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AIRFIX
1:72 DOUGLAS A4D-1 SKYHAWK
'INBOX Review'
Reviewer: Simon Skinner (rec.models.scale)
The Skyhawk prototype first flew in June 1954 and within two years became the first 'attack' aircraft to hold the 500-km closed circuit world speed record when it attained a speed of 695 mph. The Skyhawk was designated the A4D until the tri-service system was introduced in 1962. There were 146 production A4D-1 aircraft built which were redesignated to A-4A later which contained the same features as the pre-production YA4D-1 Skyhawks including modified nose cone, 20-mm cannon and three pylons (two underwing; one centreline) as well as an upgraded engine.
I picked this kit up recently seeing it on the shelves although I think it was reissued about four years ago and the kit itself dates from back in the early 70’s, if not longer. There are less than thirty parts all up on typical Airfix soft plastic with raised panel lines and not a great deal of surface detail. I even think this kit was before the phantom riveter was born as the surface detail is minimal and in some areas you need a magnifying glass to see them. The wings and fuselage halves are separate and loosely floating in the box, while the small parts are attached to a couple of broken sprue frames. One or two pieces had detached themselves and were loose in the box along with the one-piece canopy which is clear, but scratched. There is also a pilot figure, or something that has a slight resemblance passing off for same.
This is marketed as a Series 00 Airfix kit, ie: absolute beginner stuff, with the decaling and painting guide provided on the underside and Humbrol numbers for the kit on the sides, along with model dimensions, parts number etc. The instructions are typical Airfix with large font exploded assembly views and Humbrol numbers providing a commentary of painting on individual components. Sadly, neither the instructions nor the box elaborate on what those colours actually are! So grab a Humbrol pamphlet so you can at least decipher the colours.
The parts themselves suffer with a fair few mold imperfections, slight flash on the corners of pieces, sink holes and ejector pin marks although nothing you would not expect from an ageing Airfix mold. Of course, that does not mean that there aren’t a couple of nasty examples, because there are, particularly in the upper port wing and markings on the upper wing surface from the mold holes used for the gear struts on the wing interior.
Surface detail is quite basic as already mentioned. Fuselage parts have ridge lines on the edges and can do with a run over with the trusty excel blade. Nothing much for the cockpit as you would probably expect other than the pilot and a seat. If this were a MiG-15 you would be able to see straight through the fuselage as there are no blanking plates for the exhaust or bulkheads to block off the interior.
Main wings are typically broken into upper and lower halves for each side. The wheel wells are simply cut out holes in the lower wing pieces and holes in which to place gear struts in the interiors of the upper wing sections, also will need to be boxed in. Large alignment holes are included to attach the wings, tailplanes and underwing drop tanks, which by the way are the only options you get in this kit, and given there is a gaping hole in the underwing, are “required” by the modeller to affix.
The fuselage halves are pretty complete, incorporating the nose, intakes and fin on either fuselage half, punctuating really how little work there is to do (I am only talking about simply putting parts together here) for the modeller.
The canopy would benefit from a dip in future as it is scratched from transportation and being left loose in the box. Why Airfix persist with this I have no idea – you might as well say the same for the decal sheet. The undercarriage is nothing short of crude as are the gear doors – overly thick in this scale. The wheels need a good clean up and resemble nothing more than shirt buttons – thick and non-spherical at that!
You will spend more time cleaning up this kit and correcting or replacing a few parts than you will actually building it. Test fitting a few parts reveals nothing major for the average to be concerned with, although I suspect the fuselage parts are a little warped and will need some persuasive clamping. Everything else as a quick first glance, assuming a bit of clamping is used, should go together without too many problems.
Obviously this kit covers the main prototype pre-production aircraft which means you will only get one example to choose from to depict straight out of the kit supplies. The kit itself does not identify the example it caters for which is VA-34 US Navy wearing “312” Skyhawk, with no colourful markings to speak of.
Very small and very basic – no stencilling of any kind. While the red and white “Danger” banner is provided you will need to paint around the intake lip to fully cover the decal – which means matching the decal colour with paint precisely. Best bet here I would suggest would be to test either Matt 60 Scarlet or Gloss 19 Red from the Humbrol paint range. The box art also depicts a red flash on the drop tanks but no decal is provided for this. Colour register is excellent although the decals are thin, matt and carry enough film to furnish another sheet! I would suspect that there will be no problems with the decals conforming to the model surface, however, you may expect some bleed through or white edging which is not always apparent until you actually apply the decals to the aircraft. Interestingly the sheet also says “A-4 Skyhawk” so I hope they haven’t depicted a production version on a pre-production aircraft!!!
All in all very basic, but that’s what we enjoyed about Airfix kits all those years ago. If you are looking to model an A-4 then you have far better options on the market, because this kit itself will not depict an accurate A-4 only an accurate AD-4 which from what I can see it depicts in a convincing fashion. This is the only game in town that I am aware of for the AD-4 but unless you must have one on your shelf then there are better kits to spend your money on. However, it is cheap, it is basic and for a younger modeller, something they could really get their teeth into over a weekend!
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