Pete's Skyhawk

stillp

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Picked this up on ebay. Listed as 1/35, which would have been a real bargain, but obviously it's 1/72. The seller seemed genuinely sorry for the mistake and was willing to accept it back and pay the postage, but hey, £4 isn't bad for a recently-tooled Airfix kit, so I kept it.
P1150706.JPG
P1150751.png
Sprues look good. Nice crisp moulding, very little flash.
P1150754.JPG
Nice detail moulded on the wings:
P1150755.JPG
And of course a clear sprue
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Two-part canopy so It can be posed open or closed.
Two decal schemes, one US, one Argentine.
P1150756.JPG
I'll make a start on this tomorrow.
Cheers
Pete
 
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prichrd1

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Pete,

Nice looking plane, have you decided which scheme your going with?

Paul.
:smiling2:
 

Mini Me

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Couldn't help noticing the decal sheet...VA 95 USS Intrepid. I was in VA 45 assigned to the Intrepid. Our A4's were E models. I think I better follow along on this one Pete. Good choice Heinemann's HotRod was a zippy little attack bird.
 

stillp

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Couldn't help noticing the decal sheet...VA 95 USS Intrepid. I was in VA 45 assigned to the Intrepid. Our A4's were E models. I think I better follow along on this one Pete. Good choice Heinemann's HotRod was a zippy little attack bird.
Wow, that's a coincidence. Were you a pilot then Rick? I'd better make a good job of it then! What colour should the pilot's flight suit and helmet be?
Pete
 

stillp

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I'd better make a start then. Sprues are washed, I'll start cutting plastic after I've eaten.
 

Mini Me

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Hi Pete, Structural Repair Mechanic.. I'm very familiar with the A4 airframe. Pilots in our Squadron wore the typical flight suit of that era (Vietnam) it was sort of a grey/green as I recall. Flight helmets were all white. Flight jackets were a dark, almost chocolate brown with a fur collar almost the same color. hope this helps. Rick H.
 

stillp

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Thanks Rick, not so glamorous but equally important then!
Thanks for the colour info.
I think I'm going to leave the pilot out and close the canopy though.
Pete
 

yak face

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This one should fall together Pete after the last build! The sirfix skyhawks are great little kits , i remember Ian doing one and it was really impressive . Cheers tony
 

stillp

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I was quite impressed by the way they've moulded the fuselage sides so the cockpit fits in the right placeP1150769.JPGP1150770.JPG
but then I turned the tub over and found a dirty great ejector pin mark sticking up (down actually!) in the nosewheel bay:
P1150771.JPG
Now carved away with the tip of a scalpel.
Brush painted the 'pit, and added the decals, but I must have misread the instructions and somehow fitted the IP part too far rearwards, as the decals for the side consoles were about 3mm too long. Never mind, I've just cut off the excess length. Don't tell anybody will you? I'd already decided to leave the pilot out, as he'd need some leg surgery to get his feet on the rudder pedals. Closed canopy as well, that'll make masking a little bit simpler.

Shopping day tomorrow...

Pete
 

rtfoe

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Will be watching this as well Pete as I have the Falklands War twin set of the Harrier and Skyhawk. What I like about this particular aircraft is the distinct shorter nose of the early variant.

Cheers,
Richard
 

stillp

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A little more done. Airfix suggest 5gm of nose weight. No idea what this weighs, so I just hope it's enough.
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As well as the seat and IP, there's a jet exhaust pipe and the part that combines the two air intakes (I'm sure there's a name for that) also a couple of centre-line aerials (?) that are moulded onto one fuselage half, so I spent a bit of time dry-fitting each interior part separately to make sure of a good join. It seems to have come out well, except for a small gap underneath, behind the wing, that might need a little work.
P1150776.JPGP1150777.JPG
The splodge of PPP on the top is to fill a hole that's there to locate an extra part - a bulge, maybe a radome - on the Argie version, so not needed here. Other than some large sprue gates, and a couple of awkward ejector pin marks, I'm very impressed with this kit so far. Here's the upper and lower wings being joined - they just clicked into place.
P1150778.JPG
Stay safe!
Pete
 

rtfoe

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Hi Pete, looking at the picture I don't think its enough of lead for 5grams. I'd pack it in until the cockpit area.

Cheers,
Richard
 

stillp

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Thanks Richard. A bit too late now, but I might be able to get some more in past the IP. Perhaps I should have asked one of our local drug dealers for a loan of their scales - my kitchen scales aren't very accurate at that kind of weight. I'll pack a bit more into the front end of the drop tanks.
Pete
 

stillp

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Put some more weight in those tanks:
P1150781.JPG
Also put some paint on - the inside of the leading edge slats, and the wing where they close, are red, and I thought it'd be easier to mask and paint before I fit the wing.
P1150780.JPG
Pity there's no way to pose it with the flaps lowered as that area is red as well!

Pete
 
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