1/48 EA-6B Prowler

[jkim]

Looking forward to seeing this build, especially with that Aires resin cockpit. Aires often gets a bad rap for fit but I've had pretty good success whenever I've used their resin cockpits.

[Medicman71]

I've done one other Aires pit before and that was on a Viper. I had to sand it so much that I could see though it.

[Stikpusher]

I’ll be watching this one as I have one in my stash. What is different in the wings between the A-6 and the EA-6B?

[Medicman71]

From what I'm gathering, the wings were strengthened, did not have the armor that the A-6 had, and had different wing fold mechanisms.

[Stikpusher]

That all sounds internal. I do recall that my friend, who was a Navy officer, told me that the USN retired the Intruder fleet shortly after getting all of them rebuilt with the strengthened wing... for budget reasons.

[Stuart]

I’ll be watching this one as I have one in my stash. What is different in the wings between the A-6 and the EA-6B?

From what I'm gathering, the wings were strengthened, did not have the armor that the A-6 had, and had different wing fold mechanisms.

Okay, so I get the thought behind the strengthened wings and the removal of the armour, but why would they change the wingfold? Bigger tanks maybe?

[Stikpusher]

Ok I found the differences. The Intruder had two different wing fold mechanisms, original and later composite type, which had the hinge visible on the surface. The Prowler used a new type that had a fairing with surface flap covers over the internal hinge. That would be an easy enough fix - fill in the hinge lines and rescribe the cover flap outline.

[Medicman71]

Yeah that's correct. With this kit, I have to remove the old wing fold hinge and add the new resin one. I'll post pics of it soon.

[Medicman71]

Ok so here's some work I did about a week ago. I cut off the top "football" on the tail and the front portion of the tail at the base.

[Medicman71]

Here is the top of the wing with the wing fold hinge. That entire hinge needs to be removed and the flat resin piece that is the correct hinge glued in it's place.