1:48 A-4 Skyhawk wheel bay plugs (for Hasegawa)

Omask — wheel bay plugs A-4 Skyhawk 1:48 (for Hasegawa)

Masking wheel bays is the classic job nobody enjoys: paper tissues fall out, cotton wool tears and tape will not seat in the corners. This set from the brand Omask offers the opposite approach — instead of taping and stuffing you use a ready-made foam part shaped exactly to the bay. It slides in, holds by its own springiness and is pulled out again after spraying. Inside, a clean surface in the original color remains, with none of the mist of the covering shade that could not be brushed over in a deep and busy bay anyway. The set is worked out for the A-4 Skyhawk kit from Hasegawa in 1:48 scale.

Use

• Fill the bays with the plugs before spraying primer and the covering color, once the glue in the area has dried.
• The foam follows the walls of the bay and closes even the corners tape struggles to reach.
• Leave the plugs in the bays during clear coating and decaling too — they protect the interior through the whole wet process.
• Once dry, pull them out and finish the bay with paint, a wash and the landing gear.
• No glue, no residue — they damage neither plastic nor decals.

Who it is for

For anyone building the Skyhawk from Hasegawa in 1:48 who wants clean wheel bays without lengthy masking. It saves the most work for modelers with an airbrush, where the mist of paint gets into every gap. A good choice too for those who build several examples of the same type and want a repeatable, quick procedure.

The real subject

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was an American light carrier-based attack aircraft — small, simple and deliberately designed to be as light as possible. It earned the nickname Scooter precisely for its size and agility. The best proof of how compact a machine it was: unlike practically every other carrier aircraft of its day it did not need folding wings to fit on a carrier elevator. It served for decades with a number of air arms around the world.

Note: this is not an aircraft model. The package holds only the wheel bay plugs — the kit, paints and glue are not part of it. Take the plugs out only once the paint and clear coat are completely dry.