Monogram 1/48 A-7 Corsair II - VA-72 USS John F Kennedy, 5418

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Monogram 1/48 A-7 Corsair II - VA-72 USS John F Kennedy, 5418 plastic model kit

1/48 5418 Monogram A-7 Corsair II - VA-72 USS John F Kennedy

Plastic Model Kit,   Box Condition: Good

1979 issue of this quality kit featuring full cockpit, wheel well detail, optional position canopy and a large load of external stores with drop tanks, AIM-9 Sidewinders and iron bombs. Decals for VA-72 USS John F Kennedy. Never started. The parts are still in the internal factory sealed bags and includes decals and instructions. This kit has a very interesting history. Aurora originally cut the molds just a few years before they shut down. The A-7 was an excellent kit for that time as Aurora did everything they could to make it so. It features all recessed panel lines, realistic retractable landing gear with opening and closing doors, rotating wheels, good cockpit and a huge loadout of iron bombs, Sidewinder missiles and drop tanks. The molds were sold in 1977 to Monogram, and the A-7 molds survived the train accident on the way to Chicago. Monogram only reissued the finest Aurora kits; however, to meet Monogram standards, they often received significant upgrades, like the 737, DC-10 and 747 did. However, the A-7 upgrade was so extensive that it is a challenge to tell if it came from Aurora or not. For years I read that it did, but the differences are so significant that I wanted to compare them side-by-side. I finally got that chance. My conclusion is that this certainly is the old Aurora kit, but it has been modified so extensively that it may be the largest, most comprehensive mold rework ever done in the history of plastic modeling. First, it is from the Aurora molds because of the identical parts tree layout for the trees and parts that Monogram did keep - down to the millimeter, right down to the part number tabs. Also, the dimensions of the wings, horizontal stabs and most other major parts are identical along with many other smaller clues. But the amazing things are the changes. This is not a complete list, but Monogram did the following- on the fuselage halves they made the nose slightly longer (2MM) and wider; added the cockpit cowl, moved the front landing gear bay forward by 5mm, added the main wheel bays to the fuselage parts and removed all surface detail, replacing it with fine raised details. Antennas and lights were modified or added, as well as refueling probe storage. The wings were lengthened by 2mm each; while the recessed lower control surface lines were replace, the rest of the surface detail was redone complete. The horizontal stabilizers were reworked for surface detail and in doing so, they removed the reinforcement plates at the hinges; you can still see the tooling marks from this removal. The retractable landing gear was eliminated. The main gear struts were simply given strut detail, while the nose strut is almost completely new. The landing gear doors were almost left intact, but the tabs (for retraction) were removed and interior detail was added. The cockpit is completely new. The bomb loadout and ejector racks are almost the same, but the racks received new surface detail. The AIM-9s are almost completely Aurora - all Monogram did was remove the mounting tab. You can still see the original ejector pin marks, tree layout and even the same part number tab. There are many more changes, but this gives you a good idea of the trouble that Monogram went to in making accurate models.

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