Category Archives: naval aviation

And the opening salvo . . . . the ES-3A Shadow

es-3a-over-the-stern.jpg

The ES-3A Shadow came and went faster than probably any other U.S. Navy carrier jet with the possible exception of the F7U Cutlass or F-11F Tiger.

As for kits of this delightfully ugly twin jet, AMT-Ertl managed to issue a 1/48 scale kit based on the old ESCI 1/48 S-3A Viking before deciding that die cast John Deere and plastic car kits were their bread and butter. That was a crying shame, as most longtime modelers will attest, since AMT had come out with some really nice 1/48 and 1/72 aircraft models – both original moldingsĀ and repops – that were affordable and well detailed.

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