1:72 Grumman A-6E Intruder

The office of the pair who flew below the clouds

The Grumman A-6 Intruder was created as a heavy carrier-based attack aircraft able to find a target in the dark and in weather that kept other aircraft tied down on deck. The crew sat side by side, with the navigator a little lower on the right at the screens of the targeting system. From the 1970s the A-6E version meant a fundamental leap in electronics, and once a sensor turret was added under the nose the aircraft became a precise carrier of guided munitions. It served until the mid-1990s, and its last combat use over the Persian Gulf showed that a concept from the early 1960s was aging slowly.

What the photo-etch offers

The set concentrates on what is visible through an open canopy once the build is finished. The instrument panels are printed in color, including legible dials, and are complemented by side consoles, levers and four-part seat harnesses. The color layer is applied directly to the metal, so the parts are only separated, bent and glued on.

• 1:72 scale, thin photo-etched metal with color printing
• The weight of the set lies in the area for the two-man crew
• The color instrument panels need no further painting
• It contains the harnesses that kits usually leave out
• An accessory for the build; the plastic parts of the aircraft are not included

Separate the parts on a hard surface with a sharp knife rather than by twisting, so that the printing does not crack. Make the bends over the edge of a ruler or in a bender and glue them with thin super glue applied with a pin. Leave the color areas unvarnished; a matte overspray would suppress their sheen.