Airfix 1:72 Douglas A-4B Skyhawk

[ScaleModelling1105]

Hi guys. Finished the cockpit this evening. I'm building this completely OOB and i included the pilot as i'm having it in flight on a stand. (WAFFLE ALERT) Apologies to chief- was too busy yesterday to get it up so i made sure i finished it today for you.
So here we go. I don't think i painted the pilot in at all the correct colours of the era. The kit states this skyhawk served in 1966 but i couldn't find that year on the internet so i ended up going for a bit earlier than that. I went to loads of effort detailing the seatbelts and then i realised they wouldn't be visible at all! Oh well...

Going back to my mums in a couple of days so unless i get a decent amount done (which seems unlikely) then my next post won't be until the weekend. Just to let you guys know i'm here every weekend of the month but not on weekdays so i will try and get as much up as i can.

So after that long waffle here are the pictures:









Looking back over this i probably could have painted it a bit better but the result is ok and it's only 1:72 so probably won't see much. If you notice the skin colour is a bit out it's cos i for some unknown reason don't have any so i had to mix my own. What colour/s would you recommend for brush painting without having to buy a whole flesh set. I'm looking purely for one paint for faces on small figures.
Any responses are much appreciated.
Cheers,

[EasyEight96]

Nice job on the pilot

[chief5437]

Looking good, great work on the instrument panels! I wouldn't worry too much about the pilots skin at this scale, maybe a little wash? By the time the canopy is fitted, you'll hardly see him!

[ScaleModelling1105]

Cheers guys. I'll try a wash chief.

[RobertA]

Looking very good, great job on the cockpit and pilot!!

I'm building the same kit right now, what is your opinion about the kit so far?? I think it is overall good, but not the best new Airfix effort.. Still, I'm enjoying the build and that is the main thing!!

[Bissyboat]

Nice office and pilot.

[ScaleModelling1105]

Looking very good, great job on the cockpit and pilot!!

I'm building the same kit right now, what is your opinion about the kit so far?? I think it is overall good, but not the best new Airfix effort.. Still, I'm enjoying the build and that is the main thing!!

I have to agree with you there. Not the best new airfix tool but still good. I have an airfix 1:72 fw190 in the stash and that's a £5.99 kit so a couple of quid less. Will be nice to see how the cheaper kit compares. My Skyhawk is gonna need a fairly large amount of filler where the fuselage halves join. Do you have/had the same problem?

[Orbyn]

Nicely done Will, thanks for sharing!

[RobertA]

Looking very good, great job on the cockpit and pilot!!

I'm building the same kit right now, what is your opinion about the kit so far?? I think it is overall good, but not the best new Airfix effort.. Still, I'm enjoying the build and that is the main thing!!

I have to agree with you there. Not the best new airfix tool but still good. I have an airfix 1:72 fw190 in the stash and that's a £5.99 kit so a couple of quid less. Will be nice to see how the cheaper kit compares. My Skyhawk is gonna need a fairly large amount of filler where the fuselage halves join. Do you have/had the same problem?

I found the fuselage halves weren't too bad, apart from where the spruegates were, but the air intakes needed a bit of filler. I also had trouble closing the fuselage around the cockpit, but it turned out I had placed it just a little bit too far forward, and once I realised that it worked out fine..

[ScaleModelling1105]

Looking very good, great job on the cockpit and pilot!!

I'm building the same kit right now, what is your opinion about the kit so far?? I think it is overall good, but not the best new Airfix effort.. Still, I'm enjoying the build and that is the main thing!!

I have to agree with you there. Not the best new airfix tool but still good. I have an airfix 1:72 fw190 in the stash and that's a £5.99 kit so a couple of quid less. Will be nice to see how the cheaper kit compares. My Skyhawk is gonna need a fairly large amount of filler where the fuselage halves join. Do you have/had the same problem?

I found the fuselage halves weren't too bad, apart from where the spruegates were, but the air intakes needed a bit of filler. I also had trouble closing the fuselage around the cockpit, but it turned out I had placed it just a little bit too far forward, and once I realised that it worked out fine..

I did a little bit more last night and found the same problem as you with the air intakes. Mine are pretty bad. Waiting on a delivery of filler as I ran out before I can do some more.

[ScaleModelling1105]

I've been ill over the weekend but i got a bit better today so i thought i'd do a small bit of work. Tried out perfect plastic putty for the first time and atm it seems great. The real test will come tomorrow when i sand it down. You can see how easy it is to wipe it off with a moist cotton bud whilst the filler is still wet on the air intakes as the part doesn't fit too well. A couple of passes and bam. This model is going to be quite an experimental one for me as i'm trying out lots of new techniques so fingers crossed. If the picture looks a bit dark it's because the light was too bright and you couldn't see the filler so i turned it off.

Glued the fuselage halves together with the cockpit, exhaust and air intake. I think the build is going quite well so far.



Thank you all for following my build.

[EasyEight96]

Nice job very nice

[RobertA]

Looking good..

Just be aware when it comes to decalling, that the red warning sign by the air intakes does not conform to the round shape.. I had to cut mine in three parts, stick on the centrepiece separately and then try and align the red edges, which sort of worked..

[chief5437]

Nice clean job on the intakes, heard good stuff about that putty. I must get some one day. Glad you're feeling better, more pics please! Lol

[ScaleModelling1105]

Looking good..

Just be aware when it comes to decalling, that the red warning sign by the air intakes does not conform to the round shape.. I had to cut mine in three parts, stick on the centrepiece separately and then try and align the red edges, which sort of worked..

Cheers for the heads up Rob, I had a feeling that those decals might be annoying but I thought they might be good enough to place without issues. Oh well. At least it's not too serious! Did a couple of minutes sanding this evening after my homework and the perfect plastic putty is amazing. Cleans up really well and sands very easily. Hope the paint adheres well. I'm planning to get a lot more done this coming weekend and I have a new airbrush in the post (harder and steenbeck ultra) so i'm gonna try it out on this. Loving the build so far.
Cheers guys,

[RobertA]

Looking forward to seeing yours done.. I finished mine this morning, no major issues in the end apart from what I have already mentioned. Mine turned out a bit dirtier than I wanted, but I am a brushpainter so that may have something to do with the wash not quite going my way!

Either way it was a fun build and like I said, much looking forward to seeing yours when done..

[HWGuderian23]

Great work so far mate ! Looking forward to see your progress...

[ScaleModelling1105]

Got my new Harder and Steenbeck Ultra in the post so will be airbrushing at the weekend once this thing is completely assembled.

[charliec67]

Re: The decals, you could just cut a triangle of carrier film out without touching the colours. Should have the same effect.