Hasegawa's 1/72 scale
A-3B Skywarrior
by
Frank Cuden
Description
The 1/72 scale Hasegawa A-3B kit has sat on my "to-do" pile for quite a few years and so, no time like the present to finally get to it.
I gathered up some aftermarket items from Lone Star Models, Obscureco, and Eduard in addition to the old Maintrack pointed resin nose after seeing this scheme in the Aerofax book and in a couple of other publications.
The kit is well-engineered and was a joy to build, however, the work load increases when one begins cutting and replacing kit parts, using aftermarket items. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary, mind you, for an alteration, however it did take a little longer to complete. I did manage to use LOTS of Tamiya masking tape to achieve the International Orange trim as well as the other colors of the scheme.
I used Testors Model Master Gloss Light Gull Gray and Testors enamel Gloss White for the basic scheme. Most markings came from my decal stash with only the gray walkway decal and rescue arrows coming from the kit sheet. I vacuformed a new canopy, cut out the hatch and mounted it open.
Four individual strands of brake lines were added to each main gear leg.
All in all a fun project that stands out rather well in my showcase. I have submitted a full-build article to FineScale Modeler Magazine.
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