1/72 Italeri A-4E Skyhawk 

by Leandro Maldonado

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This is the second aircraft I submitted to ARC and it is the first time I've used any kind of detail set to improve the aircraft level of detail.  As I'm a big fan of the aggressor, I decided to paint this A-4E in this scheme.  After some research, I discovered that almost all aggressors A-4 had their avionics hump retired.  I also cut out the canons as the aggressors don't use them as well.

The first thing to do was to cut out the hump and them I used epoxi putty to close the hole . I used the Eduard cockpit set and added some wiring on the undercarriage as well. The details of the cockpit are impressive, but I discovered at the end that you can't see many things clear inside with the canopy closed.

Click on images below to see larger images

I used a set of "Super Scale Decal", number 72-543. The decals are good, but they showed a lot of silvering after painting, even after I painted a coat of Klear before the results were not very good.

Leandro 

Photos and text © by Leandro Maldonado