1/48 Hobby Boss A-6E Intruder

[BorgR3mc0]

That really looks like a well thought Wünder kit. Following!

[DoogsATX]

Poor Intruder's been stalled out in a mix of doldrums and waiting for some seamless intakes from XMM (formerly X-Mold).

Well, the intakes came earlier this week, so back to it.

Cutting needs to be done to accommodate the larger intake trunk, but, in what might be a first for any cutting-required resin I've ever used, it's all strictly behind the scenes stuff. This was awesome because it let me just pull out the Dremel and rough cut. And if for some reason these don't work out, I can just swap back in the kit intakes.





Now I have to figure out how to mask them so I can just paint the intake lip...

[LyleW]

That was might nice of XMM. Not often as you said, that a company thinks of things like that. Good luck on the masking.

[DoogsATX]

Good luck on the masking.

Thinking I might have to paint the lip, then mask that, then shoot some white down the intake trunk. Not sure how else to keep it uniform without going crazy!

[DoogsATX]

Paint on the intakes!

After masking off the intake trunks (and spraying some white on the outside of the intake to give a bit more opacity), I primed them with Mr. Surfacer 1500



And then Mr. Paint Light Ghost Gray...which will be used both slightly lightened and slightly darkened across the entire aircraft (I know they wore Dk. Ghost Gray up top, but Desert Storm Intruders were so faded that they mostly look one color). Really happy with the Mr. Paint's handling...a bit less happy at the roughness of the intake in a few areas around the lip, but still a huge improvement over the kit suckers.

[DoogsATX]

Got the intakes glued in last night. Lots of very small trimming work with the microchisel and sanding sticks to clear away plastic and resin interfering with proper fit. They fit well...but they aren't quite drop-fit.



The next step (for me...going out of order from the instructions) is fitting the inner wings. Then closing the fuselage. I'm a bit concerned about the latter up front, since the windscreen, forward bulkhead and IP hood all try to occupy the same space and create a real headache. This is one area where the kit could really use some improvement. A windscreen that included a bit of the surrounding fuselage (a la the Hasegawa 109 or Tamiya Corsair) would make all this a lot easier.

[Paul]

I am just wondering, where are you in this project now? I just got the Kinetic one in a trade and the Aries seats to go in there. Seamless trunks are another concern as I really haven't looked through the kit as yet. Anyway it is looking like a real head turner Matt.

[Thomas_M]

Looks as if there were no size limitations for storing finished kits in Texas...

[VanceCrozier]

Shaping up well Matt. This aircraft was never really on my radar (so to speak) until I picked up the 1/72 kit from Italeri. Surprisingly well detailed for the scale, I even went with the wingfold & open canopy. Looking forward to seeing this one come together.

[VanceCrozier]

Looks as if there were no size limitations for storing finished kits in Texas...