A-7F Whiff Pennsylvania ANG

[Ed S]

Here's another whiff of mine.  This is an A-7F in markings of Pennsylvania ANG.  This was build from an A-7D kit.  I cut the fuselage and lengthened it in front of and behind the wings.  The rear of the fuselage was canted up.  Wing LERX were added.  The vertical tail was lengthened, the horizonal tails were repositioned to the correct angle.  An old F-16 nozzle & burner can were added.  Then just for fun, I completely scratchbuilt the wheel wells and cockpit, including ejection seat.  It has a new vacuformed canopy and windscreen.  Oh yes, I should mention that this started out as the Matchbox kit, so I had some trenchlike panel lines to fill in as well.  Armament came from the spares box and some Hasegawa weapons kits.  I also made the LANA pod from an old external tank.


port side



nose view



underside



nose wheel well



cockpit

Ed

[SPINNERS]

A cracking build! Well done!

[Brian da Basher]

Stunning work, Ed! Of course, I tend to be partial to PA ANG. I love the details you put into this project.

Brian da Basher

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Great work, Ed - especially impressive as it started life as a Matchbox kit!

[Eddie M.]

All around great work! That intake still gives me the willies
   Eddie

[Mike Wren]

very nice! 

[John Howling Mouse]

You are very talented, Ed.  Love the idea of lengthening this one.  If you would have told me that was 1:48 Hasegawa, I would have believed you (it's that good)!   

[Sisko]

Wow!

Nice work. Thanks for sharing.

[BlackOps]

Looks great!  I have an A-7 in the stash I've been itchin' to build but haven't decided exactly what to do with it yet.

Your grey on grey camo looks perfect. (Big thumbs up!)

[Chris707]

Outstanding job, Ed!! I live under the approaches to KPIT, and often wondered about doing a 146th TFS F-model....the SLUFs have been gone for nearly twenty years now, hard to believe...

Chris

[Captain Canada]

Beauty ! Great job on that one, Ed ! The paint is perfect ! Got me thinking A-7 now as well......'

[Scooterman]

Stunning work, Ed! Of course, I tend to be partial to PA ANG. I love the details you put into this project.

Brian da Basher

Just add my name to this comment too.  The 'Burgh is my hometown.  And like Chris, I too plan on doing something modern for Da'Burgh AF.  Logic would dictate Viper but we'll see!

[Rafael]

A masterful piece!!!
I like the detail you in this build, the paint scheme, and the way you treated the rescribing side.

Rafa

[Ed S]

Ace A-7F build there. 

So exactly how did you lengthen the fuselage? I am interested to know as I would like to do an A-7F myself at some stage...

cheers

Duncan,

Thanks.

From the drawings I had, I just cut the fuselage at the appropriate points using a razor saw.  Then I laid the front, middle and aft parts of one half on a scale drawing and taped them down.  This gave me the correct length and alignment.  Then I glued longerons made of Evergreen strip to the inside of the parts to secure it all together.  Once this had fully dried, I removed it from the drawing.  Then I taped the 3 pieces of the other side to the first half so that all the pieces would be the same alignment and length.  Then I glued longerons to the 2nd side.  Once this was cured, I had two halfs that I knew would fit together.  Not wanting to cut up a second kit for the fillers, I used sheet styrene to build up the sides, top and bottom of the space.  Fortunately, the SLUF is pretty much slab sided so this was easy.  Then it was just a matter of filling in the spaces and the "trenches" at the same time.  Then I could assemble the halfs and finish with a normal build.

A masterful piece!!!
I like the detail you in this build, the paint scheme, and the way you treated the rescribing side.

Rafa

Rafa,

Thanks.

The model isn't rescribed.  I filled and sanded it smooth.  The only recessed lines left from the kit were around the ailerons, flaps and rudder.  The rest of the panel lines were created using a sharp #2 drafting pencil after the model was painted and decaled.  Then pastel chalks were used to show a little discoloring and grime around the panels.

Ed

[ysi_maniac]

Top notch job