Landing Gears

Just completed the back landing gears for the A-6 Intruder. Painted details such as black cabling and aluminum shock absorbers. I have seen modellers remove such plastic details and add real wiring but I did not want to spend tens of hours on such little detail as I have changed my modelling philosophy from super detailer to just adding any extra touch at strategic areas. Although difficult to adhere to at times it has made the hobby more enjoyable. I will however be adding weathering at the end of the project which will bring out all of the details in the wheel wells.

Hindenburg

My oldest son Casey (7 years old) was asking me the last weekend what models I built when I was young. I starting going through the list of old kits I built as a teenager which I no longer have and recalled that I had taken some photos of them with an old camera back in the late 90's early 2000's.

I started rummaging through my old photo album and managed to find a picture of the Revell Hindenburg kit I built when I was 19 years old in and attending Vanier College in Montreal. While the kit looked interesting when I purchased it, it turned out to be the most dull build I ever had since everything is aluminum colored with very little detail except for the propellers and cabin area. The picture is slightly blurry but it's the Hindenburg hanging from my bedroom ceiling...

Having Fun in the Garage

The A-6 Intruder has a lot of white paint, about half of the kit. When I painted the external fuel tanks during the summer it took 4 coats of spray paint to get it right. So now I am painting the under wings and landing gears but it is currently below freezing with a bit of snow from earlier this week which means I have to spray indoors. Since I do not have a spray booth my only option is to do it in my garage due to the strong fumes from the Tamya spray cans that I am using. The garage having recently been painted is very clean and is pretty much dust free which traditionally would have been a concern. I bumped up the temperature from 12 celsius to 18, got my first coat done and I hope it will only take a total of 3 and not 4 coats.

Flight of the Raptor

Tonight I finished the final touches of the F-22 Raptor which included some last minute touch-ups and the application of the stickers which Casey preferred that I do. I placed it on Casey's dresser next to his other completed kits, wonder what his reaction will be tomorrow morning...

Air Intakes

Tonight I attached the two air intakes which required a clamp to ensure they both stayed aligned. This kit is finally starting to look like an Intruder!

Adding Paint Where Possible...

As previously stated, there is not much to paint on this kit... One of the last details to add is the color of the nose antenna. Casey wanted it to be a dark grey color and I was impressed at how well he painted it making sure not to touch the nose of the aircraft with a very steady hand.

Closed Up

I finally have the fuselage of the A-6 closed, the center piece where the fuel tank will be attached was a bit tricky since the two halves of the aircraft did not have a perfect alignment but I managed to get it right. The lower part of the belly of the Intruder with the tailhook was much easier as it snapped in place holding tight with no glue initially.

Signature

Well as usual, here is my signature for the A-6 Intruder which I placed in the center of the fuselage located above the tailhook. Needed to get this done before sealing it up...

Spray Paint Fun

Just like the F-14 me and Casey made last year I decided to keep things simple and use the same Tamiya spray can to paint the fuselage. It's a nice classic grey color for a military aircraft.

Clamp It!

With the help of Casey I glued the upper and lower wings to the fuselage. I found the fit was not great (what do you expect with a Revell level 1 snap kit) so I used several clamps to make sure it looks good once the glue has dried.

The artist signs his work...

Having glued the exhaust that Casey painted black the night before, I had him sign the inside with the year the kit was built. A tradition of mine since I have been creating kits as a teenager.

F-22 Pilot

Today Casey had some fun painting the pilot of his F-22 Raptor an army green color. We also examined the kit and unfortunately beyond a few small details there is not much to do as the F-22 is a very simple kit compared to other models that we have built...

Happy Birthday Casey!

Happy Birthday Casey! Your now 7 years old and what could be better than a scale model of an F-22 Raptor! Looks like we will be having some fun with a new build this summer...

A-6 Cockpit

At first I wanted to make an identical cockpit to that of the original aircraft however I decided not to. Reasons are because there are several configurations plus the fact that once the cockpit glass was closed not a whole lot will be visible. I decided to use my artistic talent and let my imagination choose the button colors. Overall I think it looks convincing...

A-6 Crew

Just completed painting the pilot (right) and the navigator/bombardier (left). Will glue the arms to the bodies once they have been seated in the cockpit.