Thomas,

As a matter of fact that is exactly where I found the solution.

1/48 Eduard F6F-3 + Wolfpack wing fold

Everything was stripped of white, resprayed with primer, and had new panel lines pre-shaded. I mixed it up from my usual flat black lines, and used dark sea grey underneath to hopefully allow me to use less white to cover them.



I am hoping to shoot a new coat of white tomorrow. Once I have that dry and masked off with blu-tac, I'll darken the remaining panel lines with some black. Since I had time to kill while all of this repainting dried, I went ahead and added the second set of ignition wires to the engine. It looks much better now, and I am definitely going with this method over flat PE wires in the future. It's tedious, but worth it.



The wires were painted by hand using a 20/0 red sable brush using Vallejo Model Color Brass and Red Leather mixed 50/50. They should be black or dark grey according to photos, but I went with a color that would pop inside the dark cowl so the detail could stand out.

I am hoping to have the camouflage laid down by the end of this weekend.

Paul,
I really like your idea of going with a grayish color for pre-shading rather then black, as I've never liked the end result under white or light gray.

As for the 2nd set of ignition wires, glad you invested the time to add them for the duel ignition. Even in my brother's old Piper Colt (long time ago), we did a pre-start test of right, then left, then both magnetos. I tried the PE wires once, hated how they looked, and have been using copper wire since.

The color of the ignition wires is another area of constant confusion. Looking at pictures of restorations, which is basically all we have, you'll see everything from off white, black, to just copper tubing. Using the United States Air Force museum's P&W R2800 display, you'll notice that the ignition wires are in a conduit that is not painted. I believe that's how they left the factory, but oxidized while in operational use. I tend to use a Redish Brown color to that effect.

Here's a picture of that restoration which I use as my base. BTW, even the color of the crankcase varies from one restoration to the next.

Joel

Well, it's time for another update on the A-6E Build. I've been diligently working on decaling the basic air frame, slats, and flap assemblies. It's literally taken me 5 work sessions of a min of 4 hours each to get this far. Just as a note the close up of the intakes has the Red intake plate decaled but I still need to paint the sides. As you can surely tell by now I'm one of the slowest builders here, yet I think I'm moving at a decent pace. Go figure.

When I first planned out my build, I decided that I wanted to replicate one of the colorful paint schemes that many of the A-6's wore back in the 70's-80's. Fightertown Decals makes a few sheets that meet my needs, so I decided on their # 48063 sheet, and then the specific aircraft #501 of the VA-165 Boomers from the USS Constellation circa 78/79. The sheet requires that you use the stenciling from the kit decal sheet, which I did.

The good news is that the Figthertown decals were in perfect color registration, not to thin and not to thick, as were the Hobby Boss decals, so that they both worked well with the Microscale system over a gloss base. I did find that the Fightertown decals colors seems more intense in their color, while the Hobby Boss decals were some what softer in intensity. Since part of my weathering plan is to apply a very thin air brushed wash over them, this isn't a big issue to be concerned about.

The bad news is that I did have two issues with the Fightertown decals. The fuselage Stars and Bars are just to big, so I used the kit decals. The same issue and solution was needed for the red triangle Danger Jet Intakes. Comparing them to pictures, they just seems way out of scale. Needless to say that I was very concerned about the highly detailed tail decals. They and all the other decals on the sheet fit perfectly, so I'm at a lose as to why I had those specific issues.

I'm certainly not looking to bash fightertown as I really like their decals, just curious if anyone else had that issue with their A-6 decals, or did I screw up. This in no way would deter me from using their decals on another build.

I still have to decal the 4 pylons, build and paint, and decal the bomb loads, so I have a long way to go. Here's a few pictures of the decal process before sealing in a few coats of Testors Glosscoat.

Joel

Looking good, Joel. How many bombs do you have to detail for it?

Thanks Paul,
I thought that for this build I would go with a more hi-tech loads out approach rather then the usual 12 dumb bombs.

Station #1: 1 GBU-8
Station #2: 1 M117
Station #3: Centerline Fuel Tank
Station #4: 3Mk20's
Station #5: 1 GBU-8

Right now while the decals are drying, and then another coat of Glosscoat so I can start the weathering process, which won't be anywhere as drastic as the F-4B, I started working on the front and main landing gear struts, detailing them with hydraulic lines, and cables as needed. Almost all of them are from stretched sprue rather then lead or copper wire.

Joel

Joel, your A-6 looks incredible!

A bit of a later start, but here's my entry:





There's a bit of a story with this kit. I bought it about 2 years ago while visiting the Czech Republic and stashed it away in my checked luggage while I flew back to the US. That was a silly mistake, because it got squashed at some point, annnnd both of the fuselage halves cracked pretty badly:



Eduard very kindly supplied me with a new fuselage, which is molded in gray plastic in contrast to the olive-green of the rest of the kit.

Kevin,
Thanks so much for those most kind words.

That really speaks quite highly of Eduard to replace both fuselage halves for what was clearly not their error. Since You have such a color difference between the replacement fuselage and the rest of the kit, just make sure to prime with a real primer, not just gray paint, and you'll be good to go.

Looking forward to following your build.
Joel

Joel that A-6 is a piece of art. Looking forward to seeing it done.

Kevin good of Eduard to replace the fuselage for you. Seems most of the kit makers do go out of their way to help.

Pricklehead,
Thanks for those more then kind words on my A-6E build.

I certainly agree with you that there has been a tend where the manufactures have been more willing to replace missing or damaged parts. Back in the 70's one was basically on his own for replacement parts.
Joel

I started my project few days ago: Attack Squadron 1/72 F8F Bearcat.

Kevin,

did your F6F come with the right aileron? I had to scratch mine I will watch your build with interest.

Bob

Marcin,

Welcome to our Grumman Campaign.

I for one will closely be following your Attack Squadron 1/72 F8F Bearcat build. I'll be the 1st one to confess that I didn't know anything about this kit, so I did a Google search, and was quite pleasantly surprised to find out that it's a full limited run resin kit, which has gotten excellent reviews as to casting accuracy, and a very high level of detail. One reviewer who has a great interest in the Bearcat, stated that it's the best kit in any scale. Now that's saying something.

Your cockpit looks quite good. And those seat belts really stand out. Nicely done. Are they the PE ones from the kit, or an after Market set?

And please, when you start the canopy work, post a lot of pictures and explanations of how you work with a vacuum canopy.

Joel

Thanks Joel!

Yes, PE seat bealts are privided in the kit.
I will try to take as many pictures as possible to show how it goes together.

Marcin,
Thanks. And especially how you handle that vac canopy. I used one from the Squadron Shop for part of the green house on my SBD-4 Dauntless build, and really struggled with it.
Joel

I've been steadily working on the landing gear, adding details, brake and hydraulic lines. Hobby Boss really beefed up the gear as the completed model with weight will be very heavy. So the used white metal for a core, and then a plastic two piece claim shell plus assorted detail parts.







For the full update, please stop by my build blog in the Cold War forum:

A-6E thread

Joel

builds are looking good I have hit a standstill due to work am hoping it slows down so I can ramp up again

Sascha(IronOwl)

Joel, those landing gears look great, so much fiddly detail

Ive gotten paint on my Albatrosses, the 1960's PanAm era one is about ready for decals, I have to sit down and design those.



I recently found another lovely photo of this aircraft.


The white is on the 1950's TALOA one, I hope to get the masking and dark grey on this weekend.

Jonathan,
Thanks for those more then kind words.

The two tone paint scheme really looks quite nice. Took a look at that picture from the link. Now there's a rather unusual private company paint schemes that would turn heads. Are you giving it any consideration?
Joel

Hi Joel, the aircraft in the picture is exactly what I am modeling.
Pan Am was the operating contractor of the Trust Territory air service from 1960 to 1968. The blue cheat line is the only acknowledgement of their identity.

Let me back up a bit. At that time I was a child - Army brat if you will, living with my family in the Marshall Islands. the Marshall islands were one of the territories taken from the Japanese during WWII, and entrusted to the US by the UN - the Trust Territories of the Pacific.

I am indebted to the TALOA.org historical web site for hosting this image, but I own a full size velum print of the same chart.

Every model i build, with few exceptions, is something that has been photographed, or I specifically remember seeing there.
The air service was administered by the US dept of the Interior - It's a little ironic, eh - it's hard to think of a less interior place to the continental United States than Micronesia, but such are the results of world events.

To continue - three SA-16A's were loaned to the TT commission for inter island air services by the US Navy in 1953.

the other model i am building is the same aircraft in its original paint scheme, little altered from the Navy engine grey and white, when the operator was TransOcean Airlines. more on that later.

sorry to go on in depth, but this is why we come here, no?

edit to add more

here's an interesting page from history in my possesion, hope you can read it.

Joel: I agree your landing gear is really impressive.

I finally opened the F6F box again and did some work on it:


Bob

Bob,
Thanks for the most positive comments.

Glad that you're finding some time to work on your build. Looks like it's coming together quite nicely.
Joel

The radial is attached and the cowling is on, but I find myself with a small problem. The lighter covers for the wing and formation lights. The clear covers Eudard supplied look great, but for my large fingers and eyes to try to attach will be a major under taking. I first need to fix up a catch system so the floor monster does not get these small pieces then onto a little rescribing another bath and then maybe if I am a good boy I get to put a coat of paint on some time this coming weekend.

Bob

Bob,
We all donate to the carpet monster at times. I just donated the set screw for the trigger spring from my Paasche air gun. Now I'm waiting for parts.

About the only method that I've ever seen work is to wear an apron and tape it to the bottom of your workbench. If you drop the part it will land in the apron. If you launch the part from a pair of tweezers, nothing really works except a lot of good luck. Also DON'T STAND UP, OR MOVE YOUR CHAIR BACK !! 1ST REMOVE THE TAPE FROM YOUR WORKBENCH.

Joel

Just posted my latest A-6E update in my build thread in the Cold War forum.

Gear, Gear doors, Slats,Flaps, and Flaperons on. Basic weathering done.

Here's a few pictures from the update. Please stop by and take a look when you have a chance.
Joel