A4 in progress

[mumbles]

As evidence that occasionally I actually make models rather than just talk about making them , I thought I'd share my 'in progress' A4-K. Kit is the 1:72 Hasegawa A-4E/F modified to represent a K. I'm not completely accurising it, just squared the fin and removed the dodgy aerial from the hump, to be replaced with a scratchbuilt one. I separated the slats as well.

Masking up with blu-tack for the dark green. About two hours of masking work here including tape, for about five minutes painting.....Flying Kiwis A-4 (Italeri mould I think) that I did a few years ago in background as pattern aircraft/inspiration.


Camouflage complete, only detail painting and decalling to do.

[corsair67]

They both look great.

I wish I had the time/patience to get back into modelling again! ;D

[Calum]

Looks good so far

[Dave Homewood]

I like it. And the other one behind.

I'd never thought of sing blu-tack for masking, I'd have thought it'd be too sticky and tear layrers of paint off?

[mumbles]

The tack isn't strong enough I think to take paint off. This is my first time using this technique (read about it in a magazine etc etc ;D), and I was well pleased with the results. I was wondering if paint would come off at first, but the tack doesn't go on that firmly, and its not on for that long, so I would be surprised if you lost paint through doing this. I was using largely fresh tack out of the packet, older tack might be a bit stickier and might give you trouble.
The main difficulty was getting the tack into the tight corners, especially along the wing-root and under the intakes, while still maintaining the pattern (would have been way easier in 1:48!). Some of the feathering on the model is inconsistent because of this, as the harder you press the tack, the tighter the line you get. The feather also depends on the size of the tack roll. Mind you I was looking at one of the Strikemasters at Woodbourne the other day and the feathering on that was hugely variable as well.
It's great for touch up work also, you just use the tack to build a wall around the bit you're spraying, mask the rest, then peel it off without the ridges you'd get from using tape. Handy if you spray from rattle cans like I have to since my airbrush went u/s.
If you have doubts use the drop tanks to practice on like I did
The model is looking at me accusingly from the table now so I'm going to go pay it some attention. I'll throw up one or two more pics as it gets closer to completion.

[mumbles]

All decaled and varnished up now, only the undercarriage and other fineries to be added. This angle hides the fact that the probe has been broken off! 3 times . It'll be the absolute last thing to go on now.

[Dave Homewood]

Looking fantastic. Well done Sam

[mumbles]

Finished! I can't post an image of it yet, and have temporarily removed the existing ones. This is because I have entered it in the Scoooter competition on the Modeling Madness website, and the competition rules demand that the model only be visible there. If you want you can check it out at www.modelingmadness.com/contests/scooters/scooterpixa.htm , along with a bunch of fine A-4 models. I am number 67. ;D

[mumbles]

Right, the contest is done now, so I can show the finished model. Not the best A-4 kit in 1:72 by a long way, all my future K's will be Fujimi (3 or 4 planned at the moment). I never intended to completely accurise the kit, just to fix the most obvious things.

No prizes for guessing the background image here....Decals are Microscale, with Flying Kiwis roundels, and a few Hasegawa odds and ends.


I scratchbuilt the fin tip, TACAN aerial, arrestor hook and brake chute housing. Not serious scratchbuilding, but its not a skill I have dabbled in too heavily yet in my modelling career. Happy with the results anyway. Overscale nose apparent in this shot.


Sidewinder rail is Rons Resins, Zuni pod is Fujimi. Loadout partly based on the publicity shot in the first photo. All constructive criticisms/accuracy shootdowns gratefully recieved! ;D

[Dave Homewood]

I seriously like it, very nice mate!

[Calum]

Looks good to me as well :-)

[mumbles]

Cheers for the comments guys, I really appreciate it . I don't really have time (in a literal sense, I play sport most weeknights) for club stuff, so I don't get my work/craft seen by other modellers that often. I'm just getting into contributing to the online scene so hopefully more of my stuff will be visible in the future and I won't feel so much like a solitary modelling hermit .

[Calum]

I know what you're saying. I'm in the same boat. The net is a great way to show off you're work :-)

[Dave Homewood]

Feel free to share as much a you like here with us, we love seeing your models Sam and Calum.

I'd share more too but I haven't built a model in years. I still collect kits occassionally and take an interest in what's happening so still call myself a modeller - one day I'll get back to it.

[agalbraith]

NICE Scooter there, thanks for keeping us updated on her progress.

Always nice to see an A-4 model

Thanks
Anthony