Matchbox A-7D Corsair II

1
December 25, 2024
Just the start. It will be an OOB build, including decals if they hold. Typical Matchbox 3-colour sprues 😄
2
January 19, 2025
The Matchbox ejection seat (on the left) is really bad, so I will replace it with a spare one
3
January 19, 2025
The arrows and numbers on the landing bay doors will have to be removed
4
January 19, 2025
White primer applied to some parts...
5
January 19, 2025
... and black primer to others
6
January 19, 2025
I decided to include the pilot for old times sake. The Matchbox pilots were usually quite good
7
January 19, 2025
Dark brown wash applied
8
January 19, 2025
And matt varnish to protect the painted parts
9
January 19, 2025
The joint on the folding wings is atrocious 🙁
10
January 19, 2025
Joints filled with super glue
11
January 19, 2025
And sanded down. You can still see the joints because the glue is clear, but they should be smooth when primed and painted (I hope 😄)
12
February 22, 2025
A bit of dry brushing on the pilot and his seat
13
February 22, 2025
Ballast addition. Kept in place with black play-doh
14
February 22, 2025
Dry fitting, just checking there is enough nose weight
15
February 22, 2025
Closing the fuselage
16
February 22, 2025
And there are quite a few gaps to fill
17
February 22, 2025
More gaps
18
February 22, 2025
Sanding and rescribing
19
February 22, 2025
Adding some rivets
20
February 22, 2025
Gaps to fill also after gluing the wings
21
February 22, 2025
Filled with cyano glue and sanded. A few rivets re-done too
22
April 12, 2025
Control panel is printed on a label (small cheat, not noticeable)
23
April 12, 2025
Had to prime the interior of the air intake by brush. Tried with the airbrush but the paint was just pooling
24
April 12, 2025
Prepared the ordnance for painting
25
April 12, 2025
Canopy masked
26
April 12, 2025
Interior painted black and dark yellow for the insulator
27
April 12, 2025
Ready for priming
28
April 12, 2025
And the painting process has started
29
April 21, 2025
White marbling for the underside. For the top I will try a different approach
30
April 21, 2025
Underside painted with a mix of XF-55 (66%) and XF-2 (33%)
31
April 21, 2025
A couple of coats of gloss to protect it when I mask it and paint the top side
32
May 28, 2025
Lower side masked (not taking any chances here 😄)
33
May 28, 2025
Decided on XF52 after looking at many online photos, I like the result
34
May 28, 2025
And meant to do highlights, but they are not noticeable at all... I might have another go at it
35
May 28, 2025
Brown masked
36
May 28, 2025
H303 applied
37
May 28, 2025
And highlights again
38
June 29, 2025
The last colour of the camo, XF27
39
June 29, 2025
Highlights again
40
June 29, 2025
Decided to paint the green band on the tail instead of using the decal
41
June 29, 2025
Ordnance painted in olive drab
42
June 29, 2025
And the painting is (finally) finished 🙂. Coat of gloss on and next will be the decals
43
July 29, 2025
Decals on
44
July 29, 2025
Oil wash applied...
45
July 29, 2025
...and removed
46
July 29, 2025
Painting the yellow rings on the bombs
47
July 29, 2025
And the fuses
48
July 29, 2025
A bit of weathering
49
July 29, 2025
And a coat of matt varnish on everything to seal it
50
August 12, 2025
A bit of post shading with Tamiya smoke
51
August 12, 2025
Ordnance and navigation lights
52
August 12, 2025
And she is finally finished! More photos to come soon
53
August 12, 2025
54
August 12, 2025
55
August 12, 2025
56
August 12, 2025
57
August 12, 2025
58
August 12, 2025
59
August 12, 2025
60
August 12, 2025
61
August 12, 2025
62
August 12, 2025
63
August 12, 2025
64
August 12, 2025
65
August 12, 2025
66
August 13, 2025
67
August 13, 2025

Comments

118 25 December 2024, 06:43

Nicolas
👀

1 25 December 2024, 13:39

Spanjaard
omg!! built this one so long ago I do not even want to remember when. where did you found this goldie??

25 December 2024, 14:06

Spanjaard
I rebuilt mine as a "low visibility" one, with a thin layer of paint on top of the decals (not such decal option available to me back then 😛 )

25 December 2024, 14:09

Cuajete
Many years ago I made this kit of the Desert Storm reissued by Revell:

Corsair A-7D (Revell 40137, 1:72)

It wasn't a great kit, but I enjoyed it very much.

2 25 December 2024, 18:46

Spanjaard
yeah, my Mig-29 was from the same collection, I think (first or second issue I believe)

26 December 2024, 00:01

Alberto Author
Thanks for the company mates! @Spanjaard, I didn't have to go far to get this, I bought it myself when I was 12 😆

1 26 December 2024, 06:12

Spanjaard
😄 😄 😄 it is being waiting for a while 😉

1 26 December 2024, 07:00

Alberto Author
A few more pics uploaded. There are some assembly issues that I hope I can overcome, like the toy-like hinges in the wings

20 January, 18:54

Cuajete
Well solved the hinges in the wings 👍

1 20 January, 19:40

Thomas Kolb
OMG, what a vintage kit - I am super curious what you will be able to accomplish with it! Following!

1 20 January, 20:19

Alberto Author
Slowly progressing, nearly at the painting stage now

22 February, 12:54

Kenneth
Very interesting 👍 Brings back many memories, I built that kit 40-45 years ago 😳

1 22 February, 13:02

Cuajete
Well done so far, Alberto 👍

1 23 February, 19:44

Alberto Author
Thanks cuajete!

24 February, 07:22

Lee Fogel
This is turning out very nicely! I like the old Matchbox kits.

1 17 March, 20:59

Neil
I agree, shaping up very well. You gotta love a Matchbox kit. Great work mate 👏

1 22 March, 22:22

Alberto Author
Thanks Lee, Neil, for your comments. I have not been able to work on it a lot these last weeks but hope to resume the build soon!

1 23 March, 06:22

Mid Franconian
Built this kit years ago. Watching!!!

1 23 March, 08:02

Hans-Jürgen Haag
Matchbox improved 👍🥰

1 23 March, 08:23

Bozo
I like the way you bring back to life the old models dear to our childhood. Great job

3 11 April, 11:13

Alberto Author
Thanks Bozo. I still have a few left, I will try to do them justice 😄

1 11 April, 12:19

Dave
Late to the party, this build looks good.

2 11 April, 12:37

DerMattes
Very nice progress so far! 👍

1 21 April, 09:07

Spanjaard
are u using something similar to old Future as clear coat?

1 21 April, 16:05

Cuajete
Very nice progress, Alberto. Good primer and marbling 👍. Where did you get the Ultimate Primer? I can't find it around here.

@Spanjaard, It's the Bosque Verde wax sold at Mercadona. It's the equivalent of Future in Spain.

1 21 April, 17:04

Alberto Author
Thanks guys! @Spanjaard: Cuajete is right. I've been using it for a long time, it even brushes great as it is self-leveling. Good stuff.
@Cuajete: I bought the Ultimate primer online from their own website in the UK (umpretail.com). But I believe it is the same thing as the Ammo One Shot primer (and Badger Stynilrez)

21 April, 18:03

Cuajete
Gracias, Alberto 🙂👍

1 21 April, 18:37

Spanjaard
thanks cuajete and Alberto!

2 22 April, 06:50

Ingo Fuchs
It's amazing what you're doing with the old kit!
My model must have been built a good 50 years ago now!
Back then, the soft color transitions were still created with a piece of foam....

2 22 April, 10:49

Lee Fogel
Looking sharp!

1 22 April, 13:39

Alberto Author
Thanks Ingo, Lee! If these old kits get a bit of TLC they can be quite rewarding

1 22 April, 20:45

Cuajete
Very nice painting job so far 👍

2 28 May, 18:38

DerMattes
Cuajete is absolutely right, paintjob looks great 👍

2 28 May, 18:46

Dave
This is looking good. Nice work.

1 28 May, 18:52

Alberto Author
Thank you very much guys 👍

29 May, 07:06

Lee Fogel
Looking most excellent! Thanks for the update.

1 29 May, 18:33

Alberto Author
Thanks Lee, you're most welcome

1 30 May, 05:53

Guy Rump
Looking great, following. 👍

1 29 June, 13:54

Cuajete
I agree with Guy 👍

1 30 June, 18:35

Alberto Author
Thanks mates for the comments and the likes, they are very much appreciated 👍

1 1 July, 17:10

J35J
Looking great so far!👍🏻

1 29 July, 18:25

Alberto Author
Thanks J35J!

30 July, 06:36

Spanjaard
very nice job!

1 30 July, 07:51

Mid Franconian
Great paintjob Alberto! It shows that good skills can turn even such an old kit into a nice model!

1 30 July, 10:25

Alberto Author
Thank you Spanjaard, Mid Franconian! Your encouragement makes the effort put on these vintage kits worth it 🙂

30 July, 12:21

Lee Fogel
This is really coming along splendidly!

1 30 July, 16:06

Bob
By far the finest Matchbox Corsair II I've ever seen. Good job, lad.

2 30 July, 16:20

Łukasz Gliński
Lovely colours 👍 Keep it up

1 30 July, 17:24

Maciej Bellos
Many likes!

1 30 July, 17:43

Alberto Author
Really appreciate all the nice words guys, I'm very happy that you like the result so far. Not long to go now!

1 30 July, 18:21

Sergej I
Great modeling and painting skills on an antique model! 👍

1 31 July, 07:53

Finn
Cool

1 1 August, 19:38

Roy McKay
Love what you're doing with this old kit, an old friend to me despite the trench panel lines and lack of detail... one of my matchbox favourites as a youngster..
Speaking of panel lines, they look restrained on this model. Did you fill them or is it just good painting to minimise the effect?
Lovely work.

1 1 August, 22:11

Alberto Author
Thanks mates. @Roy, no, I didn't fill in the trench panel lines. I think they are not very noticeable in pic 49 because it was taken from a further distance, but if you look at pic 45 they are definitely there 😄

2 August, 05:10

Bas Tonn
Late to the party but this is great !!

1 2 August, 09:19

Cuajete
Fantastic progress, Alberto. Looks great!

1 2 August, 18:15

Alberto Author
Project finished and some more photos uploaded today

1 12 August, 16:52

Christian Bruer
Very nice work and finish 👍

1 12 August, 16:55

Spanjaard
fantastic job Alberto!!

1 12 August, 17:21

Bozo
I agree with all mates. It's the most Beautiful Matchbox A7.
Bravo.

1 12 August, 17:23

Mid Franconian
Amazing Alberto! How did you do the yellow canopy sealing?

1 12 August, 17:33

Mark K
Beautiful!

1 12 August, 17:42

Nicolas
She's a beauty. 👍

1 12 August, 17:54

Robert Podkoński
Awesome job!

1 12 August, 18:01

Lee Fogel
That's beautiful! So nice to see a classic kit get THIS level of attention

1 12 August, 19:00

Roy McKay
Simply stunning.

1 12 August, 19:42

Guy Rump
Beautiful build! 👍

1 13 August, 05:57

István Szücs
Wonderful Sluf!

1 13 August, 06:05

Sergej I
Beautiful result, Alberto! 👍

1 13 August, 06:08

Alberto Author
Thank you everybody for the great feedback, I'm delighted that after all the effort you like it. @Mid Franconian: I got the Eduard masks for the Hobbyboss kit, and was surprised to find that they include two sets of overlapping masks that allow you to do the canopy sealing

2 13 August, 06:43