I started this kit back in Feb 2008, thinking that I needed something a little more challenging. And challenging it is as the entire project took me 16 months to complete. Part of the obstacle was getting the modification done on the wings. I used Cutting Edge's correction set and Blackbox wing fold set to get the right look. Also, re-scribing the panel lines took me some time as much effort was spent on doing research to ensure correctness.
It is in my opinion that the Monogram Prowler's nose is a tad bit too short, so I added styrene sheets as shims to lengthen and re-shape the nose. You can be the judge if the result is worth the effort. I also re-shaped the tail radome based on pictures and line drawings. The other aftermarket item I added was the Blackbox resin cockpit. Here I must say Blackbox's offering has IP up to ICAPII Blk89A, which is very good for those who wish to build a late model Prowler (short of ICAPIII, that is).
Other modifications include replacement of the exhaust using brass pipe, re-shaping of the CE seamless intake (as it was originally meant for A-6 more than EA-6), scratch-built the entire stairwell and stairs with styrene cards of various thicknesses, detailing the landing gears and adding of Royale Resin's weighted wheels, a must have, in my opinion, unless you prefer racing slicks on the aircraft .
The kit was painted entirely with thinner based Gunze colors. Weathering was done with MIG enamel wash and some post shading with very diluted Tamiya X-19 at selected areas. The actual bird I saw from photo references depicted a relatively clean CAG bird, so I opted to keep the paint scheme rather clean. The decals used were from "SuperScale" and I had great difficulties with them as the decal reacted with my usual technique of final coating my model with Gunze "Mr Super Clear". I ended up having to mask and paint the tail art instead because of the "wrinkling" effect. I rounded up the project by placing the aircraft on a base made up of a resin deck by "Just Plane Stuff" mounted on a chopping board and accessories from "Flightpath" and "PMWP".
In the end, almost nothing is left untouched from the original kit except maybe the overall shape is preserved. I think most people are already familiar with the short-comings the Monogram (now Revell) kit has. But having said that, it is still the only 1/48 scale offering and decent finishing can be achieved OOB. If you, however, wanted something more accurate for your Prowler, please be prepared to invest in some after-market stuff and tonnes of references.
Lastly, despite the uphill journey throughout the entire project duration, I had many hours of fun putting it together and being able to overcome issue after issue were especially rewarding. I guess this is what this hobby is all about. The reward was especially sweet when I entered this build for the local competition and came up 1st in my class. I am satisfied with the final result and hope you can share my joy too. If you are interested to read the in-progress built you can follow the link below. Thank you for reading.
Exelennnnnnntttttteeeeeee...muy buen gusto en los detalles, aunque por lo que vi en internet el vehiculo auxiliar es de color amarillo dejando el blanco para carros contra incendios, por lo menos ese dato tengo yo, ya que arme un F 18 A Hornet y en la caja de Fujimi, el vehiculo segun manual es amarillo... de igualmanera super exelente felicitaciones y a segir modelando un abrazo gustavo.
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