AIRFIX 1:72 VOUGHT A-7D/E CORSAIR II

 

Reviewer: Paulo Ivo Teixeira (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted:  3 August 2007

Kit Details:

Airfix A-7D/E Corsair II 1/72 scale, kit # 03016-4, from 1975. Got it for a birthday sometime in the late 1970s.

Aircraft History:

The A-7E variant is really only the major US Navy revamp of the USAF A-7D with upgraded engine and radar.  The Corsair is a subsonic attack aircraft for the US (and other countries) air regiments.  It was based loosely on it's fighter comrade the F-8 Crusader and to the untrained eye the aircraft look very similar.  But of course the A-7 is a much different aircraft and has proven itself to be one of the most accurate strike aircraft ever built (in bombing and gunnery competitions).  It saw action in the Gulf Air and back in 1986 off the coast of Libya.  The last two remaining squadrons of the A-7E variant that took part in Desert Storm can be found on US aircraft carriers patrolling the Persian Gulf.

The Kit:

74 white injection-moulded parts on several sprues, plus two-part canopy and one landing light in clear. Soft raised panel lines, recessed control surfaces. Main fuselage split vertically. Cockpit comprises a decent seat and two side consoles devoid of any detail, floor is the top half of intake trunk. Pilot figure also included. Undercarriage legs and main wheel bays fairly detailed (especially considering age of kit). Stores include two acceptable AIM-9 Sidewinders (early marks), two (undersized) drop tanks, and 24 500-lb bombs (lots of sink marks on latter).

Instructions:

One 51 cm x 19 cm (20 in x 7.5 in) sheet folded in two, then folded again to fit box, printed in landscape orientation, featuring: short history of aircraft in English, French and German; general instructions and explanation of symbols. Six easy-to-follow construction steps. No as-you-go colour call-outs. Advice on applying decals, on using stand, and on doing either the A-7D or A-7E version. Painting and decalling guide showing 4-views of aircraft.

Options:

Wheels up or down, outer wings folded yes/no (A-7E). A-7D and A-7E have different nose wheel legs.

Colour Schemes:

One US Navy A-7E of VA-146 aboard USS America and one US Air Force A-7D of the 57th FWW, Luke AFB, Arizona.

Decals:

As I remember, the original decals were more or less ok but with a lot of very visible carrier film. Very little stencilling.


© Paulo Ivo Teixeira 2007

Construction:

I first built this kit as a teenager, maybe 30 years ago. Of course, I did it appallingly: used too much glue, and of the wrong type, which left ugly stains everywhere, including some on the clear parts! Big unfilled gaps, steps, sink marks, you name it. It sat on my cupboard, built and decalled, but unpainted as was my practice at the time, for a few years, after which I somewhow managed to paint the upper surfaces in a pattern and shade of grey not too different from the correct US Navy specification (but too dark) without fouling the decals. How I did that, I honestly can't remember - did I remove them, and if so how on Earth did I get them to stick again, in the days before I discovered the healing power of white glue? Mystery.

A few more years (20?) of neglect followed, during which the long-suffering kit gathered large quantities of dust and had a fair number of bits broken off, sometimes reattached with copious amounts of glue. Having returned to modelling sometime in early 2005, I decided this was one of the old wrecks that could still be salvaged. 

I started by immersing it in a big tub of household bleach to remove several layers of old paint, followed by vigorous scrubbing with an old toothbrush. This mostly did the job, except that silver paint failed to come off completely, even after several weeks in the bleach bath. Anyway, most of the paint did come off and the bleach also dissolved most of the old glue, so basically I had the kit in separate parts - almost as good as new, save for a few parts that were broken, gone for good or deformed beyond repair. 

I then cleaned up most parts by scraping with a Stanley knife, filing and sanding where appropriate. The undercarriage was missing too many bits, so it was going to be a wheels-up model and I removed what was left of the gear legs and doors. 

There was still some black paint on the cockpit walls and floor, so I primered them and the intake trunk with flat white (Hu 34). Once this had dried, the cockpit was painted Dark Gull Grey FS36231 (Hu 140), with flat black (Hu 33) consoles and instrument panel (this is just a blank place facing the pilot).  I then drew a few white dots on these to simulate dials. The seat was also painted Dark Gull Grey with Olive Drab FS34087 (Hu 66) cushions. Since it was going to be a wheels-up model I needed a pilot: the spares box duly obliged. The flying suit was painted lightened Olive Drab (Hu 66 with a drop of flat white), with black (Hu 33) shoes and oxygen mask, US Ligh Ghost Grey FS36375 (Hu 127) straps and a satin white (Hu 130) helmet. The goggles were coloured green with a marker pen, the face and hands were painted a pinkish shade obtained by mixing scarlet (Hu 60) and flat white (Hu 34) more or less 1:1. Face, hands and flying suit were also lightly drybrushed with flat black to highlight details.

The inside, and the outside of the bottom half, of the intake trunk (the latter being also the roof of the nose wheel bay) were then painted satin white (Hu 130). The rear end of the inside fuselage, around the exhaust can, was painted Interior Green FS34151 (Xtracolor X117, it is a matt paint) to match photos. The exhaust can itself was painted flat black (Hu 33), inside and outside.

The intake and the rear cockpit blanking plate, as well as the exhaust can, were then cemented to the right half of the fuselage. Once this was dry, the two fuselage halves were joined (no nose weight was necessary as this was going to be wheels up). There were huge gaps to be filled and sanded. Then I had to deal with the undercarriage: some of the doors had gone missing, so I went to the spares box for bits of plastic of the right curvatures. These, combined with copious amounts of filler, didn't look too bad. Also rescribed the door contours with a blade - a far from perfect job, or might the imperfections be just battle damage? :-)

In the meantime the two parts of the wings (inner and outer) had been glued together, gaps filled and sanded smooth. These were then attached to the fuselage, as was the one tailplane that had broken off. More gaps to fill and sand. As this was going to be an A-7D, I had to remove the USN-style in-flight refueling proble from the right-hand side of the nose and scratchbuild the correct USAF-style in-flight refuelling scoop to go on top of the fuselage, more or less aligned with the wing leading edge. 

Major paintwork followed: I did the SEA camouflage of US tan FS30219 (Hu 118), US Medium Green FS34102 (Hu 117) and US Dark Green FS34079 (Hu 116) over Light Camouflage Grey FS36622 (Hu 28), using masking tape for the straight demarcation lines and Patafix (continental European blu-tac) sausages for the wavy lines. Brush painted as usual so no need for wheathering. :-)  Wingtip lights were done with marker pens over a flat white base.

Time to think about ordnance. I opted to leave out the Sidewinders, as I needed them for another project and had seen photos of Corsairs not carrying them. Also half the bombs had been `borrowed' by an F-16. After fruitlessly scouring the spares box for more realistic drop tanks, I decided to stick with the kit's: the upper halves were painted US Dark Green FS34079 (Hu 116), the lower halves Light Camouflage Grey FS36622 (Hu 28). The remaining bombs presented another problem: they should be Olive Drab FS34087 with yellow rings around the nose, but I'm notoriously bad at painting rings on such small items, plus I wanted a bit more colour, so I decided they would be practice bombs: after filling numerous sink marks, bodies were painted WWI Blue (Hu 109), with Olive Drab FS34087 (Hu 66) tails. As I said above there were only 12 bombs left which filled just the two mid-wing pylons (the inner ones carry the drop tanks). Most locating pins/holes for pylons were by now gone, so their position/alignment should be treated as approximate!

I scratchbuilt a replacement arresting hook from an old Hawker Typhoon rocket, primered it flat white, then painted it satin white (Hu 130), then drew black stripes around it with a marker pen. It is a little too thick and doesn't quite fit into the recess it was supposed to go into, but still looks ok.

In the meantime the canopy was polished with toilet paper. This improved transparency considerably, but I couldn't get rid of a few old glue stains. Most of the framing was also painted US Dark green FS34079 (Hu 116) at this stage.

The pilot's seat and the pilot were then cemented in place; I had to twist the pilot's right arm to get it to fit. The canopy was then added, in the closed position; this left a few minor gaps which were filled with white glue and then sanded smooth. Finally, I finished painting the canopy windscreen framing and the sealant between framing and glass was done in gloss yellow (Hu 69), applied with a very fine brush.

Decals are from spares, so this probably does not represent any actual aircraft, but I don't care, it still looks cool. :-)

Finally, I needed a display stand. This was again from spares, painted gloss black (Hu 21) as I thought it looked stylish. The corresponding slot on the underfuselage centreline is a little too wide though, the whole assembly is a bit wobbly.


© Paulo Ivo Teixeira 2007

Accuracy:

John Hall has commented on accuracy in his review of the same kit. I have nothing to add, except that it looks ok to me!

Conclusion:

An easy-to-build kit of passable accuracy, though not up to today's standards. Pity the large number of gaps and sink marks, which impair enjoyment somewhat.

References:


© Paulo Ivo Teixeira 2007

 

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