ij001
Well-known member
…This isn’t as much a ‘project’ as much as something that I’ve been ‘tinkering’ with on-and-off since September. Now that’s not to say the kit isn’t worth the effort, it most certainly is, it’s just that I knew that the long run-up to Christmas would be extremely busy at work and at home so I resolved not to take this build too seriously.
So what you see here is the Italeri 1:72 A-6E, a real gem of a kit that goes together so much easier than the older (and lets be honest, exquisitely detailed), Fujimi kit. In fact the only filler needed on this one was at the front of the upper wing roots and around the radome/fuselage joint.
Ok, so enough of the yada, yada, yada, on with the ‘visual aids’:
The initial construction was very easy, the ‘pit is adequately detailed with raised switches and dials, the only trick that Italeri missed was that the Bombardier/Nav’s seat is set lower than the drivers but I can live with this omission. The GRU7 seats are nicely done with raised belts that are no problem to hand paint.
First paint job was to spray the bays white, then mask and on to the camouflage. I used Xtracolour enamels throughout:
First an overall coat of Light Compass Grey, followed by Dark Compass Grey on the topsides sprayed freehand without masking. The forward third of the wings & stabilisers (along with the area around the cockpit) were masked with rolls of Blu-Tack and sprayed Dark Blue/Grey.
As usual I cut the Xtracolours with a very pure cellulose thinner which came with me from the UK and is, unfortunately, beginning to run-out now. A really high gloss finish ensued.
Hang-on, more in a minute.
Ian.
So what you see here is the Italeri 1:72 A-6E, a real gem of a kit that goes together so much easier than the older (and lets be honest, exquisitely detailed), Fujimi kit. In fact the only filler needed on this one was at the front of the upper wing roots and around the radome/fuselage joint.
Ok, so enough of the yada, yada, yada, on with the ‘visual aids’:
The initial construction was very easy, the ‘pit is adequately detailed with raised switches and dials, the only trick that Italeri missed was that the Bombardier/Nav’s seat is set lower than the drivers but I can live with this omission. The GRU7 seats are nicely done with raised belts that are no problem to hand paint.
First paint job was to spray the bays white, then mask and on to the camouflage. I used Xtracolour enamels throughout:
First an overall coat of Light Compass Grey, followed by Dark Compass Grey on the topsides sprayed freehand without masking. The forward third of the wings & stabilisers (along with the area around the cockpit) were masked with rolls of Blu-Tack and sprayed Dark Blue/Grey.
As usual I cut the Xtracolours with a very pure cellulose thinner which came with me from the UK and is, unfortunately, beginning to run-out now. A really high gloss finish ensued.
Hang-on, more in a minute.
Ian.
