Tinkering around with Hobbyboss’s 1/48 A-4E kit. Anybody know what the pod on the spare parts is? Looks like a drop tank, no fins, and the front is cut away at an angle with a rounded cap inside the cut off. My SWAG is some sort of optcal targeting/ tracking pod for the HOBO bomb, but I havent seen an aircraft with HOBO and one of these. (And somethingthe size of a 300 gallon tanks would be noticable.)
A photo would be useful tim, but is it the refueling pod. I think the turbine blades for power are included on the same sprue…May also be the hump for the A-4M…
If it’s on the weapons/ordnance sprue, it could be one of the FLIR pods carried by A-7s. They are about the same size as a 300 gallon drop tank. I’ve never seen photos of one carried by an A-4 though.
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That’s IT! Didn’t say it was on an A-4, just it was in the kit.Was wondering what it was so I could fgure out what to hang it on. Knew it wasnt a buddy stores, unless the drouge came out the front. Didnt have time to add a pic when I initially posted.
I read on one review that the weapons sprue for the A-4 was basically the one HB included in their earlier A-7 release. So some items are not relevant to the A-4…
It’s a USN item. I do believe that some foreign users of the A-7 also used the pod. But not the USAF. The GBU-8 HOBO did not require a pod, being fully self sufficient like the AGM-65A Maverick for its optics, fire and forget.
Navy did play with HOBO. Have a couple photos from NOTS China Lake with them. Not sure if they they were doig some eval for USAF or if the Navy was thinking about using t too. Last pic is an A-7 with a HOBO and a Walleye. Check out graffiti on the first pic. 
That is the avionic bay.
No! It’s NOT. Somebodyelse stuck the drawing with the wrong thing circled up. It’s the FLIR pod.