DBMiller's A4-M Brazilian Navy 1/72

[DBMiller]

Here is my entry for the SIG. Some time ago I bought several, five I think, A-4 kits at a hobby show. Three of them were bagged kits for about $4 each and this is one of them. I love this plane, but only have 2 built so far. Time for another! I found these super decals online and had this A-4 that could be converted to an 'M'. I also had a pair of ejection seats for this scale. Time to use one of these as well.

[DBMiller]

Some shots of the real plane!

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[shortCummins]

that Hawk's face is fantastic

[Dunhill2005]

Phew! same paint Looks very demanding
pretty cool kit

[TonyCnyc]

Cool graphical scheme; looking forward to it!

[DBMiller]

OK! Here is the start of the build. First, the kit. Not too bad for quite an old kit. A mix of fine raised and OK recessed panel lines. Since the plane is going to crisp and clean I don't have to worry about panel line washes or other weathering.
It doesn't come with wing tanks (the real plane has them) but that shouldn't be too bad. Few enough parts that I should move right along. If I don't mess anything up.

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The new decals over the kit marking page.
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As I said, not too many parts.
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I'm not going to use after the after market seat since the canopy will be closed it would be hard to see the extra detail.

[DBMiller]

First up, a little tail surgery. Cut off molded on part to be replaced with rounded tail once the fuselage is glued together.

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Lame cockpit in place with a bit of nose weight glued in.


Fuselage glued up (and cockpit painted).
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Wing glued together and then in place.
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Some filler on the tail section.


And underneath. I really should have masked the wing before I applied the putty. The A-4 has a split flap where the lower half is lowered while on the ground. This one doesn't and there is no good way to get that without major surgery or replacement of the whole flap assembly. I'll live without it.

[shortCummins]

good job 'adapting' the kit to what you want, how you work at 1:72 is beyond my eyes!

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[DBMiller]

I'm still here, plugging away. Spring is the start of the busy season at work and, as usual, caught me a bit over weight and a lot out of shape. I've been crashing more than building at night when I get home but there are some updates!

There are 3 things I have to add to the plane as shown in the decal instructions; an antenna and a pair of fin strakes.



My (badly cut) parts:



And where they go:

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Parts in place and ready for clean up!

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After clean up comes priming, final assembly; gear doors, etc, and decals!

[m0gb0y74]

Nice work. I love Scooters. The little plane that could

[DBMiller]

My new motto.



Primed and ready for paint!

[TonyCnyc]

She's looking good all primed!

[DBMiller]

Just started to add some color. I sprayed the light gray (Model Master Acryl) to the nose and flaps and the darker gray (Ammo), very lightly, to the fuselage. I will clean up the flaps and ailerons after the darker grey is finished. I need to mask in a straight line across multiple curved surfaces before I can paint the black. Ugh!

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The decal insert shows the fun task ahead masking for the black!

[TonyCnyc]

Painting coming along nice. Look forward to next update.

[Pacheco]

Looking good.

[DBMiller]

I got up the nerve to mask the black area. It wasn't as bad as I though it would be and the only area that needs work is just where it reaches the middle of the tail at the top of the masked area.







Looks like I will make the deadline after all! By the way, I had to buy one of these to finish painting. The weather got so humid that I started getting splats of water mixed in with the paint, even with a moisture trap!

[DBMiller]

Oh, boy! This is about the most boring build thread anyone has ever posted! Work has left me without much spark to build at night, but, I believe I will finish on time, so there's something!
I've just started on some decals to make it look more interesting as I finish up the canopy and landing gear. You can still see the carrier film because I had just applied them so they are still wet.

[Pacheco]

Nice work.

[DBMiller]

Wheel wells painted and gear doors attached. More decaling. That emblem on the tail is such a pain! I had to cut it to fit around the little fin or whatever it is called on the side of the tail. Plus, the decal is measured for a different kit so it doesn't fit quite right.





The yellow emblem is still wet so not settled down yet. Still, not too bad looking. So far these Cartograph decals have been super!

[rwsmith14]

She looks great, DB

[DBMiller]

Oh, the deadline is fast closing in! But the faces are on and they didn't come out too bad! I think the real hard part will be the paint. The real aircraft is soooooo glossy and I've never done that before!

[rodrant]

Very nice camo scheme ! looking good !

[shortCummins]

thats looks awesome!

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Willem]

Looking great! Come on DB. You can make it.