Global Scale Modeller

As the Canberra is moving into its final stages I thought I's have a go at the auction by-product that came with the Canberra. Tamiya's release of the Douglas F4D-1 Skyray. Its nice and small so shouldn't be a problem finding a home for it once finished!


So heres the kit - instructions first:








Sprues:






Decals:


First build stage is the cockpit & nose section - preliminary stage with ejector seat assembled:


Cockpit assembled and ready to be added to nose section. Weight had to be added first so I did one half to make sure the cockpit would fit. Once it was in I matched the other side - hopefully it will be enough to keep the nose on the deck!!


And nose section assembled:

A bit more done on the Skyray after the Canberra was painted.
First the nose section was joined to the wings - a virtually perfect fit!


Then the air intakes were added to the assembly:




Whilst that was setting the underwing stores were assembled. The drop tanks (labelled A and B) look identical but must be handed somehow as each was a seperate build whereas the missile pods (labelled E) called for making 2.

A bit more progress on this one. Fuselage assembly is complete and both it and the underwing store are painted:
A & B are drop tanks
C is a Navpac
D is a pair of Sidewinders
E is a pair of missile pods


Next step is masking and painting the engine surrounds and the nose cone.


Then a coat of gloss varnish on the upper surfaces (underside is already gloss white) followed by decals then, I think a Satin topcoat overall. Unless US Navy planes of this era were a gloss overall finish??

Looks like a quick easy build.

cor wrote: Sun Sep 07, 2025 5:10 am Looks like a quick easy build.

It really is - Tamiya at its best Everything fitted together like a deam, no filler at all. If anyones lacking mojo for whatever reason this is the ideal kit for mojo restoration.

digger303 wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 10:18 am

Thanks Digger. Good to have you back from the holiday travels.

So - the decals went on tonight. Must be honest - I was a bit disappointed in their performance - they were VERY thin and prone to tearing without warning. The reds around the intake are totally the wrong profile as were the wrap-arounds on the drop tanks. But - it doesn't look so bad even if its me saying it. Next job is to add the 2 missiles to their pylons once the pylons have set overnight then a good coat of Satin varnish....

Beginnings of decalling


Problems with drop tank wrap arounds




All finished

Thanks Neil.
It's a bit average to have decals that don't fit, not what I expect from Tamiya.
Otherwise it's looking very good.

Well - I'm calling this one done now. Apart from the decal issues of being very thin and prone to tearing as well as ones that were meant to conform to the plane contours being wrong its been a fun build that I enjoyed very much. No filler required and only light sanding to some areas. I can definitely recommend this go anyone in need of a Mojo boost!!

This one slipped by me somehow, cracking build

Tamiya really do make lovely stress free building kits.

I've got 1/48 version in the stash, hope it comes out as good as this

Shame about the decals letting this one down because that's come together really nice & quick - great result especially in the short time frame

Tomcat64 wrote: Fri Sep 12, 2025 2:12 pm Shame about the decals letting this one down because that's come together really nice & quick - great result especially in the short time frame

It was an amazingly quick build, even for me! Consider it a testament to the excellence of Tamiya. It is impossible to put this together wrong (I know - I tried!!!). I cannot say how much I recommend this one as a mojo builder/restorer. There are a couple of other USN decal schemes and a USMC one that would be less aggro decal wise. I might actually get another and build it using the USMC scheme.

Nice quick result