The splitter plates on the EA-6A is usually in red but photos show various ways these were painted. I went with the red slighly going into the intake.
However, with the intakes assembled these don’t look right to me. After faffing around a bit I would decide later on to simplify the areas that were red.
I spent some time to fair the intakes. Unfortunately the panel lining was quite fine in this area so I lost some of them. These were redone with a best estimate approach. Note that I added some details with 0.18mm plastic plate on the instrument shroud. I don’t believe it’s accurate: it’s just to busy the area up.
There are lots of fine panel lines on the bottom that require preseving.
I usually use a silver or gray to check for gaps but had some black in my airbrush cup so I just went ahead with using that color instead.
After checking photos the nose-to-fuselage join line needs to be elimitated. Fujimi really should have followed the panel lines here.
The electric Intruder is finally taking shape!
Luckily most of the fit problems mostly show up on the bottom.
I added a HUD for the pilot using plastic plate, a disk of Aurora film and a small piece of clear acetate.
The canopy required some shimming to fit flush.
Another oddity from Fujimi is that the prominent refueling probe attaches via a butt join. Fujimi really should have designed it to fit into a recessed slot at least. I added a pin to help with strength.
I had to guess the angle the probe fit based on photos. But fitted that way there was a gap at the join. Odd.
Changing the way I’ve always done things i actually fitted the canopy first to the kit before I masked it. Note that I had also attached the pylons.
I also attached the tailhook at this point. I believe Fujimi missed out some sensor bumps unique to the bottom of the EA-6A but I only have text references for these so I decided not to add them.
Build Log
Pt.1 – Construction | Pt.2 – Construction | Pt.3 – Painting & Finishing
