Trumpeter A-6A "VA-65"

[jeroen_R90S]

Good stuff, Jari, thanks! That first shot is a good close up of that rod and shows the Trumpeter part is pretty lame... I might rebuild it with some brass tubing, but still have not found at what spot it would normally touch the wing/fuselage root. I'll keep looking around for some pictures as well

I originally did not want to use the rods but the folding mechanism is so weak I'm pretty much forced to. And they add a splash of colour...

 

So, back to the original problem... the too-large holes, or too smal rods on the idler mechanism which is one of the main bearing components on the Trumpeter mechanism.

After giving it some thought and try to drill out the unfolded pins to use as sleeves (which did not work) I settled on some aluminium tubing I found at my local hobby shop.

The inner diameter is 3,2mm and the outer 3,9, so for the rods going to the idler mechnism it's a pretty snug fit, but the holes in the wings needed to be enlarged. I decided not to drill them as I wanted them as tight as possible. So I used a round file and eventually got them to fit. This time however, the plastic sides started to wobble partly due to the thinning, so I inserted about 10cm of the tubing until it touches the end somewhere and now things are tight -a dab of rubberized CA to make sure it'll never get out again finished this part of the mini-project. The process was repeated for the other 3 parts.

I hate it when I run into issues like this on a 99% completed model... so by fixing this now, crisis averted, it seemed.

(the crooked lugs show up pretty bad here... ) The black CA looks worse than it is, some of it will be cleaned up later)

 

However, upon doing the umteenth dryfit I discoverd the wings now would not line up properly, because the idler mechanism could not be inserted far enough.

I then proceeded to remove the raised ridge on the rods so they can be inserted as far as needed -and as a bonus, since that ridge is not there on the real A-6, it looks a bit more realistic as well.

 

I forgot the "fore" picture, so here's how Trumpeter depicted them:

 

And after removing that ridge:

The parts can now be inserted snugly and aligned. However, the plastic triangle is still the weakest part, necessitating the use of the support rods from the outer wing tips to the fuselage.

I would loved to post a picture of the dry fit, but tackling this problem has finally allowed me to install the remaining PE on the fixed part of the wing fold and that's drying now and I don't dare touch... fiddly stuff!

 

Thanks for having a look,

 

Jeroen

Edited November 12, 2022 by jeroen_R90S

[Finn]

Here are a couple more photos:

 

 

in this one you can see a couple of dark spots that may be the locations for the strut:

 

 

Jari

[jeroen_R90S]

Thanks again Jari, I just keep being amazed where you find this stuff! On careful inspection those 2 little black patches/holes are present on the Trumpeter kit, mystery solved it seems!

 

Fortunately I have some good news to report, as thanks to my metal tube reinforcement and the removal of the ridges/end stops on the idler mechanism, in combination with (finally) the installation of the fairings which add positive guidance I can now install the wings without much fuss and they stay (albeit wobbly) in place witout the rod. If it weren't for some parts needing to between the inner and outer parts I could even have gotten away with leaving them separate. No glue or anything here:

I finished the last of the PE parts, and added hydraulic wires (they are in the PE set but simply flat) -they should go behind the actuators but alas, they are cast in the outer frame so I used some artistic freedom and drilled some holes in te pylon to make them end somewhere. Don't tell anyone

There are also some (electrical?) cables running between the inner and outer parts, as wel as a few plastic parts that'll need to be installed after final installation (near the end I tried one, and they all fit), so this part of the model isn't holding op going to paint any more.

 

I also fidded with the fuselage speed brakes, Trumpeter will have you install them fullly open (or closed) but they seem to droop with time so I wanted them slightly open. After the wing folds, nothing too challenging, just some careful measuring, cut, trim, and glue together. Of course I forgot the before picture to show how much I removed...

and a dry-fit with the speed brakes installed:

I had thought to close them a bit more, but realized you can't see al lot of the insides any more afterwards, so I compromised a bit.

Another little task off the list!

 

I have also cleaned and degreased the flaps etc as I need to paint some of that before final installation.

 

Jeroen

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by jeroen_R90S

[Greif8]

Absolutely brilliant work Jeroen!  Both your scratch building and solutions to issues that have cropped up during the build are top shelf.  

 

Ernest

[TimW]

Awesome work on a not-so-easy kit.

 

Outstanding!

 

Tim W.

[Finn]

Jeroen here is a view of the starboard wing fold of a A-6B:

 

 

Jari

[jeroen_R90S]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:13 AM, Greif8 said:

Absolutely brilliant work Jeroen!  Both your scratch building and solutions to issues that have cropped up during the build are top shelf.  

 

Ernest

Thanks Ernest -I guess I'm kind of problem solving type of person. I'm liking the painting and weathering stage more and more, but am more of a construction type at heart. I have gotten a Tamiya Spitfire last week, so I'm curious how just building and finishing the kit will grab me!

On 11/28/2022 at 3:16 PM, TimW said:

Awesome work on a not-so-easy kit.

 

Outstanding!

 

Tim W.

Thanks Tim!

On 11/28/2022 at 9:10 PM, Finn said:

Jeroen here is a view of the starboard wing fold of a A-6B:

 

 

Jari

Thanks Jari, that's a great shot showing some more details (al lot of which is neither in the Trumpeter kit, nor provided by Eduard...) and some fluid leaking that I've noted down for the paint and weathering stage!

[jeroen_R90S]

I won't bore you with how I installed the remaining parts on the underside, such as the tail hook well PE and center pylon... but as the lower-side to-do list was approaching zero I felt it safe enough to install the windscreen.

 

However, I felt it looked rather bare, with (I think) just the compass in there. So I added a wire to to it, but also noticed that there are some prominent hand-holds there. I made a quick template from some scrap Evergreen styrene and bent 2 pieces in thin lead wire. The compass, it's wiring and the hand-holds were 'glued'  in place with old (thickened) clear gloss. (the compass is still dryfit in the photo and is not correctly placed yet)

The hand-holds are slightly overscale and would not fit in the correct position (they should be more to the top, but won't match the curvature) so I settled for this. In real life they're probably not very useful like this as the instrument panel and coaming would be in the way

And thanks to @Anthony in NZ and @John1 with both their fabulous Phantom builds I kept plodding away at the curly wire for the light in the main canopy.

Not quite long and curved/bent enough, but hey, better than either nothing or all my previous attempts The mirrors are also done but will be installed later, as they are rather fragile and in the way...

And with that installed, and painted, it was time for installing the last bits like the sight clear parts and finally glueing the perfectly-fitting windscreen and start masking everything off in preparation for paint. For the first time used an Eduard mask set I got cheap with the PE parts -fits pretty well, though I'll mask the remaining parts with tape rather than masking fluid.

 

Happy 2023 all!

 

Jeroen

[easixpedro]

Hey Jeroen, looking good!

 

Great details on the windscreen! I vaguely recall using that handle once to pull myself forward and retrieve a chart that had fallen towards the forward part of the coaming.

 

As for the Jury strut, if you haven’t figured it out, there’s a small circular divot just aft of the RAM turbine housing. 
-Peter

[Anthony in NZ]

Yup brilliant update! 
Your curly cord and lamp look perfect! What are you using to glue your parts to the transparencies with? Looks lovely and clean 

Awesome update!

All the best for a successful modelling year for 2023!!

[Greif8]

Nice bit of scratchbuilding Jereon!  Happy New Year to you as well man!

 

Ernest

[jeroen_R90S]

Thanks for checking in and tagging along!

I've been a bit quiet, but painting this thing up sure takes some effort!

Some time ago I found this great photo, not of my exact aircraft but same unit and time. This is about the look I intend to get, used but not a complete mess either

I have no idea where I found it or whose copyright it is, so if it is copyrighted let me know and I'll remove it or credit the owner. That nose sure looks different from the anti-glare area, though this photo seems rather reddish.

 

I started out on the tailplanes, as they would be easier to strip if they did not end up to my liking. The most painted one is about the look I'm going for prior to the final blending with pure gloss white. Painting so far was done by priming with Revell 9 Antracite (enamel) and marbling with Revell 5 flat white, which has a yellow-ish hue like most flats do. Like I wrote, I'll do the blend coat with pure white.

 

However, as some may have realized from the photo of the original, the A-6 is a pretty substantial aeroplane, so I did the marble in sessions to keep my sanity Lots of hours in there already, but slowly working towards my tailplane-example. When all is marbled I'll blend it all together to prevent parts done in separate sessions from looking all that different. Looks like about one more session of white marbling and it should be ready for the final blend coat of white. However, far from done yet, as there are also several other parts requiring attention, like the gear doors, boarding steps, gear, etc etc. I work on these between the marble sessions

 

Still a bit miffed I'm now painting this -I started this in the summer of 2020!

 

Jeroen

 

PS a bit of an apology for not replying or liking other's gorgeous builds (yet)... that's a compliment as well, lots of good stuff being built, I can't keep up!

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by jeroen_R90S

[jeroen_R90S]

On 12/31/2022 at 9:15 PM, Anthony in NZ said:

What are you using to glue your parts to the transparencies with? Looks lovely and clean

Hi Anthony,

 

I mostly use Revell Aqua clear gloss paint (from the square containers), this is quite thick and although it takes a bit of time to set up works really well, especially if you prime metal parts with metal primer first (for PE or the grab handles).

Tamiya X-22 on a piece of tape will dry (i.e. thicken) quite quickly as well, that works, too!

The windshield itself had it's edges made black with a permanent marker and I carefully used Extra Thin for that, as the fit was great but the ends would bend out a tiny bit and not match up with the canopy part itself.

 

Jeroen

[Greif8]

That painting technique looks pretty cool Jeroen!  

 

Ernest

[Finn]

Here are a couple more nose photos of different aircraft, same squadron:

 

 

 

Jari