1:72 AD-5 Skyraider - Undercarriage Bays Masks (for Monogram and Hasegawa kits)

The AD-5 Skyraider: covering the bays in seventy-second scale

The robust piston attack aircraft was built in many forms and the one with the wide cockpit is among the most interesting. The covering set defines the space for the retracted landing gear on a seventy-second scale model, so you will finish the inside and the surrounding surfaces each in a different shade. The contents are covering for spraying, not parts of the airframe. The set is intended for the Monogram and Hasegawa kits.

A wide cockpit and plenty of tasks

The AD-5 differed from the slimmer single-seat forms at first glance: the fuselage widened so much that two people sat side by side, and it lengthened for the sake of balance. A versatile airplane thus came about, which by changing the internal equipment became a casualty transport, a control machine for directing air support, a trainer and a carrier of electronics. A massive Wright R-3350 radial provided the power, which gave the type an endurance the jet machines of the day did not know. After the American system of type designations was unified in 1962, the machine received the new designation A-1E and in this form it became famous in Vietnam, where it escorted rescue helicopters and circled for hours above downed airmen.

A few notes on painting

With piston machines it is often forgotten how conspicuously the inner spaces get dirty in service. Paint them, therefore, before the covering and add darker shadows into the corners right away. Then spray the outer surfaces in thin coats and with a pause, so that the edges of the covering stay clean. Take them off as soon as the last coat has set.

It will serve best

• Builders of piston attack aircraft of the 1950s and 1960s
• Collectors of American equipment deployed in Southeast Asia
• Builders who care about setting the landing gear space apart in color
• Those looking for a quick way to a sharp outline