TA-7C / EA-7L "Twosair" - Trumpeter conversion

[Starfighter]

I am weak. Very weak. Whilst waiting for the aftermarket canopies for Scooby (more on that very soon!), a very old itch became too intense not to scratch it (see what I did there? :D). 

 

Just as a little introduction to this project - Belgian master modeller and friend of mine Patrick Bouclans built a stunning 1/32nd scale EA-7L many moons ago - must have been around 2005 or 2006, shortly after the Trumpeter A-7 hit the market. This model was and still is an absolute gem and it was clear for me ever since that, I wanted to build a Twosair myself one day. 

 

Patrick's EA-7L - mindboggingly beautiful. A classic scratchbuilt conversion. 

 

 

Similarly to most of my other "one day I want to build" projects, I started collecting references, aftermarket parts and all kinds of materials I needed a few years ago. 

 

Last week, without any warning, it made "click" in my head and I had to build a Twosair. Not one day, but right now. Strange, but that's pretty much how my little scale modelling brain works... 

 

The initial plan was to use the Zcato conversion for the intake and windscreen and to build the fuselage from scratch, but it seems all that fiddling around with 3D printing makes you lazy... me at least. So I went looking for a suitable 3D model of a Twosader and actually found one - a rather good looking Flight Simulator model. The price was reduced, so I bought it to find out what could be done with it. 

 

Long story short, I was able to convert the file, make it printable and to print the parts required for the conversion.

A few cuts and a bit of sanding later, and the fuselage looked like this:

 

 

Note the "excellent" fit of the Aires wheel bays and avionics bays... they are just a tad short. Well.. at least they are nicely detailed. I'll deal with the gaps later.

 

Here's how the entire fuselage looks like. The fuselage extension was drawn by myself. As 3D files intended for games are low poly files, the surface finish is very rough and needs a lot of sanding. The nose area fits the Trumpeter fuselage pretty well, but the 3D fuselage was too narrow at the rear. I have split it and will modify the shape by hand. 

 

 

 

No Zacto intake needed - just a bit of sanding. 

 

 

 

 

I am currently waiting for two Avionix cockpits; once they have been modified to fit the fuselage, I can ho ahead with sanding, filling and scribing. Then I'll have to decide whether I'm going to build a VAQ-34 EA-7L or a VAQ-33 TA-7C. The EA-7L offers more interesting loadouts and a nice red star on the fin whilst the TA-7C would be a cool addition to my VAQ-33 history project... and they were beautifully weathered. We will see! 

 

As usual, don't expect this to be a "quick" project. I may switch forth and back between my ongoing builds; my current priority is to finish the QF-4S first and I have to wait for the Corsair cockpits anyway. Stay tuned! 

 

 

 

[Pete Fleischmann]

Fantastic Ben!
looking forward to this- and you are off to a wonderful start!
this is one to watch!

 

cheers

 

Pete

[jmel]

That's so cool!!  I built a 1/32 A-7K years ago.  Would love to do another one.

 

Jake

[easixpedro]

Oh My.

 

This will be yet another brilliant build, I'm certain.  Looking forward to it.  

 

And our brains seem to work similarly. Which is why I now have a F-4B conversion waiting impatiently...

[scvrobeson]

Awesome start!  Looks like a really fun project, and the 3D printing definitely should make it easy to have a seamless intake.

 

Is it too late to suggest a Greek TA-7?  Those things are always insanely weathered.

 

 

 

Matt 

[Anthony in NZ]

Oh wow, this is going to be brilliant!  Actually already is. Love 2 seat versions of aircraft.  

 

I totally here where you are coming from with jumping between projects...go for it!

[Dandiego]

Excellent project. My kind of build.

[Out2gtcha]

Love it!! 

[Derek B]

Brilliant Ben, I love it! I shall following for sure. Here is one that I want to make:

 

 

Derek

[reconspit]

Oh boy..., terrific work..., i‘m absolutely amazed....

Any chance of buying a „print“ of these parts...?

Great work!!!!

[Oldbaldguy]

And just when we thought it was safe..........

[Neo]

Wow amazing

[daveculp]

This looks like a great way to fix the misshapen inlets found on most (all?) A-7 kits.  I wish I had thought of this when I started my A-7F project.  I've put a lot of conversion work into it but it still has the misshapen inlet.

[Starfighter]

On 1/26/2021 at 6:01 PM, scvrobeson said:

Is it too late to suggest a Greek TA-7?  Those things are always insanely weathered.

 

Matt, as lovely as the Greek ones are - in my case, it's always the wrong time to suggest anything but a US Navy or Marines version...  

 

As much as I'd love to, I can't sell any prints of this as I did not create the 3D files myself. I can offer you the fuselage extension and the canopy as I'll have to do that myself, but not the parts based on the files I have bought - sorry! I may redraw a correct intake with no sanding on the insides required, though as there certainly is a demand due to the Zacto kit being not available... 

[Starfighter]

Oh, there is a tiny littly update as well. All manufacturers do the extremely ugly (yet typical) tractor front tyres which I don't like at all. Made a quick drawing of the also used "smooth" front tyres to fit the Reskit rims.