Grumman A-6A Intruder

Glenn Hancock
I've just started my project of this. Kind of wrestling with whether to open up the engine panels, avionics bay, nose cone and leave the ordnance off, or put the ordnance on, keep panels closed, and put a couple of pilots in the cockpit. I'm pretty sure I'll go with the wings folded.

Have you started your build yet?

J.R. Sharp
Yes, I'm almost done with it. It is a beast. My opinion is to go slow. The radome (nose cone) does not fit well, so I'd raise that up. The engines are pretty terrible so either take a lot of time on them, or keep em closed. The kit has a lot of flaws, but is still gorgeous!

Glenn Hancock
Thanks for the tips! I've been working on the engines, and those sections with three parts leave some nasty seams. It's looking more and more like I will close the panels that cover them. Sad to hear about the nose cone - and weird that Trumpeter molded it in 2 parts. At least the rivets look nice on the kit - not too deep at all.

J.R. Sharp
It is for sure a challenge all the way around. I think on mine the spine down the center was warped, because the engine covers were a different fit on each side. The nose halves fit together very well, but they did not fit well at all to the fuselage. The rivets are great, but I lost quite a bit of them to sanding trying to make everything fit. Also, putting the wings in was atrocious. The major fit problems are the engine covers, nosecone, wings and fuselage halves.

Glenn Hancock
Wow - Trumpeter really has a long way to go before reaching Tamiya quality. I built their 1/32 scale F-105. Final result looks fine, but definitely challenging build. I was planning folding the wings on this build. I fully anticipate using plenty of putty to fill seams!

J.R. Sharp
Yeah, I will try to take a pic tonight of where I'm at so far. She's ugly. Keeping the nose open will eliminate some of the heartburn for sure. The wing roots though, I'm not sure if I just had bad building or if there is an engineering problem.

Glenn Hancock
I wouldn't be surprised at all if it is an engineering problem. I really like how Trumpeter takes on a diverse range of subjects, but their engineering will never quite seem to reach Tamiya/Hasegawa levels.