1:48 Classic Airframes TA-4J Aggressor

JMac

cut. glue. paint. repeat.
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
2,812
Holidays are short and I'm determined to finish this one before I go back to work. I'm totally pumped for this build, I've mentioned it elsewhere but I'd totally like to thank my Secret Santa one more time.

This will be my first time building a "limited run" / mixed media kit. Hoping that everything goes well. This morning I started doing some research into the kit and this Skyhawk variant.

Here's some pictures of the box and contents.
1536518_10201768485631298_153125491_n.jpg

1480560_10201768486111310_508727703_n.jpg


Things look pretty good. Some small areas with flash, and I noticed a couple small parts that weren't completely formed. Shouldn't be a big deal.

Today I'll start by washing the resin parts. I'l separate some of the larger parts from the sprue for test fitting.

Good luck to me. ;D
Jason
 
I think (but don't quote me on this) the plastic parts are the same as the old Revell/Monogram OA-4M kit (also a 2 seater), and Classic just added the resin parts to it. I have built the old Monogram kit, and was probably one of the easier Monogram kits to go together.

Should be a stunner when finished!
 
Thanks guys. :) Building is sort of underway - haven't committed to gluing anything yet...

I finished washing the resin parts this morning. I'll have to be vary careful with some of them, the resin is paper thin in spots. I'm totally impressed by the wheel bays, the cockpit looks good also, and I really like that the ejection seats have moulded on belts. No wrestling with PE for me. ;D

Here are the parts washed and drying. The tan coloured resin part is not from this kit (it's from a P-39, I just thought I'd wash it at the same time).
1521610_10201774837710096_231148176_n.jpg


I've also started to fit the intakes to one side of the fuselage. I spent about an hour so far on this 4 part assembly, it's going to be slow going - everything I've read online about this kit basically says really take your time in this area, saves you grief later on. Once this side is done I'll build up the other side, (the parts are "handed" and not numbered - I don't want to accidentally glue the wrong piece in).

The parts are currently sitting proud (high) and too far forward.
1476132_10201774837830099_1989235027_n.jpg


As a break from the intake fitting I'll be separating the resin parts from their casting/pour stubs, and test fitting the cockpit/forward landing gear bay.

Sorry about the last photo, I don't currently have space (or time) to set-up my photo booth.

Jason
 
Still fitting. I think I've got the one intake pretty much beat. I've started to partially assembly the cockpit tubs, they are currently held together with CA and Blu-tack. I really wanted to get a test fit of the fuselages together - I read one build thread on another forum, where the guy building this kit had a difference in length of about 3 mm between the fuselage halves. Mine looks great however.

1536447_10201788626854816_1661078558_n.jpg

1535608_10201788627334828_23739719_n.jpg

1524719_10201788620934668_1142183904_n.jpg


I've managed to separate most of the resin parts some their casting blocks. I had one causality; my cut went crooked on one of the landing gear bays. Some filing, sanding and a piece of PS fixed that problem.

I've also had to fill in a small area on the intake with PS as it was short-shotted (small white triangle).

The engine bell has required more effort, it had a HUGE ejector right in the middle. I could not trim, sand or file it out as I have no tools that would reach. I ended up cutting the bottom of the bell out and inserting a new PS back, this allowed me to trim up the offending stub, and then re-assemble everything.

1458708_10201788621494682_636137868_n.jpg

549166_10201788623974744_990527307_n.jpg

1468503_10201788625054771_77281652_n.jpg

1507185_10201788621374679_763306682_n.jpg


Some initial priming has started.

1536595_10201788624614760_4701515_n.jpg


I got to go, the dogs are barking like crazy at something stupid… :p
 
It's been a fews days - time for another update. Things are moving forward slowly.

Mostly I've been removing ejector pin stubs, and dry fitting. Over the past couple evenings some painting has started also.

The front landing gear bay and cockpit tub were assembled first. The assembly is mostly resin, with a small styrene kit part on the back. When assembled and test fit against the fuselage halves, I noticed a very large gap at the rear of the bay. To avoid having to fill it in with putty later (and to increase contact area for a strong glued joint) I shimmed it with strip styrene, and filed to the final shape.
1526769_10201815164558242_1043036475_n.jpg

1510531_10201815172318436_66834588_n.jpg


Here are some pictures of the ejector pin stubs and gates. A lot of the time I've spent so far has been removing , filling and sanding back these.
1544348_10201815167358312_280277890_n.jpg

946957_10201815164678245_676837320_n.jpg

1505209_10201815166438289_200212295_n.jpg


The cockpit parts primed, and both intakes installed. I painted the inside of the intakes white and filled the seams prior to assembly with the fuselage halves.
1510740_10201815192478940_1137475465_n.jpg


The start of the base colour painting of the cockpit. I still have a ton of painting to do on these parts.
1486746_10201815172118431_863653027_n.jpg


The final set of pictures show my current test fit. The wings to the fuselage. I looks like the mould had some damage to it as one of the fuselage halves has a big lump of plastic on it that shouldn't be there. The lump interfere with the fit of the wings to the rest of the model. I'll start sawing this afternoon.
1515017_10201815166558292_1439215500_n.jpg

1527023_10201815170798398_2008491554_n.jpg

1503397_10201815174158482_79798865_n.jpg

1509099_10201815164518241_1651745637_n.jpg


I should be able to glue the wings closed soon also, the resin parts for the rear gear bays fit really really well.

Thanks for taking a look, comments are always welcome.
Jason
 
I think this is why I don't build more modern aircraft; buttons, buttons, buttons and more buttons.

This is my entire modelling output for the day… :p
1497882_10201817830584891_2070075431_o.jpg


Thanks for taking a look, I need to go and stretch out my back and neck…

J
a
s
o
n
 
Thanks Scott. :) I'm pretty happy with the paint work so far. Hope I can keep it moving forward.
I didn't do any modeling today, but I'll be back at it tomorrow (adding some minor scratch built details to the ejection seats).

J
A
S
O
N
 
Thanks Zappa. I think it'll look nice when I finally finish.

Inching my way towards completion, I'm just about ready to close the fuselage. The padding in the cockpit was scribed by hand. The painting of the ejection seats is almost finished - just have to clean up some of the details and then do a little more weathering/washes on them.

Thanks for stopping in.

Jason
1498756_10201870393418929_141897063_o.jpg

859260_10201870394418954_553499323_o.jpg

1485873_10201870393698936_1568057819_o.jpg

1495977_10201870393058920_1172994195_o.jpg
 
Thanks Q. It's going slower, taking a little more deliberate effort than I originally thought it would, but that being said I'm still really enjoying the build.
 
Thanks G. ;D

After much wrestling, filing and fitting I've closed the fuselage. The intake bell fit is :p with and extra helping of ??? - but it's in there I've a plan to try and improve how it looks when viewed down the intakes. I've also closed the wings and am in the process of trying to get the whins to fit to the fuselage - I'm making headway it's just slow going. And already I'm seeing a number of spots that will need some putty and sand, I guess lots of sanding in the near future.

Thanks for looking in. Jason.
1496298_10201957548237745_1751304194_o.jpg
 
zappa said:
Paint job like the box art? That would look stunning :)

Zappa

I totally agree, I think the box art is sharp looking. I think I pull that off...
 

Latest posts

Back
Top