Tamiya 1/48 Douglas A-1J Skyraider

UKguyInUSA

Member since
April 2015
From: New Hampshire, USA

Tamiya 1/48 Douglas A-1J Skyraider

Posted by UKguyInUSA on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 9:27 AM

Hello Chaps, This is my attempt at the Tamiya 1/48 A-1J Skyraider that I built in February of this year. These planes dripped a lot of oil from their engines during heavy use, which would drip down onto the drop tank beneath the fuselage. It would also splatter across the front of the wing leading edges at the wing root areas. Lots of soot would be produced from the exhausts which heavily stained the sides of the fuselage, and so, I tried to emulate that as best I could:

I bought this kit for $32.00 from Hobbylinc.com last year, but it is now for sale from their website at $33.29: http://www.hobbylinc.com/tamiya-douglas-a-1j-skyraider-usaf-attack-aircraft-plastic-model-airplane-kit-1:48-scale-61073 Quality of molded product: The parts are molded well, zero flash on the majority of parts and if there was flash, it was very little. There were no warped parts and ejector pins were away from seen surfaces. The parts are molded with finely recessed panel lines to aid highlighting them when painting, and every parts details are crisp and faultless. The clear parts were very clear, not thick and there were no blemishes or distortions to disrupt the visual transparency. I give the Quality of molded product a score of 10/10 Quality of Engineering/Fits: This kit literally falls together, and without a shadow of a doubt, this has to be the best kit that I have had the pleasure to put together, out of the 15 I have built to date since starting modeling in January of 2014. The molded parts come loaded with nice details within the cockpit, on the undercarriage and the exterior surfaces. I give the Quality of Engineering/Fits a score of 10/10 Assembly and Painting Instructions: The assembly instructions come in black and white and they are clear, concise and easy to follow with each part clearly numbered along with the Tamiya color code for that part to be painted in. There is a separate sheet for painting guides for two Squadron markings. A full size view sheet is included that can be used as a paper mask for when painting your model. I always take a few photo-copies of this sheet and use the copies for this task. I give the instructions a score of 10/10 Decals: There is one sheet of decals that do not include the smaller stencils such as "Danger", "No Step" "Caution" etc and therefore, there are only 28 decals to put onto this model. That includes the 4 decals that go onto the propeller- one on each blade. The decals are thicker than normal, take a long time to release from the backing paper and some are delicate when applying to the plane. I had one tear on me, but I managed to position the two torn parts together to hide the tear. Be careful and patient when using these decals. I give the decals a score of 6 out of 10. Packaging: There are four bags of light grey/beige sprues and a bag with a clear sprue inside. These are within a card exterior box base and lid which is pretty sturdy, has great artwork and some images of the finished model in the two different color/marking schemes on two opposite sides of the box. I give the packaging 9/10 Value for money: 10/10! Would I recommend this kit...a resounding YES, ABSOLUTELY!! It offers a great looking build with two full sprues of weapons/ordnance and options for layout of those weapons. It includes a nicely detailed cockpit that looks great built OOB! There are options to have the rear canopy open or closed, the two fuselage and one ventral air-brake doors open or closed, the ailerons posed up or down, a detailed radial engine and a Pilot figure to finish it off. There are after-market extras that can be purchased for enhancing this kit, such as resin cockpit tub and ejector seats, PE parts and resin bombs and undercarriage, should you feel the need to "enhance" this kit further, although in my opinion it looks great built OOB. My only two "issues" with this kit are; 1) The decals; if Tamiya were to include Cartograf decals into this kit, it would have a perfect score of 10 out of 10. 2) The artwork on the box illustrates a "Whip Antenna" on the port-side of the fuselage next to the rear sliding canopy, but this isn't included in the kit. I therefore scratch built the Whip Antenna" mounting block by carving/sanding the end of a piece of sprue and cutting it off. I then stuck this to the end of a cocktail stick and painted it black. I then made the Antenna by using the "Stretched Sprue" method and cut a piece to length, stuck it to the mounting block and painted that black. When it was dry, I mounted it to the plane. If you're thinking of buying this kit, think no more, go ahead, make your day, you won't be disappointed!! Below is my "Final Reveal" YouTube video link for this build: https://youtu.be/hzqeA71uvB4 [youtube]hzqeA71uvB4[/youtube] Thanks in advance for taking a look and commenting much appreciated! :) Cheers, Martin :)

Cheers :)

Martin

Link to my YouTube Modeling Cannel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYsHdyW0iN5_YXCdLEhgFqA?disable_polymer=true

Link to my Facebook Modeling Page: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalBritishModeler/?modal=admin_todo_tour

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Buckeye

Member since
February 2007
From: Brunswick, Ohio

Posted by Buckeye on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 11:15 AM

Well done.

Mike

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patrick206

Member since
March 2013

Posted by patrick206 on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 1:34 PM

Hi, Martin - Such a good job you made of it, the SEA camo finish is spot on, perfectly applied. The text and kit review that accompanied was valuable information. The oil staining looks right, those 3350 cubic inch radial engines really slobbered everything up.

Old joke: Skyraider pilot pulls up to the gas pump. "Please check the gas and fill the oil."

Patrick

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subfixer

Member since
March 2004
From: Spartanburg, SC

Posted by subfixer on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 2:25 PM

Very nice job on the Spad, one of my all time favorites.

I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

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bvallot

Member since
June 2013

Posted by bvallot on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 10:55 PM

Armed to the teeth! I love it. Thanks for sharing. =]

On the bench:

Tamiya F4U-1 Kenneth Walsh

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UKguyInUSA

Member since
April 2015
From: New Hampshire, USA

Posted by UKguyInUSA on Saturday, January 23, 2016 8:31 PM

Buckeye

Well done.

Mike

Thanks Mike, greatly appreciated, and, sorry for my late reply...I'm just getting the hang of using this forum!

Cheers Smile

Martin

Cheers :)

Martin

Link to my YouTube Modeling Cannel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYsHdyW0iN5_YXCdLEhgFqA?disable_polymer=true

Link to my Facebook Modeling Page: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalBritishModeler/?modal=admin_todo_tour

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scorpr2

Member since
July 2007

Posted by scorpr2 on Saturday, January 23, 2016 10:46 PM

She's a real beauty! Looks like she's been well used. Keep up the good work!

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JOE RIX

Member since
August 2009
From: MOAB, UTAH

Posted by JOE RIX on Saturday, January 23, 2016 11:37 PM

That A-1 is beautifully done UK. Excellent paint work on the camo and the weathering and staining are absolutely top notch. There is no doubt that Tamiya cranks out some of the very best kits on the market. Tamiya kits easily comprise the majority of my stash. Thanks for sharing your awesome build.

"Not only do I not know what's going on, I wouldn't know what to do about it if I did". George Carlin

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