A-4F Skyhawk "Lady Jessie"

[Mike]

A-4F Skyhawk "Lady Jessie"

1:144 Platz

The A-4 Skyhawk was developed by Douglas as a replacement to the highly successful Skyraider, bypassing the original intended replacement, the turbo-prop powered Skyshark. It was designed with simplicity in mind, which it achieved, going on to serve with many countries and in many theatres, including Vietnam and the Falklands.

The kit arrives in a tiny end-opening box, and you will find enough sprues inside to complete two full airframes, complete with decals. There are six sprues of medium grey styrene, two sprues of clear parts and a single busy decal sheet inside, plus a small instruction and painting sheet.

The fuselage is incredibly well detailed for the scale, including engraved panel lines and rivet detail, none of which looks overscale. Intakes are separate parts, and the wing builds up from two full-span parts that slot into an opening under the fuselage, with the cruciform horizontal tail securing into its own pair of slots, so construction should be straight-forward enough.

The cockpit comprises of a one piece ejector seat, and here lies the only let-down of the kit - there is no instrument panel or other detail at all. On such a well detailed kit, this omission really stands out. The canopy is a single piece unit, but is thin and optically clear, so the instrument panel would be visible if it were present.

The landing gear wells are both built into the lower wing half, and although there is little detail within, the main gear legs have separate wheels, and all parts are exceptionally well detailed. The gear bay doors are also tiny works of art, being detailed inside and out, and they should look great under a wash to bring out the detail.

No weapons are included in the kit, but two drop tanks with moulded in pylons are supplied, which were usually carried as a matter of course. An interesting fact that I didn't know was that the tanks were also designed to act as skids in the event of a hydraulic failure preventing the landing gear from being lowered. Apparently, the resulting damage to the nose would take very little time to repair, but I would imagine that the hydraulic damage and the soiling of the cockpit would ground the aircraft a little longer!

Three further pylons are included with the kit - one for the centreline, and two for the outer wing stations. The wingtip mounted guns, the long refuelling probe and the exhaust completes the part listing.

As mentioned earlier, you can build and decal two full models from the box, and the decals allow you to build two of the following:

• Lady Jessie Bu 155022 VA-164 Ghost Riders USS Hancock 1969
  
• Lady Jessie Bu 155018 VA-164 Ghost Riders USS Hancock 1972
  
• Bu 155022 VA-153 Blue Tail Flies USS Coral Sea 1969
  

The decals are crisp and clear, with excellent color fidelity and sharp details. An additional four decals are supplied to detail the main gear bays within the wing, with rib detail and wiring portrayed by suitably colored lines.

Conclusion

This has to be the best 1:144 military aircraft kit I have come across, although I don't profess to be an expert on the scale. Detail is amazing, and would put many 1:72 and 1:48 kits to shame, with exception of the missing instrument panel.

Two kits in the box sweetens the deal nicely, and the resulting models should be well worth the small amount of display space they take up.

Review samples courtesy of Platz Hobby.

[Giorgio N]

Every time I se a new 1/144kit from Platz I'm surprised ! Look at the tiny panels on top of the wing, considering how small a 1/144 Skyhawk is, the paneling is extremely fine. They're not cheap kits, but I believe the qualty these kits have is worth that price.

[mumbles]

The cockpit comprises of a one piece ejector seat, and here lies the only let-down of the kit - there is no instrument panel or other detail at all. On such a well detailed kit, this omission really stands out. The canopy is a single piece unit, but is thin and optically clear, so the instrument panel would be visible if it were present.

No weapons are included in the kit, but two drop tanks with moulded in pylons are supplied, which were usually carried as a matter of course. An interesting fact that I didn't know was that the tanks were also designed to act as skids in the event of a hydraulic failure preventing the landing gear from being lowered. Apparently, the resulting damage to the nose would take very little time to repair, but I would imagine that the hydraulic damage and the soiling of the cockpit would ground the aircraft a little longer!

I wouldn't be too harsh on Platz for not including an instrument panel. With the canopy closed it is barely visible even in 1/72, and in 1/144 it will be teeny tiny and even less visible (maybe 3mm across). It is more of a pity to me that the slats weren't moulded separately from the wings given how superb the rest of the kit looks. Slats up on the ground wasn't impossible or unknown, but a somewhat rare configuration at best. Slats down was pretty much the norm.

RNZAF example of landing on the tanks here, near bottom of page:

http://a4alley.t35.com/A4-Alley/RNZAF-Skyhawks-page-2.html )

Edited December 9, 2010 by mumbles

[richellis]

I cant tell you how good the detail is on this kit, I have seen it in the plastic and its tiny, but very nice!

[smyfe]

All I want for Christmas is !!!!!!