1/72 Fujimi A-4M

by Sean Carter

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Here's my recently completed Fujimi A-4M.  A very nice little kit.  Parts fit was all very good, lots of finely engraved detail, and a reasonably good cockpit for what you can see of it.  The finished model is not 100% accurate, for a couple of reasons.  My only complaint with this kit is that lots of the little bits (antennas, probes, etc.) were attached very delicately and would snap off from a stiff breeze.  I might add these back in later if I'm really motivated.  This goes double for the arrestor hook, which was so thin it had snapped in the parts bag.  I craftily - and lazily - replaced it with a finishing nail that was ground down with the Dremel.  I also cheated on the decals a bit since the kit didn't supply you with two halves of the stars and stripes to use if you open the air brakes (only the bottom half for the brake - kind of odd).  So I just moved the entire uncut decal forward.  Shame on me, I know.

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I also took a bit of creative liberty by not painting the leading edge of the intake it's normal red color, just because I didn't like it.  The model was finished with various Model Master enamels and acrylics and sealed with flat lacquer.  The kit decals were actually very well done and easy to work with.  A little thick, but they laid down flat and only silvered a little bit on the red portion of the tail.  I touched this up with more paint after they were applied.  The panel lines were a combination of sludge wash and pencil to fill in the gaps.

Sean

Photos and text © by Sean Carter