1/48th Hasegawa A-4M Skyhawk
Just finished building this 1/48th Hasegawa A-4M Skyhawk. It's finished in the markings of VMA-311 as seen at MCAS Beaufort, SC. The kit was supplemented with an Eduard color zoom cockpit fret and an aftermarket ejection seat and exhaust pipe. Aftermarket decals were used to replicate a plane from that squadron. The model was airbrushed with Mr. Color light gull gray and Model Master flat white enamel. The only issue during the build that caused a bit of extra work was was the substitution of the kit exhaust pipe with an aftermarket part. The pipe fit just fine but there was no locator pin on that after market part to easily align the pipe. That meant it had to be positioned so that it extended the proper distance from the end of the fuselage and was centered correctly. I got it worked out but that was a self-inflicted complication. With the exception of that, the build went quite smoothly. The Hasegawa A-4M kit was well engineered and accompanied with good clear instructions. The final photo in this batch is one I took at MCAS Beaufort, SC back in 1975 and was the motivation for this build. All comments welcome.
Great looking "Scooter," Jim! It looks ready to fly!
One hot Skyhawk, the colorful scheme makes it even hotter, great live photo.
A fine looking Skyhawk build Jim-awesome realism-total match for the real photo. It's always a positive when you include that touch of history.
Well done, Jim (@bentwing). I really like the tail colors.
An amazing Scooter indeed, Jim! Excellent job allover! I have similar self induced occurrences like yours in fitting exhaust pipes: since I prefer to fit them at very late stages, many times I have to remove their locating lugs, otherwise they cannot be inserted into the rear housing...
A perfect copy of the original one, Jim @bentwing
The exhaust turned out very nice.
Very nice scheme.
Really nice work, Jim.
A very colorful Hotrod!
Great looking Skyhawks, Jim.
You can never have too many Scooters, Jim---thanks for posting this one!
phil
Thanks to all for your comments and observations. Next up will be a 1/48th Trumpeter F9F Panther. It's a pleasure to be associated with all the fine modelers here on iModeler.
Great build - really like that scheme - a stand-out! Well done.