Luftwaffe Douglas A-4, MFG1 Carrier Graf Zeppelin, October 1974

[nönöbär]

Douglas A-4

The Plane:

In 1965, the German military was looking for a light carrier based attack bomber which could be used on the Graf Zepplin carrier as a replacement for the ageing Seahawks. The first choice was the Douglas A-4, 32 aircraft were bought by the Bundesmaine and delivered until 1968.
The A-4 served on board the Graf Zeppelin until 1980 (normally, 8-12 planes were used on board) when the Graf Zeppelin had to be put out of service after a total engine breakdown.
As there was no replacement for the carrier, the 28 remaining A-4 (4 were lost in the 12 years of service) were transferred to the Luftwaffe, to be used as light ground attack aircraft. They were used by the JaboG 41 in Huseum together with the Alpha Jet. When the JaboG 41 was liquidated in 1993, the A-4s were sold do Malaysia.

The model shows a A-4 with bomb payload on board of the carrier Graf Zeppelin in October 1974.

A-4 on the flight deck of the Graf Zeppelin:







Marineflieger aircraft of the carrier Graf Zeppelin in the 1970s-1980s:


A-4 in Marineflieger and Luftwaffe camo in their later useage:


The Model:
It's a 1:72 scale Matchbox kit form the mid 70s. Build out-of-the box, it was painted in Marineflieger color scheme. Airbrished with Revell Aqua Color, the decals are from the original model and the spare parts box.

[zenrat]

 Very good.

[PR19_Kit]

Very good.

What zenrat said. ^

A great idea carried out with skill and artistry, well done. 

[Geoff]

Very good.

What zenrat said. ^

A great idea carried out with skill and artistry, well done. 

Yes exactly!

[Captain Canada]

Beauty. Love love love this aeroplane ! Great selection of photos as well. Really like the carrier setting, brings it to life for sure. Just how big is that carrier section you have ?

Love the group shot as well. My favourite era of naval aviation. We had a book in our small school library about carrier aviation and I used to stare at the pics of the mid 70s US carrier decks.

Now, a group shot on you carrier would be nice to see !

[NARSES2]

Come out really well 

[eatthis]

they look spot on
when are you doing the carrier?

[Rheged]

Very good.

What zenrat said. ^

A great idea carried out with skill and artistry, well done. 

Yes exactly!

Agreed!  I reckon that makes in unanimous.

[nönöbär]

Beauty. Love love love this aeroplane ! Great selection of photos as well. Really like the carrier setting, brings it to life for sure. Just how big is that carrier section you have ?

Love the group shot as well. My favourite era of naval aviation. We had a book in our small school library about carrier aviation and I used to stare at the pics of the mid 70s US carrier decks.

Now, a group shot on you carrier would be nice to see !

Thanks 
The flight deck is an Italieri Kit, about 40x20 cm in size. So there is only place for one plane to put on it I would think.

[nönöbär]

they look spot on
when are you doing the carrier?

Well, the carrier is already done, bit the size is a bit different. See here: http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,37705.msg612067.html#msg612067

[TomZ]

Really nice. i love them!

TomZ

[eatthis]

they look spot on
when are you doing the carrier?

Well, the carrier is already done, bit the size is a bit different. See here: http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,37705.msg612067.html#msg612067

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Very plausible and beautiful models!