A list of your top ten favorite jets of the last 50 years may well have the A-4 Skyhawk on it. Still in service nearly 50 years after its first flight, the Skyhawk is one of those planes that is just 'right'.

This sheet covers five 'Scooters', all in the light gull grey over white scheme. There are plenty of kits out there for this sheet in 1/72. Probably the best of the lot are those produced by Fujimi. Before that, the ESCI kit was the one to have. This kit has recently been reissued by Italeri at a rather steep MSRP, so I'd suggest alternate sources for this one! Airfix makes an early A-4A that is best left alone and the A-4E produced by Hasegawa is oversized. There was an IPMS/USA nose conversion for the ESCI kit to make a C model.

First up is an A-4C from VA-64 aboard the USS Independence. The rudder and fin tip with have to be painted black prior to application of the stars.

Next is a VSF-1 A-4C, also aboard the USS Independence. It has yellow-green as its colors on the fit tip, rudder spines and drop tanks.

From VMA-224 comes this A-4C with green for the rudder stripes. Most unusually, this one has both Navy and Marines on the fuselage side.

The first of the A-4Es is this VMA-121 aircraft. Again, green is the color and like all the other aircraft, it will have to be painted on.

Finally, a VMA-223 A-4E. The fin tip is yellow with black stripes. The black continues to the drop tank with a yellow front and rear.

These early Microscale sheets provided only basic material with insignia having to come from spares box or a suitable sheet. As you can see, all the colors had to be painted on the model, as did the nose tip and anti-glare panel.

Review copy courtesy of my ever growing decal pile!

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