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1/48 Trumpeter ERA-3B Skywarrior - VAQ-33

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  • Member since
    April 2015
1/48 Trumpeter ERA-3B Skywarrior - VAQ-33
Posted by Wolfman_63 on Friday, April 17, 2020 8:06 AM

This next build is Trumpeter’s 1/48 ERA-3B of VAQ-33. This is being built for a Chief Petty Officer who was part of the air crew. The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior was originally built as a jet bomber in the 1950’s. It evolved into a few variants. The KA-3 was used as a refueling craft. The ERA-3B was an ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) role used in Viet Nam and for many years during the Cold War. It performed briefly during the Gulf War then was finally retired in September 1991.
I will be adding photo etch details from Eduard. Starting with the cockpit I detailed the 3 seats, rear bulkhead, dash and equipment rack. The photo etch set even includes the handles for the electronic equipment. I then built up the nose radar assembly and the nose gear bay. There were no extra details for the radar but the nose gear bay had detailed photo etch walls and wiring. I added some hydraulic lines as well with 32awg wire. Next was the electronic ELINT cabin that sits behind the cockpit. There were no details except for seat belts so I added some cushions using cloth tape. Next up will be detailing the main gear bays then assembling the fuselage.
 
See all the details and more photos in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-era-3b-skywarrior-vaq-33/
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Website:

David's Scale Models - https://www.davidsscalemodels.com

 

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    April 2015
Posted by Mopar Madness on Friday, April 17, 2020 9:20 AM

Lot of nice detail in that front office. 

Chad

God, Family, Models...

At the plate: 1/48 Airfix Bf109 & 1/35 Tamiya Famo

On deck: Who knows!

  • Member since
    May 2009
  • From: Poland
Posted by Pawel on Friday, April 17, 2020 10:40 AM

Hello Wolfman!

Nice! Just watch out - the Whale is a science for itself with all its variants converted from one to another and back, it's easy to confuse things and I know trumpeter did cofuse things in their 1/48 whales. Unfortunately I can't be too speceific here, because I work in 1/72 and even managed to do this:

1:72 Hasegawa EKA-3B Whale by Pawel

More details here:

http://vietnam.net.pl/EKA3Ben.htm

I hope mmy writing helps you. Tommy Thomason also has a lot of good info on the Whale and its models:

http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2010/09/mighty-skywarrior.html

There are also other articles there, worth a read if you didn't already.

And please note, if I'm not mistaken (and it's complicated!) - ERA-3B didn't fight in Vietnam - it was a photo recon aircraft (RA-3B) converted to "electronic agressor" for range exercises. This variant belongs to the so-called "Versions" of the Whale, with thick crew doors, reinforced main wheel brakes and with no bomb bay (crew cabin and fuel are in that place). Called this way because it was a special purpose aircraft from the very beginning.

The one fighting in Vietnam was the EKA-3B like in my picture above - this belonged to the so called "bomber" whales - meaning it started its life as a bomber (A-3B), later converted to tanker (KA-3B) later upgraded with ECM gear (EKA-3B). Those aircraft had "thin" crew door, slim main wheel brakes and a large bomb bay.

The Whale was also built in two series - first with normal wing, and the next series with the so-called CLE wing - you can tell them apart by looking at the leading edge of the wing inboard of the engines. If there are slats there, it's a CLE aircraft. If not - it's the initial wing.

See? I told you it's complicated. I'd suggest you ask the CPO about some details (might also be he doesn't care) so that he can have the feeling it's HIS aircraft and not just close!

Good luck with your build - I'll be watching - and have a nice day

Paweł

All comments and critique welcomed. Thanks for your honest opinions!

www.vietnam.net.pl

  • Member since
    April 2015
Posted by Wolfman_63 on Saturday, April 18, 2020 5:08 AM

Thanks for the info, I have personal photos of his actual aircraft. He flew in in the late 1980's with VAQ-33. I have already figured out what Trumpeter forgot. Numerous antenna's, The chaff buckets, and corrected the cockpit.

Website:

David's Scale Models - https://www.davidsscalemodels.com

 

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Saturday, April 18, 2020 6:36 AM

Beautiful!  I will be following this build

 

I was an old crow (R&D development, not a user) so I am a big fan of anything ECM related.  I'm going to see if I can pick up that kit.

 

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    April 2015
Posted by Wolfman_63 on Friday, April 24, 2020 9:52 AM

This week’s update covers a lot. With the current virus situation I have more time on the bench. To begin with I used the photo etch accessories to detail the main gear bays, The air brakes, the rear wheel bay, and the tail hook area. I then noticed on the reference photos there is a scoop aft of the air brake on the starboard side. The kit provides a very crude representation of this. I trimmed the edge then scratch built the intake vanes.  The kit comes with detailed engines so I built them up and added some detailed plumbing with some wire then built up the engine assembly. Fir the exhaust and the rear engine housing I used pastel chalk to weather them. Starting at the exhaust I used black faded to brown and finally blue to represent the heat discoloration of the panels.
Details on using pastel chalk is in my Tips and Tricks section https://davidsscalemodels.com/tips-and-tricks/weathering-with-pastel-chalk/  
Another thing that I noticed in the reference photos is they forgot to add the chaff blocks under the air brakes. I had some extra photo etch chaff blocks so I added this missing detail myself.
Finally I started to base coat everything using Gull gray on top, white bottom and red for the inside of the air brakes, tail wheel, and side scoop. It is now ready for the decals.
 
See all the details and more photos from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-era-3b-skywarrior-vaq-33/
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Website:

David's Scale Models - https://www.davidsscalemodels.com

 

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    April 2015
Posted by Wolfman_63 on Friday, May 1, 2020 6:50 AM

The ERA-3B Skywarrior has been finished. This was an interesting kit to build. Some of the things to watch for if you build this are some of the antennas are not included I the kit. The main landing gear can be challenging as noted before. The side APUs will need to be modified. If you mount them as the kit has them they sit way too close to the fuselage. I trimmed off the mount and used a styrene rod to move them a little farther from the fuselage. It is nice that they included the ELINT section, however you can barely see it thru the small window. The decals were very good. They laid down well and with a little decal solvent the underlying details came right in. The overall fit was pretty good with very little putty was needed.  The one thing that was kind of a pain is that the injection marks on many parts were on the sides that show, especially on the landing gear bays. The photo etch covered most but there are a few that need to be addressed. Now I just need to wait until the shelter in place restrictions ease up so I can present it to the Chief.
 
Check out the details and photos from the start at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-era-3b-skywarrior-vaq-33/
 
 
 
 
 
 

Website:

David's Scale Models - https://www.davidsscalemodels.com

 

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2021
Posted by Plane Captain on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 9:11 PM

I was in VAQ-33 from 71-75 and based at N.A.S., Norfolk. I was a Plane Captain for our ERA-3B's. I took care of GD 4 a lot. I really developed a personal connection with our A-3's and took a great deal of pride in them. My name was on GD 1, the CO's plane. 

 

This is a very nice looking model, it sure brings back a lot of great memories..!!

  • Member since
    January 2013
Posted by seastallion53 on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 2:52 PM

Did that bird have pylons for ECM pods outboard of engines?I was also at NAS Norfolk in HM-14 a few hangers down and a few years later.1979-1982

  • Member since
    June 2021
Posted by rocketman2000 on Thursday, November 18, 2021 8:39 AM

Looks great.

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

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