[firefighterpilot1]

This is a question that only David H. may know the answer to, but I'll put it out there anyway. I am looking at buying both versions of the VA-35 A-6's and after looking at them I noticed they have different paint on the nose (there is a lot less black area on the KA-6D nose and the refueling probe is black as well). Is this just a tanker thing or just a slight variation in the paint scheme? Just wondering if there's a reason.

[David Hingtgen]

Nose/glareshield: Slight variation in the paint scheme, likely caused by a replacement nosecone. You'll see it a lot on VF-84's planes of the times, though it's more subtle.

::edit:: Found more pics, it seems to be a decently common variation. But it could also be partly due to a nosecone change.

Refueling probe: black ones are an uncommon, random thing on the A-6. But I have a pic of AJ520 of that era with a fully/correctely painted nose/glareshield, and the probe's still black.

[firefighterpilot1]

yeah, swapped cones makes sense as that's where the cutoff line is. The black probe is still odd to me though, I've never seen one any other color than the body color on an A-6.