AMT/ERTL Douglas A-20J Havoc

Well with the Jug now done and two weeks to go to the start of the Tank Terror GB, I need to keep busy so i've broken this one out.....

"... need to keep busy..."

?

I can't get a 17 piece 109 done in a month and YOU need to keep BUSY?

Eh... I see what you mean. But maybe slow down for the sake of some of us with thick blood.


Ken

HaHa, so where are the pics of the 109 - had a look all over and could'nt find ém eh??

I am looking forward to seeing this A-20

Got some done...



...and then some more....

All the main assemblies are ready - just need to finish the upper turret....

There is a huge, ugly empty space ahead of the landing gear in the engine nacelle so I had to create a simple fire wall to hide it....



and I started to add some detail to wing section of the nacelle. The existing holes place the gear too far aft and need to be moved forward by 6mm (learnt this from another website today...

I'm not a rivet counter or a stickler for factual detail but sometimes you do need to go the extra mile on these older kits. The Bombardier's station is very spartan and really does need "something" to jazz it up. I added some ribbing and other bits. I can't seem to find any detailed photos of this section so it's pure artistic license. Not tons but enough, i'll add a couple of wire looms and then the bomb site and that it.



The engine cowling has 9 exhaust fairings each unfortunately these are molded blobs so they need to each be opened - 18 of them!!





A lot of effort but it makes a lot of difference...



The engine nacelles also get a bit of a face lift from the Eduard set...

BEFORE....


AFTER......


Another piece that I don't usually bugger around with is the engine itself. Most times some good, creative paint work will do the trick but in this case there is just not enough detail and the problem is how far to go and when is enough, enough.

This is the kit engine fully built....


As you can see it really is just too little. I test fitted it in the nacelle and it remains pretty prominent so I have decided i will spend a wee bit of effort here. The first step is to add some wiring. Just to explain for detail Police, the spark plug connectors originate from the ring around the crank case but this is too small so I drilled the holes for these from behind the ring....28 of them per engine!!



....and another 7 per engine for each cylinder and 14 more per engine for the inter-ear drain tubes, that's a total of 96 holes.

Besides showing us OUTSTANDING scratchbuilding and detailing, (truly impressive, Geoff), you have given us all a bonus:

Up close detail of your fingerprints.

I can finally make those fingertip molds and begin my crime spree. Don't worry, you'll probably only spend 3 to 5 in a medium security prison over here, I'm not looking to commit major felonies.

Wishing you continued success with the A-20.


Ken

HAHAHA Cheers Ken, just watch before you use those prints you may get locked away before you have a chance to do anything!

Best I could find for bomb aimer area...and not exactly great detail, sorry.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lQXudDORKIU/VAy2FfsVqgI/AAAAAAAAM7Y/1pfs-FPn1hw/s1600/A-20-Boston0146-03-2-8.jpg

Some very interesting A-20 photos here as you go further down the page, lots of pics so it takes time to load.

PLEASE NOTE: after posting this link, I went all the way down to the bottom of the page and there is a very unsavory/sad graphic photo of the victims of the recent "Boston Bomb", so to avoid it you can stop scrolling down as soon as you get to the modern colour city map. There is no further aircraft or Douglas boston info after that.

http://szextant.blogspot.no/2014/09/130-douglas-20-havoc-boston-medium.html

Ohhh, very cool, greg.

Kinda makes me think a medium bomber GB would be a cool idea for next year...


Ken

Got some primer on a few bits....



Like the idea of a medium bomber build - got a Accurate Miniatures B25 waiting in the wings....

Wowsers!!

That is looking good!

Nice going Geoff!

how far to go and when is enough, enough. - ah yes the question!

The answer - How much can you actually see !

Got some good building time in over the weekend and got the fuselage buttoned up and some other bits done....

That does look so good Geoff, the top turret is super

Thanks Guys, well quite a bit of progress (couple of ups and downs too) but we are almost ready to throw some colour at this sucker.....





Just got to finish the engines and nacelles then on to the paintwork. Got the first engine almost done....

Got the nacelles on and almost completed blending them in with the wings - just a little more work to do as there were some quite a significant gaps as well as a step on top were they join the wing. Next up to finish the engines and attach them, then it's pretty much time to lay on some colour....

Paint time is good times!

What you got strung over the tail Geoff?

Hi Phil - antenna wire, I have a thing about installing them as I glue up the fuselage halves, makes for a neat, perfect attachment.