plasticWerks_JL

Thanks for the tips, guys. dnl, what did you use as a primer/base coat? I'll probably go for tamiya flat white over their light grey for contrast. This and my F-20 are getting gaps filled and sanded, hopefully they'll be ready for paint by the weekend.

Thanks Falcon, I agree this is one interesting jet. I just hope the white paint and huge decals don't give me too much trouble, lol

Thanks, Draggie, I almost picked up that A-10 sheet as well, and still might. I splurged on a bunch of decals a few weeks ago for some future projects. Hope to update this one soon!

Some time ago I pulled my Nellis Viper build from the stash and took a long look at it. After doing a good amount of research on the F-16, I discovered that the Hasegawa kit I'm using isn't accurate for the Block 52 variant provided on the TwoBobs decals, so those markings went back in the stash for another day. Next, I figured out that I could build a Block 25 with what I had left, so I dove back into this project, going in a new direction. I picked up a Microscale F-16 sheet, and I'll be using the decals for the 122nd FW "Blacksnakes", Indiana ANG to complete this Viper. I also wanted to tr

One of my two builds in progress for the the Test Birds GB is the 1:72 X-29 from Hasegawa. Just like my F-20, this one is OOB. So far, the fuselage is together, and there's more to come soon. Thanks for looking Cockpit: Fuselage: Ejections seats (R - X-29, L - F-20)

One of my builds for the the Test Birds GB is the 1:72 F-20 from Hasegawa; a simple OOB build. So far I have the fuselage buttoned up, more pics to come soon. Thanks for taking a peek Cockpit: Fuselage:

I know what you mean, and to me, this can sometimes mean there's less incentive for more 'casual' sellers to follow through. Most of us have seen posts about unreliable and unethical ebay seller behavior, etc, so sometimes it's important to mention a positive experience.

I consider receiving a free replacement set of decals at my door two days after logging my complaint pretty good CS, sure. Honestly, it would've taken longer to receive it from Hannants overseas anyway. Matter of fact, I've had an experience where a decal manufacturer ignored my e-mails about an order I placed for almost two months (after waiting two months to receive them), so relative to that, I made out okay on this one. I get what you were saying, and you might have even made a point, just chill

FWIW: I mixed some homemade thinner for Tamiya acrylics not too long ago using distilled water, 91% IPA, a few drops of acrylic retarder, and Vallejo flow improver, and am getting really good results (I use Tamiya for base coats and spraying white). For final coats, I use MM Acryl, and the same formula needed extra flow improver to stop from clogging the tip of my airbrush. I mixed some Acryl thinner using distilled water, 70% IPA, the retarder and flow improver, and spraying Acryl is a breeze. I masked over it a bit with tape and poster putty, and didn't have any issues with pulling up paint

Just wanted to put this out in the world: I ordered a discontinued Microscale decal sheet from Hannants a couple weeks ago, and when it came in, there was a printing error on one of the markings. There was what can only be described as an ink run on one of the larger, colorful decals on the sheet (F-16 tail art), that ran into a couple of the stencils. The only decal that appeared affected was the one with the run, but I contacted Hannants to see about exchanging the sheet. Long story short, they put me in touch with Microscale, and after a couple quick e-mails back and forth, they found a r

A belated thanks for the replies. I actually have both a Hasegawa F-14A and HB F-14D in the stash. Looks like HB is the way to go for a decent looking Tomcat that's not too finicky.

I crapped out on my other GB projects, and lost some mojo over the holidays. Trying to get back into the swing of things I've started a 1:72 Hasegawa F-20 Tigershark and X-29. Both will be strictly OOB, and I'll get some build threads and pics up when I finish the cockpits. Looking forward to this one.

How are the Revell Tomcats in terms of kit quality and accuracy? I could be interested in the F-14D (1:72) if priced right for quick builds. Is it a rerelease from another manufacturer?

Seconded, please... Would really like to get those red-tailed Alabama jets in gentleman's scale

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I was able to remedy the silvering somewhat, and I'm not going to worry about it too much more. Honestly, I fizzled out a bit and stepped away from the bench for the last week or so. I won't get to do any building for another week or so more, but when the mojo comes back, I'll hit it with some future and see what the end result is.

Thanks a lot for the advice, everyone. I will work on getting a better gloss coat, for sure; it's still a technique I'm figuring out as I haven't gotten to this stage on too many kits. Just curious, but how long after applying the decals do you all let them dry before applying the solvent? I do have some Micro Set that I didn't use under these decals, but after some research, I think I'll try it on another build. The Future techniques are interesting too, and I'll experiment with those as well. Maybe I'll do a side-by-side for these techniques on my next double Skyhawk build and compare

Hey fellow ARCer's, While applying decals on my A-4E, I ran into a problem with silvering on the squadron name and insignia (which sit over a larger decal on the fuselage): Discounting my terrible decal application of the blue stripe (it was a huge pain; with more time I would've preferred painting it), I need to try and correct this before moving forward. I'm hoping more experienced builders can provide some tips to minimize this silvering. The solutions I can think of are: - apply another coat of Solvaset (will enough coats eventually allow the air under the decals to escape as the de

A couple more Netflix recommendations: The Killing (crime drama; pacing is a little slow, but great acting/characters) Luther (another crime drama; only watched the first episode, but I'll be watching more) Black Mirror (Twilight Zone-style series about technology; really trippy) The Story of Film: An Odyssey (Documentary about the history of film) The IT Crowd (sitcom; I just watched all 4 seasons in the past week; hilarious characters) My wife and I only use Netflix (no cable), and I'm always trying to find new stuff to watch. Good idea to start this thread, I'll be checking out some o

I'm not a very detailed builder right now, but once I get some more practice, I'd like to tackle a really involved project with aftermarket, scratchbuilding, etc. The way i figure it, building is half of the fun, so even if it's not seen, it can be enjoyable to go a little crazy with details. One thing I thought to do was take really high-quality pics for later reference. Print them out to go on the display shelf with the kits, or even make a small build booklet. That way the details aren't lost, and you can still satisfy your AMS.

Started playing with stickers on this one, always an enjoyable but nerve-wracking part of the build. Thanks to those who've been following along and commenting, more decal pics coming soon.

If you haven't already, check out The Orphanage by Guierellmo del Toro

I usually order a bulk of kits from them every year or two to save on shipping. Never any issues, they're legit. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that, for me, their website is really well done. Easy to navigate and access what your looking for. The wish list feature is especially nice there. Some smaller model retailers and aftermarket websites are truly headache-inducing.

Bump

Both colors are MM acrylic: jet exhaust and guards red. I'm not sold on the red; in person it's a bit dark. With a few more builds under my belt, I'll start tweaking my techniques and experimenting to be more accurate