mcaulk

Marke, Who did you order yours from? Thanks for the comments, Mike

Thanks Ken, In your research have you come across any pics of Remove Before Flight flags on the GRU7A? Would like to attach some but am clueless as to where? Regards, Mike

Snowed today in Michigan, school was canceled so I worked on the ol' GRU7. Still a long way to go. The stock lower pull handle needs to be replaced (way fat!) A bunch of tubing and wires need to be installed and I have to do this all over again for the rear seat. I'll included some progress pics with more to follow later. Flattened the cushions and painted them "Sac Bomber Tan" Actually have uncovered pictures of at least 4 different style of cushions so if you stay away from hot pink you should be ok. The buckles are a tad small for this scale. They are Eduards 1/32nd scale seem c

Mareku, Thanks for the kind words. I teach high school and sometimes the job is so intense that I have little time for the Cat. Mike

Ken, That’s ok Ken I'll do it the ol' trial and error method... thanks for the encouragement. Mike

Actually it is home made. Easy just go on line and google "making your own icons or avatars" and follow the instructions. And thanks for the kind words. Mike

Spent last two days working on the ejection seat. The original pleated cushions were replaced with a more fabric version. (See earlier pics) I have seen quite a variety in colors ranging from tan to olive to a dark green. Taking a tip from chuck540z3 I formed the individual cushions with 2 Part Epoxy Putty. Stuff is great. Once you kneed it together you have about 15 minutes to shape, cut and finish it. After that it begins to harden. Next day you can sand it! Chuck used some sort of medical tape to imprint a fabric pattern. I tried this with mixed results then I thought... "why not

I'm in Ann Arbor Michigan. Hope to have some pics up this weekend. Till then take care. Mike

Hey thanks for the tip. I worked on it over the weekend using standard Evergreen plastic stock and was able to fashion a couple of the buckles. It is just slow going. Thanks for the Michael's tip I'll drop by. Regards, Mike

Chuck, Your F-14 office looks like a photo of the real thing... just outstanding! I will go with the glue treatment and maybe get some pics up this weekend. Still scratching my head on the buckles. I have a few items left over from a cannibalized 1/18 F-86. I'll inventory my old etched metal stuff. Thanks, Mike

You are right on. Most of the pics I have are what you describe. I do have some really great detail shots with the ribs but the seats are out of the plane and look like pictures taken at the Martin Baker factory so they were probably really early in the planes life. Wood glue huh like Elemers carpenter glue? Thanks, Mike P.S. Any Ideas on how to fabricate the buckles? I enlarged some scans of a Tecnikes 32nd scale set for a pattern but have never tried to create buckles from scratch???

Its actually not a kit. It comes mostly assembled and pre-painted. Got mine from: http://www.aikensairplanes.com/jsi%20models/jsi-60007.htm ...they are not cheap but if you want a monster Tomcat worth the cost. Regard, Mike

Will be happy to post em' as we go. Thanks for the kind words. Regards, Mike

Yea would probably be difficult if not impossible even at 32nd. The Tamyia tape is really super thin, tough and easy to bend. You might get away with it in 1/32 but for sure not 48th. Regards, Mike

I'm looking as well. The pilot is a 120mm Verlinden figure. He is amazingly well detailed but to big for the 1/18 scale Tomcat. I just included him to get a little mood. He is shot well behind the seat which makes it look bigger but he is way to large for this scale. Have been considering reworking my BBi F-18 Pilot into a master for resin casting. I have done mods like this in the past only to have someone release it commercially 2 months later. Was kind of waiting on JSI who is rumored to be making flight crew for the big bird. Let's hope. Regards, Mike

Thanks Ken, Tried a new method. Used Tamyia masking tape painted black and then cut in thin strips. After wrapping sealed with flat acrylic finish. Easier and quicker than other methods I have tried. Regards, Mike

Spent the day re-working the ejection seat. A few shots with the stock seat for comparison. Added more detail, texture and padding to the upper cushion area. Weathered with dry brush and pastels. Also thinned out the way oversize pull handles and repainted stripes. Now waiting harness, buckles and hoses. With a VF-111 driver ready to fly!

I plan on converting one of these into a "D" but since I teach high school that project will have to wait for summer. Scratching out the GE engines would not be that difficult but time consuming. If I do it I want to build them as master for resin casting so they can be reproduced and I won't ever have to do it again. I am secretly hopping someone will beat me to it. LOL Regards, Mike

Began today with the mundane task of closing the seams along the rear Beaver Tail of the big cat. No way around it... is just work but worth the effort. Here is a before and after shot to illustrate. Before After I pulled the ejection seats out and began gathering reference material. The seats are the right shape and size just begging for detail. At a minimum the face curtain pull handles need to be replaced as the factory version are way thick and poorly painted. The cushions are in need of detail and certainly harness and belts should to be added. The little version is a 1/4

Spent the evening finishing the second air intake. The stock product is just to thick to look at. Hate filing and sanding but a necessary evil. Here's the real thing. The tails were are made to stand straight up but on real Tomcats we know they are slanted outboard. Application of a hot hair dryer and careful bending of the mounting tabs did the trick. Will require some filling and sanding when the tails are permanently joined. As mentioned earlier this is a pre-painted pre-assembled display model and they do not fill the seams and joints so the modeler has to do it retroactively.

Not sure but when viewing it not in close up pics they look pretty much to scale. That is not the case with some of these 1/18th birds. I have a 21st Century F-86 Sabre torn apart and all panel lines have been sanded down to the level of a 48th scale bird. Lot of work but much improved. Remember these are just glorified toys so to bring them up to scale modeling standards requires some effort. Thanks for the comments, Mike

Geed... Yea 1/18 is just in a class by itself. It has advantages and some not so good things. The reason I have been starting new threads is the site won't let me post more than 6 images per posting thus the cumbersome part 1,2 and so on. Please forgive my ignorance any clues how to combine without getting spit out? Thanks much, Mike

Ken, Thanks for the kind words. I like to use super glue. Run a short bead then very lightly sprinkle baking soda onto it. Not too much then a little more glue till the gap is filled. I start filing and sanding right away as super glue will harden into concrete in an hour. Process is quick and gives good results. Regards, Mike

Began today with the mundane task of closing the seams along the rear Beaver Tail of the big cat. No way around it... is just work but worth the effort. Here is a before and after shot to illustrate. Before After I pulled the ejection seats out and began gathering reference material. The seats are the right shape and size just begging for detail. At a minimum the face curtain pull handles need to be replaced as the factory version are way thick and poorly painted. The cushions are in need of detail and certainly harness and belts should to be added. The little version is a 1/4

Smack dab in the middle of my office. Would love to do one of these in a flight deck diorama that would be nice. Mike