McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II
This is the McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II, based on the project that started in the 1980s for the Navy. A request was made for a stealth attach plane, and the two companies teamed up to make the plane. It was supposed to replace the A-6 Intruder, and be an all weather stealth attack plane for carrier operations. It would have carried AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles and AGM-88 HARM missiles, as well as other munitions for surface attack.
It suffered from numerous problems. Mostly from it's ever raising cost and the materials planned to be used, the program was finally cancelled in January of 1991. By then a full scale mockup had been created, and several diagrams had been released. If they could have keep it's cost down, they may have stood a better chance in making it to production. The Navy went with the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet for the A-6 replacement, and the F/A-18E/F is now going to replace the F-14 as well.
The model was made by Anigrand Craftwork and is an all resin model. It's a pretty decent model, and it comes with all sorts of goodies. For a resin model, this one is pretty good. You can make it with it's wings folded, gear up or down, weapons bays open or closed. There were a few problems, like weak landing gear, and poor fit of the wing tips, but I was able to work through all that.
I ended up not using the missiles that came with the model, and I replaced the nose landing gear. I also added some details to the wheel wells and weapons bays. They looked pretty plain, so I figured they needed some srpucing up. The bigest pain was attaching the wing tips. They didn't match up very well, so I had to fill in the gaps with strip styrene and putty to make it a smooth transition. I'll have to say though, that for a resin model this one wasn't too hard to work with.
Painting and Decals
As with all resin models, I started with a coat of primer after I washed the model with dish soap. Regular paint doesn't adhear to resin well, so you need to use some sort of primer before you apply regular paint. Washing the model with dish soap removes any mold release agent that is left from. I painted it Flat Gull Gray. I think. I seem to recall mixing up my own paint color, but it's pretty close to Flat Gull Gray, so I'll call it that. There are a few detail colors here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary for an airplane.
Decals were a bit of a problem for me. After I applied my gloss coat, I went to get my decals out but I couldn't find them. They were gone. Poof! After an exhaustive search, I broke down and bought some more from Angicraft. They came quickly and I put them on. They don't have too many decals, but since the plane is supposed to be low visibility I figured that it made sense.
My bigenst problem with this model was the canopy. It was clear styrene vacuformed to shape. I cut it down to what I thought was the 'line' in the clear plastic, but I couldn't get it to fit well to the canopy frame. I cut and trimmed, but I still couldn't get it to fit right. I eventually gave up, since I was getting worried about cutting too much off. It would have been much easier if they had made the canopy and frame all one piece, but I don't think they are going to change it. Still, other that having a little gap in the back, the canopy looks pretty good. I dipped it in Future floor polish, and it looks pretty sharp.
There was one more annoying problem, too. The weapon bay doors are too big! They scrape the floor when the model is placed on it's gear. I think I may go back and cut the doors so the fit correctly, but for now I just glued them on at an angle. All the gear should be a little longer, and I would have replaced all of them if I could bt I was short on spares.
I put some AGM-84 HArpoon missiles, since one of the F/A-18's missions is fleet defense, and anti-shipping missiles are key to that roll. Overall, I'd say this was a pretty good model, I just wish the canopy was on a little better and the main gear were a little nicer. If you want an A-12, though, this is your only option. At least it is a good one.