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Treehugger
Nice and colorful 🙂

Slavo Hazucha
Very cool Skyhawk version and excellent execution all around! 👍

Jon Bryon
Thanks 🙂

Neuling
I agree with Treehugger and Slavo.

Paul Moore
Very nice! I flew 745 on my last flight before winging in 1989. What color/paint brand did you use for the orange?

Jon Bryon
Wow - what a connection! Thanks for your comment.

The red/orange is Hataka lacquer Insignia Red and International Orange at a ratio of 4:1. It dried much darker than I mixed it, so I wish it were more orange.

A full write up on the build is here: jonbryon.com/hasegaw..uglas-ta-4j-skyhawk/

Paul Moore
Thanks for the paint info. In my research, I saw somewhere that Model Master, FS12197, International Orange was recommended. I haven't tried it out on my TA-4J or my T-2C, but I thought I would pass it on to you. Your Build looks really good.

Paul Moore
Wow! Just went to your link. I'll certainly come back to it when this Skyhawks is on the bench. I really appreciate you spreading your knowledge out like that.

Paul Moore
And I think your right about it being just oh so too red. Concerning weathering this bird, they weren't the dirty fleet jets like the Intruders, hornets, etc. But the white did have a subtle dulled white where dirty hands, flight boots, etc would mar the white. Not quite sure how to achieve that. Probably start off really light, come back the next day, add just a touch and quit for the day, etc. Anyway, once again, that is a beautiful TA-4J!

Jon Bryon
Thanks Paul. You've seen them in the flesh (I haven't) and the problem is that red/orange looks so different in different photos! And then my photos look a bit different to the model as well (although I think these are pretty close). It's a very difficult colour to replicate.

I found quite a few good pictures of 745 and it did seem quite clean, but most of the photos were taken some distance away so the weathering becomes harder to see. There was a photo article in Combat Aircraft a few years ago that showed some very dirty white and red TA-4Js. White is very hard to weather in my opinion. I had another go recently with a red and white KAI T-50, but these are also generally pretty clean.

Paul Moore
The funny thing about "745" Jon is that back in 1991, I was going through Subic Bay, PI on the way to the Arabian Sea with the USS Ranger (CV-61). I had wooden models made of the airplanes I had flown in the Navy by the local guy Ben Martinez that provided this service to the airwing for a pretty reasonable price. I selected "745" as it was the last A-4 I had flown prior to my winging in 1989. Ben Martinez made two of them (one for me & one to sell at the Navy Exchange). So when I saw Hasagawa's TA-4J with "745" I was really surprised. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I wonder if that wooden model made its way to Hasagawa in Japan, or a photo of it. I still have the wooden "745" in my home office. Anyway, I thought it was interesting. Thanks again for your build report. That will be very helpful.

Nathan Dempsey
Excellent finish!