Hi everyone and welcome back to the Hangar!

Those of you that have been following my work for a while will know of my fondness for the A-4 Skyhawk, also affectionately known as the Scooter and I have built many models of the beloved A-4 over the years. Here then, is my take on Hasegawa’s 1:48 A-4C , one of the earlier variants of the Skyhawk that flew with the US Navy during the Vietnam War.

A little bit of history about the A-4

Unlike most other carrier-based aircraft, the A-4 Skyhawk with its relatively small wingspan, does not have folding wings. The elimination of this feature allowed a much simpler, lighter wing, which in turn allowed a much lighter aircraft. The A-4, or “Heinemann’s Hotrod” as it was sometimes called, was first flown on June 22, 1954. The 7,200 lb.-thrust Curtiss-Wright J65-W-2 engines powered the first Skyhawks, but production models, A4D-ls (A-4As), used 7,700 lb.-thrust J65-W-4 engines. The first Skyhawks were delivered to Navy Attack Squadron VA-72 in October 1956. During the test program, Navy Lt. Gordon Grey set a new world speed record over a 500-kilometer closed course at 695 mph. The Skyhawk was the first attack plane to hold this record.

In 1959, the A-4C Skyhawk went into production, with improvements in cockpit layout, safety features, radar equipment, and all-weather flying capability. Six hundred and thirty-eight A-4Cs were built, making it the most numerous A-4 model produced. In Vietnam, A-4s were used both in close support of ground troops and in attacking other ground targets in North Vietnam.

Building an old school Scooter

It’s no secret that my go to for building A-4 models is Hasegawa’s family of 1/48 scale A-4 kits. They have been around for a long time and still stand up well in terms of design, details and fit. I love ‘em!

I won’t go into much detail about building this kit as it’s been done before, suffice to say it is an easy, carefree build process and when enhanced with Eduard’s Colour Photo-Etch detail set, it makes for a pleasant replica of the real aircraft.

I chose this particular Hasegawa kit as it comes with a fantastic set of decals allowing the modeller to build one of two Hi/Vis US Navy schemes. I chose the VA-153 Blue Tail Flies scheme with its very attractive sky blue tail markings……..

Here is model after being primed, pre shaded and painted in Tamiya acrylics…

When I was happy with the paintwork, I clear coated the entire model in a gloss finish in preparation for the kit decals to be applied.

The Hasegawa decals were flawless and really brought the model to life! I used some micro set and sol to give the decals a helping hand to fit into the finer recessed details and when dry, I applied another clear coat to protect the decals from weathering.

Weathering was done with a light touch, I used a medium grey panel line wash for the recessed details and oils for exhaust and grease stains.

Here then, is my completed model of the A-4C Skyhawk in VA-153 Blue Tail Flies markings.

Hope you like the finished model, take care and I’ll see you soon.

Happy Modelling!

Darren.