A4-E Skyhawk

[ArtyScout]

My grandson's birthday is coming up and I decided to build him a model plane. He wanted to build this plane, but I thought I'd build it and present it to him. This is the Minicraft/Hasegawa 1/72 scale A4-E Skyhawk. I built it out of box except for the decals. The ones that came with the kit had the plane assigned to the USS Bonhomme Richard, but they looked old as the outer edge film was yellowish. I ordered from MilSpec decals and got a HiVis generic set. I found the MilSpec decals a bit flimsy at first, because I always dipped decals in water for 30 seconds. But these only needed 15 seconds. Once I figured that out, they went on very nicely and hugged down on the plane. Also he likes his planes (jets or props) in flight mode. Also under the wings: Stations 1 & 4 have Sparrow missiles and Stations 2 & 3 have Mk 82 bombs. I hope you like it. BTW my next plane will be a 1/48 scale F-105D ThunderChief.

 

Semper Fi.

 

Manny

[MattS]

Very nice! I built that kit years ago, I think it may still be hanging from the ceiling.

[Randy]

Nice model! Just wanted to point out those are AGM-45 Shrike missiles, not AIM-7 Sparrows. The Shrikes were made for going after SAM sites. The A-4 was not Sparrow capable as it didn't have the radar required to use it.

 

Randy

[ArtyScout]

Nice model! Just wanted to point out those are AGM-45 Shrike missiles, not AIM-7 Sparrows. The Shrikes were made for going after SAM sites. The A-4 was not Sparrow capable as it didn't have the radar required to use it.

 

Randy

Hey Randy, thanks for the heads-up on the missiles. This model has the option of being an A4-E or A4-F with the electronic hump on the dorsal of the plane and according to the instructions they made them out to be sparrows. I decided to make it into an A4-E. But I like the fact that they're "Shrike" missiles. Besides this A4 is carrying bombs in its stations. Thanks again.

 

Semper Fi.

 

Manny

[ArtyScout]

I want to add one more A4-E Skyhawk picture.

 

Semper Fi.

 

Manny

 

[Randy]

Hey Randy, thanks for the heads-up on the missiles. This model has the option of being an A4-E or A4-F with the electronic hump on the dorsal of the plane and according to the instructions they made them out to be sparrows. I decided to make it into an A4-E. But I like the fact that they're "Shrike" missiles. Besides this A4 is carrying bombs in its stations. Thanks again.

 

Semper Fi.

 

Manny

 

No problem Manny, funny the model instructions got that wrong. Looking forward to the F-105D; the Thud was my favorite of all the jets I worked on. They were not around too long after I came in, but most all the ones left had a lot of history in them. Good luck on the build.

 

Randy