Roy Sutherland of Barracuda Studios is back… and this time with a totally unexpected item; a 1/32 Exhaust and intake set for your Trumpeter A-4.

Consisting of four printed resin items, this one is truly necessary for tightening up a neglected area of many models.

The exhaust turbine section has the four support blades and centerline flow bullet molded as one piece. Easy to paint on this non-afterburning engine. And for those who like to look up the chute in every orfice in a model competition, this item will take care of the look.

(May I digress a bit here? I call these items, “Story time with Rod”. A local famous Fort Worth modeler expounded this little tome this summer on the subject of AMS in some individuals; he related how one fellow club member got really tired of people spending so much sweat and blood, and generally making everyone else miserable on making a part that would be extremely difficult to see, and arguing therein about realism, particularly in long-tube engine augmentors. In the case noted, the modeler painted up a model figure lower half with a bare derriere, and cemented it in the forward part of the exhaust tube of said jet model. The surprise some of the “borescope and light wand” investigators was well worth the effort… they said it was “not scale”, to which the owner is said to have replied, “prove you can’t see the butt of the pilot in some real aircraft”. Point made. I may have made a hash of the story but I’m filling the space here for amusement.)

True or not, I liked it.

ANYWAY, back to my AMS and reporting…

The exhaust tube itself on the actual A-4 is rather long, and has a distinctive feature… The nozzle has four bolted-on “trim mice” for optimum engine performance. Old turbines run better with appropriate back-pressure on the turbine, and these trim mice are reproduced on Barracudacast’s item. The other feature is the cooling jacket exhaust wrapped around the tail pipe, which is difficult to see normally but IS ON THIS ITEM and easily adds just that little bit of detail. The tube itself is two sections, and everything cements together well.

But wait, does it fit? Why yes, it does!

Now, moving to the front of the compressor section, the Barracudacast intake fan is a marked improvement for the model. I used AMS’s intakes to improve the kit items, and the fan and ducting all come together nicely. A bit of Bare metal Tamiya paint, some Tamiya or other panel line wash to bring out the detail (pop that), and the overall appearance is greatly improved on your scooter.

I will say I fit-checked and photographed the item as it was intended, for the standard A-4 tail. HOWEVER, I am using this particular review item in a method not intended BUT appropriate, I.e. for the Israeli A-4 anti-MANPAD extension which saved the lives of several pilots and their aircraft during some of the middle-eastern conflicts these jets participated in.

This modification extended the tail section of the A-4 so any anti-aircraft heat-seeking Man portable missile would not necessarily take off the tail section of the jet. It would damage the extension, while not necessarily causing a compressor stall when the weapon detonated and sent a massive pressure wave down the exhaust. It worked in theory and practice for the A-4 community at the time. KISS at it’s finest.

As I am building an Israeli A-4 with my hard-earned, I contemplated and found you can carefully Dremel the BC outer tailpipe section off, and the remaining cooling jacket fits easily within the available 1/32 Israeli A-4 extension, which means the actual jet engine orifice is about 1/2” down inside the extension.

I hereby pronounce this item a vital improvement for your A-4, no matter what nationality. Support Roy and his efforts, it’s worth the cash and the appearance is much more realistic with this upgrade.

Thanks to Roy at Barracuda Studios for developing this set, and providing it to IPMS USA for review. I’m putting it to good use!