1/48 A-7E Corsair II

[Adam Baker]

1/200 Trumpeter Bismarck with Pontos 27001F1

Yea, a lot of the DS images I've found don't show them loaded down. A lot like this one below.

The instruction sheet mentions that it could carry up to 24 500lb bombs, 6 on each wing hardpoint, and then 2 sidewinders on the fuselage mounts, but most images show at most 8 500's like above, or 6 500's on TERS on the inboard mounts and HARM's on the outboard mounts, and sidewinders on the fuselage.

The A-7 apparently had the option for 3 hardpoints under both wings, but a lot of the images I'm finding usually only have 2 on each side, but a few I see have drop tanks on the inboard position, then bombs on TER racks in the middle, and then either single bombs or TER racks w/ bombs, or missiles, on the outboard rack.

I think what Ian was telling us about the stress load was they likely would not have loaded it down with fully loaded MERs with MK84s. Probably could have gone to work with a couple of JDAMs or Harms. I don't know, just making it up.

 

[moon puppy]

1/200 Trumpeter Bismarck with Pontos 27001F1

Go dig out some Vietnam era shots if you want to see one fully loaded.

For those who don't know, TER is a Triple Ejection Rack, you can see two in the image Adam posted, MER is a Multi Ejection Rack, two TERs on the same rack. They are universal in the US inventory meaning it can mate with any suspension rack that's used on US aircraft.

Adam, if my memory serves, those weapon stations were, facing the aircraft from right to left were 1-8, you'll notice station 2 and 7 have no pylon.

 

[Adam Baker]

You're right, I hadn't noticed that 2 & 7 were bare.

According to the instruction sheet that comes w/ the kit, stations 1, 2, 7 & 8 can hold MER's w/ 6 Mk 81 or Mk 82 bombs, and stations 3 & 6 can hold 4 Mk 81 or Mk 82 bombs.

Don't have any clue if it has the ability to hold all of those at once, but would mean the possibility of as many as 32 500 lb bombs, which is a lot of boom on target!

 

[moon puppy]

Again if my memory serves...Think there was a clearance issue with the TERs on 3 and 6. don't bank on my memory, that was 30 freakin' years ago. ldguy

 

[ij001]

Hi Adam
Dont get too hung-up on the loadout just now. Because I'm on my phone I cannot write too much, however I have a (superb) book called Gulf Air War Debrief; it has a chapter dedicated to 'actual' loadouts carried by each and every type of coalition aircraft - S-3 Vikings on coastal patrol with Mk82's hanging off the wings... Very cool - I'll dig it out and give you some ideas. I do recall for the SEAD mission the Corsairs flew with three HARMs and one tank over four stations the middle station was usually removed.

Later

Ian.

 

[Adam Baker]

I'm not worried about ordnance, b/c this build won't have any on it.

What I was trying to say earlier, was that at no point while the plane was painted in the desert scheme, did it carry any ordnance, so I have no plans on putting any on it.

 

[phantom II]

I just realized I was totally out in left field on this one....Not even an Air Force jet.

A-7's flew out of Nellis AFB in a variety of camo colors. Two different animals even though they look alike.

Just have fun with your build

Cheers, Christian B)

 

[Adam Baker]

No worries Chris!

Still working on the intake for this thing. I have to say I hate jet intakes, cleaning the seams up always suck. However, last night I swung by Hobby Lobby and got a pack of Milliput White, and a tube of Tamiya putty, hoping that one of them will help make this just a bit easier.

Decided to try the Tamiya putty first, and I have to say I'm sold! This is the first thing I've ever used Tamiya putty, and I really like it. Was curious how people apply it? I just ended up scooping up small spots of putty using the end of a tooth pick to get down inside the intake tube. I think I got a little heavy handed with it, but it still appears to be working out pretty good.

 

[Adam Baker]

Finally some pic's to share!

So as mentioned, I started out w/ the intake. Intakes suck, haha. Filling the seams is always a pain, but this time it actually wasn't as bad as I was scared it would be. The Tamiya putty worked great on this, I'm very happy w/ the results.

So I started by getting rid of the punch marks, and then removed the molded on end, so that I had an open tube.

Before

After

After a lot of sanding, I had a pretty decent surface I think.

And then for the fun part. I took a piece of blue painters tape, and capped off the back end of the tube.

I then filled it with Krylon Acrylic Latex Enamel Gloss White

I let it sit that way for 2 or 3 minutes, and then pulled the tape off, and let it drain

Leaving me with this

I let it drip/drain into the cup for about 20 minutes, and then repeated the process, which I've done 3 or 4 times now. As it drains, the paint gets really thin in some places, especially any corners, such as right at the top, so as the paint dries, and more is added on top and then allowed to drain off, it covers those up.

One of the really great benefits of this is that the paint is thick enough that if the surface of the intake isn't perfect, it'll help to fill in any small voids or blend any places you couldn't get filler completely removed.

It's been quite awhile since I've attempted this, and the couple of times I've done it in the past I've had mixed results, but I've seen some absolutely amazing results from this method, so I figured I'd give it a shot again for this build.

 

[Hippy Ed]

WTG Adam! I'll definitely give that a shot when I do up my F-8s

I've used Squadron White & Milliput for filling seams with fairly decent results. HAven't tried the Tamiya stuff but, I hear it's good

 

[Adam Baker]

When I picked up the Tamiya putty last night, I also picked up some Milliput White, but haven't tried it yet. I figured I'd try the Tamiya first, since I didn't have to mix it, and was very happy w/ the results. I've got some figure models I need to do some filling on, that I think I'll try the Milliput White on.

I just put my intake piece into my dehydrator, and I'm gonna leave it there for a couple of hours, to help cure the paint. When I put it in, I noticed a couple of places that looked like the paint was kinda thin, so tomorrow I'll probably put another coat on it, to see if that covers up the thin spots.

 

[Skinny_Mike]

Great looking intake Adam. The latex paint method is amazing. Just takes some practice. What's the deal with your sanding tool?

 

[Adam Baker]

It's an Oral B rechargeable electric toothbrush. I yank the bristles from the heads, and then glue different diameter dowel rod to it, and then using double sided foam tape, put punched circles of sand paper on them. Works great, I have several different heads w/ different grit paper, and different length dowel rod. Had the toothbrush for several years, but it's only in the last couple of years that I've really used it at all, and it gets used a lot.

 

[SA Dave]

Wow that looks good Adam

 

[moon puppy]

Pretty neat trick Adam

 

[dollar19]

Yeah Adam, I used the latex paint trick on my Monogram F-8. Took me a few sessions by it does work like a charm.