Trumpeter 1/32 A-4H Col Ezra Dotan

[Cheetah11]

After a lot of swearing due to frustration with the plastic of the kit I have done most of the painting of the main parts. The plastic seems to react with almost all solvents I tried to airbrush with. This is the same effect I had with the KH Mirage 2000. The Tamiya and Hasegawa kits took the same thinners and plastic combination without a problem. In the end I used Xtracolor and Tamiya enamel thinners but this seems to darken the colours somewhat. Any way it is done.

 

Cheers

Nick

[thierry laurent]

Very probably this is not the plastic but the product used to ease removal of the sprues from the moulds. For that reason it is absolutely required to wash parts or at least the model before painting. Some are washing the full sprues in hot water with dish soap. Personally I'm rather cleaning the full airframe with cotton buds and an alcohol-based cleaner. By the way I love that topic. Large scale IAF Ahits are unfortunately uncommon...

[mozart]

Great colour scheme Nick….looks good from here! 

[alain11]

Hi Nick

it’s worth what it’s worth, I clean the kit with alcohol before painting, at least to degrease it, and remove fingerprints etc....the cammo turns nicely 

Alain

[Alain Gadbois]

Camouflage looks perfect!

 

If it worked in the end, then all is good!

 

Alain

[Cheetah11]

Thanks for all the advice. The thing that worries me is the surface of the kit was not smooth but with very small pebbles, so these were sanded smooth with micro mesh.

This should at lest have removed the mould release agents.

 

Some more trouble in paradise. The A-4H only had an angle of attack vane on the port side but Trumpeter has put one on the starboard side as well.

My fault for not spotting this mistake earlier. Now it needs removal and touching ip.

 

 

 

So Trumpeter has dropped the ball again just short of the try line. 

 

Here Tamiya (in Green) shows how not to drop the ball short of the try line. 

 

Cheers

Nick

[MikeMaben]

[Tony T]

Looks great. 

[Gazzas]

Almost there and looking so good!

[Cheetah11]

 

 

Finished, and just in time!!!! One of the most frustrating builds in a long time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Nick

[Madmax]

[mozart]

Speechless…..3 builds! Gob-smacking. Well done Nick, you deserve a medal. 

[alain11]

Hummm! ..........you feel disappointed Nick !!! maybe a lack of motivation !!???  ..well from my seat , that looks pretty nice  ...what's wrong with it ?

Alain

[Cheetah11]

 

6 hours ago, mozart said:

Speechless…..3 builds! Gob-smacking. Well done Nick, you deserve a medal. 

Hi Max, thanks for the compliment. I actually wanted to do one more, a Hasegawa 1/32 Me 109.  But my two sons had other plans. Both decided to move house in January  and since I am retired I was tasked to help with the moves and to fix all things that needed attention. As you most likely know the Millennials can't do DIY. I was promised some stuff from the local hobby shop but I think their memory is as poor as their DIY skills.  

 

5 hours ago, alain11 said:

Hummm! ..........you feel disappointed Nick !!! maybe a lack of motivation !!???  ..well from my seat , that looks pretty nice  ...what's wrong with it ?

Alain

 

Hi Alain

It turned out ok. The time pressure was a small problem but the group build time cut off is a two edged sword. On the one side one cannot spend the time you feel you need to spend. On the other side the model does get finished and not end up as a shelf queen.

The model itself is a bit difficult. Some features streets ahead of the old Hasegawa kit and others a pain, such as the windscreen being too narrow. The Murphy also played his part and lots of little things had to be fixed or redone.

I also had a bit of trouble with the paint as I mentioned but in the end it is finished.

Cheers

Nick

[Gazzas]

VEry well done!