Sunday 9 December 2012

A Month in the Malvinas....

.....or how I spent four weeks building an Argentine Navy Skyhawk circa 1982.

I don't know about you, but the build I'm working on often transports me into the time period to which the craft belongs.  In this instance I've been spending time on the deck of the '25 de Mayo' and wandering round Port Stanley.  I get really quite involved in the era of the work in front of me.  And isn't that a good thing?  It keeps me focussed and I feel it shows in the results.  Of course, it helped in this case that it was an excellent Hasegawa kit, I had the Eduard detail set AND the Aires resin sets for the cockpit, landing gear bays and speed brakes.

I used the best of the sets, adding a little bit of each. I combined a resin cockpit and Eduard colour etch parts, and with a little jiggling, it all went well.  The resin instrument bezel was a poor fit though, and required some filler.  I used the speed brakes supplied in the kit, since they seemed the better option.

The build all went pretty well, although I couldn't stop breaking those little lugs that the leading edge slats fit to! Photos of CANA aircraft mostly show dirty aircraft well used in the field.  The basic scheme was US Navy, grey over white, so I used that with a brown wash to achieve the right look. I felt it was very effective.

The decals are from Condor, which are actually made in Argentina.  The include three Dagger schemes and one for a Harrier, as well as three A-4s.  A bit on the thick side but they performed reasonably well.






So overall a very intense build, but one I wouldn't have missed.  Time to come home.

5 comments:

Br'er Shaygetz said...

Excellent workmanship as always...

Philip Goodier said...

Many thanks, Br'er Shaygetz.

FalkeEins said...


..a fine fine piece indeed ...

Philip Goodier said...

Much appreciated FalkeEins. It was a very satisfying piece of work.

Philip Goodier said...
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