An Atlas TA-152 Redo

[Edward Papazian]

Yes, I'll admit it. I bought an Atlas TA-152 on eBay for somewhat more than it's worth rather than waiting 1-2 years for the model to show up via Oxford, thereby saving myself about $15. The model, itself has quite a lot of detail built into the basic tooling, however there are many issues---all a function of the low budget approach to this series and, I assume, allowing the factory to make decisions about what constitutes quality. Here are some of the basic faults;

1) No pilot figure and a fixed prop---typical of all models in this series.
2) No pitot head.
3) None of the antennae/direction finder stuff on the undersides.
4) One of the horizontal stabilizers was bent upward.
5) The part containing the spinner, props and a portion of the forward cowling was installed in an off center fashion.
6) The leading edges of the wings were squared off rather than being rounded.
7) Ugly screw holes on the undersides---again, typical of the whole series.
8) The wing root canon parts were badly fashioned add-ons that overlapped the main gear housing doors.
9) There was no canon mounted to fire through the spinner.
10) There was a large seam gap where the fuselage met the wings.
11) The Tail wheel was extended, not semi retracted.

Here's a picture of the original model from the top:




http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu75/Epapazian/P3100002.jpg

[Edward Papazian]

Here's a shot of the original from the bottom.






http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu75/Epapazian/P3100003.jpg

[Edward Papazian]

In any event, I huffed and puffed, filling in the seam gap, drilling holes and adding the pitot head, various antennae and direction finders plus the canon that fired through the spinner and I also sanded the leading edges of the wings into an approximate round shape and fixed the tail wheel. Here's how the model looked after all of these changes:




http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu75/Epapazian/P3110003.jpg

[Edward Papazian]

Next, I added the decals:






http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu75/Epapazian/P3120002-2.jpg

[Edward Papazian]

Mottling:






http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu75/Epapazian/P3120003-2.jpg

[Edward Papazian]

Finally, I added the weathering, did some clean up, sprayed the model with Dullcoat, installed an HM pilot figure and painted the wingtip lights. Here's how it came out:







http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu75/Epapazian/P3130005.jpg

[Edward Papazian]

Another view:







http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu75/Epapazian/P3130010.jpg

[Edward Papazian]

Last, but not least, here's a picture of the undersides:






http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu75/Epapazian/P3130012.jpg

[Acklington]

Nice one Ed, once again!:)

It looks pretty accurate, and I've always fancied making one - I have enough plastic bits somewhere. Only shame is that yours didn't come with an undercart down - that would save me a lot of work!

[Thunder64]

One of the best mods I've seen yet, fantastic improvement:cool:

[biffo]

One of the best mods I've seen yet, fantastic improvement:cool:Nice one Ed:cool

[Edward Papazian]

Thanks, guys. I doubt that we will see one of these from Corgi, HM, etc. anytime soon. It's a very interesting high altitude fighter that could have given the Allies lots of trouble had it arrived on the scene earlier than it did.