1/32 A-6E Intruder

[bravo1jon]

I am so blessed to be commissioned to build another A-6. I love this aircraft and Trumpter does a decent job with the kit. I usually don't go with much aftermarket on these but this time I found some really cool resin buttons, knobs, dials and switches from ANYZ. The build will include a very elaborate diorama base of an aircraft carrier fron the JBDs to the launch pad on Cat one. I have 5 figures from Reed Oak on order that should be here tomorrow. This will be a great build with lots of scratch building add-ons. I did finish the engines while I was waiting for the Ferrari paint to dry. I added some wiring and thats it, These won't be seen in the final presentation. 

That's about it for now. Hope you will enjoy this build as much as I will.
















This is the styrene for the flight deck.

[JED]

Ringside seat for this one 🤗🤗

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Got my pop corn and all strapped in! Have a Pilot friend, who flew one of these in Nam.

[JCON]

Awesome, I'm in too!!! Pass the popcorn please!

[bravo1jon]

You guys are hilarious. I'm very excited to show you the figures from Reed Oak that arrived today. Plus I got some electrical connectors for the array. But first I got the ejection seats done and put away so I can start the long task of buttons, knobs and switches in the cockpit.


Nothing more than painting on these. One thing I forgot to mention the decals provided by Trumpter are garbage. AOA Decals makes a cartograph set that is far superior and extremely accurate right down to the specific plane number variation.


Here is the aircraft I'll be doing for this build.










Amazing huh? Like everything else you get what you pay for and Reed Oak is in my opinion not cheap. BUT this is a paid gig so not my money so it only stings a little. For all 5 guys and the connectors it was $125.00 plus $30 shipping from France. They also carry the only legit tiedown chains for aircraft I have every been able to find.

You can buy them direct at: www.reedoak.com







Thats it for now more real soon. Thanks again for you comments.

[JCON]

Wow that detail is amazing....

[JED]

WOW, those figures look amazing

[bravo1jon]

Progress on the A-6 at last. I took out a lot of the basic build stuff and focused on the cockpit and paint. Since this particular A-6 will be in a diorama all of the detail areas such as the nose cone and electronics bay will be all buttoned up and ready to launch. The client wants reality in the diorama so when the aircraft is on the catapult ready in alert 15 mode all the panels will be locked up and ready. I stood on these alerts many times when we were in the gulf or any high threat area's. With Alert 15's it's a bit more casual so often you will see pilots out of the jet and the crew finding the best seat possible to respond when called. With alert 5's its a completely different situation. Pilots are strapped in and ready to go and the crew in a ready to launch posture. This type of Alert is very tense and mentally exhausting. In the Diorama we are doing is a Alert 15.

Ok so now you know where I'm going with this I am now into the painting process which is by far my most favorite phase. Next up will be the base. 

Thanks again for all the encouraging comments and please feel free to ask me any questions. 



Replacing all the buttons, knobs and switches was a lot more challenging than I predicted it would be. I was hoping for a better cleaner result but after multiple attempts to do so this is what I ended up with. I really wished I would of gotten ahold of one of the Avionix resin cockpits. They really give a much better starting point. With the standard kit I couldn't keep anything so I removed all of them down to the surface and made new panels from thin styrene sheet. That meant I had to locate each one using reference.




The main dash was a different story because I only had to add a few knobs on the right side. Still the Avionix would have been better.






Since these won't be seen I didn't spend too much time detailing the turbines. They kinda look cool in place though. Good bye engines. LOL






I hate removing seam and the A-6 has the lions share of them. After a few rounds I got as much as I could.







Its much easier for me to work from black primer on the A-6 because of the way I paint it.





That's it for now. Hope you all are staying cool in this weather. It was 90 in my place last night.

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

106 here yesterday! Your work is outstanding!

[JCON]

Looks good!!! We were a wee bit warmer north of you!!!

[JED]

Looking great, a shame those engines will be covered

[bravo1jon]

Thanks guys. WOW that is hot. My temp was inside my apartment. My AC went down. Back up now. I know when its going to be hot when my caregivers call me to do a temp check. This high of temp can be scary stay cool guys.

[bravo1jon]

I am still working the paint out on this but its mostly there. These A-6's are a tricky aircraft to paint. I spent 4 years of my life on the flightdeck with them and remember how they looked. One thing is they are not as perfect as you would think. The biggest reason is that in single plane can fly with several squadrons before its decommissioned becoming a patch work of covered logos and numbers. I call it ghosting and attempt to represent the effect here. The best way to accomplish this is to decal it then spray right over the decal then reposition a new livery right over the covered one. Another characteristic is sun and salt bleaching. Its hard to see now but over the next few sessions you will begin to see some areas have a burnt yellow look to it. It just take time for the oil to dry before you can add the next layer.

While that is drying I am beginning the  big job of building the flight deck base. I want to be able to show the JBS's to the launch pad as tight as possible. 




I start by marbling Gunship grey


Then medium Grey. The idea is to slowly get to my base color Dark Ghost Grey.






The underside of the plane is the same process only Hi Low Navy grey is the base.


You can't see it here but I had a massive mistake using Mission flat clear. This stuff is garbage. I spend hours trying to remove it. Ugh I was so mad. I nearly had to strip the whole plane and start over. 


Nice shot of my keys in this photo...sorry.




Now cover all the airwing decals.


Then replace with new airwing decals. 




I still have lots of oil staining to do that will make this look more like it should. There are no short cuts in painting an Intruder for me anyway. It just takes time.Lots and lots of time especially when you have garbage clear from Mission. Still kinda mod about. 






I have begun to stage the flight deck. I will show a lot of the build process here. That's about it for now. 

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

The paint scheme is looking awesome.

[JCON]

Fun to follow along Jon!!!

[JED]

Lots of long great work going on Jon

[bravo1jon]

Flight deck base taking shape. I had a couple attempts at this trying to follow the real thing but simplifying it for scale is a challenge for me at least. I ran out of styrene though so I must put this on hold for a little while.

[BUCKY]

Fantastic work! I'm glad I get to see this one cross the finish line.

[JCON]

That looks great Jon!!!

[bravo1jon]

So I made some changes to the catwalk. I wanted to add a kick-out and a step down ladder I will add to the side. This is how we gained access to the flight deck. My station is where the figure is. That's me. LOL Just have to straighten and clean it up. Next the JBD's and catapult launch pad. 

That's about it. Thanks again for your comments.






Still need to figure out how to make the life raft cannisters. Any ideas?