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Trumpeter A-6A "VA-65"


jeroen_R90S

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Well Jeroen...

I have a rather epic buildthread where I started on an E and ended up doing an early A and completely turned my build around :P You don't always know where you end up when you start a build.

But what I can tell is that the early A on Enterprise had white ladders not red :)

 

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/300425-a-6e-intruder/&tab=comments#comment-2877039E

 

The Finished model

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/303884-grumman-a-6a-intruder-va-35-black-panthers-uss-enterprise-1966/&tab=comments#comment-2911909

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That's a lot of work indeed, especially starting with the, let's put it politely, less than optimal Kinetic Intruder!

I like the scheme (and result) a lot :)

 

As for all the mods, AOA decals includes a great 'cheat sheet' with all the stuff you can do to make a better A model. This deals with speed brakes, wing tips, antenna fits, lower fuselage chaff dispensers, etc etc. It's really useful and seems to be a labour of love :) You can see it here:

79c68b3cd0b4ccd33e7839be3f643551.jpg

Obviously there is a lot more to modify and detail as well, as the cockpit and instrument panels geometry are off for example. Though I'm not opposed to hacking up innocent plastic models, that's too much work even for me. The Viggen is big, but so is the A-6, and I do want to have it finished eventually, so sometimes I let things be. (don't tell anyone ;) )

 

My boarding ladders will be white -another neat detail is the orange seat cushions of the older style seats, as well as the seemingly white inside of the speed brakes and red (with white pipework) interour of the speed brake well.

Finding out stuff like that and learning about the subject is (for me) half the fun :)

 

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4 hours ago, jeroen_R90S said:

That's a lot of work indeed, especially starting with the, let's put it politely, less than optimal Kinetic Intruder!

I like the scheme (and result) a lot :)

 

As for all the mods, AOA decals includes a great 'cheat sheet' with all the stuff you can do to make a better A model. This deals with speed brakes, wing tips, antenna fits, lower fuselage chaff dispensers, etc etc. It's really useful and seems to be a labour of love :) You can see it here:

79c68b3cd0b4ccd33e7839be3f643551.jpg

Obviously there is a lot more to modify and detail as well, as the cockpit and instrument panels geometry are off for example. Though I'm not opposed to hacking up innocent plastic models, that's too much work even for me. The Viggen is big, but so is the A-6, and I do want to have it finished eventually, so sometimes I let things be. (don't tell anyone ;) )

 

My boarding ladders will be white -another neat detail is the orange seat cushions of the older style seats, as well as the seemingly white inside of the speed brakes and red (with white pipework) interour of the speed brake well.

Finding out stuff like that and learning about the subject is (for me) half the fun :)

 

Indeed, research is a part of the build and looking for references is almost as fun as the build itself! Really nice cheat sheet...would have been very practical :D

True joy is when you happen upon a person who has a connection to the model you are building :D

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  • 4 weeks later...

So, a bit of a proper update hopefully, and no, it isn't finished yet :D

First here's how the lower rear fuselage now looks, other than around the V-shape, which I re-instated with thin Evergreen strips thanks to @easixpedro it's pretty much there -most of the other seam-work is pretty much done as well.

I'll give it a good clean and some more primer, then go over it again for the hopefully last time before the whole thing is getting primed!

0b52b7137a8eaae4915ac9a4bd82e3b9.jpg

 

As much as I find fill-sand-scripe-prime-repeat relaxing in it's own way, it does get tedious with this many seams to handle, though the fit isn't mostly all that bad, it's just that there are so many! So in between I worked on the landing gear, using the tips on thickness of lead wire here in the forum. One of these tips was to use a bit thicker wire than realistic, as otherwise (unless it's painted a different colour) it gets lost and that would be as shame after all that cursing!

 

Please don't use the following for your own model, the Trumpeter legs have some discrepancies which I had to deal with while routing the lines and hoses. ;)

couple of notes: the upper wire (from the plastic triangle thing to the bracket all the way up the nose gear leg) was made from thin steel wire with bit of 0,5mm albion tubing; there is a bit of plastic sticking out over which the tube fits -glue in place, put wire in the other and with some glue, and one half done! Glue tube to the other end, squeeze a bit, and glue in the upper bracket -done. I also added some bits of evergreen to simulate the articulated joints in the hoses. Sure was fiddly as can be seen by some wires that need a bit of straightening... I found some good shots on how the lines run on the retraction arm only after I had guessed at them, but it's mostly hidden in the bay, so don't tell anyone... ;)

36737309ac5c1620c832a6534ecf707b.jpg
3f59baa2abd6d27c55b2c6b3dcd72766.jpg

(sorry about the background!)

 

The main gear was a bit easier, less complex, and Trumpeter kindly provided a plastic part to which the lines terminate, wrap around the leg, and hoses start.

The hose clamp on the scissor was made from some left-over PE from the seat belt fret; it should actually be underneath the big bolt at the end, but I was afraid I could not get that off (I'd already attached all the parts to the leg) properly so, again, some artistic licence there.

One of the hoses goes somewhere into the strut itself, the other 2 appear to be for the brakes which are part of the back of the Reskit wheels, so I'll leave those free until the wheel is attached.

2c8858a642d5ec31de22018c53c90a3f.jpg

 

Doing the lines and wires was a first for me, and I have lots to learn... very, very fiddly and frustrating at times, but I like the results.

 

Jeroen

Edited by jeroen_R90S
forgot MLG picture...
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Thank for tagging along everyone, currently working on the next installment, but 2 things first....:

  1. found this cool video on Youtube, some very intersting VA-65 stuff there (though the latter part looks like it does not belong, being about the 1967 Forrestal fire)
    Highlights: cool shots of camouflaged Intruders, also later on some where part of the camouflage has been stripped off, and wat looks like the start of the Forrestal deployment where the overpainted tail codes are still visible, as well as the orange/yellow squadron insignia (later went to green) The timeline is a bit mixed up, but neat stuff hidden in there.
  2. I've been fiddling with paper copies of the decals and I keep coming back to the 1967 scheme with the stylized AA.... :( Unfortunately I wanted to do the 1966 scheme first, but they had very differently marked MERs. The 1967 scheme also has loadouts with LAU-10s on the inboard pylons. So I've put up a WTB/WTT in the trader's board... I hope someone is willing to sell or trade some Tamiya MERs and/or LAU-10s from somewhere...

More to come!

 

Jeroen

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  • 1 month later...

Haven't done much on the gear parts, other than coat them with Tamiya metal etching primer and later in Mr Surfacer, which I'll leave for a month so it can  hopefully stick now... (fingers crossed!)

 

While that was out of the way and the current situation in Europe, and at work, not really helping my motivation regarding getting the main wheel bays seamless, eventually I did pick up that boring job and after a few more tries ended up with some pretty decent, seamless, if bare, wheel bays.

With that job finally done, I had to start on another one I had pushed ahead of me... the photo etched boarding ladders in the kit. To refrain from using colourful language and showing a minor hint of frustraition, let's start with the result first:

Afbeelding

Well, not great, but not bad either -the black stuff is AK Rubberized CA which is slower-drying and not as frigile as normal CA. Downsides are that it's black, so unpainted each and every spot shows up, and be prepared to hold it in place a bit longer before it's stuck. Really fun was sandwitching the plastic rod between the two crescent shaped sides.... :(

I should have replaced that with some tubing and wire with hindsight.

 

So, eventually I got them done, but it sure wasn't fun, partly due to a lack of tools. So I (finally) bought one of these mini-bender tools, in my case from Meng-DSPIAE:

http://www.meng-model.com/en/contents/59/309.html

Now, this page page tells me PE parts can be fun -yes, sure! :P

With  the tool in hand, i now had the problem that I had bent all the kit supplied PE already and thus had nothing to work on.... The same supplier also had a discount on an Eduard external PE-set for the A-6A.

Figuring by using an add-on PE set I would not have much to loose, I set about bending some stuff:

83461db6217201781b1d848edb5acd8a.jpg

It still was fiddly (you can't bend the louvres with the tool) but it worked, and I was happy with the result -currently working on the wing fold parts  that you also get in this set.

The stuff above is for the tail hook well, the little bracket thing seems to be a lock or retainer for the tail hook, the other parts are at the rear and other than that they look cool I have no idea what they are :D

 

You also get this rather flat stuff with the PE-set -I'd thought about hacking open the pylons and scratchbuild some interiour, but as I stated ealier, eventually I do want to get this model done... as it is I'm guilty of scope creep anyway with the PE set, as our project leaders would say.

9d0cd011428216093c3580d60f9e204a.jpg

I intend to paint the holes not covered by PE dark grey or black to simulate depth; I'm doing it with the wings folded so the model won't be put upside down all that much after completion I suppose.

 

And a small correction regarding part O35; it should be on top as it does not fit in the indicated position and a quick DuckDuckGo-search showed it should probably at the top. Unfortunaly I had already modified and glued them, resulting in some hacking and sawing and they are corrected now..

61194a3e45def1de3ba83ec49d9ad0ab.jpg

 

That's all for now, the next update will hopefully show a bit more assembly on the airframe (flaps, slats and outer wing pylons) and the installation of the wingfold PE.

If anyone knows what those 4 louvred parts I folded are for, I'm really, really curious!

 

Jeroen

 

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Jeroen that is some super delicate work you have done there, you should have been a jeweler!

Might have to try some of that CA, I am always up for experimenting etc.  Great update you didn't disappoint...apart from the spelling :D...just kidding

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks guys!

That film is neat too, nice footage of the rather obscure A-6C!

 

I'm nearing the stage where I can attach the windscreen and then, finally, coat it in black primer. However, I wanted to test it first on a model, so I dug up one of my 1/72 models as a test, but that required more work than anticipated and now I'm distracted! :D

However, there is too much work in the Intruder to use that as a practice object ;)

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  • 4 months later...

Hey Maru, sorry for responding so late, apparently I had missed your comment in my notifications! Thanks for having a look :)

 

----------------------

So, with said 1/72 Phantom being a lot more involved than I had originally estimated, work on the A-6 had stalled a bit.

However, with the F-4S now getting pretty close to completion and with oil paints needing their time to fully cure I went back to the A-6. FWIW, the small-scale F-4S is here:

So, back to the A-6. As this is a big and complex model, both to build and paint, I set about making a to-do list before primer first, which, like the F-4S, turned out a lot more involved than I originally had in my mind. But this was the point of the list anyway, so to make it shorter I started with the outer wings first. These needed some modifications, as well as some PE added to them.

I had noticed the flaperspoileronthings (easixpedro explained how they work and what they're correctly called but I can't find the thread any more :( ) droop a bit on the outer wings when folded, and I intended to replicate this. However, Trumpeter only provides full down or full up, so I used the full up supports and carefully cut and bend them so that they are just a bit open instead of fully opened.

This photo gives an idea, and also shows that the inside does not appear to be completely red as Trumpeter indicates,, but just the outer strip, although I have no idea if this was the factory finish for an A-6A or something done later to A-6E's. Edit: I also noticed the inside of the "well" for the flaps/ailerspoilertings seems white instead of red.

https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2014/01/grumman-6-wing-fold-differences.html

Basic+A-6+Wing+Fold.jpg

Thanks to Tommy Thomassens blog for this nice photo -note that on 1:1 scale there are some overspray issues on the flap- and spoilerairlerthings red as well! :D Also note how flat the e.g. the flaps side are on the model v.s. the real thing where the edges overlap the frame...

 

So, on to the model. Here's how I eyeballed them, look pretty good if I may say so myself:

302612f9a350ef73787de0131ba5a5a0.jpg

Then it was onto the navigation lights -as you may recall I modded the wingtips with the old-style lights per AOA instructions and photo's, but the forward lights are standard Trumpeter ones I had intended to fit later into the build to prevent more masking. However, on close inspection they had sink marks in them (yuck) and one of the sprue attachments is on the visible side so I'd need to sand and polish anyway. Also turned out the fit isn't all that great, so on they went, along with the speed brakes:

3a2f2274db0a77d326fd2fbd27a3e82b.jpg

Tamiya Clear Red for one side, 2/3 Clear Blue and 1/3 Clear Green for the other. In case you're wondering why they are not very glossy, that is because I tried to protect them for the next steps and taped them off while the paint had apparently not full cured :( That'll need an additional coat or hopefully just some polishing will make them nice again.

 

The aforementioned next step involved the PE for the wingfolds. The flat plates look nice enough, but I'm not too thrilled with the lugs. This has 2 causes, 1 of which is of my own doing. I had already assembled everything before buying this PE set, and for using the lugs I needed to remove plastic I had indeed glued very well. This is a lot easier with the parts still unassembled and their installation is neither clean, nor was it fun to to... . The other thing is that the lugs are pretty substantial pieces of metal and these look nice "in scale" but in reality are far too thin. If I were to do this again I'd drill the holes in the plastic part and be done with it. :)

07de0151050c6722a56d5f98ff2c9c40.jpg

The next step will be some cleanup, and black primer. I learned from the F-4S that the marbe stage is pretty boring so based on my to-do list I've decided to finish as many separate assemblies as I can and prime them black, then marble and put them aside. The final blend (coats) I'd like to do in 1 go to make sure the parts don't look all that different.

With all the YZC, metal, white and red area's I predict a lot of masking, though!

 

Jeroen

 

 

Edited by jeroen_R90S
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  • 2 months later...

Thanks Maru!  Always nice to have you look in on my build :)

----------------------------

 

Unfortunately I've been really busy with my new job, study for certification etc etc.

Slowly picking up the A-6 again, and working on getting the wing folds done. One of the things I needed to do was assemble the big supports (marked wing fold idler in the photo of the real thing, way above), which I did and did a test-fit of the outer wings.

The fit of the ends going in into the holes of the wings is really loose, so I measured them: the hole is 3,4mm, the pin 3,15. No wonder.... interestingly the spread wing pin is much closer and fits much better.

 

So, the question to other A-6 builders who did one with folded wings, is that sloppy-floppy fit workable (e.g. by eventually glueing the mechanism in place with thick tube glue?) or did you put a sleeve on the pin, or insert a tube in the (enlarged?) wing holes?

 

There is also a supporting rod that goes to the fuselage/wingroot -> the indication is really, really vague. Anyone have and idea where that is supposed to go? The outer wings have holes for it, but the fuselage/wing does not appear to have them...

The instructions are really, really vague...

 

Jeroen

Edited by jeroen_R90S
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