1/72 Hasegawa A-1H Skyraider

by Triet Cam

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Indochina War -- 10,000Day War -- Vietnam War anniversary Feb 1 2007

 

This is Hasegawa 1/72 A-1H Skyraider. The markings represent the South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) 518th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Tactical Wing, 3rd Air Division from Bien Hoa, Republic of South Vietnam. The Skyraider was the only fighter the VNAF operated from the early escalation to the end of the war. This plane was shot down during the battle of An Loc city in 1974.

The kit, released 10 years ago, is the best 1/72 Skyraider available today in my opinion.  However, it can only represent the early Skyraider version.  Meaning, if you want to depict the late war fighters for all the H,J and E's  (after 1968), the Yankee extraction seats along with the canopy mechanisms in the back, and solid wheel hubs must be included.  Neither of these are available in aftermarket and must be scratch build.  A gross and noticeable error is in the propeller.  Hasegawa missed this accuracy by a wide margin. A good replacement is the Monogram F8F Bearcat propellor.  Another error is the tall landing gear stance. At least to me it doesn't look quite right; you might find it ok.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

 
This was in the Vietnam War group build last year. To briefly summarize the build descriptions; I rebuilt the propeller shapes and added styrene sheet to the trailing edges. I wasn't about to give away my Bearcat prop. The cowl flaps were replaced with thin brass sheets and posed in the open position. Hasegawa flaps are in closed position, which was not normally seen in Vietnam. The gears were shortened by about 1 mm, with added anti-sway braces in the front. The cockpit was replaced with the nice CMK set. The rear tire was replaced with styrene tube to represent the pneumatic tire instead of the solid rubber tire used on Navy carriers. The cannons were replaced with stainless steel tubes. I also heated them over a flame until they turned dark so I won't have to paint them later.
 
This marking is not available by aftermarket decal companies. All decals were robbed from the spare bin. Even with the reference pictures taped right in front, I managed to screw up the serial numbers, with the number 7 and 2 in the wrong place. Painting was done with Model Master enamel; again, I toned down the tan to a lighter shade and the medium green toward olive shade. Ordnance came from Hasegawa weapon set 1. Thanks for checking my article.
 
Regards
Triet
 

Photos and text © by Triet Cam