penance...  I also sanded off the armor plating on the inboard wing.  It's not there on a Prowler, just Intruders. You can also see where I've started roughing out where the inspection panels are for the wing.  Will go back and scribe those before doing anything else, then I can attach the wing fences (they wouldn't survive otherwise).

 

Here's a comparison of the other wing. I've highlighted the armor plating to come off. And that dang antenna that I put on...?! As for the pylons, I'm leaving these alone, as the outboard stations usually had the jamming pods. There's a fairing between the two that blocks any viewing of the bomb rack. I'll have to make that bomb rack for the inboard pylons.  More on that when the time comes.

 

And the other side--you can see the big difference between the fairings on the pylon. I could have cut it off prior, but left it on to help strengthen the wing join as the glue set. It's pretty strong now so I'm not too concerned about manhandling it. 

 

My last thought is the little piece of plastic between the flaps and the speedbrakes. That's the fuel dump. If I'd been thinking, I would have filed it down prior to gluing the wing halves together, alas I didn't and have gone back and chain drilled it and hollowed it out to represent the real deal (no pics). 

 

As with most things in life, having a plan would make things go easier. Now that I've got the wings almost situated, I'll have to sit down and think my way through the upcoming steps--no point in making my life harder (i.e. fuel dumps and gluing on the wrong antennas).  This will definitely come into play as I figure out how to attach the wings and flaps/slats and the order to paint things in. Lot's of red, gloss white and the classic grays...

 

That's it for now. More as I finish the other wing.

-Peter

[jeroen_R90S]

I just went through the whole thing, that is really cool! And quite daring too, cutting up a pretty expensive kit!

Does your kit also have all those sunken areas in the flap tracks, spoiler/ailerons (or what they are called IRL) and slats? It felt like I spent ages filling all that.

 

Jeroen

[A-10LOADER]

Well you certainly like a challenge that's for sure, I commend you for taking this on.

Steve

[easixpedro]

29 minutes ago, A-10LOADER said:

Well you certainly like a challenge that's for sure, I commend you for taking this on.

Steve

More like a screw (or several) loose!  I do like a challenge though.  My problem is I don't like to build static scenes, which ends up being some sort of dramatic action snapshot in time (e.g. the F6F I just finished).  I think this'll work out, just gonna have to take my time.

36 minutes ago, jeroen_R90S said:

I just went through the whole thing, that is really cool! And quite daring too, cutting up a pretty expensive kit!

Does your kit also have all those sunken areas in the flap tracks, spoiler/ailerons (or what they are called IRL) and slats? It felt like I spent ages filling all that.

 

Jeroen

Thanks. Unfortunately it's my only option to get a Prowler (other than 1/48th), so nothing ventured, nothing gained! I flew the old girl for 18 years and realized that although I've built a bunch of models of it, I've given them all away. Needed something to display, but wanted it to be big enough to make a statement.  If I can pull it off, it'll be a nice centerpiece of my display.

[easixpedro]

Ooof.  

 

Well, I just realized where the next big difference between the 2 wings are (not an Intruder guy mind you, so my mind has been blown as I realized this).

 

Here's a pic from Jake's wonderful book, "The Modern Prowler Guide" (used for illustrative purposes). The slats on the Intruder stop before the dog leg. On the Prowler, they extend inward to that notch in the wing.  I didn't realize this and now have some decisions to make.

 

Here's the kit. I started to cut it out and stopped to ponder things over. 

 

 

Have to decide here and now. Continue with an inflight bird, but with the flaps and slats up and scrap the entire arrested landing scene? Or bite the bullet here and attempt to cut wings that I've already glued together and try to fix the slat differences?

 

It's even worse underneath as the fairings on the landing gear door are complex. Monogram hosed it on their Prowler, Kinetic got it right. Also, a big difference between the two airframes, is that that forward gear door stayed open on the Intruder while the gear was down--on the Prowler, it cycled to reduce drag.

Again, a pic from the Modern Prowler Guide:

 

Lots of cutting if I go my planned route...

 

Will have to think about this some.

 

Easy answer is to clean up the jet and press on (I just need the flap tracks for the clean configuration, but I tossed them in the trash last night before pickup day today. There's a blizzard on the plains right now w/ 65 MPH winds and blowing snow. Plus side is that it cancelled trash pickup so I can save 'em.  I'm sure my neighbors will wonder why I'm rummaging through the trashcan in a blizzard...) 

 

Hard answer is to make the cuts, and go as planned. It means a LOT of work, that may be beyond my ability to get right. I checked the kit with everything on it and the tailhook attached and my planned scene will work weight wise.

 

Will let you know what I figure out.  Kind of at a stopping point till then.

-Peter

 

 

[jmel]

Dude, there would be no more impressive model anywhere, ANYWHERE, than a 1/32 Prowler suspended by its hook as it slams down on the deck.  I know it adds work, but you've already done such great work.  You got this!

Jake