Tamiya F4D-1 Skyray - Build Photos

In the booth for a coat of primer.

Pre-shading

Underside

Most of the base colors complete.

Experimented with two-tone exhaust housing.

Underside.

Used AK Real Colors, Metal Xtreme, and Tamiya paints.

The Cottontail Killer

Added some grime to the wing walkways.

I scratch built a metal collar for the boarding ladder.

This is an Eduard A-4 Skyhawk boarding ladder. I had to remove about 12mm to make it the correct height for the Skyray. Both aircraft had no built in way for their pilots to enter and required a ladder (which were almost identical in design).

The ladder attached to the jet. I am still researching on the correct color for this SQN. Most F4D SQN's had red ladders, but I have seen photos of yellow ones too.

FOD covers are complete and need to be painted.

Cockpit detail.

The good thing about adding a metal collar for the boarding ladder is that I can either move it or easily remove it from the model.

The completed NAVPAC. Adding a scratch built umbilical to the underside of the aircraft.

NAVPAC installed.

Canopy painted with the help of Montex masks. They were a big help as the molding on the main canopy hood was not crisp and taping was very difficult.

FOD covers painted and installed.

Boarding ladder painted yellow.

Completed Skyray!

Comments

24 27 June 2021, 21:39

Thomas Bischoff
I'm in

4 July 2021, 08:42

John
Its been a while since I uploaded, but the Skyray project is coming along nicely. I have completed all major assemblies, ordnance, and small bits. Decals have been placed and in progress of weathering.

2 August 2021, 02:01

John
Finished up weathering and built boarding ladder and FOD covers. Working on canopy and ordnance.

9 August 2021, 16:26

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Really nice build so far. 👍
Is that a pitot tube on a fuel tank?

24 August 2021, 19:53

John
The Skyray did not have an inflight refueling capability, so a refueling probe from an A-4 Skyhawk was grafted to the fuel tank to solve the problem.

24 August 2021, 21:51

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Thank you for explaining John. 👍

25 August 2021, 07:30

John
No worries - I appreciate the comments.

25 August 2021, 20:34

John
I had the project on hold while I waited for paint masks to arrive. My copy of the Skyray did not have crisp canopy frame molding lines, so traditional tape masking was becoming a real pain. I used Montex masks and they worked great.

31 August 2021, 01:31

John
It is always satisfying completing a build. The Skyray is one of my favorite early jets and I am happy to add it to my display shelf. I will put together a completed album to show off the final product.

4 September 2021, 19:39