Tamiya 1/48 Douglas A-1H Skyraider (61058)

[mac1677 4,181]

Hi all,

I am sticking with the US Navy for my next build, I quite fancied building a Skyraider and haven't built anything in the white/grey scheme for many years. So here is the progress so far:

Box art, and the scheme I am going for:

 

Bought one of them fancy 3D decal badger thingwee's for the cockpit, got to say I am suitably impressed with it:

 

More later, thanks for looking in 👍

[Jessie_C 10,952]

That does look good.

[mac1677 4,181]

Cheers Jessie, but not much can be seen TBH 😂

 

Hi all,

Typical of Tamiya kits, this has just fallen together 🙂

Fuselage together and wings assembled and attached to the fuselage:

 

Main undercarriage and the horizontal stabilizers are cemented in place, the engine cowling is dry fitted and held in place with a smidge of tape:

 

Thanks for looking in 👍

 

 

[Jessie_C 10,952]

15 minutes ago, mac1677 said:

Typical of Tamiya kits, this has just fallen together

They do, don't they? I got mine to that stage and it was going so well I wondered what I was doing wrong. Then I noticed that I had no place to put it (It's rather largish) so I left it with the wings unglued on the Shelf of Shame. One day...

[Col. 7,048]

Nice progress again Mac.

55 minutes ago, Jessie_C said:

They do, don't they? I got mine to that stage and it was going so well I wondered what I was doing wrong. Then I noticed that I had no place to put it (It's rather largish) so I left it with the wings unglued on the Shelf of Shame. One day...

Shame the kit doesn't provide a wing-fold option to at least reduce the span.

[mac1677 4,181]

Cheers Col 😊

 

2 hours ago, Jessie_C said:

It's rather largish

I was thinking the same after I had cemented the wings to the fuselage 🙂

 

1 hour ago, Col. said:

Shame the kit doesn't provide a wing-fold option to at least reduce the span.

That would be quite welcome I should imagine 👍

[Mish 5,292]

Nice start Mac. I built one years ago and was very satisfied with it till I tried putting exhaust stains on it, that's when I ruined it. Mind you it was my first attempt at exhaust/oil staining  

[mac1677 4,181]

Cheers Mish 😊 TBH that is the one area I am dreading 😂

 

Hi all,

Ready for some primer tomorrow, the drop tanks are just dry fitted for now.

 

More tomorrow, thanks for looking in 👍

[mac1677 4,181]

Hi all,

The Raider has been primed with Mig Ammo grey primer, which is my go-to primer. I have seen a few posts regarding it and that it doesn't spray well, but as it is primer it is thicker than paint, so I just whack up the air pressure on my compressor to about 30psi and it sprays a treat 😊 Anyhoo...some pictures.

 

The primer has brought up a few bits that need more attention and then it is time for a black base 🙂

 

Thanks for looking in 🤘

[Mish 5,292]

Nice work Mac.

[mac1677 4,181]

Thanks Mish 👍

 

Hi all,

After the few areas that needed a bit of sanding, the panel lines were reinstated and the whole thing covered in Tamiya Semi Gloss black.

 

Then it was onto the marbling.

 

Whilst I had some white in the airbrush I did the bits that needed to be white, the picture of the underside came out rather badly, but you can get the gist from this picture.

 

Thanks for looking in, more soon 🙂

[Mish 5,292]

Nice work as always Mac

[USAAF 1,172]

Sweet start on the Skyraider !! I too also used the Quinta Studio set on mine . I’m going for the VF-25 Fist of the Fleet . What squadron marking you going for ?

[mac1677 4,181]

Cheers both 👍

 

3 hours ago, USAAF said:

I’m going for the VF-25 Fist of the Fleet . What squadron marking you going for ?

I am going for the box art machine, VA-176 Thunderbolts...only because I like the big Bee on the tail 😁

 

Hi all,

Some more progress has been made.

Canopy added, masked and primed in black. Also the rest of the masking was completed.

 

Then the first layer of Light Gull Grey was sprayed, this will be finessed over the next day or so.

 

Thanks for looking in 👍

[Gorby 16,288]

I thought I commented on this build but apparently I didn't. The tonal variation looks really good.  

[Mish 5,292]

Nice effect there Mac, I will have to give your technique a go on the next build.

[mac1677 4,181]

Cheers Mish 👍 I look forward to your experiments 😁

 

Hi all,

Not much in the way of progress today. Refined the grey a bit and sprayed a few panels a slightly different grey.

 

Then I painted the prop, dropped and broke the prop and then fixed the prop. She was also given a rub down with kitchen roll and then a coat of Gauzy gloss varnish in preparation of the decals.

 

I have also been doing the sticky out and droppy bits.

 

Thanks for looking in 👍

 

 

[Mish 5,292]

Looking good Mac.

[mac1677 4,181]

Thanks Mish 👍

 

Hi all,

Just a quick update. I decided to mask and paint the anti-glare panel and TBH it has really made a difference...she is definitely starting to look like a Spad now 😁 The drop tanks are only dry fitted just to see what they look like on her. Oh and I broke the prop again, so I drilled and pinned it with some wire. Hopefully it is strong enough now 🤔

 

I hope to start the decals today, thanks for looking in 👍

Edited November 27, 2022 by mac1677

[mac1677 4,181]

Hi all,

3 sessions to finish the decals today...but at least they are done now 😁 I will let them dry for a while and then give them a covering of gloss varnish,

 

Thanks for looking in 😎

 

 

[RWG686 31,451]

That looks the bee's knees 

 

 

(Translation for those whose first language isn't English...eg Geordies, Brummies and Liverpudlians ....When you refer to something as 'the bee's knees', it means that it is of excellent or very high quality. )

[Gorby 16,288]

Looking veeeery nice.

[mac1677 4,181]

Hi all,

She is now finished, I kept the weathering to the bare minimum, as unlike the USAF Spads, the USN kept theirs relatively clean.

 

Douglas A-1H Skyraider, VA-176 "Thunderbolts", October 1966:

 

Thanks for tagging along on this build, hope you like her 😎

[USAAF 1,172]

Mac you did  freagin beautiful jon on that Dougals AFly Dump Truck !!!! Beautiful overall finish

[Mish 5,292]

Pretty much perfection to my eyes Mac, nice job.