The A3D Skywarrior, the U.S. Navy’s primary carrier-based heavy attack aircraft of the late 1950s and early ’60s, saw major action in the Vietnam War. Its adaptable design yielded major variants, such as a tanker and an ECM version.
Trumpeter’s new A3D-2 Skywarrior is a welcome addition to 1/48 scale U.S. Navy aircraft kits, and the first time this aircraft has been offered in this scale.
The kit is cleanly molded in light gray plastic. Details include wing- and tail-fold options, radar equipment, an open bomb bay, vinyl tires, and photoetched-metal.
The fuselage interior is highly detailed. The front includes a radar (which I didn’t use since I planned to attach the radome permanently).
There is a cockpit, a bomb-bay tunnel, and a full bomb bay. Each is a separately built module; following the instructions I proceeded accordingly.
Once I installed the cockpit and bomb bay assemblies in the fuselage, I found the fuselage halves would not join. My solution was to remove the bomb bay and close the doors.
This allowed the fuselage to come together more easily but revealed another problem: The doors are undersized, slightly warped, and have no positive attachment for closing them. I solved the attachment issue by gluing styrene strip inside the bay. The lack of positive locators would also make it difficult to display the doors open.
The dive brakes are designed to be assembled open, but could be closed with a little extra work.
I built the separate tail section, with its tail-gun elements, by the instructions, but its fit at the join was poor: It was wider than the fuselage at the attachment. I went ahead with the build and left the tail as is. Had I to do it again, I would attach each side of the tail section to its fuselage side to achieve a smooth join.
The kit includes a large refueling probe that is too long for the bomber version; it is more appropriate for the tanker and other versions. (Could this presage a future release?) I went with the part as it was. Later, I found a photo of a bomber version with no refueling probe at all!
When choosing the vertical tail parts (there are two options), use the parts M9 and M10; this is the standard tail. The parts with the pod projection — parts M4 and M5 — appear incorrect for the bomber, despite the box art. There are other exterior parts called for in the instructions that don’t look right for the bomber; check your references.
The design of the wing and vertical tail assembly seem to favor the folded option, but I could not see how the small photoetched-metal hinges would hold a folded wing or tail. Again, assembly was impeded by a lack of positive attachments. Extended, the wing and tail are merely butt-joined. I reinforced the wing joints with plastic card on the inner surface.
Overall, I found the instruction sequences created problems. Careful test-fitting is strongly suggested.
I painted my Skywarrior with a combination of Tamiya spray and bottle paints. I discovered too late that Trumpeter’s painting instructions neglect to mention that the upper half of the ailerons and elevators should be white. Decals are provided for one aircraft, but extra decals are provided in the form of slanted numbers to represent other aircraft. The decals performed well, lying down with a little setting solution.
I completed my Skywarrior in 32 hours. It’s big and impressive, but I was less than impressed with the kit’s engineering. Given the design issues, I recommend this kit to experienced modelers who are looking for a challenge.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the February 2014 FineScale Modeler.