In 1962, the United
States Navy, started work on a replacement for the A-4 Skyhawk. A particular
emphasis was placed on accurate delivery of weapons to reduce the cost per
target. The requirements were finalized in 1963, and VAL competition was
started. To minimize costs, all proposed designs had to be based off existing
aircrafts. Vought, Douglas, Grumman and North American all responded with their
designs. Vought was elected as the winner on 11 February 1964, with their design
based off the F-8 Crusader. The A-7 had a fast and smooth development. The YA-7A
made its first flight on 27 September 1965, and began to enter Navy squadron
service late in 1966. The first Navy A-7 squadrons reached operational status on
1 February 1967, and began combat operations over Vietnam in December of that
year. The A-7 was one of the first combat aircraft to feature a head-up display
(HUD), an inertial navigation system (INS). The A-7E was naval carrier version
of the A-7D which was built for the USAF, which featured the Allison TF41-A1
turbofan engine and a single 20mm M61 Vulcan gatling gun. There were 529,
A-7E built during the operational life time of the A-7, till it was retired in
199?.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The 9 medium gray and 3
small clear sprues arrive loaded into Hobby Boss’s sturdy top loading
box, which most modellers prefer these days. Five of the nine sprues carry the
ordnance and the rest are for the airframe components. Also included are three
decal sheets for the kits markings options and ordnance. http://www.hlj.com/product/HOB20345
The fuselage detail is
nicely done with finely engraved panel lines and rivet lines. The two fuselage
half’s also include open avionics bays to show off some of the detail that is
provided straight out of the box, or the option to close them up if you’re
that way inclined. The only major flaw with the fuselage is the intake lip. The
intake lip has been molded to an incorrect profile which is a bit too flat at
the bottom of the profile and a little to wide on the sides. The profile could
be corrected with a bit of hard labour, or aftermarket replacement.
The cockpit tub detail is
reasonable straight out of the box. But the ejector seat is lacking in that
area, and one should look at again a aftermarket replacement option or a session
of scratch-building and detailing to get to look a lot better than it current
state. The decal sheet also supplies an option for decals if you wish to go down
that road for your detail in the “front office”.
The kit supplies you with
separate flaps and rudders which allows you to position them how you see fit.
The only downside in this area of the control surfaces is that there is no
option for wing folds being a Naval Carrier based aircraft.
The clear parts are
supplied on the 3 small sprues, 2 of them being the canopy. All the clear parts
are molded in a crystal clear plastic, but unfortunately there is a mold line on
top of the main canopy that will require to be polished out.
As mentioned before five
of the nine sprues are for the ordnance, so there are lots of load out
possibilities for your Sluf. So you will need to check your references!
Ordnance supplied -
12 x Mk.20 Cluster Bombs, 12 x
Mk.82 Bombs, 2 x AIM-9L Sidewinders, 6 x AGM-65 Mavericks,
2 x GBU-10 Paveway II Bombs and 1 x FLIR pod
A4
instructions are provided in black and white, and are easy to understand and
follow during the construction process. The notes and callouts throughout the
process are provided in English and Chinese. Also supplied as
an A4 sheet, is the painting and decal guide, which is in full colour.
The
kit offers decals two colourful airframes of the A-7E –
AJ/403
of VA-86 "Sidewinders" aboard the Nimitz in 1975 and NL/402 of VA-195
"Dambusters" from 1982.
There
are three small decal sheets that carry all the required decals for this kit, 2
of the sheets are for the stencilling of the airframe and ordnance and the third
carrying the unit markings.
A-7E
from HobbyBoss would provide any modeller at any skill level an easy and simple
build. The kit may have a couple of minor flaws, but that shouldn’t be allowed
to put you off. With the colourful schemes supplied in the kit, it surely will
add some colour to your display.
I
would like to thank HobbyLink Japan (www.hlj.com)
for this sample.
Dave
Johnson
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