EA-6B Dark Prowler

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October 13, 2023
The workbench full of Prowler parts
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October 13, 2023
Painting the Aires-Cockpit in progress
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October 13, 2023
Cockpit closeup
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October 13, 2023
painted and weathered
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October 13, 2023
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October 13, 2023
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October 13, 2023
the cockpit is built into the fuselage.
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October 13, 2023
building a flap-switch from a needle
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October 16, 2023
This ist the engine nozzle from the Kit. I don't liked it, so I have...
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October 16, 2023
...made me a new nozzle from a piece of metal.(an old PE-part from Eduard)
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October 16, 2023
the old nozzle had to go
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October 16, 2023
the new nozzle now looks better for me!
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October 18, 2023
After 52 hours of work, the inner wing parts are assembled with a lot of putty.
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October 18, 2023
First layer of white base colour
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October 22, 2023
The air brake flap on the wing tip is too flat!
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October 25, 2023
To close the gap I chose the easy way and stuck plastic card underneath.
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October 25, 2023
Here is the finished control of the brake flap.
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November 1, 2023
Basic structure ist done
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November 1, 2023
First layer of preshading
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November 1, 2023
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November 2, 2023
Air intakes with masking to spray the silver colour
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November 2, 2023
Air intakes, still unfinished...
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November 8, 2023
This ist the putty I used to fill the gaps inside of the air intakes. The filler can be worked on with a damp cotton swab, even after it has dried.
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November 8, 2023
Second layer of preshading. Air intakes are now finished and assembled.
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November 8, 2023
First of three grey tones ist painted.
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November 8, 2023
The fuel probe is assembled and the tail is painted black.
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November 20, 2023
finished the black colouring
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November 20, 2023
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November 20, 2023
A view inside of the air intake.
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November 21, 2023
The first Decals are attached.
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November 27, 2023
When the boarding ladder is unfolded, the AOA sensor is protected by a cover. When getting out, the crew cannot accidentally step on the sensor. Kinetic does not offer to build the cover. So I had to build this by scratch.
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November 29, 2023
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November 30, 2023
The stripes on the tail are now the correct shade of green. I removed the decals and repainted it dark green.
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December 7, 2023
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December 7, 2023
A big step forward has been taken. The decals are completely attached. The ladders and landing gear doors are installed. There are now over 100 hours of work in the Prowler.
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December 15, 2023
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December 16, 2023
To protect the crew from electromagnetic radiation, the cockpit is coated with a layer of gold. I used this clear gold for painting the glass.
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December 16, 2023
Clear gold on the Canopy
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December 17, 2023
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January 5, 2024
I couldn't find the temperature sensor from the kit, so I made a new sensor out of a hypodermic needle and a pin.
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January 5, 2024
I couldn't find the temperature sensor from the kit, so I made a new sensor out of a hypodermic needle and a pin.
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January 9, 2024
A few more details at the folding mechanism
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January 10, 2024
time to get seated
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January 10, 2024
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January 11, 2024
124 hours of work and almost finished
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January 11, 2024
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January 12, 2024
Completed!
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January 12, 2024
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January 12, 2024
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January 12, 2024
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January 16, 2024
step no.3 of the instructions - There's no need to remove the formation light bar
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January 16, 2024
step no.6 - the parts didn't fit into the wing
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January 16, 2024
step no.7 - wrong part numbers
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January 16, 2024
step no.8 - numbers of aux air intages are correct, but antenna was wrong
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January 16, 2024
step no.10 - antenna "D9" was missing and wrong part number for "E16"
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January 16, 2024
step no.13 - the parts didn't fit into the wing
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January 16, 2024
step no.14 - "D16" is the GPS antenna and wrong part number "C25". The left air intake (C17+C18) has be removed
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January 16, 2024
step no.15 - "F7" is missing and the antenna on top has to be cutted off fpr the "Dark Prowler"
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January 16, 2024
step no.18 - wrong part number for "C24"
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March 22, 2024
This is the setup for the Euro Model Expo 2024 in Lingen, Germany

Komentarzy

123 13 October 2023, 14:51

Jos Jansen
Ooh interesting, following mate!

14 October 2023, 05:59

Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍

14 October 2023, 06:25

Andreas Lux
Thank You mates! I updated the album with pictures of a new nozzle.

16 October 2023, 09:38

Treehugger
I've been on the lookout for a heh cheap kit of the four crewed EW Prowler jet in 1:48, interested in how this will turn out.

16 October 2023, 09:48

Marek Valko
Have many of these in stash so will be great to see the process. Nice build so far.

18 October 2023, 12:31

Villiers de Vos
Very nice progress.

24 October 2023, 16:45

Andreas Lux
Thank You! Today I'll show you pictures of the brake flap with a gap hack ( say that ten times 😉 )

25 October 2023, 16:19

Marek Valko
Do you plan fill these gaps in air intakes? If yes could you pls share step by step process? Thx.

8 November 2023, 12:25

Andreas Lux
Hi Marek, please excuse me, I probably worked too quickly, I've already installed the air inlets. Unfortunately I didn't take any step by step photos. I filled the gaps with putty and smoothed it out with a damp cotton swab. I have put a photo of the filler in the gallery. Hope this is of some help to you.

8 November 2023, 14:23

Marek Valko
No problem 🙂 I am just curious, cause after I will finish my Viking I want to start on Prowler from Death Jesters (last prowler marking) so any advice for intakes will be fine cause I know that is limited space there.

8 November 2023, 20:00

Sergej I
oh yeah...

8 November 2023, 20:09

David H
Oooh, I'm liking this VERY much. Beautiful pit. Can't wait to see this finished. Did you spray or dip the canopies with the gold ?

16 December 2023, 21:12

Andreas Lux
Hi David, thank you very much! I sprayed the gold color. I tested this before on an old CD case with different colors. This clear gold was the only one I liked.

16 December 2023, 21:25

David H
I've just done similar with a yf23 but I mixed clear yellow and clear red, diluted with future. I wasn't brave enough to spray so they got dipped 🤣

17 December 2023, 11:38

Andreas Lux
David, that sounds very interesing. Did the dipping work to your satisfaction? Do you have a photo of the Canopy in the gallery of your YF-23?

17 December 2023, 19:46

Adri-x
Well done, looks impressive!

17 December 2023, 20:26

Andreas Lux
Thank you Adri-x! The Prowler isn't finished yet 😉 Some details are still missing...

17 December 2023, 20:31

Villiers de Vos
Very nice work.

17 December 2023, 22:15

Andreas Lux
Thank You Villiers!

18 December 2023, 06:06

Sam S
Really nice 🙌

18 December 2023, 06:16

Andreas Lux
Thank You Sam!

18 December 2023, 08:01

David H
The dipping didn't come out too well. Nothing to do with the colour mix which was brilliant, just that dipping left some unevenness in the finish which meant removal and doing again. Next time I'm going to spray it 🤣

19 December 2023, 16:54

Andreas Lux
I have uneven finishes every time I dip canopies in floor glosser - I know that 🤣

19 December 2023, 20:52

Alexander
Looks very nice, looking forward to the finishing line!

19 December 2023, 23:14

Rui S
I agree 👍

19 December 2023, 23:15

Marius
Looking great!

9 January, 07:07

Andreas Lux
Thank You Alexander, Rui and Marius!

9 January, 07:38

Michael Kohl
Some fine work to be seen here.

11 January, 18:31

Michael Kohl
Some fine work to be seen here.

11 January, 18:32

Andreas Lux
Hello Michael, thank you! This was the most complex single 1:48 scale model I have ever built. To be honest, I'm really glad it's finished. At times I thought it would never be finished. But in the end I'm glad I stuck it out 😉

12 January, 19:40

Bernd Nagel
Very impressive work!

14 January, 09:29

Neuling
Yes, Bernd! 👍

14 January, 10:03

Andreas Lux
Thanks so much, Bernd and Neuling!

14 January, 17:38

Alexander
Finished model looks great! Very nice paintjob and detail painting too! 👍

15 January, 15:33

kab5100
Looks pretty good !

15 January, 16:59

Andreas Lux
Thank you Alexander and kab5100 !
I'm still waiting for better weather so I can take more photos outside.

15 January, 18:56

JBK
It looks so good! Nice paint and weathering and lot of details. Fantastic. This kit is also in my stash and waiting for its time…

15 January, 19:41

kab5100
Is there a fitting problem in this kit? It seems that you used a lot of putty and other stuffs to fill gaps during the assembling stage.

16 January, 04:25

Andreas Lux
Hello JBK, thank you very much!
Hello kab5100, there is no real problem with the fit. This can all be solved with Putty. But it depends on your personal point of view how much you tolerate unevenness in the fit. This is an older kit from Kinetic, but a good one for the time. There's a reason Kinetic markets the Gold series as "better" quality. In short: the fit is not bad but not perfect either. Putty is necessary, but not excessive.
Some experience in plastic model making is necessary, as, for example, you have to glue the cockpit hoods together from two transparent parts. To show folded wings you have to saw the wings, slats, flaps and spoilers. When assembling the folded wings you have to work very carefully so that they don't look crooked. These are jobs that require patience and care.
The Dark Prowler kit decals are great!
But! ...The kit has another problem. The instructions are wrong in many areas! The "real" Prowler has received many upgrades over the course of its life, which is particularly visible in the different antenna configurations. The "Dark Prowler" is the latest ICAP variant. The parts for this variant are included in the kit but are not shown in the instructions. For a correct representation you have to use reference photos - that is my strong recommendation.
I don't want to scare anyone away from the Kinetic Prowler, on the contrary: if I wanted to build a Prowler again I would choose the Kinetic kit again. With reference photos, patience and some putty, this can become a beautiful project.
I marked the issues that I encountered during construction in the instructions and put them in the gallery.

16 January, 11:37

Michael Kohl
Although I might never build a Prowler myself, your insights are very valuable. Thanks for sharing.

16 January, 11:48

kab5100
Thanks for answering my question, I will take your words as a reference if I someday finally decide to build a 1/48 EA-6B myself !

16 January, 12:42