Tamiya Douglas A-1J Skyraider USAF 1:48 – build review

Feature Article by Julian Shawyer

Intro from Geoff

I’m very pleased to be able to bring you this feature article from Julian S of the classic Tamiya Douglas A-1J Skyraider in 1:48 scale. Here’s a photo of Julian’s completed model and what follows is Julian’s story of the full build. You’ll see his approach at every stage and some of that is very interesting (if not brave J!) but I’ll leave him to explain all. Thanks Julian for a great scale modelling project.

Background

The Skyraider was used extensively in US air operations during the Vietnam War. The principal missions of the aircraft was the destruction of ground targets in support of ground forces, or close air support. It was also effective in providing cover for combat rescue operations, or search and rescue (SAR) missions. SAR missions were some of the most dangerous operations flown in the Southeast Asia conflict. The call sign for Skyraiders during such a mission was Sandy. These were also known as “Sandy” missions.

Rescue Helicopters were escorted by Skyraiders because of their long endurance, heavy payload, and the ability to stay with the slower helicopters. The Skyraiders payload was equivalent to a World War 11 B-17. Armament consisted of four 20mm wing cannons, a centreline hard point, and 14 wing mounted pylons which could carry various combinations of bombs, rockets, mines, gun pods and napalm. For long range missions the aircraft could be equipped with external auxiliary fuel tanks.

To highlight the six millionth pound of ordnance dropped during the Vietnam War, a US Navy Skyraider dropped a ceramic toilet bowl on an enemy target with its other ordnance during 1965.

The kit

Go to any model show and you will always see lots of examples of kits that are of excellent quality, easy to build, and look the part when finished; the Tamiya Skyraider falls into that category.

The A-1H US Navy version was released in 1998, followed by the A-1J USAF version in 2000.
With typical Tamiya mouldings and fit of parts, it’s a pleasure to build straight from the box. The Tamiya A-1J has a good array of weapons to choose from, including, bombs, rocket pods & tubes, and gun pods. When completed, it builds into a fair sized model of 248mm in length, with a wingspan of 317mm. The only addition I normally add are seat harnesses.

However, for this build I intend to use an Eduard zoom set and a Quickboost canopy actuator cover. I also have a set of Iliad design decals for Special op Skyraiders with five aircraft to choose from.

On with the build…