Background

This sheet includes three Skyhawk aircraft -- one A-4M, one A-4KU, and one TA-4KU.

• The first aircraft on this sheet is from VMA-131 "Diamondbacks". This was the last US Marine combat Skyhawk, retired in August of 1994. It is a middle-production A-4M with the ARBS camera fitted into the nose. The paint scheme was designed and applied by a couple friends of mine, Ed Miranda and Gary Campbell. They wanted to commemorate the retirement of the Skyhawk by taking the aircraft back to the days of high-vis markings. The result of their labor was nothing short of spectacular. I have included below a few pictures of the actual aircraft for your enjoyment.
  
  
• The second aircraft is an A-4KU Skyhawk of the Royal Kuwaiti Air Force. Flown during Operation Desert Storm, these aircraft had the text "FREE KUWAIT" painted on their sides. I have never heard conclusively if this was a statement of who owned the aircraft or a statement of their mission.
   
• The third aircraft is a TA-4KU Skyhawk. While Hasegawa does not currently make a TA-4KU nor does Cutting Edge currently make a conversion, the decals would work just fine on the Monogram OA-4M kit.
  
  Note that while similar to an OA-4M Skyhawk, there are some unique differences between the TA-4KU and the OA-4M. The TA-4KU has bulged intakes like the A-4M, the OA-4M does not. In fact, the TA-4KU is the only new-build two-seat Skyhawk to get the bulged intakes. Also, the TA-4KU has no antennae around the nose tip or engine exhaust, where the OA-4M has the same antennae that the A-4M does.

This sheet includes two aircraft. Both are A-4M Skyhawks.

• The first aircraft on this sheet is from VMA-214 "Black Sheep". It is an early-production A-4M, still using the original A-4F-style nose tip and engine exhaust antennae. Note that the nose tip was newly replaced and does not match the color of the rest of the nose.
   
• The second aircraft is from VMA-311 "Tomcats". It is a middle-production A-4M, prior to when the ARBS camera was fitted in the nose. The following pictures are from the Ed Miranda archive and show good details on this aircraft.
  
  

• The second aircraft is from VMA-331 "Killer Bees". They are also known as the "Bumblebees", but don't let any of the unit personnel hear you call them that. This is a late-production "Super Mike" A-4M with all the latest modifications and antennae fitted. In fact, it is the third to last Skyhawk ever built. This picture shows the details of the aircraft.