<-- **** DONE: 1:48 A-20G Havoc - Twin Engined Aircraft of WWII

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Looking back on this thread I realise I never posted the pictures of the kit parts I took so here they are

The fuselage halves. Decent detail but with the nose molded separate to accommodate multiple versions of the A-20. Always a hard joint to make disappear.


The wings and nacelles. Also look well molded


Tail and nose parts


The engines. These look really nice


Clear parts


Continued in the next post
 
Miscellaneous other parts. I got this kit used on ebay and many of the parts were detached from the sprues although it looks like nothing is missing.



The tread on the wheels is a bit overdone looking more like fish scales.


The True Details Wheels I'll be replacing the kits parts with. An added bonus with the set is a life raft that goes in the space behind the cockpit.


The kit decals. I've ordered another set so I can place "Little Joe" on both sides of the nose.
 
Now to start building this thing starting off in the proper way



I started out by painting the control panel


I glued the nose half sections onto the fuselage sections. I find this method works a lot better that joining a glued-up nose to a glued-up fuselage when it cones to trying to make the seam disappear.


I spent a few days cleaning up parts, gluing together the nacelles then and giving everything a shot of interior green followed by a dark wash and some detail painting. Still have some detail painting to go on the turret and then in the cockpit once I have the sides glued in.
 
Good start Glenn, and from what I remember, it's a nice kit.
I built the Boston version for one of the GBs a couple of years back, and don't recall any major problems. One thing worth checking though, is the location of the nose gear leg. Built as per instructions, my model ended up with a very slight nose down attitude, only just beyond horizontal, whereas the Havoc / Boston tended to 'sit' tail down.
The perforations moulded into the clear part for the rear canopy fairing also benefit from being drilled out.
 
Thanks guys

Glad to hear you've built a version of this kit Terry. Ill take a close look at that nose gear. The rear canopy won't be an issue as this version has the Martin turret but I still have one of the earlier versions in the stash. Any other tips you have would be welcome.
One thing I was wondering about was the wing construction. The instructions show the top and bottom halves of the wing being glued around the wing spar coming out or the built up fuselage. I like to join the wing halves together first and work on the joint before joining them to the fuselage. My question is will the wings slip over the wing spars without trouble if I build them up first?
Another question involves the main landing gear assembly. The instructions show them being installed before the nacelles. Is that necessary or will they fit later in the construction? I like to leave the landing gear off until the very end if I can get away with it.
 
Glenn, I meant the rear section of the cockpit roof interior, provided as a clear part in the kit. This has depressions moulded-in, representing the lightening holes of the metal panel on the real aircraft. These really benefit from being drilled out, as per the photo of my build. It's best to paint the parts first, as this makes it easier to see where to drill, as the clear part is rather brittle, and the holes not easy to align with the drill bit if left 'clear'.
I found that the main landing gear could not be conveniently fitted after the nacelles were fitted, so I wrapped mine in kitchen foil when the spraying was done - cling film works better, as it can be 'moulded' around the gear, but I didn't have any at the time.

The wings can be joined, and slotted on to the spar - do a test fit first, with the wings taped together, as, from memory, there may be a bit of interference fit, which might need filing and sanding a bit,.

PICS 1 and 2. The cockpit rear, internal panel being drilled, after first painting the parts to aid alignment with the drill bit. The holes can be re-touched after drilling and cleaning.
PIC 3. The main gear wrapped in kitchen foil as a mask for spraying.


 
I get it now Terry, I'll drill them out.

The A-20G has gun access panels on both sides of the lower nose as seen in the first picture. I was not happy with the kit representation of this seen in picture 2 so I just had to do somthing about it



I took a tracing of the kit panel, cut it out and transferred it to thin plastic stock and glued it on after I finished smoothing out that ugly vertical nose joint. After the glue set I added the fasteners with a small drill.
The A-20G also had a raised panel to the rear of the access panel. I did this one with paper glued on with CA and coated with Future.
I also made up the small scoops (one seen in the first picture) out of thin bent plastic and glued them in the center of the small hatch on either side of the nose.


Wile waiting as the various steps were drying I assembled the wings.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nice work there Glenn, I like the new panels.
When I've used paper to make thin panels in the past, sometimes the 'weave' of the paper causes a slightly rough finish, after varnish or paint has been applied I found that using the tissue that covers decals is the answer as, once painted, it dries very smooth. It's also very thin, so ideal for panels and such things as gin port patches.
 
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