Trumpeter A-3D-2 Skywarrior Finished!

Hello!

While I can't help you with the Trumpeter kit, I'm building my own Whale now, although in 1/72:

cs.finescale.com/.../1811787.aspx

So it sure helps to research the real thing. One of the nicest web pages there are on the Whale is this one:

tailspintopics.blogspot.de/.../douglas-a3d-skywarrior-main-landing.html

Hope it helps, good luck with your build and post some pictures! Have a nice day!

Paweł

Thank you Pawel, the photos do help. However I still can't figure out how all of the sub assemblies of the trumpeter kit will end up looking like that. there are 8 parts for the strut alone and the instructions do not clearly show the position of the installed parts and there are no clear locators on the parts. I will see what I can do with the information you gave me. Thanks again!

Thank you Pawel, your photos are really helping, both from your build and the reference site you posted. I have decided to improvise on the instructions from the kit. Instead of building the gear struts, then building the gear bay around it, I have assembled the gear bay and will install the gear into the bays using your photos as a guide to get everything in the right place and most importantly make sure that everything lines up correctly.

I should write instructions for Trumpeter! My idea worked perfectly! Once the gear bay was assembled the remaining parts literally snapped into place aligned exactly as they should be!

Here is the assembled "main gear cabin" as the instructions call it along with an overview of where I am at with the build.I obviously have a lot if insignia white painting to do on the interior and finish up detailing the cockpit. I am convinced this kit has more parts than the actual aircraft, however the fit is excellent so far. The only complaint I have is the clarity of the instructions for the main gear. Since I have this thread started I will keep it going. it's been a while since I posted on here.

Well congratulations, John - you made it! Those instructions are really not very understandable. Too bad the kit isn't as accurate in this area as it could be - there are a lot of references on the landing gear to make it a lot better. Good luck with your build and have a nice day!

Paweł

Unless you're going to have the bomb bay doors open, I'd leave out the bomb bay. It causes fit issues with the two fuselage halves. You could sand it down along the edges.

I got to the point of closing up the fuselage. I heard several comments about fit problems with this kit. So far the only problem was the firewall that the radar mounts to needed to be trimmed to allow the fuselage halves to come together. Other than that it's a good fit, just need to do a good amount of clamping to hold it all together while it dries. The plastruct made a nice bead along the seams that once trimmed likely will not need any additional filling.

Here are some update photos. Very nice kit, but lots of bits. There are too many tiny photo etch pieces for my fat fingers so they are not being used for the bay doors and landing gear door hinges

Coming into the home stretch. Painting completed with brushed Tamiya Acrylics and sealer cote of dullcote applied. Ready for decals, then guns, canopy and final coats of dullcote.

Very nice!  Especially smooth paint job, particularly with brushes!

Groot

Very nice job. My dad was Aircrew on an EA-3B with VQ-2 in Rota Spain. Glad to see whales being built.