Matchbox 1/72 Douglas A-4M Skyhawk

MATCHBOX 1:72 DOUGLAS A-4M SKYHAWK

Reviewer: Carlos Giani (carlos_giani2002@yahoo.de)
Kit Review submitted: 23 June 2008

Kit Details:

Matchbox 1/72^nd scale Douglas A-4M (Kit N° 40029 ). Produced in Germany by Revell

Aircraft History:

During the Korean War, the Douglas A-1 Skyrider proved to be very successful, but the U.S. Navy realized that it would need a faster aircraft to replace them. Although jet aircraft were becoming more complex and heavier, the Douglas engineering team headed by Edward H. Heinemann submitted a design which exceeded the Navy requirements but weighted less than half the 30.000 pounds specified. This was achieved by keeping everything as simple as possible, and the small span meant that complicated folding mechanisms were avoided.

A contract was placed in June 1952 for two prototypes and ten pre-production aircraft as the XA4D-1. The first flight was on 22^nd June 1954, only 4 weeks after the scheduled date, the aircraft being an immediate success. A continuous development program resulted in a number of variants including two-seat trainers. By the spring of 1970, 2400 aircraft had been produced.

The Kit:

One sprue in grey plastic with 22 parts, a second sprue in white plastic with 21 parts, a clear canopy and a small decals sheet is what you get inside a sturdy, end-opening typical Matchbox “just the right size” box. No bag, but no possibility for the sprues to move around. Surface detail is a combination of heavy (but not “trench-like”) recessed and finely raised lines. No flash to speak of, good injection quality.

Instructions:

Old Matchbox stuff : a longish sheet of paper folded twice with 10 clear construction steps on one side; brief history in 5 languages, color table with codes for Revell paints and “mini paint plan” (I love it!) on the other side. Camouflage and decaling guide is on the reverse of the box.

Construction:

As you would expect from a Matchbox kit, the cockpit is very sparse and basic, so much so that I replaced the L-shaped seat with aeroclub´s EJ012 Escapac. I also used a couple of styrene sheet pieces to blank things off a bit, and for a rudimentary instruments panel; most of it won’t be seen through the canopy. I added some weight inside the nose section and then glued the fuselage halves together. Next I added the air intakes, the nose cone and the tail pipe; some filling and sanding was needed all around, to get smooth joins (I didn´t check out enough the intakes areas, and after painting some defects were revealed here).

Each wing consists of two halves, which went together rather well, although at the roots more filling and sanding was necessary. The stabilizers were a good fit, and I also added the pylons at this stage (one per wing), requiring only minimal trimming to affix well. The last step before painting was to add the canopy (good fit) and the refueling probe, and to mask where necessary.

Since this is a two-tone kit (later releases of Matchbox kits by Revell are fortunately in all-grey-plastic), I first coated the whole model with some grey, and later needed two layers of Humbrol H22 white gloss to get a dense color on the lower surfaces (next mistake: the paint was too old and yellowed). After more masking was done, I wanted to paint the upper surfaces with Humbrol H40, only to find out that my can had dried out. It was about 6:00 pm, no chance to get a new can,… so that I used Humbrol H129, which looks too light for me. After one day of drying, I applied the (few) decals, which performed superb and without silvering. Everything was sealed in with clear satin.

For the landing gear I used Aeroclub´s set V160, which looks really great when painted and installed, but (third big mistake) I glued the main wheel wells doors the wrong way around (they should be hinged outwards); I only noticed that after I took a look at the photos of Michael Johnson’s beautiful kit. I also would recommend to thin the doors down by rubbing them onto sanding paper, since they are absurdly thick. The painful lesson: don’t be too comfortable and not read the instructions, even if the kit is “too simple to get something wrong”.

All in all, a quick, enjoyable build which could have looked better if I would have had more care. Despite the mistakes made; I like the kit.

Colour Schemes:

1) VMA-324 MCAS Beaufort ; McChord Air Force base ; South Carolina; upper light grey over lower white.

2) VMA-331; MCAS Beaufort; 1973; same colors as above

Decals:

A small sheet produced for Revell in Italy, containing basic but beautiful decals. They performed superb!

Overall:

I can only agree with Michael Johnson when he states: "What a great little kit! The Matchbox A-4M Skyhawk is not the most detailed Scooter available but is an excellent build between more complex projects, building up into a fine replica with little fuss." Recommended as pure fun!

References:

Some photos on the Web.

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