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

[Starfighter]

Looking great so far, Peter! Regarding the ALQ-99s - are you aware Harold from AMS resin has high band ALQ-99s in his range you could use? I used them on my build and was pretty happy with them. I only upgraded them with Eduard cooling ribs. 

[easixpedro]

4 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Looking great so far, Peter! Regarding the ALQ-99s - are you aware Harold from AMS resin has high band ALQ-99s in his range you could use? I used them on my build and was pretty happy with them. I only upgraded them with Eduard cooling ribs. 

Damn! Completely and utterly forgot about them. But then again, they might be too heavy. Will see how this mold works out and have the resin as a backup. Have been toying with up to 4 jamming pods, and doing them in resin will add significant weight  to that moment arm.

Thanks for keeping me honest Ben!

[easixpedro]

The slow March continues...

Managed to get one of the engine faces built up. Lots of discussions about how the intakes are wrong, but all I fixed was the inlet guide vanes. I didn't want resin because of the weight,  and frankly you can't see anything once its tucked away. I forgot to take a photo before attaching it--because I broke this about 8 times prior to getting something solid enough to put in place.

 

Here it is with the engine bay doors in place. BTW, If you look a few pages back where I posted the pic showing the belly, if you look, you can see 2 of those dang latches hanging open! If you're making a Prowler or an early Intruder,  you'll have to sand off rhe armor plating on this forward door. You can see my heavy sanding here.

 

Here's a pic of the belly. You can see the armor plate on the door on the left side of the pic. Need to make another engine face before attaching this door. Both wings are glued on now, so making some progress! She's incredibly stout now and quite sturdy, so happy I've taken the route I have.

 

Next up, I'll attach the forward landing gear doors. On the Intruder,  they were open when the gear was down. On the Prowler, they cycled close to reduce drag--the Intruder came back without its bomb loads, while the Prowler came back with at least 3K Lbs of those jamming pods (1K Lbs each), so anything that helped reduce drag and lesson the power requirements was a bonus while flying around the ship. The doors also have some funky fairings that aren't present on the Intruder,  so those will get added too.

 

More soon,

-Peter

[Starfighter]

Great progress! Peter, there is a much easier way than sanding away the armor on the engine doors - just cut the door at the step, glue the initially raised portion flush with the rest of the door and eliminate the resulting steps in the countour by cutting or sanding them away once its hardened. 

[easixpedro]

9 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Great progress! Peter, there is a much easier way than sanding away the armor on the engine doors - just cut the door at the step, glue the initially raised portion flush with the rest of the door and eliminate the resulting steps in the countour by cutting or sanding them away once its hardened. 

Thanks Ben, great idea! I'll have a look...can't cause any more damage to that access panel than my sanding. I covered the first one with tape and went to town. It got pretty thin, not transparent,  but enough to give me pause!

[Starfighter]

Here is a photo showing more or less how I did it on mine... just the steps in the outline were not yet removedf at this stage. 

 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/57040-how-to-destroy-an-expensive-kit-with-just-a-few-cuts-or-prowler33/&do=findComment&comment=769128

 

[jeroen_R90S]

Looking great! I like the way the intake tubing with fan connects to the intake, much more snugly then I can get them so far. I might borrow Rich' idea from his EA-6A and splice it up, even though the parts are all painted up and ready for installation... :-S

 

I read early A-6's didn't have the armour plating as well -do you (or anyone els). Does anyone know if a 1966 A-6A would or would not have the armour installed? I haven't installed anything yet so if it would not be applicable I'm stealing Ben's idea I have some photo's of VA-65 A-6As from the era but just can't make it out...

I sanded off all the armour plating of a 1/72 Skyraider model and it was a proper chore, so all the more respect!

 

Jeroen

[easixpedro]

16 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Here is a photo showing more or less how I did it on mine... just the steps in the outline were not yet removedf at this stage. 

 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/57040-how-to-destroy-an-expensive-kit-with-just-a-few-cuts-or-prowler33/&do=findComment&comment=769128

 

Thanks Ben!  Looks MUCH easier than bringing out the big files!

 

13 hours ago, jeroen_R90S said:

Looking great! I like the way the intake tubing with fan connects to the intake, much more snugly then I can get them so far. I might borrow Rich' idea from his EA-6A and splice it up, even though the parts are all painted up and ready for installation... :-S

 

I read early A-6's didn't have the armour plating as well -do you (or anyone els). Does anyone know if a 1966 A-6A would or would not have the armour installed? I haven't installed anything yet so if it would not be applicable I'm stealing Ben's idea I have some photo's of VA-65 A-6As from the era but just can't make it out...

I sanded off all the armour plating of a 1/72 Skyraider model and it was a proper chore, so all the more respect!

 

Jeroen

Well, I did the latex house paint method, so there's a fair bit of added layers to make them fit more snuggly. Serendipitous moment if there ever was one!

 

As for the armor plating on A-6A's, I'd say leave it. I looked through my HD and it appears as if they were introduced after the first combat deployment by VA-75 on the Independence in 65. By 65-66 with VA-85 and then VA-65 in 66, they all had it. Mind you the first deployments almost ended the Intruder before it began. They had horrible losses.  Off the top of my head, VA-85 on Kitty Hawk lost over half their planes and all leadership of the squadron...

 

Here's VA-42 in the early 60s, no plating:

 

Here's VA-75 on the Indy in 65--no plating that I can see:

 

And here's VA-65 in 1966 prior to leaving on deployment, with armor plating plainly visible:

 

-Peter

 

[JMcD]

Nice conversion work here, I liked the canopy treatment a lot, very good job

[easixpedro]

Well, ‘twas a successful night at the bench. I was going to take some photos to show the mods in the intake...Buuuuut, I was on a roll and completely spaced it. Seriously, haven’t been that focused and in the zone in some time!

 

Needless to say, I got the engine face in and have it all buttoned up. Ben’s trick for the engine bay door worked like a charm. Just a bit of sanding where I’ve covered up the rivets, and I’ll start thinking about the cockpit!

 

Also unpacked the landing gear. Didn’t realize they’re solid metal and pretty hefty. And they weigh a LOT. Might have to think about casting them in resin or scratch building some to save on some ounces. I’m probably the only modeler around that is looking for gear that is less stout?!

More soon.

-Peter

 

[jeroen_R90S]

Thanks Peter -with photo's to boot! Now that I kind of know what to look for it's visible! Neat stuff

 

That landing gear is indeed quite solid; it's also the reason for a lack of updates on my build, it's a real PITA to clean up the mould seams and ejector pin marks... I don't know if there is anything else available, unless you'd cast copies in resin or so? 

A more unconventional idea would be to separate the oleo part (which I assume you need to do anyway?) and use drills to drill out the inside of the legs to make them hollow... that white metal isn't all [i]that[/i] tough.

 

Jeroen

[easixpedro]

4 hours ago, jeroen_R90S said:

Thanks Peter -with photo's to boot! Now that I kind of know what to look for it's visible! Neat stuff

 

That landing gear is indeed quite solid; it's also the reason for a lack of updates on my build, it's a real PITA to clean up the mould seams and ejector pin marks... I don't know if there is anything else available, unless you'd cast copies in resin or so? 

A more unconventional idea would be to separate the oleo part (which I assume you need to do anyway?) and use drills to drill out the inside of the legs to make them hollow... that white metal isn't all [i]that[/i] tough.

 

Jeroen

The thought of drilling them crossed my mind. I’ll cross / burn that bridge when the time comes. You’re right though as I will have to separate them to get the oleos  the right size, so it’ll be a chance to tinker...

-Peter

[Starfighter]

Could it be an option to rebuild the (main) landing gear with brass tubes and to use only the upper triangular hinge portion and the part below the oleo from the kit parts to save weight and to easily realize the extended oleo? 

[easixpedro]

23 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Could it be an option to rebuild the (main) landing gear with brass tubes and to use only the upper triangular hinge portion and the part below the oleo from the kit parts to save weight and to easily realize the extended oleo? 

Thanks Ben! I like it. I checked out the gear last night and that may be doable. I’ll deal with it when the time comes though. Next major hurdle is figuring out the canopies and cockpits.

Peter 

[easixpedro]

Just a little progress to report.  Managed to get the forward main landing gear doors attached. They fit like the doors of an old Monogram kit if you've ever tried to build one of those gear up... used the Tamiya primer spray bomb to check all my work. Added benefit is it helps cover up all the rivets. Looks good in a single color. Have some seam work to do yet before I'm satisfied,  but looking good.

 

Also need to add the various scoops and inlets. I'm happy to see her "graceful" lines coming out.

 

 

And a top down view, (have seen a lot of this view from HUD tapes of various Viper, Hornet and Tomcat drivers as they describe our horrible Guns-defense in the debrief.  Like clubbing baby seals. In fact, I think the only time I've had another plane in front of the 3-9 line was fighting a Jaguar. The entire crew was so astounded we'd gone offensive,  we didn't know what to do next. It didn't last long. Like to fat kids fighting over a ho-ho. But I digress...) The wing folds and fences turned out great, so will work to replicate some seam sealant on the wings before moving onto the canopies and cockpit .

 

Thanks for following along!

-Peter