MBI Mar. 2015 Vol. 1 Issue 1

March 2015 Vol. 1 Issue 1

PROWLER EA-6B

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Firstly, welcome to the March edition of Model Builder International. As I sit at my desk and look outside I see the winter snow is starting to melt, at least here in the interior of British Columbia anyways. As the snow melts and the days get longer I start to think about what the coming year will hold.

For Model Builder International this will be our third magazine in as many months and you might be wondering what we have planned for you?

In the rest of 2015 we will continue to be publishing magazines and honing our skills and expertise in this area until we have something that we hope you'll agree, is as good as anything out there, and in time, perhaps even better! We are starting off with free issues while we develop our format and hope that you will give us some feedback on what you want to see.

Eventually we will charge a nominal fee to cover some of the costs of maintaining the website at www.modelbuilderinternational.com and building the magazine. Various people are also giving us articles for publication at no cost, and we hope the nominal fee will also allow us to start paying back those same people and rewarding those who helped us through the birthing process!

If you feel you want to test out your building, photography and writing skills on our free editions, please contact us at the email address at the bottom of this editorial. We’re always on the look out for people with great building skills who want to share their knowledge. Or if your building skills are like Kenny’s and mine, people with a sense of humour who can help us all learn from their mistakes and have some fun along the way are always welcome.

For the free editions we can’t pay you I’m afraid, or ourselves for that matter, but getting in at the beginning of a new enterprise and becoming part of the team will benefit us all in the long run.

To finish I’d just like to paraphrase an old saying “ If you like what you see, tell your friends, if you see room for improvement, let us know...and tell your friends anyways!”

Paul Tosney Asst Editor

1:48 Scale EA-6B Prowler By Florent Welter

Editor Associate Editor

Kenny Conklin Paul Tosney

Web Design

Tom Conkln

Contributors

Florent Welter

Published By Hobby Link International Inc. 36-11 31ST Avenue Astoria NY 11106 Suite 2H © 2015 Hobby Link International Inc. This publication or the contents herein may not be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of the publisher.

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ea-6b prowler Florent Welter

The EA-6B Prowler has a primary mission to suppress enemy air defenses in support of allied strike aircraft and ground troops.

The Prowler achieves its mission objectives by interrupting the enemy’s electronic activity and obtaining tactical electronic intelligence within the combat zone.

The EA-6B Prowler is a long-range, all-weather aircraft with advanced electronic countermeasures capability. The aircraft is manufactured by the Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation. It is a twin-engine, mid-wing configured aircraft that has a side by-side cockpit arrangement. The electronics on board the EA-6B include the following; ALQ-218

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receiver system, the ALQ-99 pod mounted tactical jamming system, the USQ-113 communications jamming system, and the AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM). The Improved Capability (ICAP) III upgrades the on board receiving system. The system provides an accurate threat emitter geo-location and selective reactive jamming capability against modern threat systems.Also, the Multi-functional Information Distribution System (MIDS) gives a greater situational awareness to the crew of the Prowler. The Navy plans to complete its transition to the EA-18G Growler in 2015. And, the Marine Corps plans to fly the aircraft until its removal from service in 2019.

The Kinetic offering of the EA-6B prowler is a tremendous upgrade from kits of the past. The last kit of the Prowler dates back to the 1980’s. Those kits were produced by Monogram and then reproduced by Revell. Unfortunately, those kits have become old and outdated compared to today’s modeling standards. With this newer kit by Kinetic more detail has been added such as hinged wings on the aircraft. With the older kits you were unable to display your kit this way and only had one option and that was with the wings in flight position. If you wanted to recreate the look of a Prowler with its wings folded you would need to purchase an aftermarket set. And, from there you would have to cut the wings and add the necessary detail.

One of the downfalls of this kit is the lack of a detailed cockpit. This will be enhanced by using aftermarket parts. Also, the wheels of the kit will be replaced with resin wheels by Royale Resin. I would say the biggest weak point of the kit is the air intakes and the fit of the parts.

I used various aftermarket sets to enhance the look and feel of my build. Eventhough the Kinetic kit is a nice representation of the actual Prowler the aftermarket sets bring the whole model together.

The aftermarket set from Wolfpack includes: EA-6B Prolwer ICAP II/III Update set for Revell in 1:48 scale ALQ-99 Jamming pods (Low and High band) Correct shape tail fairing GPS & Various antennas Etched part included Total 42 resin parts and 1 etched part The set can be found at www.wolfpack-d.com

I chose Royale Resins aftermarket weighted wheels for my build. This set includes four treaded and subtly weighted wheels for late A-6 Intruders and EA-6B Prowlers. The set can be found at www.royaleresin.net

And, finally for the FOD plugs I used aftermarket parts from Steel Beach Accessories. The kit is the 1:48 Steel Beach Accessories A-6 Intruder EA-6 Prowler FOD Plugs kit #48071. This kit can be found at www.steel-beach.com

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You can easily see between the two instrumentation panels which one will bring life to your build.

The Kinetic piece is flat and not easily readable. Where as the Aires Hobby aftermarket set just jumps right out at you and makes you feel a sense of realism. For many of us just building a kit is fun and relaing. But, if you are looking for truly realistic feel to your builds you may want to invest in aftermarket pieces. The cleanup of the Aires kit was not hard and came out very nice after removing the pour stubs.

Above: The Kinetic instumentation panel

Below: The Aires Hobby aftermarket cockpit for the Prowler.

The cockpit goes from a plain piece of resin to an accurate representation of the actual Prowler Office.

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One of the first assemblies of an aircraft model is usually the cockpit. Because, of the lack of detail on the kit part I replaced it with the aftermarket set from Aires Hobby models. The Aires detail brings the kit to life with outstanding casting of the instrumentation panel and seats.

The overall painting of the cockpit is light gray.

Then I painted all of the instrumentation panels in flat black. The display units were then painted in gloss black to give the illusion of glass. Adding, dry brushing with white was done to enhance the look of the interior. The switches and buttons where also dry brushed and painted for higher visability.

The next step in my process was to start building the fuselage halves. Unfortunately, I had made a mistake and omitted two parts of the kit. Parts G17 and G18 these parts represent the turbines of the intake. Missing these parts left a small gap inbetween the existing parts and no detail in the intake itself. I filled the small gap using sheet styrene and sanded the part into shape.

I had to correct the problem of the missing detail of the intake. I searched the internet for aftermarket parts for the Kinetic kit and found a suitable answer to the problem. Instead of trying to scratch build a new turbine for the intake I would close them off using FOD Plugs. The kit is manufactured by Steel Beach Accessories and is made to fit all EA-6B kits. I lucked out on this one and I could move further along on the build without worry.

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If you decide to make the wings in the folded position as I did working on the engines should be your first priority. There are some gaps that will have to be taken care of and also added detail to the engine can be done now.

The gaps on some of the parts are lager than expected and need some work. In the engine portion I used sheet styrene for added detail.

Some builders use copper tubing but, I feel I can get better results and a more natural look by using the styrene and sanding to shape for the desired affect I am looking for.

The next portion of the plane I worked on was fitting the cockpit into the fuselage halves. Once you have the halves together and place the nose cone you will not have the perfect panel line anymore. I rescribed the panel line to 1.5 mm and once primed and painted it looks like the original panel line. To add satbility to the plane I weighted the nose with 10 grams of lead.

Once the cockpit is in place, the fuselage halves and nose cone are secured you will be left with a significant gap. As you can see in the photo’s this cannot be hidden easily. I rectified this problem by using styrene again to fill in th gap. Once filled in it was sanded and smoothed to shape to match the body of the aircraft. It is a problem with the kit but not a major factor to disregard this kit as poorly crafted.

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I used the Wolfpack resin detail set (kit 48081) for my build. The kit is actually made for the Monogram model but works perfectly for the Kinetic kit also.

The kit inclused all of the antennas, ALQ-99 and also a new pod for the tail of the aircraft. I did not use the Wolfpack pod for the tail of the Prowler. I felt the kit part was more detailed and more accurate than the aftermarket part I could have used.

Once you have all of the added detail on the fuselage you can begin to attach the wings. Once the wings are attached and firmly in place you will notice a gap down the whole plane on both sides. Both of the gaps can easily be corrected with either putty or sheet styrene.

As, you can see in the bottom photo I decided to go the sheet styrene route once again. Filling in the gap with small strips until it is a little above the wing line. After this process you can begin to sand down the styrene carefully until you have a level surface. If you have pits or small depressions you can again either putty in these spots or add styrene as needed.

At, the beginning I had bought aftermarket metal landing gear. But, after I received them I realized that they were very poorly cast. The parts that come with the Kinetic kit were a better part to use. Yes, they lacked detail but, they were a better option. From the metal aftermarket part I utilized only three parts.

Once the parts were assembled I started to detail them. I used copper wire for the tubing on the landing gear and, the brake assembly was scratchbuilt. I referenced “Detail & Scale 46� to go about the process of making these parts for my kit.

Once, I had finished building the landing gear it was time for painting. I began painting them all in black, then adding a layer of matt Navy White and finishing off with a black wash. I used bare metal on certain locations to add a little brightness to the parts.

The wheels are from Royal Resin and they are always a beautiful aftermarket part. Painting of the wheels undergo the same treatment. And, once these parts are done I can finally move onto painting the Prowler itself.

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I decided I was going to build my Prowler to represent the VAQ-136. The fighter wing is based in Japan, I particularly like this base because, of the many very colorful aircraft markings. All, of the planes I have seen from the base have Japanese style graphics and stand out to me.

The Prowler has the typical camouflage pattern of the U.S. Navy in a 3 tone gray scheme. The initial painting of the belly and nose are done in Light Ghost Gray (FS36375). Moving onto the top of the aircraft, I painted sections using Dark Ghost Gray (FS36320). The top of the tail and from the nose to the back of the cockpit were painted in English Gray (FS35237). I use parafilm to make the camouflage patterns on the aircraft. With time and practice you can obtaiin a very clean and realistic look to your model.

Masking off the aircraft and beginning to paint the 3 color camouflage pattern.

The wings painted and decaled ready to attach to the Prowler.

Masking off detailed areas for painting the camouflage.

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Using a stencil set to mask off for the upcoming painting of the camouflage. At this point you need to becareful not to break off the antennas already afixed to the model.

Once painting is done and the masked are removed you will see why it is worth the effort.

The intakes were painted blue to match the decals. The blue for the intakes was hand mixed to match. The decals were varnished to make them look like they were painted on.

The glass provided with the kit comes in two parts for each canopy. The canopy glass is very fragile and should be handled carefully. First, I dipped the canopies in KLIR to remove any visible scrathces or marks on them. Then they are painted with a mixture of 70% clear orange, 10% smoke and 20% alcohol. This represented the look of the canopy actually found on the Prowler.

The resin ALQ-99 pods were used instead of the kit supplied ones. I decided to use these because they were the correct shape and size compared to the origianl pieces. The pods were painted in FS36320 and the FS36375.

The tail was one of my favorite parts of the plane to paint because of its design. I actually painted the tail because, the decals would not set and were too small for the plane. The most important part of the painting was to find a suitable red. After, a long search I finally decided on Italian Red P085 from Prince August.

The tail of the plane was initially masked off at the front and back ends. The two antennas were also masked using very fine sizes of masking. The first pass of paint was matt white as a base coat. After, the base coat had dried the bands are masked off next. I used the decals as a guide and cut masks to the right size. Once, masking was achieved to my liking it was time for a coat of red to finish the job.

After, all of the paint has dried it is time to remove the masking. The pattern had come out as planned but, the black bands had to be added for more detail. I achieved this with the left over decals. I cut them to size and added them accordiingly to the tail of the plane. With the decals being set it was time to add a coat of varnish to seal the whole piece together.

The final results are much better than what you would have with the kit decals. The final step to the process was to coat the tall with Tamiya Flat to knock down the shine of the original varnish.

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After, the application of the rest of the decals the plane was sealed with Tamiya Flat. I then let the plane dry for over 24 hours to make sure everything was cured. At, this point I could start to weather and apply wahses to her. I used Dark Wash from MIG Productions as my all around wash. I started with the underside of the plane before heading to the overall kit.

The MIG wash is very easy to use and can still be removed after a 24 hour dry time. Once, I was done with the bottom of the plane and its attachments I began to wash the rest of the plane. Starting with the engraved panel lines letting the wash flow using capillary action. I let the wash dry for about 30 minutes and then used a cotton swab with white spirits to remove any excess wash left in areas I didn’t want it to be.

With the washes complete I began to detail certain panels on the aircraft making some darker and some lighter. Make sure you always go with the pattern of airflow around the aircraft. Otherwise your weathering will not look right.

And, for the last touch I added “Remove Before Flight” photoetch from Eduard. And, thus this completed my build of the EA-6B Prowler!

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