Amazing job as usual, my friend @davids_models! All bays look utterly realistic!

For the fourth week I built up and detailed the starboard side avionics bay. I used 32 awg wire for cables and made some more nameplate decals for the equipment. This completes the avionics. I then started on the intake and nose gear bay. First, the intake trunk was filled with some very bad mold marks. These needed to be sanded, filled with putty, and then sanded smooth. For the nose gear bay I added some photo etch panels from my PE scrap drawer for the two ends. On the aft end I made a box to house the LED for the Angle Of Attack (AOA) lights. This is the small panel that sits on the gear bay door. These were shown in week 2 (Incorrectly named recognition lights).

The final sub-assembly that needs to be done so I can put the fuselage together is the exhaust can. Again the can was filled with large deep mold marks that require a lot of putty. Once these were filled the exhaust was assembled and painted. It was then weathered using pastel chalk. I used black, dark gray, light gray, blue and rusty brown inside and out. Next I will be detailing the fuselage around the cockpit area and the exhaust then I can start routing the wiring.

More details and photos can be seen from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

8 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Nice work on the instruments and black boxes, David (@davids_models). The Corsair had some very large panels that opened into these areas, so all of this should really be visible.

Five weeks into the build of the A-7E I have assembled the fuselage together. Before putting the fuselage halves together I needed to correct the details of the tail cone. There are ribs inside the cone. The kit had some rounded ribbing which looked to small compared to the reference photos and had some mold marks in between the ribs. I filled the mold marks with putty then sanded the inside smooth. Using .020” square styrene I added the correct ribbing. Looking over the reference photos I noticed two small formation lights on each side of the fuselage. One behind the cockpit and one near the tail. I opened these up and added lights behind. Later I will add a lens.

I built and painted the 20mm gun that sits on the port side and installed it. The avionics bays, landing gear bays, intake, and cockpit were all installed. I routed and attached all the wiring and added wires thru the top which will go the wing section lights. I then slowly joined the fuselage halves together.

I need to make a note about this kit. The intake assembly has tabs that hold it in place. If you are building this kit I would recommend only gluing the rear tabs. If you glue the front ones the intake may be too close to one side causing the front edge to not be centered in the fuselage. The mouth needs to be centered for the intake lip to fit properly which would require the intake to be a little loose to line it all up.

Once the fuselage was finally together I then looked over the wing assembly. The light on the spine was all molded in plastic. I cut off the light lens section and drilled out the center of the housing. I used some clear styrene rod and made a clear lens. Just under the lens inside the housing I added a flashing red light. I looked over the wing tips and due to the thin edges I am unable to house the wiring for the LED’s for the wing tip lights. I decided to drill a .050mm channel so I can use .050mm fiber optics for them. I need to make a light box to house the wing tip LED’s then build up the wing assembly. Once I get the wing assembly mounted I can then finish the exterior details on the fuselage and get ready to start painting.

More details and photos can be seen from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

12 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Great progress, David @davids_models
Those ribs do add a lot of realism to the engine.

This is really amazing work, my friend @davids_models!

Your Corsair continues to impress, David (@davids_models). The amount of extra work you have done on this is exceeded only by your patience in getting all of it done. I guess the good news is that in a model this large you might actually have room to work inside the intake, and so on. Looks great.

Fantastic progress, my friend @davids_models!
Happy 2023!