Subject: Re: Post on August 31 Malaysia Merdeka Day update - Fill'er up
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Ng Thomas-CTN004" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:46:52 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ng Thomas-CTN004 
  To: nazaruddin hashim ; [email-masked] ; Kar Teong Goh 
  Sent: Monday, August 27, 2007 10:59 PM
  Subject: RE: Post on August 31 Malaysia Merdeka Day update - Fill'er up

    Hi Steve,

    this one is from Nazaruddin Hashim  too...  

    Nazaruddin : [email-masked]

    "Fill'er UP" 

    by "Nazaruddin Hashim" 

    Malaysia 50th Merdeka Day Update

          Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here 

    A-4PTM 

    KIT-Hasegawa A-4C

    DECAL-VFA Productions

    PILOT-PJ Productions

    This aircraft depicts an A-4 PTM Skyhawk at the tail-end of its service with the Royal Malaysian Air Force.

    The aircraft was built OOB with a few additional parts. These included the pilot figure (PJ Production) and the air-to-air refueling buddy-pack (swiped from the AMT/ERTL Viking kit)

    Assembly

    Building the Hasegawa A-4 is a relatively simple process thanks to the excellent engineering of the kit. Assembly was fuss-free. The buddy pod was mated to the aircraft with minimal difficulties. The fuel tank that came with the kit lacked the fins so this was scratchbuilt. No big issues there as well.

    Painting and Decalling

    For painting, I used Gunze 303 and 309 as mentioned in VFA Production's instruction sheet which was applied by free-hand. I prefer this method rather than the masking technique as I feel it gives a more realistic finish. Ultimately, it's a matter of one's choice.

    Once the paint has dried, I coated it with a layer of Gunze Gloss Cote, attach the decals from VFA Productions and coat it with another layer of Gunze Gloss Cote again.

    Next stage would be weathering. This project called for heavy weathering on the aircraft as it depicts the Skyhawk towards the end of its service life with the RMAF. This was done by doing several layers of oil washes to dull effect the colours applied initially.

    Silver was then added liberally to depict scratch as well as scrape marks. A final coat of Humbroll Matt cote was sprayed on to seal everything in.

    As mentioned, building the aircraft was a relatively fuss-free affair, the only difficult bits were having to perform some surgery on the pilot figure (removal and reassignment of the right arm) so that it could fit in the cockpit as well as scratch-building the refueling basket using some parts from the donor kit. The hose was actually a plastic rod sanded down to the appropriate thinness.

    !

    Click on images below to see larger images

          Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 04.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 04.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 05.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 05.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 06.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 06.jpg 

     

    Hawk Mk 208

    KIT- Airfix Hawk 100

    Decal - VFA Productions/Model Alliance

    Pilot - PJ Production RAF Pilot

    Conversion Set - Neomega Hawk 200 Conversion Set

     

    This aircraft depicts the Hawk 208 operated by the Royal Malaysian Air Force. In this case, it one of the several operated by No. 15th Squadron.

    Assembly

    The aircraft was built combining the Airfix Hawk 100 with the Hawk 200 nose conversion from Neomega. From my humble opinion, detailing on the Neomega kit is excellent although fitting was a bit off. Not an uncommon issue when it comes to conversion kits. The funny thing was that Neomega opted to cast the panel line on the nose on a raised format. This of course was sanded down and rescribed.

    After, a coat of primer, the cockpit was painted using some photos as reference. Note the thumbnail which served as a cheap and convenient paint pallette.

    After all the hard work done in painting the cockpit, I was kind of sad to see that only 20% of it could be seen when the pilot was placed in the cockpit. Oh well...

    The next step was to join the fuselage and the nose conversion set together. This was where I again ran into problems as the panel lines did not align with each other. Another round of sanding and rescribing!!

    Next came the trickiest part.scratchbuilding the air to air refueling probe. This was done using epoxy bondite, plastic rod and the cranked refueling probe from the Hasegawa A-4C. A lot of sweat and tears was spent trying to get the bulge shape correct.

    Other scratchbuilt items were the wing fences utilizing 0.3mm that were built according to the measurements and instructions given in the VFA instruction sheet.

    Click on images below to see larger images

          Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 07.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 07.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 08.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 08.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 09.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 09.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 10.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 10.jpg 

     

    Next step, putting on the canopy. This was another tricky bit as there were some seam lines that were apparent. This was cure by some sanding and dipping into the ever trusty Future.

    Dry fitting reveled that there was a gap between canopy and the rear part of the cockpit frame. This was cured by the usual combination of epoxy bondite and lots of sanding work.

    Final touch up on the cockpit and the pilot before the cockpit was glued into place.

    Painting and Decalling

    After a coat of primer, Gunze 335 was applied. This was then sealed in with a coat of Gunzel Gloss Cote. When the coating had dried, I then applied the decals from VFA Productions and some bits from Model Alliance. This was then given a final coating of Humbrol Matt Cote before some minor weathering was applied.

     

          Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here 

     

    Diorama

    It was decided from day 1 that both aircraft would be incorporated into a single air to air refueling diorama. After several rounds of discussions, we agreed that an air to air refueling scence over some of the islands off the east coast of Malaysia would provide a great base.

    The base was a 13 inch by 32 inch plywood sheet. The island was fashioned out of  Powderfilla. Vegetation was provided by Busch (accessories for train layout). The ocean was painted 3 tones of blue before white glue was liberally poured over it. Food wraping cling film was applied to give a "wavy" effect.

    The stand was fashioned from 3mm thick polycarbonate and polished so as to make it "disappear" when viewed from a distance.

    Overall, I spent close to 1 month to build the aircraft and diorama.

    Click on images below to see larger images

          

         
          Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 11.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 11.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 12.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 12.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 13.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 13.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 14.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 14.jpg 

     

          Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 15.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 15.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 16.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 16.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 17.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 17.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 18.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 18.jpg 
         
          Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 19.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo19.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 20.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 20.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 21.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 21.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 22.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 22.jpg 
         
          Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 23.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 23.jpg 
         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 24.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 24.jpg 

             

    Happy 50th Merdeka Day.. Malaysia.

    Photos and text © by "Nazaruddin, KT Goh "