This is a review of an A-4 Skyhawk crew access ladder in 1/72 scale made of photo etch parts. Given the scale of the ladder, it is obvious that all parts are going to take some patience to remove from the PE sheet and apply to the ladder.

The package contains a photo etch sheet containing all the parts needed to construct the access ladder and a one-page instruction sheet.

Instructions

The instruction sheet clearly marks parts. The ladder construction has all the parts and their locations in an exploded view of assembly

Building the Ladder

I started out by laying the PE sheet on a strip of tape that I had rubbed on the back of my hand and removed a couple of times to reduce the stickiness of the tape. The parts are so small that I was afraid of the parts flying off into infinity when they were cut from the PE sheet.

I sharpened a toothpick and used it to apply thick C/A to attach the parts. Given how small the parts were, they did not require very much C/A to stick.

I initially built the ladder with it on its back to make sure the ladder sides were movable enough to accept each of the steps. A small rectangular piece went between the ladder rails to give the steps to be glued to. Again, while building this section of the ladder I laid it on some tape that had been de tacked.

One of the final parts to add was the platform which aligned the ladder with all its steps and made the ladder very rigid.

The final addition to the ladder were small wheels at the bottom and again a lot patience to cut these out and add to the ladder.

Painting

I started painting the ladder by first applying Mission Models Black Primer MMS-001 mixed 60% primer to 40% thinner and sprayed three coats. I didn’t think the ladder would be moved enough to be concerned that the paint may flake off by not using a lacquer primer.

Next after the primer had dried over night, I sprayed Mission Models Orange MMP-005 in three coats mixed with 50% paint and 50% Poly thinner mix. By spraying the 50/50 mix the paint was thinned enough that I could modulate the orange with the black to give it a look of some depth.

Once the paint dried over night, I covered the ladder with a coat of Mission Models Paint Semi-Gloss MMA-005 mixed 30% Gloss to 70% thinner

Weathering

I did a slight weathering wash with Mission Models Paint with 10% Tire Black MMP-040 and 90% Mission Thinner.

Summary

Like I said at the start in 1/72 scale parts for this ladder are very small, so take your time and keep control of the parts as you cut them off the PE Sheet. Construction requires a plan before you start gluing parts because as the joiners for the ladder and platform come together, they give the ladder its shape and stability.

Thank you to Brengun and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this model.