Getting close to doing a WWI kit, at least she is nicknamed the Spad
Real quick and dirty history speel - The Skyraider started life as the XBT2D-1 prototype and made its first flight on 18 March 1945. By December 1946 the designation was changed to AD-1 and it began being taken into service with the American Navy replacing it's Curtiss Helldivers. The last Skyraider in American service was handed over to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in 1973. The Royal Navy retired theirs in 1962 but several were still flying with the Swedish Air Force into the late '70's. Not a bad life span for a prop job that has it's roots solidly locked in the WWII era.
Sarcastically nicknamed the Spad (by the jet jockeys) after the WWI French wood and wire biplane, she is a truely classic airframe. Big and brutish and able to carry a ridiculous amount of ordnance, she has always been a model i have wanted to build ever since my Dad knocked out what i thought was the coolest model kit ever in the early '80's. Being a Tamiya kit i expect the fit to be their usual top quality and i'm hoping the biggest challenge will be deciding on the plethora of supplied options that i can hang under her wings.
Here's the real deal, notice the single Mig kill under the cockpit, you can read about Spads v Migs over Vietnam here -
PART I -
PART II Dirty little creature huh. It seems i can go a couple ways, really really dirty, average dirty or just washed. I think i'll do average dirty and just concentrate on getting the exhaust stains half decent. The stains are a stand out feature of the plane and from some research over the last couple of weeks the undersides were filthy and oil covered as well. A common comment i have seen come up amongst the pilots and ground crew was 'she would run out of oil before she ran out of fuel'
Box art, I'm starting to get quite a collection of these. I have been cutting out the artwork and throwing the boxes away in hopes of making a wall of planes or something one day. Maybe i'm just hoarding.
I'll give this guy a plug this time, him and his mates pop up quite a bit.
Cockpit, another fairly basic affair with a decal for the instrument panel.
This will be the first kit with a pilot in the seat, y'all should know by now i hate my figure work so fingers crossed. Basic colours before any detail work.
Adding a wash, hoping to tone it down with some pigments, knock of the shine and help his arms not look so Barbie girl like.
The pilots home, fuselage is a nice fit and i have only a tiny bit of putty work needed on the top seam.
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Old v new Douglas aircraft. Size difference is huge considering the whole cowling is still missing on the Skyraider, and she is only a single seater.
This was when i decided she had to be airborne, i was mulling the idea around earlier which is why i needed a pilot. I am going to do her low over some water and hoping to achieve a fast looking water blurry type effect so she looks like she is hauling some a ss. I've managed to get hold of some clear rod which should do the job.
This shows about where the rod will go (blue line) so some drilling required and i'll possibly have to add some weight depending on how front heavy she ends up. The crossed out piece is the lower air brake inner door in open mode, my airbrakes will be firmly shut.
Whilst waiting to get my hands on some rod i looked at the load out options..and there is quite a few. I'm sticking with the bombs and drop tanks as the Olive Drab will add a bit of colour..and i'm a bomb dropping ground pounder in all of the flight sims i used to play.
The drop tanks and 2000 pounders have polycaps for a nice tight wing mount fit whereas the 250s are just slots.
Now the fun begins. Because she is flying she needs to be wheels up and the kit doesn't give you the option, so it's going to be a bit of hacking and filling. The doors are a three piece assembly.
First is to remove the inner wheel well sides and then the front door needs trimming and sanding to sit flush. The area on the wing where the front door sits also has to be trimmed and sanded for the two pieces to match.
Easy peasy. The side doors after some mucking around were easier to glue together first so i could see how the one section fits to the wing. Fairly average as it turns out but shouldn't be a biggie. The main thing was ro make sure it lines up with the front section, everything else has to work around that.
Trimming, sanding, putty and i let it sit for a couple of nights before attacking it again.
The rod i ended up getting at a curtain and blinds shop, it's called a flick stick and is the twist piece you use to open end close blinds.
Pilot dulled down and touched up sitting in the now glued together fuselage. I may have to operate on him and seperate an arm so it can sit on the stick.
Back to the wing and undercarriage. Sanding and then putty, lots of putty, well not really..it just looks like it.
Sanding makes a big difference, she is almost flush now and the gaping holes at the font are nearly gone.
A quick shot of primer so i can see where it stands. Some more putty needed in a few spots but she is getting there.
Back to the loadout. Primer, preshade, silver and then the OD. I'll do one coat of the OD and then some salt chipping with a slightly different mix of OD over it to add some age. The bombs were leftover WWII ordnance so they should have a bit of character about them. The silver really showed up the seams so the tanks and bigger bombs needed filling and sanding and respraying, thankfully the 250 pounders only need a slight sand. The engine got thrown into this mix as well for it's first coats.
Dirtying up the engine with a light wash and some engine oil and engine soot coloured paint. It will get a little bit more love yet.