LTV A-7 Corsair 2

**Isaac** · #1 12-01-2010, 05:29 PM

Started building this GPM kit #67 in 1/33 scale. I must say its coloring is great. A much better printing and also the camoflage has the spray painted look.

I also purchased the laser card frames and the vacuformed canopy. I will turn my own wood wheels on this one.

I will not do a complete build article since this exact kit had an extensive build article on the German site in 2007 with great photos. However, unless you understand German, you may not get the details.

Kartonbau.de - Alles rund um's Kartonmodell... | abgeschlossene Bauberichte | [FERTIG] A7-D Corsair II, GPM-067,1:33 ->1:43

In any case I will start posting on my build soon.

Stay tuned

Cheers

Isaac

**Isaac** · #2 12-01-2010, 08:17 PM

I started by cutting most pieces and placing them in bags. Then I separate by major components and place the cut pieces in trays. I checked to make sure I have the corrrect frames and the canopy ( see pics ). Now comes the fun part. I started with the fuselage sections. I assemble all the cylinders and placed them in order ( no frames yet ). This way I get the feel and orientation of the pieces. Also, I can anticipate issues. One issue I noted is that later on when you assemble the Sidwinder missiles, disregard the hashed line as that is wrong. The missiles are not canted down.

So here are some pics.

Isaac

**Isaac** · #3 12-01-2010, 08:33 PM

I normaly start at the nose ( or the cockpit section ) and then build back. However on this one I started in the center with the main landing gear bay. That piece is straight forward and I doubled up with heavy card stock the floor and inner walls. You need that since the gear is attached there. I doubled the forward and aft walls of the bay, but that is not needed as you will not be able to fit it and the frames with that part ( I had to remove about a 1/16 of an inch to make it fit. ).

Once done, you can fit the forward frame 7a to part 7, glue it and then glue the bay into the section 7 piece. When that is dry, you next glue frame 7b ( aft ).

I then started building aft. Sections 8 is next, nothing special here. Section 9 has a cutout for the arresting hook so make sure that is done before going on. Part 10 and the exhaust section is the fun part. This aircraft has a huge gap between the engine exhaust duct and the fuselage walls to allow for cooling. So make sure you pay attention. The parts are all there. However, I used a silver Sharpie pen to color the exhaust duct outer skin since it shows thru the gap.

Here are some more pics.

Good night all

Isaac

**Nh3ave2009** · #4 12-02-2010, 04:24 AM

Very Nice Job!!!!!! keep up the great work

**Tim Crowe** · #5 12-02-2010, 06:09 AM

Looking good - nice straight fuselage.

Tim

**tazman3** · #6 12-02-2010, 09:53 AM

Great looking kit...nice to see some of the laser frames and after market canopies...I can't wait to see how the canopy fits...

**Isaac** · #7 12-03-2010, 04:25 PM

The nose section is a bit challenging. The finished product has the air scoop assembly below and the main nose section above it. So the fit should be as tight as possible to look OK. I started by assembling each half separately.

The inlet section went surprisingly well. The fit of the inlet lip is also good. I next installed the nose gear bay into the main fuselage first ( section 5 ) so I can have a close fit. I beefed up the front and back walls to stiffen them a bit. Next I glued the inlet section 3 to the front of section 5 ( main fuselage ) first. Reason for that is that I needed to fit it to the nose gear bay first. I then placed small weights in the nose just in case ( I hate a jet tail seater ). Next I added thick card board stock to the floor of the nose gear bay. That is where the strut will be fixed to.
Next the upper portion of the nose was glued to the fuselage and the lower inlet. That is by far the most challenging aspect of this build. The fit was good even though the parts were fighting me a bit.

Here are some more pics

Cheers

Isaac