1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; Uruguayan Air Force, 1993

[Dizzyfugu]

The kit and its assembly:
The third build in my current "Uruguayan What-if Trip", and a rather spontaneous idea. When I searched for decals for my recent Uruguayan Sherman tank, I came across a decal sheet from an Airfix IA 58 Pucará (2008 re-boxing), which included, beyond Argentinian markings, a Uruguayan machine, too. This made me wonder about a jet-powered successor, and the omnipresent Skyhawk appeared like a natural choice for a light attack aircraft – even though I also considered an IAI Kfir but found its Mach 2 capability a bit overdone. Checking history I found a suitable time frame during the Nineties for a potential introduction of the A-4 into Uruguayan service, and this was also the time when Indonesia indirectly bought 2nd hand A-4Es from Israel. This was a good match and defined both the background story (coming soon with final beauty pics) as well as the model and its details.

The model kit is an Italeri A-4E/F (Revell re-boxing), built mostly OOB with a short/early fin tip; the kit comes with an optional part for it, but it is too short and I used the alternative A-4M fin tip from the kit and re-shaped its leading edge. I also gave it the bent refueling probe because of the radar in the nose (the original straight boom interfered with it). I just implanted an extended resin tailpipe (from Aires, see below), used the OOB optional brake parachute fairing and scratched fairings for the A-4H's former DEFA guns from styrene rods. which were placed, due to their size, in a lower position than the original 20 mm guns and had an odd shape.


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Building posed no real problems; some PSR was necessary on many seams, though, but that's standard for the Italeri Skyhawk kit. Just the extended tailpipe caused unexpected trouble: the very nice and detailed Aires resin insert turned out to be a whole 2mm(!) wider than the Skyhawk's tail section, even though its height and shape was fine. I solved this pragmatically and, after several trials, glued the extended pipe between the fuselage halves, closed them with some force and filled the resulting wedge-shaped ventral gap that extended forward almost up to the wings' trailing edge with putty. Under the paint this stunt is not obvious, and I suspect that the Italeri Skyhawk's tail is simply too narrow?


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Different/additional blade antennae were added under the front fuselage and behind the canopy as well as a tiny pitot in front of the windscreen (piece of thin wire) and fairings for the radar warning receivers were integrated into the fin's leading edge and above the extended tail pipe, scratched from styrene sheet material. And, finally, a thin rod (made from heated styrene) was added for the Skyhawk's steerable front wheel mechanism.

I also modified the ordnance: the OOB ventral drop tank was taken over but the kit's original LAU-19 pods molded onto the inner wing pylons were cut off and moved to the outer stations. The inner pylons then received MERs with five Mk. 82 500 lb iron bombs each (left over from a Hasegawa Skyhawk kit) – typically for the Skyhawk, the inner front stations on the MERs (and on TERs, too) were left empty, because anything bigger than a 250 lb Mk. 81 bomb interfered with the landing gear covers.

A good thing about the Italeri Skyhawk is that its clear part encompasses the whole canopy, including its frame. It comes as a single piece, though, but can be easily cut in two parts to allow an open cockpit display. The alternative Hasegawa A-4E/F has the flaw that the clear part is molded without the canopy frame, which has a rather complex shape, so that modding it into open position is a very complicated task.


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


More coming soon. 

[NARSES2]

Always liked the Skyhawk, looking forward to this 

[Wardukw]

Always liked the Skyhawk, looking forward to this 

As am I 

[DogfighterZen]

Always liked the Skyhawk, looking forward to this 

As am I 

Me too!!   

[Dizzyfugu]

More WiP content!

Painting and markings:
Basically very simple: I relied upon FAU Pucarás as benchmark, which carry a rather unremarkable NATO-style livery in dark grey and dark green over very light grey, almost white undersides.



This does not sound interesting, but it's not a color combo typically seen on a Skyhawk, so that this already offers a subtle whiffy touch – and it suits the Skyhawk IMHO well.

To make the simple scheme more interesting, though, I decided to apply the camouflage in a more disruptive, higher resolution pattern, using the Kuwaiti A-4KU pattern as benchmark, just with replaced colors. On real-life pictures, the Uruguayan Pucarás as well as some early A-37s show a good contrast between the green and the grey, so that I chose Tamiya XF-62 (U.S. WWII Olive Drab) and Humbrol 156 (RAF Dark Camouflage Grey) as basic tones; the undersides were painted in Humbrol 147 (FS 36495), leaving a brightness margin for post-shading with an even lighter tone.

The landing gear as well as the air intakes' interior were painted in white, the landing gear covers' edges received a thin red edge. The cockpit interior became standard Dark Gull Grey.
For good contrast with the light undersides, the rocket launchers became light grey (Humbrol 127) drab. The MERs became classic white and the ten 250 lb bombs were painted in olive drab.

As usual, the kit received an overall light black ink washing and some post-panel shading, which also acts as a weathering measure. Esp. the Pucarás' grey appears very bleached on many photos.


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Roundels, fin flash and FAU taglines came from the aforementioned Airfix Pucará sheet, even though they turned out to be rather thick and not printed sharply. Most stencils were taken from an Airfix A-4Q Skyhawk, one of the new mold kits, which also came with Argentinian markings and stencils in Spanish. The respective sheet also provided a decal for the black anti-glare panel, even though it had to be cut in two halves to fit in front of the wider A-4E windshield, and the resulting gap was painted out with black. The tactical codes once belonged to a Kawasaki T-4 (Hasegawa). The soot-hiding squares above the gun muzzles are generic black decals. The only decal that was taken over from the Skyhawk's OOB decal sheet were the rings around the arrester hook.

1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Overall, the FAU Skyhawk still looked rather dry. To add some excitement, I gave the aircraft a wild boar "face", similar to the FAU Pucarás. The decoration originally belongs to an USAF A-10 and came from a HiDecal sheet. Unfortunately, this boar face was carried by a rather special A-10 with an experimental desert paint scheme consisting of Brown (FS 20140), Tan Special (FS 20400) and Sand (FS 20266) that was applied before deployment to Saudi Arabia in November 1990. This scheme did not catch on, though, and most A-10s retained their murky Europe One/Lizard scheme. Therefore, the artwork consists primarily of black and sand – white would have been better, stylistically. But I took what I could get and, as a kind of compensation, the sand color does not make the boar snout stand out too much. To my surprise, the four decals that create the wraparound hog face fitted quite well in size and around the Skyhawk's rather pointed nose. I just left the nostrils away because they'd look odd together with the small black radome and a small ventral gap between the mouth halves had to be bridged with black paint and another piece of decal sheet that simulates a di-electric cover.


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and ordnance as well as landing gear were mounted.

Scenic shots next. 

[NARSES2]

  

[rickshaw]

Nice 

[Dizzyfugu]

Thanks a lot  . I hope that I can take scenic pictures today.

[Wardukw]

Very nice   

[Dizzyfugu]

So, here we are, the 3rd and for the moment final Urugayan whif; unfortunately the colors on some pictures did not come out as clearly as I had hoped for. But here's the story of the Uruguayan A-4s:


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Some background:
The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet-engine Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later by McDonnell Douglas. The Skyhawk was a relatively light aircraft, with a maximum takeoff weight of 24,500 pounds (11,100 kg) and had a top speed of 670 miles per hour (1,080 km/h). The aircraft's five hardpoints supported a variety of missiles, bombs, and other munitions, including nuclear bombs, with a bomb load equivalent to that of a World War II–era Boeing B-17 bomber.

Since its introduction, the Skyhawk had been adopted by countries beyond the United States and saw a very long career, with many baseline variants and local adaptations. Israel was, starting in 1966, the largest export customer for Skyhawks, and a total of 217 A-4s were eventually procured, plus another 46 that were transferred from U.S. units in Operation Nickel Grass to compensate for large losses during the Yom Kippur War.
The Skyhawk was the first U.S. warplane to be offered to the Israeli Air Force, marking the point where the U.S. took over from France as Israel's chief military supplier. A special version of the A-4 was developed for the IAF, the A-4H. This was an A-4E with improved avionics and an uprated J52-P-8A engine with more thrust from the A-4F that had replaced the Wright J65 in earlier Skyhawk variants. Armament consisted of twin DEFA 30 mm cannon in place of the rather unreliable Colt Mk.12 20 mm cannons. Later modifications included the avionics hump and an extended tailpipe, implemented in Israel by IAI to provide greater protection against heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles.


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

 
Deliveries began after the Six-Day War, and A-4s soon formed the backbone of the IAF's ground-attack force. In Heyl Ha'avir (Israels Air Force/IAF) service, the A-4 Skyhawk was named as the Ayit (Hebrew: עיט, for Eagle). A total of 90 A-4Hs were delivered and became the IAF's primary attack plane in the War of Attrition between 1968 and 1970. They cost only a quarter of a Phantom II and carried half of its payload, making them highly efficient attack aircraft, even though losses were high and a number of A-4Es were imported to fill the gaps.
In early 1973, the improved A-4N Skyhawk for Israel entered service, based on the A-4M models used by the U.S. Marine Corps, and it gradually replaced the simpler and less capable A-4Hs, which were still operated in 2nd line duties. Many of the A-4Hs and A-4Es were subsequently stored in reserve in flying condition, for modernization or for sale, and two countries made purchases from this overstock: Indonesia and Uruguay.

Due to the declining relationship between Indonesia and the Soviet Union, there was a lack of spare parts for military hardware supplied by the Communist Bloc. Soon, most of them were scrapped. The Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) acquired ex-Israeli A-4Es to replace its Il-28 Beagles and Tu-16 Badgers in a covert operation with Israel, since both countries did not maintain diplomatic relationships. A total of thirty-two A-4s served the Indonesian Air Force from 1982 until 2003.

Uruguay was the other IDF customer, even though a smaller one. The Uruguayan Air Force was originally created as part of the National Army of Uruguay but was established as a separate branch on December 4, 1953, becoming the youngest, and also the smallest branch of the Armed Forces of Uruguay.

Since the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, the Air Force was involved in the fight against the guerrilla activity that was present in the country, focusing against the MLN-T (Movimiento de Liberación Nacional – Tupamaros or Tupamaros – National Liberation Movement), that later triggered a participation in the country's politics.
On February 8, 1973, President Juan María Bordaberry tried to assert his authority over the Armed Forces by returning them to their normal duties and appointing a retired Army general, Antonio Francese, as the new Minister of National Defense. Initially, the Navy of Uruguay supported the appointment, but the National Army and Uruguayan Air Force commanders rejected it outright. On February 9 and 10, the Army and Air Force issued public proclamations and demanded his dismissal and changes in the country's political and economic system. Bordaberry then gave up to the pressure, and on February 12, at the Cap. Juan Manuel Boiso Lanza Air Base, Headquarters of the General Command of the Air Force, the National Security Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nacional) was created. The Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force was one of its permanent members, and the Armed Forces of Uruguay from now on were effectively in control of the country, with Bordaberry just participating in a self-coup.


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


During this period of time, the Air Force took control of the country's airdromes, some aircraft that were seized from the subversion, appointed some of its general officers to led the flag carrier PLUNA, reinforced the combat fleet with Cessna A-37B Dragonfly and FMA IA-58A Pucará attack aircraft in 1976 and 1981, modernized the transport aircraft with the purchase of five Embraer C-95 Bandeirante in 1975 and five CASA C-212 Aviocar and one Gates Learjet 35A in 1981, introduced to service two brand new Bell 212 helicopters, and achieved another milestone, with the first landing of a Uruguayan aircraft in Antarctica, on January 28, 1984, with a Fairchild-Hiller FH-227D.

Since the end of the military government, the Air Force returned to its normal tasks, and always acting under the command of the President and in agreement with the Minister of National Defense, without having entered the country's politics again, whose participation, in addition, has been forbidden in almost all activities for the Armed Forces. Towards the late Eighties, the Uruguayan Air Force underwent a fundamental modernization program: Between 1989 and 1999 a total number of 48 aircraft were acquired, including twelve Skyhawks (ten single seaters and two trainers), followed by three Lockheed C-130B Hercules in 1992, to carry out long-range strategic missions, six Pilatus PC-7U Turbo Trainers, also acquired in 1992 for advanced training (replacing the aging fleet of Beechcraft T-34 Mentors in Santa Bernardina, Durazno, that had been in service with the Air Force since 1977), two Beechcraft Baron 58 and ten Cessna U-206H Stationair in 1998 (with Uruguay becoming the first operator of this variant, used for transport, training and surveillance). Two Eurocopter AS365N2 Dauphin for search and rescue and transport followed, also in 1998, and 13 Aermacchi SF-260 in 1999, to fully replace the aging fleet of T-34 training aircraft and become the new basic trainer of the Uruguayan Air Force within the Military School of Aeronautics (Escuela Militar de Aeronáutica) in Pando, Canelones. Furthermore, on April 27, 1994, through Decree No. 177/994 of the Executive Power, a new Air Force Organization was approved, and the Tactical Regiments and Aviation Groups disappeared to become Air Squadrons, leading to the current structure of the Uruguayan Air Force.

The Skyhawks were procured as more capable complement and partial replacement for the FAU's Cessna A-37B Dragonfly and FMA IA-58A Pucará attack aircraft fleet. Being fast jets, however, they would also be tasked with limited airspace defense duties and supposed to escort and provide aerial cover for the other attack types in the FAU's inventory. The Skyhawks were all former IDF A-4H/TA-4Hs. They retained their characteristic tail pipe extensions against IR-guided missiles (primarily MANPADS) as well as the retrofitted avionics hump, but there were many less visible changes, too.


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


After several years in storage, a full refurbishment had taken place at Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). The single seaters' original Stewart-Warner AN/APG-53A navigation and fire control radar was retained, but some critical avionics were removed before export, e. g. the ability to carry and deploy AGM-45 Shrike anti-radar-missiles or the rather unreliable AGM-12 Bullpup, as well as the Skyhawk's LABS (toss-bombing capability) that made it a potential nuclear bomber. On the other side avionics and wirings to carry AIM-9B Sidewinder AAMs on the outer pair of underwing pylons were added, so that the FAU Skyhawks could engage into aerial combat with more than just their onboard guns.
The A-4Hs' 30 mm DEFA cannons were removed before delivery, too, even though their characteristic gondola fairings were retained. In Uruguay they were replaced with 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.804 autocannons, to create communality with the FAU's Pucará COIN/attack aircraft and simplify logistics. MER and TER units (Multiple/Triple Ejector Racks), leased from Argentina, boosted the Skyhawks' ordnance delivery capabilities. A Marconi ARL18223 360° radar warning receiver and a Litton LTN-211 GPS navigation system were introduced, too. Despite these many modifications the FAU's A-4Hs retained their designation and, unofficially, the former Israeli "Eagles" were aptly nicknamed "Águila" by their new crews and later by the public, too.

Upon introduction into service the machines received a disruptive NATO-style grey/green camouflage with off-white undersides, which they should retain for the rest of their lives – except for a single machine (648), which was painted in an experimental all-grey scheme. However, like the FAU Pucarás, which received grim looking but distinctive nose art during their career, the Skyhawks soon received similar decorations, representing the local 'Jabalí' (wild boars).

During the Nineties, the Uruguayan Skyhawks were frequently deployed together with Pucarás along the Brazilian border: Brazilian nationals were detected removing cattle from Uruguayan territory! Dissuasive missions were flown by the Pucarás departing from Rivera to Chuy in eastern Uruguay, covering a span of more than 200 nm (368 km) along the Uruguay/Brazil border, relaying the location of the offending persons to Uruguay's Army armored units on the ground to take dissuading action. The Skyhawks flew high altitude escorts and prevented intrusion of the Uruguayan airspace from Brazil, and they were frequently called in to identify and repel intruders with low-level flypasts.


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The Skyhawks furthermore frequently showed up around the Uruguayan city Masoller as a visible show of force in a longstanding border and territory dispute with Brazil, although this had not harmed close diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries. The disputed area is called Rincón de Artigas (Portuguese: Rincão de Artigas), and the dispute arose from the fact that the treaty that delimited the Brazil-Uruguay border in 1861 determined that the border in that area would be a creek called Arroyo de la Invernada (Portuguese: Arroio da Invernada), but the two countries disagree on which actual stream is the so-named one. Another disputed territory is a Brazilian island at the confluence of the Quaraí River and the Uruguay River. None of these involvements led to armed conflict, though.

The Uruguayan Skyhawk fired in anger only over their homeland during drugbusting raids and for interception of low performance, drug trafficking aircraft which were increasingly operating in the region. However, the slower IA 58 Pucará turned out to be the better-suited platform for this task, even though the Skyhawks more than once scared suspicious aircraft away or forced them to land, sometimes with the use of gunfire. At least one such drug transport aircraft was reputedly shot down over Uruguayan territory as its pilot did not reply or react and tried to escape over the border into safe airspace.


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


These duties lasted well into the Nineties, but Uruguay's small Skyhawk fleet was relatively expensive to operate so that maintenance and their operations, too, were dramatically cut back after 2000. The airframes' age also showed with dramatic effect: two A-4Hs were lost independently in 2001 and 2002 due to structural fatigue. Active duties were more and more cut back and relegated back to the A-37s and IA 58s. In October 2008, it was decided that the Uruguayan A-4 Skyhawk fleet would be withdrawn and replaced by more modern aircraft, able to perform equally well in the training role and, if required, close support and interdiction missions on the battlefield. The last flight of an FAU A-4 took place in September 2009.

This replacement program did not yield any fruits, though. In May 2013 eighteen refurbished Sukhoi Su-30 MKI multirole air superiority fighters were offered by the Russian Federation and Sukhoi in remarkably favorable condition that included credit facilities and an agreement branch for maintenance. These conditions were also offered for the Yak-130 Mitten. By December 2013 Uruguayan personnel had test flown this plane in Russia. In the meantime, a number of A-37B Dragonfly were purchased from the Ecuadorian Air Force in January 2014 to fill the FAU's operational gaps. Also, the Uruguayan and Swiss governments discussed a possible agreement for the purchase of ten Swiss Air Force Northrop F-5Es plus engines, spare parts and training, but no actual progress was made. The Uruguayan Air Force also used to show interest on the IA-58D Pucará Delta modernization program offered by Fábrica Argentina de Aviones, but more recently, among some of the possible aircraft that the Air Force was considering, there were the Hongdu JL-10 or the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master. But despite of how necessary a new attack aircraft is for the FAU, no procurements have been achieved yet.





General characteristics:
    Crew: 1
    Length: 40 ft 1.5 in (12.230 m)
    Wingspan: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
    Height: 15 ft 2 in (4.62 m)
    Wing area: 260 sq ft (24 m²)
    Airfoil: root: NACA 0008-1.1-25; tip: NACA 0005-.825-50
    Empty weight: 9,853 lb (4,469 kg)
    Gross weight: 16,216 lb (7,355 kg)
    Max takeoff weight: 24,500 lb (11,113 kg)

Powerplant:
    1× Pratt & Whitney J52-P-8A turbojet engine, 9,300 lbf (41 kN) thrust

Performance:
    Maximum speed: 585 kn (673 mph, 1,083 km/h) at sea level
    Range: 1,008 nmi (1,160 mi, 1,867 km)
    Ferry range: 2,194 nmi (2,525 mi, 4,063 km)
    g limits: +8/-3
    Rate of climb: 5,750 ft/min (29.2 m/s)
    Wing loading: 62.4 lb/sq ft (305 kg/m²)
    Thrust/weight: 0.526

Armament:
    2× 20 mm (0.79 in) Hispano-Suiza HS.804 autocannon with 100 RPG
    5× hardpoints with a total capacity of 8,500 lb (3,900 kg)


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Douglas/IAI A-4H 'Skyhawk/Águila'; aircraft '643' of the Brigada Aerea I, Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguayan Air Force); Carrasco International Airport/Montevideo, 1993 (What-if/Italeri kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


I like the grey-green Skyhawk a lot – it's not spectacular and looks very down-to-earth (except for the nose art, maybe), but it's very believable. The NATO style livery is rather unusual for the A-4, it was AFAIK not carried by any real in-service Skyhawk, but it suits the aircraft well.

[NARSES2]

That's come out really, really well Dizzy. Certainly suits the nose art   

[DogfighterZen]

What a beauty... Love the warthog nose art!  

[SPINNERS]

I'm sure I speak for many that the effort you put into your 'in action' piccies is greatly appreciated.

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you very much! 

In this case, esp. the flight scenes but also some air port backgorunds are actually from Uruguay/Montevideo, so that the model is presented in its "natural habitat". Just the colors did not turn out well, though...

[Old Wombat]

I like it!  



But, I have to say that the nose art (wart hog nose art from an A-10, I think) makes her look like an angry ferret with overgrown lower canines (contrary to the obvious dental overbite issue).