Bernd,

Thanks for stopping by as well as your more then kind words.

From the build reviews and blogs I read, the wind screen fits ok. Honestly, it can't be worse then the fit of both the windscreen and green house fore and aft on the GWH 1/48 scale P-61A-5 Black Widow. Now there was a real nightmare.

And yeah, this is one big aircraft. My original concept was to have the wings down in the flying position so I can drop the flaps and Slats, but the more I see the actual size I'm deal dealing with, I'm starting to have some 2nd thoughts.

Joel

Joel, i ever thought, the canopy of the Monogram P-61 fits
bad (my one does)It is a shame to produce a high end product
with such a quality "glitch"
My experience with wing fold options are mixed,
a lot of these kits have a not to scale gap between the wing pieces.Italeri A-6, Monogram F-8 for example.
This is also true with open hatches for maintance, if you wished them closed it looks off, without extra work.
Good luck with the windscreen !

Bernd

Bernd,
Tell me about it. I've built Both Tamiya's F4U-1 & their F4U-1A with the wings in the down position. And with both kits (which are essentially the same), there was major issues with the gap between the inner and out wing sections.
I'll have to test fit the outer wing sections and se how every thing looks, if it's a horror show, then I'll install the flaps and slats in the up position, and fold the wings. Naturally, I'll have to modify both sets as I built them to be installed in the down position.
Joel

Joel, a A-6 with a "nice" bomb load and folded wings will look
realy good and there is additional space for a Prowler too....

Bernd

Bernd.
I'm actually planning on a full load out at all four pylon stations plus the center fuel tank. I just haven't done much research yet to verify if the instructions options are correct. I did find that the call outs for the Academy F-4B were mostly made up, so I'll make sure what I go with is correct for the period aircraft I'm depicting.

Right now I'm looking at:
Station 1: GBU-8 guided bomb
Station 2: M117 bomb
Centerline external gas tank
Station 3: 3 MK 20 bombs
Station 4: GBU-8 guided bomb

Joel

Hi Joel,
sorry I missed your build log until now. What a great build. Stunning work on the cockpit. I do like all the small details like those cables you added. And a really nice paintjob on top. Keep up.
kind regards ro

Robert,
Thank you.

I'm finding the Hobby Boss A-6E to be quite a challenge. Every step has it's own set of challenges.

Joel

Work on the A-6E has continued at a slow but steady pace. Lots of work/hours, just not a lot to show for it. Still working on the fuselage, as it's finally starting to look like a A-6.

Since the inner wings are part of the fuselage assembly, I've been working on the slats and flaps which will be in the lowered position.





Flaps and slats test fitted:





The outer wings have slowly turned into their own mini kits. The basic wing is comprised of the top, bottom, and end spar:





You'll note that there are two sets of holes on the top, and 3 on the bottom. These are for the supports of the wing tip flaps that I'm leaving in the closed position.





Both the inner wing sections and the outer wings each have one wing fence. They just looked too thick, so I sanded them down for a more scale appearance.

As you can see in a few pictures, I still have some cleaning up to do with injector pin marking and seams. Like I said, slow but steady work.

Joel

Since my last update, I've turned my attention to getting the fuselage ready for a primer coat. I had previously puttied the fuselage seams with Squadron Green Stuff, so my attention focused on the windshield, which just didn't fit very well.

I had some real issues with it conforming to the top of the fuselage where the refueling boom goes, as well as both sides where it didn't seat flush, but rather at a angle downwards, and there was a resulting gap for about 1/3 of the length of each side. Some sanding really helped, but a fair amount of putty work was needed. The glass also seemed a little narrow, and didn't quite fit the contour of the fuselage. I used Vallejo White Putty to help with the transition.





I'm rather conservative in how much sanding and polishing I do before I test prime, and it took 3 applications before I got it looking pretty good.



I then proceeded to prime the fuselage minus the outer wings. As usual for me, I needed to do a little more filling and blending on some of the seams, especially the intakes which were a real bear. Also the radar electrical access hatch on the bottom of the nose is meant to be in the open position, I closed it, and the fit was poor at best. Took several applications of putty, to get to fit correctly.

BTW, I like to finish blending in Squadron Green Stuff by thinning the last coat with Tamiya Extra Thin glue. It really works quite well, and helps to fill in the porous surface that you always end up with.

I primed the full fuselage with Tamiya's Lacquer Based Gray Primer thinned 1:1, then polished it with Micro Mesh polishing pads to just 6,000. The Primer is smooth and consistent, but in the pictures it looks multi colored, which was caused by the camera's built in flash. I confess I lazy about setting up for a proper photo session during the construction phase.

My original plan was to completely build, paint, decal, and weather the fuselage separate from the outer wing sections. Test fitting is close, but not the fit isn't perfect. A small .10 shim will really help in the front, or just a application of Vallejo's White Putty so that the seam does show. Honestly, at this point, I'm not sure which way to go. It's a lot easier to handle the fuselage without the outer wing sections, but I don't want to settle for a poor final fit after every thing is done.





Joel

After a few days of thinking and tinkering with the outer wing sections, I decided to bite the bullet and glue them up to the inner wing sections. Took a little filing, and drilling open the mounting holes, then sanding the tops of the wing hinges so that the cover plate fits.

Next up was to prime the outer wings, flaps, slats, and flap cover plates. Then I painted the inner portion of the flaps the inside of the cover plates, and the surface of the wings that the slats side up and down on with Tamiya X-7 Gloss Red acrylic paint, thinned 1:1 with their yellow cap Lacquer Thinner.

I couldn't resist test fitting the flaps and cover plates to get a feel for how the wings will look. I didn't bother with the slates as I would have to tack glue them on, and the paint was just to raw to attempt it.

Will let paint set up for a few days, then mask with detacked Tamiya tape, and then start the painting process.

Here's a few pictures of where the build is at.

Joel

After much discussion with some modeling friends, two who spent a good deal of their Naval aircraft careers working on A-6's, it seems that I've made a major mistake with the flaperons, that's those flaps that in the open position are up and the main flaps are down. The flaps that I've been calling as wing flap cover plates.

They serve three functions on the A-6, the 1st one is as a means to tilt the aircraft when the pilot is turning the aircraft, as there are no ailerons. Turning right would cause the right wing Flaperons to raise, killing lift, and that wing would dip down, thus acting as a aileron, but the other wings flaperons just stay in the closed position covering the flap brackets, creating a smooth air flow over the top of the wing, which is the 2nd function. The 3rd function is as air brakes to help slow the aircraft down for landing when both wings Flaperons extend in the up position. Once on the ground or in level flight, they're in the down position.

Now I've been in enough jets over the years, and usually seat over the wing or just behind it, to realize that they have this very same system. Just a major case of brain fade

So now I had to back track and lower the flaperons. The instruction show this by cutting off the brackets, and gluing them directly to the back of the wings. This looks fine when the flaps are up, but I have them extended, and they just don't look right. So I "played around" with them, and eventually glued them at a angle on the flap brackets. I still need to reinforce those glue joints with some Thick Gel Super Glue.

Naturally I managed to get a glue finger print dead center in the red painted area of one wing, as well as on one flap. Already sanded, but they need to be re-primed, then painted.

Joel

This picture is a A-6 ready for take off. This is the wing configuration I'm emulating. I should done a better job on my homework. Lesson learned.



This is how one wing now looks reworked to the correct configuration.

Work has continued at my usual snail's pace, but I'm slowly getting there. Today's update is the finished base upper coat of FS36440 Lite Gull Gray, that is a mixture of Tamiya's FX-20 Medium Gray and FX-2 Flat White. The consensus of opinion is a 1:1 mix, but from previous experience I found that color to be way too light. Instead I use a 10:1 mix for the base coat.









I've been tracking my Sprue Brother's order, and it should be arriving today. I ordered Mr. Color's Tan for the radar nose, then I'll do the black framing around the windshield. That should bring me up to glossing for decaling once I finish all the gear doors and both cockpit ladders.

Joel

Hi Joel,
You are making stunning progress.
Pretty much all my modelling has come crashing to a halt.My wife and I have separated and I'm finding that I've lost all interest in my current builds.Also living in a 1 room bedsit doesn't help. However I've gone back to first principles and I've got 2 busts on the go I find them easier and with no fiddly bits it allows me to concentrate on just the paint. In the meantime I have very limited internet and will check in when I can.


Chris

Chris,
So sorry to hear that you're having such serious family issues. Hopefully things will work out for both of you. Modeling is just a hobby. Enjoy it when you have the time and the desire. the busts sound like a good alternative for you, especially with such limited space.
Joel

Hi Joel, a long absence from the hobby and websites like this
is not always a disadvantage.There is a lot to read/look at.
Your Intruder looks very good on it s way to the finish, you
spend a lot of work in it and it shows! And i guess there is
a lot of work still to do.....
It is always good to have pictures from the real ones, i was more then once beaten by reality :-/
U.S naval aviation is a theme for me too and i am thinking about to do a Intruder/Prowler for myself, may the HB or Kinetic, or an old Monogram .
I hope there is more time in the near future for modelling and i can follow these projects here more closely.Finaly i am online with my modelling shop and i am selling :-) But there a lot of work to manage it on a daily basis and a lot of "bugs" still to come by
I am looking forward for your next steps

Bernd

I decided to paint the radome with Mr. Color's lacquer based paints since they have the exact color tan #318. I thinned it 1:1 using Tamyia's Yellow cap Lacquer Thinner. Went on smooth as silk, but I had a rather difficult time with the tip clogging. If and when I switch over to Mr. Color paints, I'll have to buy their thinner/retarder, which should take care of that problem. I also painted the protective coating on the leading edges of the slats the same tan color.

I had some concernts if all the A-6Es had protective wing and fuselage spine walks. Appears that most did. The color issue once again raised it's ugly head, but it was quickly sorted out with info and pictures from a few very knowledgeable friends.

I Masked out the wing and spine walkways,as well as the anti glare panel. To create the darkish Gray color I wanted, I mixed Tamiya FX-63 German Gray and a few drops of FX-69 Nato Black for the base color.

Finally, I masked and painted the flaps and Flaperons Tamiya Fx-2 White.

Here's a few pictures to illustrate the above work. The Slats, Flaps/Flaperons are just dry fitted, so they kept on moving out of position every time I realigned them.
Joel

Time for another update.

This time I switched my focus and built up the two boarding ladders. The base which is plastic, and has 4 ejector marks on the inside face of each one. I guess that they decided that it was the better of two evils rather then putting them on the back, which if one closes the boarding ladders, they're now on the front surface.



A little thinned Green Stuff took quick care of them



The rest of each ladder was built up using PE.



Then a coat of Tamiya Gray Primer, which I let dry for a hour or so, and then a few coats of Tamiya X-7 Red, simply because I forgot to buy a new bottle of FX-7 flat Red. Oh well, another color that will become Mr. Color.



Next up I carefully masked the canopy which is absolutely perfect. It's so crystal clear that I didn't even consider a bath in Pledge. I masked the canopy with strips of Tamiya tape starting with 1/4 inch strips to outline the frame, then filling in with various pcs.



Then primed with Tamiya Gray Primer, let dry for 1 hour, then painted with a mix of Tamiya FX-20 Medium Gray & FX 2Flat White to create Lite Gull Gray.



The inside shelf that is attached to the canopy where the clear glass ends and the frame starts has a little bit of detailing. I just added a few wires and simulated the mounting brackets with strip sheet.



Next up was priming and painting with just Tamiya FX-20 to represent Dark Gull Gray.



I know it doesn't look like a lot of work, but it took me two full days to ccomplish all of this. Like I said, before, I build at a snail's pace.

Joel

Futher discussing the cockpit boarding ladders with Scott, who was a 12 year veteran Crew Chief on A-6's, he suggested that as time permitted they would use a non-slip coating on the steps. They wore off rather fast, so it's not a absolute to replicate them.

I decided that it just might the thing I needed to help break up that massive red color of the steps. I carefully hand painted them using Tamiya XF-63 German Gray, as it represents worn rubber quite well.

Joel

Good to have those guys at hand,looking good !

Bernd,
Thanks for stopping by. Having real life experts guide you through a build is a God send. The flip side of the coin is that every time I take a short cut, or screw up, I hear about it. Of course I have to constantly remind him that I'm basically an OOB build type of guy.
Joel

:-) Yes there is always an opposite side, beside that this
is a very complex out of the box build. These boarding ladders
are little gems !
Mostly i do my kits oob as well, only where a kit needs realy
help......or i !

Bernd,
By far, the HB A-6E is the most complex build I've ever attempted. The Academy F-4B basically just fell together. Well, the intakes took a little work, but it was that "proverbial walk in the park" compared to this build. Not that I'm complaining, as every issue has been fixable. The complex fuselage is a perfect example.

The time is coming quite fast for my final move to 1/32 scale as my failing eyesight is once again becoming a issue. I've already mentioned that I'm legally blind in the left eye, so that close up I have zero depth perception. It does at times react a rather unique set of challenges.
Joel

Hi Joel, sad to hear (read) about your eyes,the detail of your
build did not show it !
Perhaps try something like this:
http://www.amazon.de/Kaltlicht-Lupenleuchte-RT-201-Glaslinse-5-Dioptrien/dp/B0051EM4PO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409943167&sr=8-1&keywords=ringlupenleuchte
My sister works with it, while making necklaces.

Bernd

Bernd,
Thanks so much for the care thoughts.

I've moved up in scale, and have two Ottlites on mt workbench plus an old Tensor light with the wrong Candle power. I was wearing a #3 Optivisor, but have upped it to a #5, and will be getting a #7 for more detailed work.

Joel

Joel i have started to follow your blog here in relation to the A6 A intruder. The work you have done on the cockpit is excellent. Ref your eyes is surgery not an option?