Hasegawa 1/72 McD D A-4E/F Skyhawk

HASEGAWA 1:72 MCDONNELL DOUGLAS A-4E/F SKYHAWK

I'll add boxart very soon after I photograph it and upload it to computer

Reviewer: Mark B (SMAKR Webmaster) (smakr1@optusnet.com.au)
Kit Built + Review Submitted: 11 January 2007

Kit Details:

Hasegawa #00239 [B9] - 1/72 McDonnell Douglas A-4E/F Skyhawk

Aircraft History:

In 1950 the US Navy was allocating a specification for an advanced attack aircraft. Early experience in the Korean War had shown that such an aircraft was needed for deployment from aircraft carriers and mobile airfield bases. When Douglas Aircraft Company received the request for a proposal they had already for some time been investigating the possibility of producing an advanced airplane which would be far less complex and much lighter in weight than the attack/fighter aircraft already in service. The US Navy's requirement provided a great opportunity to put these ideas into practice and it is hard to believe that three decades on that proposal was still a frontline aircraft of many air forces around the world.

Douglas set about evolving a design of an attack aircraft that was far superior to anything the US Navy had considered possible at the time. Douglas developed an airplane with a gross weight which was half that of the US Navy's specified requirement along with a speed about a 100 mph faster. When the US Navy considered Douglas proposal they - perhaps tongue in cheek - requested a high bomb and ordnance payload because it is probably fair to say the US Navy evaluation officers must have conside4red it most unlikely that Douglas would be able to develop a production aircraft that was anywhere near as good as the proposal. In any event they wasted little time in awarding a contract for prototypes and pre-production aircraft under the designation A4D-1 and later renamed A-4 Skyhawk.

In its original form the Skyhawk was a small single-seat aircraft of delta-wing configuration although a number of two-seat varioants have been produced subsequently. Like many classic designs it is fair to say that the Skyhawk happened to have things right the first time, and the XA4D-1 prototype which first flew in June 1954 was superficially identical to single-seat production aircraft that were in service a quarter of a century later.

Not surprisingly, for an aircraft with such a long production history, there have been many versions and variants. The A-4A was followed by the A-4B which had an engine of similar power but major changes included provision for carrying Bullpup missiles, a navigation computer, flight refuelling capability and dual hydraulic systems. These were also converted to TA-4B for training purposes.

The A-4C had the fuselage nose extended to accommodate new equipment necessary to improve all-weather capabilities, including an advanced autopilot, terrain clearance radar, and a low-altitude bombing system. Deliveries of 638 aircraft for the US Navy and Marine Corps began in December 1959.

Then the came the A-4E with an improved turbojet which was fitted retrospectively to eariler single-seat aircraft in operational service. It also brought in additional underwing and underfuselage pylons enabling a bigger payload.

The A-4F was an improved attack bomber version with the addition of lift spoilers, better engine and a larger hump fairing on the spine behind the cockpit which made the Skyhawk affectionately become known as the Scooter.

Later versions were then produced such as the A-4G for the RAAF and the A-4M which had improved avionics and engine and the addition of a braking parachute.

The Kit:

Pretty much the standard fare from Hasegawa of the 70's with nice surface detail on the parts albeit raised panel lines. The three light grey sprues of just under 50 parts are bagged with the large decal sheet and the one clear sprue containing the canopy. In spite of this there were no obvious ill effects. The parts are crisply molded but there is a very minor amount of flash which is typical of Hasegawa kits of this age. Still, we anticipate a very nice solid and easy build ahead of us!

Instructions:

Again stock standard fare from Hasegawa with a fold out strip of instructions. The main sections provide the 7 step assembly process with adequate placement detail and information to follow for the version to be built. The only option area to make choices comes with the fitting of the underwing stores in step 7. Also on the spread of pages are the symbols used in the instructions, the paint call out from Gunze Sangyo/Mr Color range and a matrix of the external stores that the A-4E/F carried. On the reverse side are the four-view marking and painting diagrams, sprue diagrams and brief history of the type. It pays to look through the assembly steps because the USAF roundel goes under the outer pylon under the wing and over the open speed brakes, and this may need to be kept in mind during construction.

Construction:

Naturally this starts in the cockpit which is sparsely but typically Hasegawa detailed. A one-piece ejection seat placed onto a cockpit tub is fitted inside the fuselage halves. An instrument dashboard and control column are the only other accessories for the cockpit, although a pilot figure helps fill up the space a little. Decal sheets are provided for side console and main instrument panel. I painted the cockpit in a US Medium Grey (not entirely accurate but my home set up only allows a small selection paints etc when putting kits together now). The fit is pretty good and the sub assembly is encased in the fuselage halves which are affixed together. Don't forget noseweight for wheels down models.

From here assembly goes very quickly, especially considering it was a "fun" build or a slammer as many people might refer to it. I did my usual trick of closing up the wheel wells for a wheels up model and the doors fit quite well, except the rear section of the nose wheel bay has no cover. The cover is attached to the nose-wheel so this has to be removed from the gear leg - and even then it is too long so has to be trimmed to size to fit. The wheel bays have some structural detail in them.

The intakes were added to the side of the fuselage and while they fit good, they still need a bit of sanding to blend them into the fuselage. The lift spoilers need to be removed if building the A-4E. The rear exhaust ring was painted silver and added onto the rear of the aircraft which is a pretty basic representation of an exhaust. There is the option to have the speed brakes open and the interior has some structural detail molded but I opted to have them closed, and they fit well. One thing to keep in mind is that the fuselage USAF insignia is applied over the speed brake housing, so if you choose to have this open you will need to ensure the roundel is cut accordingly. The spine hump needs a dry fit run first to determine a couple of minor spots that can do with a very small trim but fits well. A minor amount of filler and sanding where it meets the tail fin helps it blend in nicely.

The wings are another matter though. A single lower piece and two upper halves. The lower piece was encrusted in flash and needed a lot of trimming and test fitting before the upper wings could be affixed into place. The insides had to be cleaned up also with removal of ejector pin stubs otherwise the upper halves would not fit flush. The outer wing pylon holes need to be opened/drilled out for the F model so don't forget to do this and this was easily done using the sharp end of the #11 excel blade. However, like the speed brakes above, a quick look at the instructions later revealed that the USAF roundel will have to be cut as this outer pylon goes over it. I really wish instruction sheets would tell you this! A very good fit was achieved once all this was done, then the wing sub assembly was added to the fuselage with just a minor bit of filler at the forward join and some sanding to remove a small step. The tailplanes fit without any dramas.

The kit provides quite a generous array of underwing stores which of course means plenty for the spares box! Something we all love with the older kits that it seems they running as businesses nowadays seem to have a real lack of. The instruction sheet is useful here to consult the matrix on the various warloads. The kit supplies Mk.81 cluster bombs, Mk.82 Snakeye cluster bombs, AGM-45 Shrike, AGM-12B Bullpup, centreline large fuel tank and I assume a pair of LAU-10's for underwing. I chose the Shrike and Mk.81 cluster bombs on the underwing pylons for my version.

Two refuelling probes are provided and I opted to add the S-shaped version as called by in the instructions, an arrestor hook is also provided which needs very careful removal from the sprue as it is so thin, the canopy fits quite well and the stores were added to finish off the construction phase.

Painting was very simple in using Humbrol 34 Matt White for the underside and Humbrol 64 Light Grey for the upper side. The underside needed a few coats before it looked white and a few other colours were used to pick out the various detail bits, but otherwise a very simple scheme.

Colour Schemes:

From the kit you have the choice to build one of two examples, although not sure which is supposed to be the E and which the F. Both seem to be E's from the diagrams given. CAG Bird of CVW-21 VA-55 "War Horses", US Navy and VMAT-102 "Hawks" US Marines are your choices, both of which are finished in upper light grey over white undersides.

Decals:

Dare I again say this is your Hasegawa standard fare with thick semi gloss decals on a sheet with all the markings, insignia, wing walks and tail codes provided. A modest amount of stencilling is also included. The USAF roundels are one-piece decals, and as already alluded to during construction they may need to be cut in order to be applied around the outer underwing pylon and open speed brake. The decals were typical of Hasegawa, and I used Mr Mark Softer (Gunze Sangyo product) as setting solution and had absolutely no problems with the decals at all. The only minor complaint is that even with gloss coating before and after applying the decals, there is still some evidence of silvering.

Accuracy:

With the lift spoilers and the large avionics hump on the back of the aircraft this kit immediately can be ruled out for an accurate A-4E. I don't know enough about the examples the kit produces to determine whether they are A-4E or F models and given it was supposed to be a quick build I didn't worry too much about getting caught up in that. In all other respects it looks like the real thing and measures up acceptably to the scale being a millimetre or two out but nothing major.

Overall Recommendation:

Apart from a bit of flash, particularly around the underwing section, this was a very straight forward and easy model to build. As is often the case with jets like this one, once you get past the cockpit, assembly progresses very quickly and can be finished off in an afternoon. It is not the most accurate A-4E/F but it builds into a nice looking model, is easy to build and a great kit to slam together or for a novice to build. Recommended!

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