Kia Ora from
New Zealand. This is my first ARC submission (sounds familiar doesn't
it?). This is the Italeri 1/72 Vought A-7E Corsair II built OOB apart from
a few mods, listed as below:
-
Mk 81 250lb
bombs + MER sourced from Hasegawa weapons set.
-
GBU-10 from
Italeri weapons set (out of production I think).
-
Shackles for
GBU-10 from 1/72 F4U-4 (another Corsair, funny that).
-
Ejection seat
- Tamiya tape harness's, fusewire used for buckles/ejector handles etc
-
Console + dash
decals from Fujimi A-4M, control column from spares box.
-
Gunsight parts
from stock sheet + spares box (kitbash).
I enjoyed
building this kit as there aren't many parts and the shape is pleasing to
the eye (if you can call the SLUF pleasing). I'm not a rivet counter, so
don't measure up to scale drawings (okay sometimes I do). I must comment though
as to the cockpit rear bulkhead not meeting flush with the fuselage.
A
1mm gap is evident in places, so that needed filling which was tedious.
It took a bit
of work in places especially with the fuselage seam as the parts
don't have the greatest alignment, but nothing a little twink
(typewrite correction fluid), putty and a bit of elbow grease can't cure.
Wing's are a bit misaligned and the landing gear is on a lean, stand
back a few feet and it's not noticeable.
I originally
painted this kit as a Vietnam bird from VA-147 "Argonauts" with
Humbrol paints Hu127 & Hu34 but didn't do the best job (the white
got contaminated and turned off white - gah). After a few months of
procrastination I stripped it back with SC Johnsons Mr Muscle
(god bless you ARC Tips & Tricks) and after fixing up faults,
resprayed the kit as a Gulf War version from VA-86
"Sidewinders". Humbrol Hu127 and I was very pleased
with the finish at the end, even sprayed the compass grey walks on the
vertical stabilisers and top fuselage.
Weathering was
applied by doing a panel wash with acrylic artists paints, raw umber and
coal black mixed. Wiping back in the direction of airflow gave an
effective worn appearance to my SLUF. I lightened Hu127 a little and
sprayed patches in area's around the airframe to simulate the
anti-corrosion work undertaken by groundcrew.
With all that done,
I attached the pylons + weapons, jet exhaust, ejection seat, canopy and
landing gear etc. Wearing a white glove (Tea is served m'lady) to prevent
contamination of the finish.
I was very
pleased with the end result as the Corsair II is one of my favourite
combat aircraft. My niche is for the "chunky" types from the
likes of Vought, Republic, Hawker, Focke Wulf, Nakajima etc. (Not to say I
don't do the Spitfires, Phantoms and Messerschmitts).
I now have to
buy another one, maybe two, so I can do the original scheme for my
"Nam" collection.
Bradley
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