A-1H Skyraider Tamiya 1:48

I love this kit....working on it myself, but straight from the box.  

i built the J awhile back and loved it. got the H boxing as well.

Holy Moly those stencils have me nervous for you, sooo looking forward to the WIP pics. Skyraider was a bad a** bird, mustve been a heckuva ride!

Ditto on the ambitious project. Go big or go home! Looking forward to the progress on this baby.

I too am continuing to Challenge my skills by upping the game. I find that trying to build and focus on specific techniques during each build. I've got a couple of Tamiya Fat Faces in the to build pile, as well as the E fuse from C & H.  Good luck and let us see how it is going!

Waiting for the CMK set I have decided to do the test fit for the cockopit

now I wonder what was the sense of ordering an extra set of what Tamiya gives looks quite impressive. nice details as usual.

In the meantime I have also downloaded the instruction sheet for the CMK set. It looks brilliant and its a shame that not much will be visible from the outside:(

Can anyone tell me what is what I have circled red? I cant find any refernce / picture or anything that would say the colours. My guess is that could be some hydraulic, an oil maybe... but how this should be painted?

I'm just finishing one up myself.  A very well made and good looking kit.  I'm debating whether I want to weather it or not.  It just looks too nice to mess up.  I'm thinking of giving it a flat coat of clear, and adding just a hint of exhaust smoke coming out from the back of the cowl.  Those big long bumble bee decals had me worried, but they went on nicely and were relatively easy to position without tearing.  I don't know who made the decals, but they are excellent quality.

When I build my Sandy I ordered that same CMK set.  When it arrived I took a good look at the pit vs. the Tamiya pit, and it was about the same.  No real benefit in using the CMK tub.  In fact when I did mine I iused all the CMK parts except the tub.  I figured no sense risking the fit of the whole plane.  Plus it saved me a ton of time sanding down the resin to get it to fit.

may i ask who makes those beautiful paint masks?

Meantime I took a closer look on the position lights on the fuselage. I guess no 4 is also position light but Tamiya does not say what colour this should be. Same with number 3; according to Tamiya it should be silver - is that a colour for light?  I am thinking of replacing them with some clear parts. number one should not be a problem but the rest?...

I've got this one in my stash too, so will be interested to see how your build goes.  I've got the Eduard set also.  It will be a while before I get round to building it though.  Cadet Chuck... having seen the A-1H at airshows the heavy exhaust stains shown on the box art are no exaggeration... it gets really dirty!

Thanks for that info.  I thought the box art was exaggerated.  I had not planned to stain it that heavily.  Now I'll have to think about it.

As far as the beacon on the top of the vertical stabilizer, go with red. Every color photo I've been able to find as well as my Monogram version all indicate that as the color.

As for the exhaust stains it is really sensitive but important issue and it is easy to overdo the effect on the model. the problem is to make them look realistic

unless you do 'after shower' version :)

Yeah, I've only just started out with my airbrush so I'll need to get some more practice before I attempt that sort of effect.  I guess I would start out with the airbrush then bulk out the stains with some pastels/pigments perhaps

four-star show us how you do.

Hey, polak, cool screen name!

Well, I did my skyraider in 1:72. As for the exhaust stains, here's what they look like in my model:

You can also see the colors of the small marker lights on the tail - the upper one is red, the lower is white. More details of this machine here: http://www.vietnam.net.pl/A1en.htm and here: http://www.vietnam.net.pl/A1moden.htm.

Good luck with your build, have a nice day

Paweł

I guess the tail light colour might vary a bit between units... here's a photo I took at the airshow and the bottom one is red the top one is clear

Thanks for all the photos, guys.  Mine just looks so darn nice, I'm leaving it factory-fresh, no exhaust.  Sometimes, fantasy trumps reality in personal preference in modeling!

Fair enough chuck!  I guess you could still go with the light stains you were thinking of before if you wanted to.  Either way, if you've got a finish you're happy with then that's all that matters.

Yes, some light exhaust stain might look appropriate, so I will cogitate some more on it.  I plan to mount it in a plastic display case with a simulated carrier deck surface on the bottom.  I'll post a pic when it's finished.

Sounds good - I'll make sure to look out for it.

Just received CMK kit. the only positive is the engine back compartment with cowling part but besides that what Tamiya provide in the box altogether with Eduard etched parts is enough. I will resell the CMK kit later on.  Below you can have a look on quick review for the CMK and see compared to Tamiya kit.

let the work begin..

I have started working on the cockpit - little progress:

That dirty bird in the box art is not in the least exaggerated.  Seen PLENTY of A-1Hs  and this one is actually pretty clean.  Like just off the wash rack clean...

All the best

Ray

At the end of the day I have decided to use CMK kit

little progress...but progress.

It has been a long time with many little steps that allowed me to put fuselage and wings togerther. I have decided to work on the wings first and then attached them to fuselage correcting places of joining.