Douglas OA-4M “Low-Vis-Scooter”
The colors of the Scooter.
Remembered old research results (I’ve build already 22 years ago a late Skyhawk): late Skyhawks had spoilers on the top of wings with the same size as flaps. The spoiler has 17 ribs and is divided into 18 “fields”.
An alternative for filling of sinkholes and ejector marks. A piece off round rod (thin dish) glued with CA. After few minutes it’s possible to remove the excess with sharp scalpel. Works much better and faster than “Herumkleistern” with putty. (Sorry; don’t know what is the English equivalent for Herumkleistern)🙂
The reflector will be installed later (after airbrushing white) because the rim is black.
It’s astonishing how strongly aspirations of modelers have gone up: around the turn of the millennium we were over the moon about the quality of resin cockpits of KMC. Today this is not remotely longer up to scratch („Gurkenkramm“).
I picked the best and most simply for installation parts and combined them with any scratch build parts. Forward cockpit: Anyz knobs and kit- instrument panel as base for the etched ones not yet in place.
Escapac ejection seat.
Completed working stations
As usual I glued both fuselage halves with CA (Tamiya) and ethylacetate. I used small plastic pieces here and there and so despite average fit I needed 0,0g putty.
Rear area thinned down.
Rear area thinned down.
Edges of wheel bay thinned down and shape restored with CA and plastic. The green outlined “dark” what you see is not a gap but CA as filler for the gap.
It’s easier to replace the trimm tab than rework the kit. Red light made of a piece of red resin block.
Green light in place. Actuators for aileron and trimm tab added.
LSO light (green amber red) in place minus reshaping the clear resin block.
Separated rudder in place.
Joint between wings and fuselage: “black” = CA, “white” = plastic as filler.
300 gal aux fuel tank. I used the parts from Tamiyas Skyraider because they are a much better detailed.
Sway braces in place. The rods of silber wire coming at next after painting.
Flattened dishes of 1,2 mm round rod and bended stripe of plastic.
It was very curious: the windshield's fit was very poor. I spent about 30 min for trimming the thickness of the clear part and wide of the hood.
3 of 6 airbrushing seasons completed. Unfortunately the mentioned FS colors don’t match the colors of the decal elements. 🙁
Both upper colors mixed exactly to match with the decal elements.
Steering for nose landing gear added.
Ed Heinemann, Douglas' chief designer , designed spring loaded slats which operated Automatically when the speed decreased below a certain level. That means that the slats were deployed during painting of the aircraft. In the case of my plane the underside has to be light and not dark.
Comments
57 9 July 2022, 18:09
Hanno KleineckeHere we go, the detailing for the flaps look promising already, looking for more ! 😄
What happened to the port wing, that it had to be fixed and reinforced ?
10 July 2022, 14:08
Bernhard SchrockYou are welcome! I reserved a lot of seats in the first row. 🙂
Hanno: yep… I've forgotten that this kit is more than 30 years old and that the plastic is meanwhile hardened. I tried to fix the warped lower wing half and…. held in my hands suddenly TWO parts 🙁.
10 July 2022, 15:00
Hanno KleineckeI'm glad I'm not the only one subjected to such mishaps…..
Very clever solution for the ejector marks btw. ! 👍
10 July 2022, 16:09
Bernhard SchrockYesterday and today I researched about the cockpit. But first you have to ask yourself the question, what is a OA-4M?
After reading articles in different language of Wikipedia I found out that a OA-4M was a forward controller and was converted from a regular TA-4F. A TA-4F is in principle a two-seater version (trainer) of the A-4F. The A-4F in turn was an improved A-4E with spoilers, bow wheel steering and improved avionics.
Conclusion: Monogram's half round shaped instrument panels are correct and so it is possible to use Eduard's Zoom's for the „E" - version. Unfortunately it was impossible to get two Zoom - sets for an „E" on German E-Bay so I had to buy a Zoom for a „C".
The second question is now what parts should I use? I think the best way will be to fit the seats of KMC into the Monogram cockpit tubs and garnish the whole with the printed etching parts of Eduard.
Hardly nobody will probably notice anyway🙂
15 July 2022, 16:00
Bernhard SchrockIt's astonishing how strongly aspirations of modelers have gone up: around the turn of the millennium we were over the moon about the quality of resin cockpits of KMC. Today this is not remotely longer up to scratch („Gurkenkramm"). 🙂
15 July 2022, 17:35
Bernhard SchrockThank you Hanno, Roland, Jose and Augie. 🙂
As usual I glued both fuselage halves with CA (Tamiya) and ethylacetate. I used small plastic pieces here and there and so despite average fit I needed 0,0g putty.
23 July 2022, 08:13
David R. MeizosoGrest job! May I ask what's the reason you use ethylacetate? Never heard of it
23 July 2022, 08:30
Bernhard SchrockThank you David.
I will try to explain but it is hard to do for me in English🙂
Ethylacetate is a waterlike plastic welder. It evaporates without" traces" and does not contain plastic softener. When you use it, it melts the edges of the fuselage and produces a very strong connection, after it dries. After a few hours you have a hard surface. I combined it with CA for areas that needed filler or that have to be glued together under "mechanical stress".
23 July 2022, 09:25
Nathan DempseyGreat work! I must thank you for the idea of using the rod to fill the ejector pin marks. This is one I won't forget 🙂
13 August 2022, 18:37
Hanno KleineckeNailed it ! You scored adirect hit on the 2856, the demarcation line between light and dark fits like a glove, and the variation in shine looks very realistic !
22 August 2022, 18:56
Erik LeijdensFantastic detailing Bernhard! You make this old kit look amazing, outstanding paint job too.
22 August 2022, 19:20
Bernhard SchrockThank you mates: I'm glad that you like the progress.
Today I installed the slats and discovered that I have to do one more airbrush session.
Ed Heinemann, Douglas' chief designer , designed spring loaded slats which operated Automatically when the speed decreased below a certain level. That means that the slats were deployed during painting of the aircraft. In the case of my plane the underside has to be light and not dark.
31 August 2022, 17:57
Robert PodkońskiAwesome! All the details look so realistic (landing lights, piping, etc. ) I am just speechless here...
4 September 2022, 09:20
Hanno KleineckeA scooter never fails 👍 ! I particularly like the chalked out patina- like look of the greys you used, a very realistic effect 😄
Looking forward to seeing it „live an direct" tomorrow !
4 September 2022, 13:41
Bernhard SchrockYou comments pleased me twice because this is a "classic old good Monogram"🙂. Thx.
5 September 2022, 19:27
Maciej BellosIt's a great result from a good old Monogram kit! Very well done Bernhard! My first Monogram kit was an eye opener, even though it had raised panel lines. I hadn't seen this kind of detail up until that point.
5 September 2022, 20:02
