Subject: Re: A-4F skyhawk gallery.
From: "Steve Bamford ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 13:34:12 -0800

Hi Darren,
I'm not sure if I e-mails you already....but.....Thanks for sending in your A-4F article.  It looks perfect.  I've got a bit of a backlog due to "Silly Week"....and I'm catching up on my e-mails which I fell behind on due to Christmas and Silly Week etc.  I'll e-mail you when your article goes on ARC.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com
 
Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: [email-masked] 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 4:11 PM
  Subject: A-4F skyhawk gallery.

  Gallery Template #07

  "1/48 U.S.Navy A-4F Skyhawk." 

  by "Darren McGuinness"
  --------------------
  Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here 

  Hello everyone,
  Here is my 1/48 Hasagawa model of a U.S.Navy A-4F Skyhawk. I have always loved U.S.Navy aircraft and the "Scooter" is no exception! I first saw this kit in my friends model shop after he had finished building it and I just knew that I wanted one on my display shelf at home.

  The Hasagawa kit is a little gem. It's well moulded and very well detailed. I really enjoyed building it as it went together so well. The only problem I had was blending the avionics hump to the airframe as a little sanding was required and I did'nt want to lose too much detail, that said I think I did a OK job!
  Click on images below to see larger images

  Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 04.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 04.jpg 

  To paint the model I used Humbrol enamels. After the gull grey and white areas are done, there's a few bits of red to add to the airframe. Hasagawa give you decals for some of these parts, but I prefered to paint them. When painting was completed, I gave the model two coats of gloss varnish and set about wheathering the model. For this I used some black water colour paint bought as part of a childs paint set. I paint one section of the model at a time with the black water colour and leave it to dry for about five  minutes . To remove the paint I just wipe it away with a damp kitchen cloth until only the panel lines remain. Another coat of gloss was added to seal in the wash and when dry I set about applying the decals. For this, I used the ones in the box depicting a Vietnam era fighter from VA-22 "The fighting Redcocks".  I have to say that I am yet again impressed with the quality of these decals. They went on with no trouble at all and conformed well to the surfaces with a little micro-sol. I used some weapons from my spares box to make the aircraft look more purposeful and came up with the "iron-hand" warload that was used in the Vietnam conflict.
    
  Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here 

  To display the model, I took a wooden base(MDF) and painted a small section of carrier deck on top and the rest was finished with a wood stain from my local hardware shop. Just to make it more interesting, a friend suggested that I should add a few figures so I got the Hasagawa USN carrier deck personell set and used three figures from it. I'm not a very good figure painter-but I like to think they look OK in 1/48 scale. The poses avaliable are quite limited, so I chose the three that looked the most natural and tried to make it look like some guys greeting each other before the next mission. A really enjoyable kit-I hope you like it too.

  Darren.
  Click on images below to see larger images

  Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 05.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 05.jpg 

       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 06.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 06.jpg 

       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 07.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 07.jpg 

  Photos and text © 2003 by "Darren McGuinness"