Sheet #

Microscale 72-170 for A-4 Skyhawks

Price:

Long out of Production

Units:

See review

Review By:

Ryan Koschatzky

Notes:

 


I am going to take the easy way out, if you want to know about the Skyhawk history go to their website. http://www.skyhawk.org/default.asp. All are Light Gull Gray over Gloss White, except for VF-43, which I will talk about later.

 The first decal is for an A-4E of VC-2 Blue Falcons, 148609 JE00. (Actually, 148609 is the serial of an A-4C. This may be an error as  while VC-2 did have some A-4Ls for a few years, it is unknown if this was one of them. Most VC-2 single seat Scooters were A-4Es as shown in the drawing. Ed) This aircraft has a black nose and anti-glare panel. It is piloted by Capt. Knutson, stenciled on the right side only in black on a black panel, which needs to be painted, but you may not want to do that as black on black won’t show to well. There is a black band with two white stars and banner for COMFIT WING ONE across the center in white. The tail has to be painted black before applying the white JE and 2 white stars decal. The fuel tank has two decals on them, a black arrow in the front and a red JE on the rear of the tank.

 The next one is an A-4E of VF-43 Challengers, 151118 AD320. This aircraft has an experimental scheme. Go to their site on Skyhawk.org for pictures of different paint scheme for the unit. The scheme has 4 different colors; Light Gull Gray FS 36440, Dark Gray FS 36270, Light Gray FS 36622, and Light Blue Testors 1108. They have supplied a 3d scheme layout picture for helping you place the colors. Supplied are the low vis insignias for the aircraft. 

 The third one is an A-4L of VMA-142 Flying Gators, 148508 MB05. This aircraft has a black nose and anti-glare panel. You need to paint the leading edge of the intake red. There is a colorful two-tone red over white scheme that covers the avionics hump and tail. The rudder needs to be painted black. There are three stars forward of the ribs and a star in each rib. All the stars for this scheme are individual decals. The fuel tanks have red on the tip and tail. 

The last one is an A-4E of VMA-211 Wake Island Avengers, 149661 CF22. This aircraft has a white nose and black anti-glare panel. There is a red band from the front of the anti-glare panel to the white under coat. This aircraft is flown by Capt. Sunderman, which is shown on the black panel under the cockpit, why they didn’t do this for VC-2, I don’t know.  The intake warnings are different on this aircraft; you need to paint the leading edge of the intake red. There is a large red lion aft of the intakes. The tail has a white on the front of the rudder and red on the ribs. There is a small red CF22 on the front of the tanks. Here is a picture of the actual aircraft in 1971 with a different unit logo. http://www.skyhawk.org/5E/G149647/149661.jpg

 There are no insignia included. There are enough stencils for all four schemes, plus some extra Marine/Navy stencils and intake warnings. There are no decals for the anti-glare panels like there new sheets.

 

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