FlyingLow

Since I am movin these posts from another forum I can do a little fast Forward. Tools for shaping wing profile: After couple of hours: Nose job was faster than expected. I used the original Revell nose, filled it with lead and the cut around 10 styren circles and glued them on. After overnight drying I put everything into electric drill and sanded to shape: Then followed a big decision, do I also correct the fuselage length or hope it will look OK. I was thinking that since I am already making such significant changes I better go all the way, so here I cut the Revell fuselage to half

The first step was to scratch build the wings and horizontal stabilizers. I only had 0.5 mm (0.20") styren so I had to laminate it. Four layers for wings and two for stabilizers. While that was drying I cut the mask: and outlined the wings: After some cuting and rough sanding the shape was ready. I am of course not 100% relying on blueprints but am also comparing to photos: Another one:

This is my first WIP on ARC. I am building this as part of a group build on another forum and since the project turned out to be anything else but easy and quick OOB. It also puts to rest the myth that all 144 builds are matter of few days - I just can;t let it go without complicating it Short history. I first purchased Academy kit and hoped for quick build. After opening the box it looked promising but somehow didn't look right. I didn't spend much time but got another kit, this time Revell since I had very good experience with their 144 kits. The disapointment was complete. Ok let's docu

And here few I made in the shade:

This is my last finished model of the year. And I must admit I didn't know much about it and why so many people are so in love with it (mostly of course those who live in that island close to Europe ;) ) As I was preparing and building it I started to like it very much too, the plane has very elegant lines. It is built OOB with decals from the box. For painting I used Model Master enamels, Alclad II for aluminum belly, oils for light weathering and covered everything with what I hope is satin finish mixed of MM flat and gloss lacquer. Here are few photos on the warm California sun:

I made it from wire I painted and since I use Future to make my canopies look better I just used Future to glue the cord on the inside. Once closed no way it can fall off. BTW. I managed to do it in 1/144 so in 1/24 should be easy.. it's hard to see on the picture below but it looks pretty good in person:

I am using Elmers (grayish white), sticks well enough and leaves no residue. Like zeus got mine at Target.

Yup, have to agree with everybody, very nicely done

Nice, you are building quite nice little fleet. BTW. I built one just like you are working on and posted some pics in Critique corner... and I agree these new Revell kits are real pleasure to put together.

Nice work Chris. I became big fan of 144 scale lately and it is pleasure to watch "serious" modeling on this little guy, resin, scratch buidling correcting the shape and such... :D

Interesting topic and very nicely built and finished.

Few more:

I found some time for another one of these small 1/144 scale models that really become to enjoy. Because I decided t open up the canopy I had to improve seats with some wire, tiny pieces of styren and some tap. BEFORE: AFTER: I decided for standard scheme and used decals from the box. Here are the pictures (unfortunately I took them under artificial light and they are not too good):

Nice built and very mean looking machine! It seems that contrast between dark and light greay is a bit stark, or is this because you took pictures on dark background and what looks like pretty strong light?

I used to use 1 because I thought I can get finer lines for camouflage etc. and was using 3 for primer, future and flat coats. After experimenting with it a little bit I found I can do everything with 3 tip and with much less problems - especially acrilycs.

Nicely done, good steam effect with the cotton. Since I am becoming big fan of 144 scale myself it is real treat to see so many now in the gallery.

Thanks guys. I decided not to do any weathering on this little guy. After looking at photos it seems that Germans kept these planes very clean and tidy and in this scale the engravings alone are quite visible. I did weather my previous one (Harrier) quite heavily and this is nice contract on my shelf. In this kit there were no orange decals for wing tanks, so I painted them with Testors Bright Orange enamel, it took probably 6-7 light layers to get good coverage.

After couple of months break I got back to modeling with this little guy just to get my skills back a little before tackling my large project again. Few photos: For scale comparison: And my big project? It is USS Ticonderoga carrier as in 1944 with complete air wing in 1/700, compared to 700 scale 144 is huge And just for the heck of it here with 1/48 bf-109:

Mike, that is a very good idea, I have to try it. BTW. What brand of silver do you use (I understand that MM never completely dries - but if you shoot enamel over probably doesn't matter)?

I can't decide what I like more, your build or the way you are presenting it, they are both excellent. I see your little helper got paint sprayed all over his face, make sure you give him mask next time and not just goggles

Thanks everybody, it means a lot to me, esspecialy because I saw many of your masterpieces here on forum. Some of these newer small 144th kits are really getting better and better and they are perfect if you don't have much time or if you need a break between larger projects.

Few more: For the end I made couple of shots to compare Harriers size to MiG 31, which is clearly huge beast: I hope you like it.

Hello Everybody, I've been modeling for some year and a half now and almost all this time this site has been a great inspiration and source of ideas. So, I finally decided to post my last model here. it's been very busy lately so I only had time for this little fella. It is out of the box build of US Marine Corps number one of the 231 Squadron known also as Ace of Spades. I added some minor scratch built components like seat belts, explosive cord for canopy, etc. Before I closed it up I made few pictures of the cockpit: Because of its stocky looks and big ears Harrierl looks best to

I am sure it can be done with some other techniques just as effectively, just for illustration I used it on this Spit exhaust: In a bit more extensive way I used it on a beaten up old fishing boat and it worked very well there. I am using enamels and that is working fine, considering how it reacted with Future there might be problems also using it over acrylics, but I didn't try that yet.

I am not really an expert but I tried it over the Future and it didn't work - it turned white. I was able to clean it off the Future with alcohol though, no damage done. No problems using it directly over MM enamels.