THE 'RAIDER REPAINT

Painting and weathering the Legend Hobby A-1 Skyraider

- CHRIS WOLFE

I knew at the moment I received the Legend Hobby A-1 Skyraider 86”, that it needed the full treatment. It’s such an impressive looking and flying model and there’s just something about the A-1 Skyraider that I love. So, in my research of the A-1 Skyraider, I came across a specific scheme I liked and so it was off to the races! For the repaint, I chose the scheme of George J. Marrett’s personal aircraft in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969, which carried the moniker of “Sock it to ’Em,” a tag line from the 1960’s comedy show “Laugh-In.” The aircraft operated with the 602nd Special Operations Squadron (SOS) from Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base and George completed 188 missions with over 600 combat hours in the aircraft.

PAINTING PROCESS

The Legend Hobby airframe comes with a flat clearcoat applied over its iron-on covering so the model takes paint extremely well. In fact, the paint was applied directly to the surface without any primer at all. I like to use spray cans whenever possible.

The painting process consisted of applying colors from lightest to the darkest, so with this in mind, the underside color (AS-16) is sprayed first. To mask the feathered underside separation line, I use 3M Soft Edge masking tape. Being designed to create soft feathered edges, this tape makes painting feathered camouflage with spray cans an easier prospect, though the lines are still touched up with an airbrush to finish.

SHADES OF GREY & TAN