pixels & plastics

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1/72 scale Douglas A-4B Skyhawk

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Sweet little 1/72 kit

The little 1/72 A-4B Airfix Skyhawk kit is a super nice & easy to build new tooling one.
It comes with a decal set for 2 markings; A US Navy one and a Argentinian livery.
As I love this plane & kit I build two; A version from Attack Squadron 15 (VA-15) "the Valions" and one from Attack Squadron 106 (VA-106) "Gladiators".

Build both straight from the box and only added small polystyrene mirrors and resin seats.
I used Vallejo primer and Tamiya acrylics for the paintjob for the first one (VA-15) and AK Real colors for the 2nd one (VA-106).

The decals from the box are of a very good quality and used Microscale Set & Sol for a very smooth result.
For the VA-106 version I used decals from Xtradecal.

Highly recommended kit imho since it's an easy & fun build!

A 4B Skyhawk 01B
A 4B Skyhawk 19
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A 4B Skyhawk 20
A 4B Skyhawk 02B
A 4B Skyhawk 04A
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A 4B Skyhawk 21

A "basic" build & paint

Never did a US Navy hi viz scheme before and this was the perfect exercise for future US Navy plane projects like the F-4 Phantom & F-14 Tomcat. Vallejo acrylic primer, Tamiya acrylics & weathering pigments, Pledge floor varnish, AK-interactive washes and Watercolor pencils were used to paint the first bird. The second one was painted using AK Real colors but finished with the same weathering & finishing materials. The build was really straightforward with some minor filling. I shortened the front landing gear  since I don't like the look of that... so took some artistic freedom right there. =+)

A 4B Skyhawk 16
A 4B Skyhawk 07
A 4B Skyhawk 08
A 4B Skyhawk 09A
A 4B Skyhawk 13
A 4B Skyhawk 12
A 4B Skyhawk 14
A 4B Skyhawk 10
A 4B Skyhawk 03A
A 4B Skyhawk 15

© 2022 by Marcel du Long