1/48 CVW-5 NAS Atsugi   Part 1

by Darren Roberts

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   When I got my copy of The Hook magazine and began thumbing through it, I came across a two page photo spread of the CAG aircraft assigned to Carrier Airwing (CVW) 5 based at NAS Atsugi, in Japan. They were celebrating their 25th Anniversary and had painted the CAG aircraft in special markings. Always known for colorful tails, the corrosion control workers outdid themselves. I had always wanted to do a complete airwing, and this was about as colorful as you could get. So, I started sifting through the decal manufacturers to how many of the markings were available. To my surprise, the only ones that I couldn’t get were for the E-2C and the SH-60, but thanks to Mike Grant, I was able to come up with those. This is the first half of the six planes I’m going to complete for the airwing. I’ve decided to do only one F-18 squadron to represent that type. Maybe later I’ll finish the other two F-18 squadrons.

   First up is the Collect Aire 1/48 scale E-2C Hawkeye. This is a resin kit that is of average quality. However, it’s the only 1/48 E-2C around, so I worked with it. There were many, many tiny airbubbles pocking the surface of the kit, especially the wings and dome. I filled in as many as I could with Mr. Surfacer before I felt I would lose my sanity. The fit of the wings was atrocious, with one wing angling up while the other angled down. I used styrene shims superglued in place to get everything to line up. Then came the engine nacelles. They were bigger than the placement areas on the wings. I solved this problem by grinding down the inside mating surfaces of each nacelle. This narrowed the nacelle to fit the mounting area on the wing, but it also made some of the inlets an oval shape. I’ll correct this later by putting on FOD covers.

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     The cockpit was surprisingly well done, even though you can’t see most of it when the canopy is put on. I’ll also say that the engineering of the clear vac canopy was well thought out. Instead of having the it end right where the clear parts stop, CA extended the vac canopy to include part of the fuselage, so you don’t run the risk of messing up any of the clear portions when installing the piece. When construction was complete, I sprayed a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000, then a coat of Boyd’s White Primer. After this came a coat of MM Acryl Lt. Gull Gray, while the tail was sprayed black. The decals were done by the excellent Mike Grant, and are for the VAW-115 Liberty Bells. I especially like the torch and lightning bolts on top of the dome. Weathering was done with a .005 black ink Micron drafting pen. The wheels were completely useless in this kit, so I swapped them out for a spare pair of Monogram 1/48 F-14 Tomcat wheels. An even better choice, had I had them, would have been a set of wheels from a Revell 1/48 A-6 Intruder or Prowler.

    Next up is the Revell/Monogram 1/48 scale F-18 Hornet. I scribed the panel lines using a Tri-Tool scriber for the straight lines and a sewing needle chucked in a pin vice for the access panels. I added Cutting Edge dropped slats and flaps, a Black Box cockpit, and spare set of Hasegawa vertical stabs and landing gear. Markings are for VFA-192 Golden Dragons by Eagle Strike.

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    Finally is the Revell/Monogram EA-6B Prowler. 

    This got the complete works, including Seamless Suckers intakes, Black Box cockpit, Cutting Edge correction and wingfold sets, and rescribing of the panel lines. Markings are for VAQ-136 Gauntlets by CAM.

Darren

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Photos and text © by Darren Roberts