Pete's Skyhawk

[stillp]

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.


Sprues look good. Nice crisp moulding, very little flash.

Nice detail moulded on the wings:

And of course a clear sprue

Two-part canopy so It can be posed open or closed.
Two decal schemes, one US, one Argentine.

I'll make a start on this tomorrow.
Cheers
Pete

[prichrd1]

Pete,

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

Paul.
:smiling2:

[stillp]

Probably the US one Paul. The Argentinian one takes longer to type!
Pete

[Mini Me]

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.

[colin m]

Looks like a nice kit Peter.

[stillp]

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

[papa 695]

Just pulled up my chair Peter.

[stillp]

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

[Mini Me]

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]

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]

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

[scottie3158]

Peter,
Count me in.

[stillp]

I was quite impressed by the way they've moulded the fuselage sides so the cockpit fits in the right place
but then I turned the tub over and found a dirty great ejector pin mark sticking up (down actually!) in the nosewheel bay:

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

[flyjoe180]

Looking good Pete, you can't go too wrong with these kits, at 4 pounds I'd call that a steal.

[rtfoe]

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