Hi,
I am in the middle of finishing my Hasegawa 1/48 A-4 Skyhawk in the Blue Angels sheme.[:)] My qustion is, do any of you know what color the inside of the speed brakes (and fuselage pockets) and the inside of the leading edge slats (and wing pockets) are? I know that on the military version, they are both red. Are they the same color on this version or are they white? I have searched the web and have not found an answer. I have also already ordered the decal set, but would like to get the aircraft ready in the mean time. Any help?
Thanks,
Tom
On the Blue Angels A-4, the slats were hard-wired in the up or retracted postion. There is no “inside” color. The inside of all wheel doors and the speed brakes is blue. The speed brakes were only opened in flight, never on the deck except during maintenance. They are best modeled shut. I had the opportunity to be around the Blue Angels in A-4s and I am sure this information is correct. Good Luck and post the finished product.
Thanks for the info!! I never got close enough to do a “walk around”, again, thank you for your reply.
The only Blue Angel Skyhawk without the slats bolted up was the VIP bird, and beneath the slats was painted blue. A-4 Skyhawk D & S #32 is my reference.
Tom,
If you want your Blue Angles Skyhawk to be correct, you need to get a set of aftermarket intakes. The Blue Angle’s Skyhawks are “Super Foxtrots” (F’s) with uprated engines, and thus the need for enlarged intakes. There are a couple of companies that produce the replacement intakes for the “Super Foxtrots”. Check at Great Models web site, or Squadron’s.
Testors Model Masters paints have the Blue Angle Blue (FS 15050), and Blue Angle Yellow (FS # I can’t recall right now).
Skyhawks forever! rangerj
Hey kestrel,
You may also want to check w/ www.meteorprod.com The have aftermarket intakes for the “Super Foxtrot” F variants.
Flaps up, Mike
I built one of these birds in 1/72nd scale (Fujimi) and my experience with the decals is that I needed two sets to cover, as the yellow was not opaque enough for just one application. Hope this helps.
Razor is right on the money. Slats up no paint.
Hey Tom,
I just came across this picture, which shows an A-4 from the rear, on the ground, with the Flaps, Spoilers, and Air Brakes extended. It provides a little bit of detail of the inside framework which is visible when they’re open.
http://www.kiwiaircraftimages.com/pages/01ohkd09.html
You were asking about the color of the inside of the Airbrakes… well, the insides of every other access door is white, so I’m just assuming they are white also.
I saw the Blue Angels perform in their nimble A-4’s at the Pope AFB Open House in 1979 & 1980.
Regards,
Frank
Just wondering, what exactly is the difference between the normal F intakes to the Blue Angel ones? I would appreciate pictures or links to them. I am also planning to build the ProModeler kit (said to be from the Hasegawa one but with Blue Angel decals) and I encountered comments about the intakes. Thank you very much!
The inside of all wheel doors… is blue.
Not quite. The inside of all the doors EXCEPT the little one that covers the nose gear retraction strut (the little door at the aft end of the nose wheel well). That one is white on the inside. Check the photos and you’ll see this.
oldhooker - the aircraft on the site http://www.kiwiaircraftimages.com/pages/01ohkd09.html
are RNZAF A4K aircraft. These were all over FS 34079 green at the end of their service and so are not really the best reference for Blue angels aircraft.
We had an ex Blue angels fuse that was used for skin repair training, and although it had been stripped back to bare metal, it still had traces of blue paint in the speed brake wells.
markuz226,
The “Super Foxtrot” (F) Skyhawks were fitted with more powerful engines. The intakes were slightly enlarged to supply more air to the engine. I have never seen the exact dimentions published, but I got the information from a NAVY airframe and powerplant mechanic with more than 10 years experience with the Skyhawk, including a couple of flight demonstration seasons assigned to the Blue Angles.
The “Blues” were provided the Super Fs for flight demonstration work. The Super Fs were also used in the Top Gun program as agressor aircraft. I have not as of yet found any stats on how many Fs were uprated. I do not think that all Fs were retrofitted. The enlarged intakes are also found on the M (Mike) model Skyhawk. I do not know about foreign export versions, other than the bunch of Ms that recently went to Brazil.
If any forum member knows the history of the Super Foxtrots would you please post it. rangerj
nzgunnie:… The picture was meant more as a Configuration reference (framework of the inside of the airbrake doors & flaps), not color.
Haven’t seen any pictures of an A-4 on the ground with their airbrake doors open and flaps/spoilers deployed like the one in the referenced picture.
Happy Holidays…
Frank
Hmmm… I just inspected pics and I can’t figure out the difference. I think it’s good enough for me to model it with the intakes with the kit.
Any answer as to the flaps? Should they be in the “up” or “down” position while static on the ground, and if in the “down” position, what colors are correct inside? Thanks.
Jim
I have a snapshot that I took of the A-4 Blues on the line at Moffett Field in California once upon a time. The cockpits are empty, the canopies are open, the boarding ladders are down, the starter "carts’ are in place (one for every two aircraft), the flaps are down, and the inside of the flap is clearly red.
I’d read about the bigger Super Fox inlet and also read that it wasn’t, but I found this picture that demonstrates it:
Another view:
And here is the link to the article which is focused on the A-4M:
http://www.clubhyper.com/a4mreference/a4mconversionnotesda_1.htm