Scooters and Bugs

Good stuff, Stu. Excellent builds. Thanks for sharing.

DiscoStu(love this name as I was a teenager during the disco era) Fantastic builds!  Great attention to detail and both are superbly finished.  I am a big fan of the early A-4s without the avionics humpback. I hope to build John McCain's A-4 someday. Are they in 1/48th scale?  What armament is mounted on the centerline of the A-4?  What bases did you use to display/photograph these kits?

Thanks!  I agree.  A-4s just look better without the hump.  Yes, both are 1/48 scale.  On the Skyhawk I used an Eduard AGM-62 Walleye.  I found some pics of Skyhawks carrying Walleyes and thought it was an interesting load.

As for the bases, I'm honestly not sure where/when I got them.  They were on my shelf of display bases that I've accumulated over the years.  I think the VFA-31 was a Sprue Brothers purchase some years ago when I tried to build an F-14 in those markings.

They look great.

I especially like the Hornet.  I worked for MDD during the Hornet development.  One day I was walking through the test building.  I had seen the prototype up on the drop test rig for several days.  I happened to be walking through at the time they were going to do  the drop.  It was up eighteen feet (most previous carrier birds were dropped from fifteen).  That was quite a spectacle- loud!

I have been wanting to do another -18.  Will look into the Meng kit.

Can't say enough about the Meng kit.  It's fabulously engineered and fits together seamlessly.  My only gripe is the cockpit isn't all that great, hence why I opted to go with the pilot.

Hmmm;

      I don't understand why they call the F-18 a " Bug" Now the A-4 " Scooter" fits it! Nice job on both. It's always a pleasure to feast one's eyes on Excellent work!

  Hornet= bug

Tanker-Builder

Hmmm;

      I don't understand why they call the F-18 a " Bug" Now the A-4 " Scooter" fits it! Nice job on both. It's always a pleasure to feast one's eyes on Excellent work!

 

Thanks!  Appreciate that.

   If the Chinese or Japanese got ahold of an 18 would it be called a "murder hornet??

     I love scooters on the avionics hump side, they are all cool but that is my fav. And whats not to love about a hornet.

       Your work is amazing DiscoStu, nice to hear that Meng can knock an airplane outta the park. Thier armor is really nice.

Well done!  I like the walleye - something different for sure.  

If anyone's intrigued, Sprue Bros has the Meng Bug as part of it's daily discount for $49.99 today.

Great job, I love the gray/white scheme for the naval fighters. What's up with the A-4's large insignia though? It is huge!

Hello!

They say people loved the Scooter - many sailors were said they would marry one if they found one that could cook :-)

Very nice models Stu! Congratulations!

Rob - nah, the insignia is standart size, it's just that the scooter is so tiny!

That was the way they painted them on the early scooters, on the E's and F's they moved the star&bars to the tail, on the air brake. Like I said, the scooter didn't give you a lot of space to paint all the stuff the Navy would like to - NAVY, carrier air group number, the ship, star and bars, squadron, modex, BuNo and so on.

That's a couple real nice builds you've got there.

Hey Armornut!

That totally slipped out of this old man's brain. Right you are!

   You are totally welcome TB, my best friend keeps me around for the same reason, and heavy lifting.

A couple of great liiking models. I am a big fan of the A-4. There are only a few aircraft that began theri lives in the early to mid 1950s and are still serving, e.g. the B-52, the C-130 and the A-4. The early prototype A-4 weighed about 8000 pound empty. The FAA classifies an airplane up to 12000 pounds as a light aircraft. The A-4 distinguished itself in Southeast Asia (Viet Nam). Not bad for a little airplane. 

Excellent on both builds. 

Can't believe the Scooter went plaid 

Quite the load out on the Superbug