Tamiya 1/48 Douglas F4D-1 Skyray

[Dave Ward]

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea started in 1964 - so no doubt the model makers had seen the Skyray......................
Dave

[Dave Ward]

The nose, fuselage joined, and the inlets added - lust a little easing needed with a sanding stick, as it was a bit tight
I'll let this dry overnight, and it may need a little smoothing, with some fine emery paper, but no filler will be needed.
The control surfaces, underside, wheel wells, and undercarriage are all white, so I'm going to add as much as possible before using the white primer, and giving it an overall coat.
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Everything's all white......................

Next, I'll spray the underside, and the control surfaces with insignia white
Dave

[Fernando N]

Nice work Dave, going for the boxart version?

[Guest]

That was quick Dave to this stage, looked to be very clean on the sprues.
I'm waiting for those decals.

[Dave Ward]

Fernando,
yes - there are photos on the internet of F4Ds of the same unit, in 1960

It does show one or two things - the natural metal finish is not only on the wing leading edges, but on the inlets, and the tip of the tail, and the front edges of the pylons - not clear in the instructions
Dave

[Ian M]

Not a bad looking bird. Sleek and curvy.
Looks like it goes together nicely as well.
Plenty of decal softener is the order of the day for those markings!

[Dave Ward]

All is still all white! I sprayed the underside & control surfaces with Hataka Insignia White - it looks the same as yesterday, so no pictures!
Next, I'll mask up & spray the upper surfaces with Hataka Light Gull Grey, but that's for tomorrow................
Dave

[Fernando N]

Good luck with the large decals Dave:thumb2:.
I thought of building that one too once, but went for the marine version as I thought the large decals on the tail and spine would ruin it…
Maybe I’ll cut out the stars and such and paint the underlying blue, looking forward to see how yours turns out:smiling3:.

[adt70hk]

Looking good Dave.

Well done. Andrew

[Dave Ward]

Lovely sunshine morning in South Gloucestershire, I've masked all the white bits.................

All ready for the upper surface spray..............
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Sprayed Hataka Light Gull Grey - allowed to dry for an hour or so, then masking removed

A bit messy around the nose - but I'll be masking that off for the black radome & anti-glare panel.
The Hataka Red Line paint is a bit tricky to use - even though it's meant to be ready to a/b, I find I have to dilute it quite a bit - it's essential to shake well, and dilute & mix in a separate cup - I tried mixing it in the airbrush cup, that didn't go well! :disappointed2:
I'll have to smooth the demarcation line between grey & white on the wings - a slight lip of paint has built up, then I have to add the natural metal leading edges, on the wings. slats intakes etc - not sure about how to mask them, so a little experimentation is in order.
Dave

[flyjoe180]

Looking good Dave

[Dave Ward]

Almost ready for the overall gloss varnish...................

Just a bit of touching up before I seal it all in - most important with all those decals to add.
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Tricky bit started..............each decal cut closely to remove excess carrier film - I had to get a plate, my normal decal tray was too small. I started with the tail, as this has the positive location, and the spine decals butt up against it.............
I decided to do one side at a time, to ease handling. Mig Decal Solution, cotton buds & tweezers all employed. I'll wait for this to dry fully before going on to the other side - it's not going to be a fast process. I discovered that the final part of the blue spine overlaps onto the canopy, so that will have to wait.
Dave