Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Hi gents,

Parallel to my favourite subjects and scale, 1/32 WWII, I like to have a 1/48 jet project on the side in case I need a slight change of scenery from time to time. :)

Hence my work on Hobby Boss’ Corsair II.

For the extras I am using Aires resin cockpit set with PE included.

I am doing the “Sidewinders” livery.

So far no trouble. The fit is very nice, especially the wings (dry fit tested).

Best,

Nikola

Box art and refs:

And some work pics:

2

Nice start. Just a suggestion, but don’t use the AIM-9L Sidewinders if you’re doing the 1975 markings. That version of the missile hadn’t been developed yet. The Navy was still using the AIM-9D/G/H versions.

3

Thanks Stikpusher! Appreciated.

I know very little on the subject so any tip is valuable.

Best,

Nikola

4

Well, enter putty, from head to toe, top and bottom. It was a must, at least for me. I think it’s of my own doing because of the resin cockpit fitting and adjustment.

And some minor play with exhaust weathering just to give it a bit of life.

Best,

Nikola

5

A bit of filling and levelling with Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500:

6

Now, here is a problem which is a bit more challenging - The inner side of the intake “ring” is much narrower than the inside of the intake tube.

I think that I can’t sand it because the ring is a hollow shape so I might lose all the material of the inside part of the ring, and also make the intake much narrower.

The only feasible solution which I can think of for now is to fill in the step and make a gradual taper towards the back of the tube.

Don’t know. Any suggestions?

Best,

Nikola

7

Nikola, when I built HB’s -A version, I had the same problem with the intake. I decided that trying to fix it might cause more problems than it would solve. I left mine as it is. Sorry that I don’t have a solution to offer. Still, I’d like to build another HB A-7, so I’m curious to see if you come up with a solution that I might be able to use in the future.

Good luck!

-O

8

Hi Oortiz,

Thanks for the reply.

Actually, I am kind of with you on that one. Especially because this is my, so to say, side build.

I’ll see if I have the patience.

Best,

Nikola

9

The solution might just be something like this :slight_smile:

10

Does anyone know the colour of the FLIR “eye”?

11

Hey Nikola, be sure to take a look at the rudder’s outline. It was wrong on the -A boxing.

Hobby Boss extended the rudder to the bottom of the fin cap, like this:

But the real -A has the rudder line stop below the fin cap, like this:

It might not matter for you because the -E has the fairing towards the top of the tail.

As far as the “eye” goes, in the pictures I’ve seen, it looks like it’s a dark tinted color. Although, it might be “clear” with a dark interior.

Here are a few pictures…

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ESBGFt2VAAIGtnl?format=jpg&name=900x900

https://nebula.wsimg.com/980b7c20dffef80bba3127ef054ca4fc?AccessKeyId=72D92AAD40295CE2D368&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/34405/the-a-7-corsair-iis-heads-up-display-was-a-revolution-in-air-combat

https://www.airliners.net/photo/USA-Navy/LTV-A-7E-Corsair-II/1257947/L

Cheers!

-O

12

Thanks Oortiz! Much appreciated.

Best,

Nikola

13

Pre-shading done:

14

I know that pre shading is a great weathering technique… but man does it make a build look ugly at that point! Even if it is only temporary… [:O]

15

Well, I managed to f’ it up. Switched the FS numbers and instead of Light Gull Grey I used Ghost Grey for the low vis scheme. I saw that something was off but didn’t do anything about it during painting. After I checked it was too late.

Three options available - mask and paint again losing all subtle pre-shading, mask and correct with a filter or leave as it is…

16

Personally I’d say mask off the white and do a coat of Light Gull Gray. You could even use the Ghost Gray as something of a pre shade…

17

I think Stik has the right idea. You can use it to your advantage. Maybe spray a white marble coat then spray a thinned top coat for subtle shading.

18

I agree with the previous two suggestions. If it was me, I’d mask the white and marble white and various shades of other grays over the Ghost Gray before covering with LGG.

19

Here it is corrected.

I decided that the easiest thing to do is just go over it with the correct colour to make sure I got it right this time and then later modulate with post-shading/tinting and filters.

This way I avoid having too many coats and ruining the surface detail if I don’t get it correct right away which would most probably have happened.

Best,

Nikola

20

Well, didn’t think of that at all. Good idea guys. Read this after I painted. [bnghead]

Will have it in mind for the next f’ up though. :slight_smile:

Best,

Nikola