When Classic Airframes(CA) announced a 2-seater Skyhawk earlier this year, the community was abuzz with excitement and quite rightly so. CA have been known to release pretty esoteric subjects, which is often welcome. Strangely enough, whenever they release or announce a new release, not long after, some mainstream company would do the same, at half the price (Seahawk by Trumpeter anyone?). Coincidence? I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions.

On to the review of the kit.

This kit arrived today in the mail, and as expected, the box was pretty much squashed since CA's box is of the flimsy top and bottom kind.

Nevertheless the kit survived the journey from Hong Kong pretty much intact, which is more than can be said of my DH Venom Mk.4 from the same mail order firm.

The parts are packed into three separate ziplock bags, containing the main styrene parts, resin parts and the third bag containing the clear styrene parts.

Being a limited run, low-pressure injection kit, none of that slick nice sprue attachment points are there, unlike Tamiya or Hasegawa. Instead, the parts are joined to the sprue tree by quite thick attachment points. The styrene parts come in a highly glossy finish with fine panel lines, albeit a little inconsistent in places.

Parts are not numbered but seeing as how the styrene parts are rather limited, that should not be a big problem if you take the time to study the instructions carefully and do several test fits. CA's instructions suggest constant dryfitting before gluing parts and it's highly recommended you do so!

Flash is present in many of the parts and the mold separation lines are rather prominent. A fair amount of cleanup is required of the styrene parts before even committing glue to plastic.

The resin parts are molded with large pour gates that are easily removed with a razor saw and feature exquisite detail. These are for the two cockpit tubs, Stencel ejection seats, all three wheels, and some smaller parts including the engine intake faces.

Strangely enough, CA does not provide the prominent sidewall detail seen on many Skyhawk pictures, of the quilted surface. I trust that can be replicated with epoxy putty and a needle if one so wishes. Still, a strange omission. As for the sidewall instruments and whatnots, so prominent in jets of that era, I think your scratchbuilding skills will be called upon.

The clear parts, being in a separate bag, are protected from scratches but still require some buffing and a bath in Future to bring back some shine.

Decals are printed by Cartograf so quality is assured, and are for four different aircraft, all from the Aggressor squadrons of the US Navy. With aftermarket decals, you can also make other operators' versions other than the OA-4M. Due to a printing error, no identifying numbers for the decals are shown on the decal sheet but CA has included a photocopied sheet with the decals and corresponding identifying numbers. Just remember not to lose that sheet!

Markings are provided for:
VC-8
VA-127
VF-126 (2 aircraft)

On to the pictures.

Sprue of clear parts for canopy and other miscellaneous items such as navigation lights

One of the three sprues containing the fuselage, intake lips and wheel well doors. Note the airbrake doors or lack of in this case, which means you cannot pose the airbrakes open.

The fuel tanks and ACMI pod. I'd go with the ACMI pod from the Hasegawa weapons set though seeing as how the molding quality here is far from ideal.

The wings and slats. To drop the flaps, you'll need to do some surgery to the lower wings.

Other miscellaneous parts like intake faces etc. Molding quality is really bad here, see the next shot for an example.

Closeup shot of instrument panels. Note the molding lines on the parts above the instrument panel!

Resin parts, not as cleanly cast as the ones on my Venom Mk.4.

The well printed and sharp decal sheet, printed by Cartograf of Italy.

Overall, the kit is a rather huge letdown considering its price and the long wait for a decent TA-4 Skyhawk. The lack of sidewall details in a resin cockpit is a major mystery. There have been rumours that this kit is "inspired" by the Hasegawa A-4E/F Skyhawk so perhaps grafting the head to a Hasegawa A-4E/F as suggested by some modellers is possible?

Break out the Miliput, epoxy putty, fresh pack of sharp blades and lots of elbow grease when you start on this kit.

My opinion, buy this only if you're a hardcore TA-4 Skyhawk fan and absolutely must have it because I won't be surprised if a mainstream manufacturer like Hasegawa or Trumpeter decide to release this in 1/48.