picknpluck

Over the last couple of days, I've been fiddling with the landing gear and the gear doors (freakin' red door edges!). And now I'm at the weathering stage. I still need to do the exhaust nozzles too. I posted this pic on Facebook and someone pointed out the stakes were supposed to be white, not grey. ...so I fixed it. ...and here's where I've left off.

More progress today! Decals are frim Fightertown.

The forward fuselage is buttoned up, primed, and masked. The radome was painted with MRP 34079.

Haha thanks Gerry! Here's some of those oil leaks for you

Thanks!

This is Hasegawa's 1/48 F/A-18D that I converted to an ATARS bird with the Model Art conversion kit. Markings are Flying Leathernecks Decals with MAW Decals data stencils and Super Scale Walkways. The Litening Pod on the centerline came with the ATARS conversion; the GBU-38 is Eduard, and the GBU-12 is Tamiya. It was painted with Mr. Color 36320/36375 and MRP for most of the rest. Weathering was done with oils, Tamiya Panel Line washes, and Prismacolor pencils.

Here's the cockpit. I used Steel Beach GRU-7 seats, which were nice and crisp. The new F-14 data sheet from Fightertown has nice instrument panel decals sized for Tamiya and I used them here. And if course the obligatory nose gear bay pic. Nothing special here beyond a sludge wash with oils and a Molotow pen for the chrome struts.

So far so good, Kurt! I have had similar experiences going back to Model Master after getting spoiled by the likes of MRP and Mr. Color. But Model Master is still tough to beat with color accuracy and availability!

I got the Bronco set but haven't built it yet. The resin isn't bad...we'll see how the build goes, when I get around to it.

This is cool!

Fitting the Steel Beach NACA gun vent. The fit isn't perfect, but it doesn't take much work at all to get it right.

Yes, the fit on these Tamiya Tomcats is THAT good! If you haven't built one yet, you're in for a treat when you do get around to building one.

Ok, not too much of an update, but I did get the camo knocked out on the wings and horizontal stabs.

A guy named James Resch posted these on the USMC F-4 Phantoms Facebook page. Pretty sure they're his personal photos.

The dirt is clinging to fluid leaks/buildup