Building the 1/144th A-20 Havoc from Don Schmenk
By Binhan Lin
This article will go through the steps in building the 1/144th A-20 scale model from Don Schmenk. Also will review the model and modifications and alternatives available in building this model.
Introduction
The A-20 was initially known as the DB-7, produced by the Douglass Aircraft Company and designed as the Model 7. France placed the initial orders for the DB-7, but with the fall of the government, the remainder were sent to Britain as the Boston I/II. The United States Army Air Corps then ordered the aircraft as the A-20. Various modifications, most involving engine upgrades, armament upgrades, fuel storage and increased armor lead to the different models – A-C, G/K and H/K. The model G is considered the definitive model with the greatest production. The A-20G replaces the original glass bombardier nose with a solid nose containing 4 0.50 M2 HMG's with an additional two HMG's installed just below the nose. Early A-20G's retained the rear gunner position with a single 0.50 HMG, but later models received twin turreted HMG's. For ventral protection a 0.30 Browning was installed to fire to the rear and down.
Out of the Package
The model was received from Don Schmenk in a plastic zip bag and contained the main model, a sprue of accessories and a decal sheet for canopies (not shown). The model is made from an off-white resin compound. The model is one piece with minimal details, there are no panel/flap lines nor separate canopies. The model as supplied is for the later A-20G version with a turret. The accessories include wheels, engine fronts and a turret. There was some flash at the seams and a slightly dimpled texture to most of the surfaces. Two of the seam lines were grooved.
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After trimming the flash with a hobby knife and lightly sanding the surface with sandpaper (I started with 150 grit and worked through 330 and finally 600 wet/dry) to remove the texture, the panel, flap and aileron lines were drawn with pencil/ultra-fine permanent marker. (Note:There is still some of the surface texture visible on top of the engine cowlings. If I were to build this model again, I would start with a finer grit of sandpaper as the 150 left some deep scratches that took some effort to remove. I would probably start with 220 grit or something similar.) Then using a flexible plastic ruler and a scribing tool, the lines were engraved into the resin. As this was to be a gaming piece, and the aircraft to simulate flight, only the turret and engine fronts were used from the accessories. The top of the nose of the model does not quite match pictures of the A-20G, so it was filed and sanded down to a more curved shape. The mounting system is a 1/16" ID aluminum tube embedded in the underside of the fuselage with epoxy glue and then ground down with a Dremel until it is flush with the bottom.
The model and engine fronts were then primed with black primer. Due to a minor mishap, the engine fronts were lost during priming. After priming, new engine fronts were created using epoxy putty and 18g floral wire for the propeller shafts. First the holes for the shafts were drilled and a length of floral wire sized to length. The wire was pulled out and a small piece of epoxy putty pushed into the cavity, shaped to look like engine cylinders, then the wire pushed back in. The turret was dry fitted and a small amount of putty was used to raise it to the appropriate height.
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The model was then painted the base colors – Olive Drab for the top surfaces, light gray for the bottom surfaces and canopy and black for the engine fronts. It took about three coats to get full coverage for the top and bottom. (Note: Using a white or gray primer will decrease the number of coats you will need for coverage). After the paint had dried, propeller spinners were added using epoxy putty. Four 0.50 HMG barrels were added to the nose by drilling 4 holes using a small drill bit in a pin vise and epoxying 3/8" lengths of 0.020" brass wire into them. After the epoxy had set, the wires were trimmed to length using a set of snips. (Note: The lower under-nose HMG ports were not drilled, but exist on the actual plane.) The turret was assembled in a similar manner with two holes drilled and two 3/8" pieces of 0.020" brass wire epoxied in and after drying, trimmed (not shown).
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Panel and flap lines were inked with mixture of Future acrylic (diluted 50/50 with water) with a dab of black, and a dab of dark gray paint. Using a 10/0 brush, the ink was lightly brushed into the grooves and allowed to flow into the crevices. Overflow was allowed to dry and touched up with the base colors. The canopy and turret were painted with a base of light gray with medium blue shading and white highlights. The paints were mixed on a palette to blend the shading and highlights better. The HMG gun barrels were painted black.
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Squadron markings for the 675th Bomb Squadron, 417th Bomb Group – blue markings on the wingtips, nose and tail slash – were added. (Note the aircraft identification letter would be in white on the tail, this plane was left generic.) After all the painting was completed, a coat of diluted (50/50 with water) Future was applied over the entire model.
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After the acrylic layer had dried, US national insignia were applied. Decals are from True North Productions. (Note: I did not have medium bomber decals and ran out of the larger fighter decals so used medium fighter decals which meant the wing insignia are under-sized.) After the decals were applied, they were set using Micro-Sol decal setting solution. After completely drying, the second layer of diluted Future was applied over the entire aircraft. After drying, the gloss was removed by a final coat of Testors Clear Matte Finish. The final model was assembled by inserting the turret into the cavity and some small dabs of Future on the turret and canopy to give them a little bit of gloss.
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Alternates
Although the model supplied is for a late A-20 G/J, other variants can be easily made. The J model differs from the G in that the nose is a glassed in bombardier position. Using the supplied decals or painting the nose to be a canopy is the major change. If you are detail oriented, the shape of the nose is slightly different and would require some shaping to correct. Models H/K are visually indistinguishable from the G/J models and would require no additional modification.
Early A-20G's did not have the turret and would simply be modified by filling in the turret cavity with putty and adding a rear, glassed in gunner position.
Models A-C were similar to A-20G's with the enclosed rear gunner position but had different paneled bombardier positions, a simple change in how the nose is painted.
Some versions of the DB-7/A-20 had gun pods attached to the side of the nose and these may be added using some epoxy putty and brass wire.
The P-70 Nighthawk and DB-7 Havoc I/II nightfighter versions are basically similar to the DB-7 or A-20 plane from which they were modified from. Some moved the guns to side nose pods as the nose was taken up by the Airborne Interception Radar. Most night fighters were painted matte black with national insignia and white call letters.
Conclusion
This is a kit that is suitable for beginners straight out of the bag and will produce a reasonable model. Using more advanced techniques such as pinning, engraving and putty work a moderately detailed model can be created. Additional decals, paint, putty and epoxy glue are required to finish this model. There are some detail discrepancies such as incorrect nose shape and lack of thickness at the wing roots, but overall I would recommend this kit to anyone interested in American medium bombers and the final product is worth the effort to produce it.
This model kit is available from Don Schmenk (http://userpages.bright.net/~dschmenk/) for $5 USD plus S/H.
