A-4P Skyhawk, Fuerza Aérea Argentina, Falklands War, 1982.
This model was completed in January 2021 as part of our local Club‘s “Build the same kit” group build — our subject being the Airfix 1/72 scale A-4C/P Skyhawk, kit number A03029.
The Subject
The A4D / A-4 family of light attack and training aircraft began service with the US Navy in 1956, with Argentina being the first foreign customer beginning in 1966, receiving 25 refurbished ex-USN A-4B that year and another 25 in 1970. in 1982 during the Falklands War with Great Britain, 26 A-4P (as the refurbished A-4B’s were designated) participated and 10 were lost in combat operations. They are credited with sinking HMS Coventry, HMS Ardent, HMS Antelope, and RFA Sir Galahad. Additionally other ships were damaged.
This Skyhawk represents one of the aircraft used in those attacks.
The Model
This is the first release of the then (2012) new tooling A-4B Skyhawk kit in 1/72.
I purchased this kit while at Scale Model World, Telford, UK along with the Freightdog upgrade set that provides for more accurate weapons as used on these FAA Skyhawks.
Building the Skyhawk was straightforward. I followed the instructions and had no issues, except with the canopy. Ultimately I chose to post the canopy closed as it fit better. I did add a little weight in the nose, the instructions called for 5 grams, but I add a bit more than that just to be sure. I followed the Freightdog instructions closely to ensure I removed the right bits and installed the correct ones. I chose the variant with the 1,000 lb bomb as it looked different — Most A-4 kits have the TER with multiple smaller bombs.
After quite a bit of angst was spent on figuring out the correct colors, I chose Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown and XF-61 Dark Green for the upper surfaces and XF-23 Light Blue for the lower. In retrospect, all of these are bit darker than I’d prefer, but at the time they appeared to look similar to photos on line.
Decals went on with no trouble.
Summary
This was a fairly easy build, made more so by the option of extended slats. I do have another of these Airfix kits awaiting an opportunity, but that one will get a US Navy livery.
