1/72 EKA-3B Skywarrior/Whale - DONE! 09/20/2015

Arved - thanks a lot for your comment, lots of good info here! And Roger on that Brravo Zulu, it means a lot to me!

The Whale sure had a fascinating story and I'm glad I have it in my collection now!

Thanks again and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

But how about that A-5 X-rated nickname?

I'm not 100% positive, but I believe it's related to how the A-5 delivered ordinance:

If you think about how a 4-legged mammal deficates, it shouldn't take much of a stretch to think of the nicknames a sailor might apply to this aircraft. BTW, the system was not very accurate, thus not repeated in other designs.

Pawel

NARF Alameda is exactly where the EKA-3Bs were converted from A-3s

NARF Alameda did a lot of the modifications to the A-3 fleet. They were the "Designated Overhaul Point" for the A-3, the engineering and logistics "cogninzant field activity" and "weapon system manger" office for the aircraft.

Pawel

As for the front landing wheel - I meant the retraction mechanism. Maybe this photo will show it better:

I found this thread on another board with good "walk around" including many NLG details. I'll let you be your own judge, but I think there's no doubt your model definately has the "look and feel" of a finely crafted model.

If I neglected to say so earlier, well done, or in Navy palance, "Bravo Zulu!"

I've always wanted a model of an A-3, and here you've gone and made it so very, very tempting to do one of my own.

The last A-3 SDLM (Standard Depot Level Maintenance) done was a VQ-2 EA-3B performed "in-theater" at Messerschmitt just outside of München. It took over 25,000 man-hours and just over a year to complete. It looked like it came off the Douglas assembly line, in typical German fashion, perfect in every detail. Messerschmitt was proud of the effort - they spared no expense restoring the old girl, regardless of the Navy's miserly ways. I'm sure they took a huge loss on the project. I just wish I knew the BuNo of her. :-)

PJ - thanks a lot for your comment! After reading a few books on the Whale I just HAD to correct that detail! Best greetings and have a nice day

Paweł

Outstanding work overall. Those custom pe wheel details look fantastic.

Hello! Thanks a lot - I'm so glad to get some comments on this one!

John - thanks a lot! I sent you a PM, too.

allan, Toshi, Buckeye, BrandonK, jelliott523 - thanks a lot for your comments and for your kind words - they mean a lot to me.

Arved - got you on that A-6 nickname. But how about that A-5 X-rated nickname? NARF Alameda is exactly where the EKA-3Bs were converted from A-3s. Thanks for the clarification on the wing configuration - I badly wanted to get this right.

As for the front landing wheel - I meant the retraction mechanism. Maybe this photo will show it better:

Bish - and that was not the only thing I did in those two years! Thanks a lot for your kind words!

Have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

Front gear strut - there's still a nice PE part to be added:

I hope that's part of a drag bar, rather than a tow link. Looks like a tow link There was a scissor link, but no tow link. The A-3s were bridle-launched aircraft. Here's a good photo you can zoom in on to see the NLG detail (strut is collapsed on this museum bird - they don't servicee the struts on static displays):

Pawel

It's also already decided, that my model will have the flaps and the slats deployed - the Skywarriors sitting on the ground usually looked like that.

The leading edge flaps (that what the slats were called on this aircraft) were "automatic." You are correct in modeling them extended. They extended by gravity. Air pressure pushed them up when sufficient airspeed was attained. Flaps were usually (but not always) extended to accomodate inspections.

She turned out gorgeous Pawel! Kudos on a fantastic job, like many others have said, your attention to the smallest detail is outstanding!

Your extra work and attention to the details really paid off. This is one outstanding build. Super nice!!

BK

Very beautiful and a outstanding job!

Toshi

All I can say is outstanding build!

Mike

seasick

A-6 = Don't remember

According to Wikipedia: "Double Ugly", "The Mighty Alpha Six", "Iron Tadpole" and also "Drumstick".^[

Most of the A-6 people I know refered to it as the "Double Ugly," owing to it's side-by-side (tandem) seating. I remember seeing them torn down to parade rest at NARF (later NADEP) Alameda, where they resembled a fish carcass after all the fuselage panels and skins were removed for SDLM. Many were rewinged there, too.

seasick

H-3 = Don't remember

Pelican?

A very nice build, can't wait to see it finished.

Toshi

Shes a real beauty, Pawel! Well worth all the time you put in. The details make all the difference.

Beautiful!

Hello!

Today is the final update - I painted the wheels:

One thing left was to put them on the model:

And so the whale is finally completed, after two years!

Let's take a look at the completed build:

Thank you all for your attention and for your comments - I hope you liked it and have a nice day

Paweł

Toshi - thanks a lot for your comment and for your kind words!

Paweł

Wow, your attention to detail is superb!

Toshi

jelliot523 - thanks a lot for your kind words! It means a lot to me!

John - thanks! We'll work on that!

allan - thanks a lot! Well, I'm glad you found it now - welcome aboard!

Thanks a lot for your comments and have a nice day

Paweł

Unbelievable. The work youve done is unbelievable. I cant believe I havent stumbled upon this thread before.  Really excellent work!

Outstanding!  I'll take a set too if you don't mind.

Your Whale is coming out beautifully! All I can say about your wheels is...WOW! That is some awesome work! My hat is off to you my friend.

Hello everybody!

After a long time, here's an update!

We're talking about this part:

It's the main landing gear wheel, which would be correct for the so called "versions" variant of that aircraft, but not for a "bomber" - and the EKA-3B belongs to the bombers.

It's wheels should look something like this:

That means work. First I got to my trusty lathe and took the unnecessary part out. I really needed to man up on this one for fear of destroying something:

What I got was a very clean wheel:

Now I had to add some detail. I designed my own custom PE part in CorelDRAW! and let a small company etch it for me. That's what took so much time. After I got the parts, I had to shape them. I have built a matrix out of two pieces of iron and turned a brass punch on my lathe. One gentle tap of a hammer and the part was shaped, like on the photo below - on the left - BEFORE, the original part. On the right - AFTER the shaping. You can see the heat discoloration on the part on the right - that's because I heated it with a gas torch to make the material softer and to prevent it from cracking:

Now the easy part was to cut the parts out and glue them to the styrene:

Now I'm going to paint and weather them. I hope you liked it so far - thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Hello!

I've got my Whale almost done - the only thing left is the correct main gear wheel - I'm still waiting for custom PE to correct them. The thing is the kit's wheels are correct for so called "Version" - EA-3B, RA-3B, TA-3B and ERA-3B - but incorrect for "Bombers" - A-3B, KA-3B and EKA-3B - that had smaller brakes.

But for today I installed the wire antennae - made them of stretched sprue:

Also note the AN/ARR-15 antenna on the rear cabin window looking like shades - the decal was provided by Hasegawa without telling you where to put it.

I also spotted some missed panel lines on the underside - I pencilled them in, and also added a tie-down ring at the base of the arresting hook, a holdback fitting (the yellow arrow points to it) and the refuelling hose drogue. I also painted the lights:

I also fitted the crew access/escape hatch and the catapult bridle attachment hooks (from the Eduard PE set):

So, like I wrote the only thing left now are the wheels - I'll let you know when I fix this. Hope you like it - thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Hello Patrick - thanks a lot for your kind words. As the Book says - seek and you shall find... I feel good to know I could help somebody with my writing here. Thanks for your comment and have a nice day

Paweł

Hi, Pawel -

I wish you had not said there are finish flaws, I've been trying to spot them for a few minutes, now I have eye strain and have yet to find any.. It's just a beautiful build, a so-so kit made into a real gem of craftsmanship. I have thoroughly enjoyed following your build and the texts, very informative and helpful for me in my own hobby efforts. Thanks for all of the posts and photos.

Patrick

Hello!

Here's the next update - I managed to spray a semi-matt coat on the whole model. That helped to finally blend the decals with their surroundings. With that final coat on, I could at last unmask the cockpit. I'm glad I haven't found any nasty surprises under there, although the close up photos show all the minor finish problems that cannot be seen from the distance:

I also put the flaps and slats on. Especially the flaps weren't that easy to put on. Also note the static charge dissipators on the wing tips - I made them out of thin plastic fishing line, so as to keep them from breaking off:

At the same time I also installed the arresting hook:

You could say - just a few more details and it's done - but such things usually take me a lot of time, so let's see how it goes. I hope you liked it - thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Tankerbuilder - thanks a lot for your comment, and for your kind words! Nothing against floatie thingies - I'd love to tackle the brown water navy some day, or Maddox and Turner Joy for their historical significance - just didn't get around to it yet! Good luck with your builds and have a nice day

Paweł