vesthepes

No winners were ever pronounced for this one, right?

Great to be back. Thanks for making it happen.

Great GB, big thanks to Vince for the opportunity. It's been a pleasure.

1:48 Trumpeter J-8II, PLAAF. #81192 from the Hainan Island incident

Thanks guys! Last photos before putting it to gallery. Still have some details to take care off; the canopy, parts of the landing gear and finish it with a photo session. Unfortunately I haven't had enough time to finish the Sabre before the dead line. Took me a lot of hours these days to finish this one... Thanks for looking in

The decals are on...

Hvala Dragane I used X-1 Tamiya white but over a dark brown panel line pre-shading. I also masked some panels to break the one tone effect. next step decals, weathering, landing gear, PL-8s and a whole bunch of details... stay tuned

...and a few more

Hi guys After some time,back with some photos of progress. Hope to catch the deadline on time... Thanks for looking in. cheers

The Sabre's in one piece...

The finback is finally glued together. The fit is... well ok, considering the size of the fuselage... Usual spots that needs some filler and sanding... and a cockpit shot... thanks for looking in

Thanks guys, I appreciate your comments... No major work on the cockpit. I only used a kit decal for the instruments on the IP. Not a perfect match with plastic dials below, but still ok enough. Thanks mungo1974 for showing us the photo. That's exactly the camo I'll be doing on the "Dragon". A lot of paint wear visible, no stencils and markings on sand color only... Thanks for the heads up Diego ;)

OK, here's a start... thanks for looking in...

Thanks for the comments guys. RKic, actually it is not pre-painted... I did it myself. And I know what you mean, I've seen some pre-painted Eduard PE I didn't like... Oh, the Finback is a real beast... when I thought Fitter is huge... Check out the beastie boys

Thanks chaps That's right B, this one had quite a funky camo... Thanks Diego. I am looking forward to start this... right now it is just basic analysis.. The first thing that comes to mind are the different front wheels on Sabres... Dragon and other Philippinos had a full hub wheel. I'll take some photos of the one packed in the Revell box and the aftermarket ones... seems like they're all off. Yeah, the salt technique. I like that quite a lot... I've tried it before on a scuffed arctic red tail F-84G and I hope I pull it off on this one too. cheers

Hi everyone Besides the J-8II Finback I've decided to go with a second GB entry... It is going to be a Philippine Air Force F-86E painted in 3 tone camo used in COIN role in Mindanao in 1974 fighting MNLF rebel forces... Big thanks to Diego from Hi-Decal for many useful info regarding the mentioned subject... cheers, Vasko

Some small progress on the Finback... The kit itself is very nice with great details... but the sinkholes... The fuselage halves fit quite ok... here's a shot of the cockpit... till next time... cheers

Well, not that I like it, but these are an option too Jaish al-Islam L-39 #1 Jaish al-Islam L-39 #2

Awesome stuff, wonderful prizes... that should be more than a great motivation... thanks a lot to the sponsors...

Nice subject B, I love the Alouette. Nice work on it too, looking forward to more of this.

Hi guys Had a few hours of spare time, that's what came out of it... I like the IP but the side panels still look weird though...

Excellent MiG Dragane, I love the last two photos...

Thanks Martin Ok, I have received the PE, traveled a bit more than a week from China to EU. Record time I guess... It isn't much, somewhat like the price... most of it is ladder, which kind of doesn't budge me. But the IP looks great and that's what I was looking for I guess.

Thanks Darwin. Usually I use turpentine and oil paints but in this case it is MIG dark brown wash. Basically the same... Vasko

;) that's it, right? I just couldn't resist waiting anymore longer for those PE parts to arrive, so I decided to start with the work not including the cabin... Yup, it's one of those kits... Anyway, the inside of the exhaust looks weird anyway, and not much will be visible once closed up... A bit of masking tape is the easiest way to deal with this. In this case at least.. and the painting of the interior... till next time... cheers