SWS A-1J Skyraider by Zoukei-Mura, Inc

[smokeriderdon]

Actually I kind of like that. Try perhaps a mix of aluminum and black or smoke. I presume the color you already used is gunmetal.

 

[geegad]

thats a cracking looking cockpit buddy and like the said the improved guns look real smart keep the pics coming

 

[Dagger6actual]

That gun was just flat black...then dry brushed with some gun metal and a little metallic grey...which was actually a mistake that didn't bite me.
Thanks for the encouragement fellas....
Still trying the video thing...will try another one soon!

 

[Dagger6actual]

Had a chance to do some priming and painting...I'll post pix in the morning. I'm desperately in need of some 1:32 scale figures...Viet Nam era ground support crew...they just don't exist I guess. I've spent 16hours looking online, making phone calls...I guess I'll try my hand at sculpting by taking something similar and bashing it...
ANY suggestions would be appreciated!! :-\

 

[Dagger6actual]

ya know...sometimes its the simple things in life that, well, just make it worth putting up with all the crap. For me today it was a nice dry fit of a landing gear bay....


Ahhhh....just a drop and let the capillary action do the work!


Do you see this seam? This joining of the wing and fuselage? This marriage that so often doesn't "mate"....Can you see how tight it is? AHHHHHHH....


I don't know if you can tell but this is fineness...sweetness...the shadow is a little overspray from the otherside..but this joint is THERE!!!!


Now tonight a light dusting with primer .....man its been a helluva week, can you tell??

A break and a cold one, or four...thank you guys for checking in...

 

[Chris S]

Doing some nice work on the big Raider Dagger , cockpit looks great ! and the guns are looking good too .

Keep it up

Chris.

 

[rookie]

Looks like you're in "the zone", nice work.

Tamiya gunmetal should work on the cannons.

 

[Dagger6actual]

Got a light coat of primer on some parts..


Masking to get ready to paint..


Remember I thought the hand painted canon didn't look good. I stripped them...


And the now airbrushed guns are looking better....yep...used gunmetal as a base


I appreciate all the comments and suggestions...keep'em coming!

 

[Dagger6actual]

Good Monday morning to everyone! Its a cold 30 degrees here in Central Texas and for us...that's COLD! We'll see some days in the teens maybe...but this is our winter pretty much!!

While the paint is drying on the landing gear and gear bays I want to get some details taken care of. The instructions state that for the "J" model we need to do some modification to the stabilizer....


This is that bit of plastic...


WHOA!! I nearly made a major goof. At first glance it looks like the whole little "corner" is to be removed. Luckily I checked my reference photos and the pics of the finished kit and realized I just needed to remove the little edge. I scored the beginning and end of the place to be removed to help stop the knife from going too far...then carefully "skinned" layers off both sides and repeatedly dry fit to check...

Here is my final dry fit compared to the instructions...


Will assemble the landing gear with the new metal struts, attach the wings and hopefully get the fuselage together.
Thank you for looking in....hope to hear from you!!

 

[Chris S]

Nice work Dagger , looking good mate Just a tip for your guns ,they look fine ,but to give a more metal look , rub on some AK Interactive Dark steel pigments , if you havent got any then take a pencil ,rub the tip on fine sandpaper to get some graphite dust and rub that over the guns , really helps bring them up ,just rub it on with your finger tip .

Chris.

 

[Dagger6actual]

Thank you Chris...great tip. I have ordered some AK stuff to experiment with.
You are NOT going to believe what I found in my garage...I am going to post something in the morning...it is a wow moment!
Thanks for checking in...I really appreciate the comments!

 

[smokeriderdon]

Looking great dude!

 

[Myke]

This is looking amazing. This kit is becoming more and more impressive as you go. Kudos to them for adding info like that for a particular model.
Keep 'em coming, really enjoying watching this.

 

[scalemodelkid]

Hello ,
When i went to orlando ipms nationals in 2012 i meet the owner of zoukei-mura and he was selling is own stash of the last shindens and i snatch one and was given a small suprise from him self! Beautiful work!!!

 

[drhornii]

Great looking build! I have the "H" version and wanted to do the J all along so I purchased the spare parts to make the USAF version. All I need now is a set of instructions showing the "J" specific features. Someday I will get to this kit on my shelf.....

BTW, I built their TA 152 last year and it was amazing. All the panels opened up showing a ton of detail and the only thing I added was fuel injection lines and panel prop rods. Everything was OOB. I do wish the panel lines were as crisp as Tamiya but honestly, they are not that bad. I will be watching this post with interest!

 

[Thomas_M]

...
When mounting the wing spars I noticed a little thing. The front spar fits really well, BUT something didn't seem right during one of the dry fits so I pushed in a little harder and SNAP! It went all the way down...

Dagger, glad to see you later noticed the front spar D-1 being attached back to front on this picture!

I am about to build the Navy version kit of Zoukei-mura´s wonderful kit these days and so I have a great interest in your build here!

 

[srr111]

Why cant you just put the model in the dishwasher?

 

[Thomas_M]

;D Not bad, haha! ;D

 

[smokeriderdon]

Dagger, any updates? Still wondering what was in the garage. LOL