ShaunBD

Get the GR4 boxing, the pylons are different on the IDS and you will also get the larger underwing tanks in the GR4 kit.

Talking of matching paint, try and look at gunship gray. Photo's of this colour vary greatly and it can appear very dark or quite light!! Shaun.

Cheers,Both wheel types were use. What are the best aftermarket wheels in 1/48th? I was hoping the airbrake would drop a little, will make fitting it easier. Shaun.

Quick question to the A-7 Corsair fans. What style of front tyre was used on the USN A-7E, was it smooth around the edge of the tread pattern or did it have the segmented noches? Also what was the normal position of the airbrake on a parked A-7? Shaun.

Thanks for the link, will have a look. Do you know if the 494th have aircraft in the operation?

Can any confirm if the current F-15E load out for the Iraq ISIS operation is 5x BRU-61 with SDB's? I'm sure I read somewhere this is currently being loaded.

Thanks folks, thats the info I was looking for. Shaun.

Just checking if the model joint line is a joint/panel on the real thing. The Revell F-15E kit also joins along this line but there hard to see on the real jets. Ok, i think I'll rescribe after cleaning up the join. Shaun.

A quick question for the F-15 experts. Are the seams filled on the real aircraft along the joint between the nose and rear fuselage on the 1/48th Hasegawa F-15 kit? In photos the panel lines appear to very faint on the real jet. Shaun.

Painting has now started in earnest, white areas done and time to mask up for the main colors. Shaun

Amazing paint job, love the weathering!

That deck looks spot on,nice weathered finish.

The Hasegawa kit comes with the flaps set to half, on the real Hornet they normally droop to full with the power off. I bent the flap hinges to lower the angle of the flaps, it can be done but take your time. The Revel kit does not have dropped flaps so would require a lot of work and cutting to lower them. Shaun.

I would not recommend the Humbrol primer, I won't be using it again! Get Mr Surfacer if you can, I've used it on other models with nice results. Shaun.

After a break for other things (RIAT Airshow and my little boy's birthday) I've finally got round to making progress on the Hornet. I've finally started to paint the build, this one has fought a little to get to this stage. I tried Humbrol no1 primer on this one, what a mistake! It sprayed O.K, but dried to a very course finish. Normal a quick rub with some cloth will buff up the surface, not this stuff! I had to wet and dry sand the whole model and then the residue dried to a hard paste which then needed sanding and washing again. Anyway here is the model after all the hassle with the pr

Its only a mock up, the fins will be set later Shaun.

Time for an update- all small parts and details now done and its time to start painting. Here's the model in the mock up stage, before breaking down for priming and painting. Hopefully the colours I have chosen will match the real deal? Shaun

Time for a small update-Although progress looks slow I've been doing a lot of small work! The kits undercarriage doors have numerous ejection pin marks on their inside faces, so out with the filler and sandpaper I've also spruced up the kit PE part for the front wheel bay by adding some small plastic card blocks and adding larger wire on the PE part. You can also see the Wolfpack front bulkhead part which covers what would be a seam if the kits parts were used Intake area has now also been cleaned up and rescribed. Flare buckets have been added and the center line pylon has been resha

I was thinking of applying the kits walk way decals as a guide to later dusting/weathering the area. Shaun

Many thanks Brian, they will be a great help. I also had the disappearing post syndrome, The photo's of the work on the flap disappeared so I added it again. Quick question, It appears that they have over painted the antislip LERX areas with the camo paint, whats the best way to represent this? Shaun.

Spent the week getting the hi lift devices sorted out on my build. The Hasegawa kit provided a great set of dropped surfaces, but they are not 100% accurate. My AMS had kicked in, so I've tried to resolve a few small issues. The leading edge flaps on the real jet hinge downwards but on the kit when you set them down, it leaves a gap along the hinge area. To fix this problem I filled the slot. By using Vallejo water based putty you can just wipe away the excess with a cotton bud and leave the surfaces detail undamaged. If you use tape to protect the surrounding area it also saves a lot of cl

Cheers, it would be great to have a walk round of the jet Do you want my e-mail and send a file? Shaun.

Hi Brian, Thanks for the reply. I was in no way knocking your excellent work but that was the only photo's I could find of 07, so I presumed it had allways be painted that way. Thanks for the offer of the spare star(be easier to paint/decal the solid star anyway) but now I know your decals are correct for the time frame I'm happy to build it as it appeared 2007-2009. If you have any more ref shots, I would be very greatfull if you could send them? Cheers Shaun.

Looking like a Hornet now. The nose cone was replaced with the Wolfpack update set item. This is a nice casting, it has the IFF bird slicers molded on and the IFR probe is open. The side vents have been filled to represent the newer mesh type and are replaced by a neat set of decals I've also filled the LEX vents(green dots), these will also be replaced by decals from the Wolfpack set. You can see the GPS dome has been added to the spine. Now time to work on the fiddly bits like the undercarriage and tackle the flaps Shaun.

Very nice!!, that looks great. Hope my effort looks that good, any tips on your build? Shaun.