A-6B "IRON HAND" INTRUDER 001
A-6B with 4 AGM-45 Shrikes & 1 MER W/6 Mk.82 Snakeyes
A-6B with 2 AGM-45 Shrikes & 2 Standard ARM AGM-78
A-6B at Naval Missile Center, Point Mugu Mid-1960's
Here is a diagram that shows the Mods for a A-6B, pretty ease and staight forward.
In the begining there was no nose weight. This Bird is a serious tail dragger.
After Lead-shot and Blackbox Cockpit installed.
Holding the Fuselage by the tail, it feels like a heavy Club that could do some serious damage to someone's head.
After install, there is plenty of room to paint the rest of the cockpit. No worries.
Made a epoxy cast of the R-Hand console from the Hobby Boss kit. Sanded the Revell Console down and glued the console down.
New gunsight for the Glare-shield.
Revells' wings are nice, but the trailing edges need a lot of thinning. The other wing is for my EA-6B Project. The Black shows the areas to be removed to correct that wing for a EA-6B.
Thinning the trailing edges of the wings necessitated that the Flap hinges needed to be removed and restored with styrene sheet.
Flap hinges restored
Now the leading edges can be added for the "A" wing
Converting wing back to an "A" configuration with sprue.
Fuselage is full of multitudes of gaps that need different ways of fixing. Putty, Styrene Stripe, Super Glue were all utilized.
V shaped stripe is very pronounced, it is used to channel water or fuel away from the electronics section of the aircraft.
Wings attached Filler needed here.
Gaps a;
Iron Hand sensors added to the stabilizers
Stabilizers attached
After this on to intakes
Kit intakes
Fan blades removed
Brass tubing faired in with milliput fine.
I use regular House Latex paint and pour it down the intake to coat it filling all the seams
I took some 1/72 scale fan blades from my spares box to replicate the blades
Grinding Ops commenced
Iron Hand Sensors added to Nose
Comments
11 9 July 2019, 21:39
John BallmanGot some work accomplished with some Cockpit parts. Wings are back together after I FUBAR'D them due to my short-sidedness.
15 August 2019, 14:30
John BallmanFinally got around to posting some new pictures of the build. It has been a slow build going, lots of fit issues. Definitely not a build for Beginners. I have a 1/48 Revell EA-6A and EA-6B build in progress as well. What I have learned from this build will be applied to the others for sure. However those builds also have Aftermarket items for wingfolds and fuselage corrections as well.
Thanks for any comments or tips
JB
29 October 2021, 06:59
Konrad -Ok that looks how should I say….
Incredible!!
Looking forward to your next steps John!
29 October 2021, 11:23
John BallmanThanks for all the kind comments.
This has been a on again/off again build. To answer your questions.
Ordnance Loadout will be two SHRIKES, two STARMS on wings, either a fuel tank or MER with six SNAKEYES. Not sure if this is 100% due to weight considerations for A/C to land back on CV with this full loadout. The markings are a toss up between a Black nose or a Tan nose. Decisions decisions.
Was Grady Jackson with VA-75?
I playing around with the ordnance now along with some Spitfires that have been in the "Dungeon of Dispair" longer than the A-6.
Keep your Sprues Empty!
JB
30 October 2021, 12:00
Paul MooreI would have said that was an unlikely load out …but there's the picture! I thought I knew everything the Intruder carried, but I'd never heard of a "STARM". Will be a cool model.
30 October 2021, 19:26
John BallmanSTARM stands for Standard ARM. It was a USN SAM modified to be carried on aircraft around the mid-60's. It was able to stay locked on to the radar sites even if they turned them off. That tactic would defeat the Shrikes.
30 October 2021, 22:27
Paul MooreI knew him when he was the admiral in charge of all the EA-6B's and A-6's at Whidbey Island, WA. in 1991. He was part of the OCF (Officers Christian Fellowship) group in base housing.
31 October 2021, 03:02
Album info
1/48 REVELL
