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Flyboy3394

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Everything posted by Flyboy3394

  1. She is done! Lots of things could be better, but I am overall pretty happy with the result!
  2. Update: More decaling done, and I am just about finished as far as i can tell. Under Fuselage fuel tank is all decaled and ready for clear coat: I did a dry fitting of all the wing station tanks and weapon pylons. Very tight fit but all looks good. Bit of a bummer that spraying the clear coat over the black bits made the paint bleed. Wondering if there is an easy fix for this.... Next step: seal up all the decals and prepare for the panel wash. Missiles still need to be decaled, and
  3. Update! Got it clear coated, and decaled! Looking pretty good overall. The wingtip stations continually break off, so I recently glued them back on and did a rough paint job over them. Hopefully i can find a way to make the bad paintjob and clean break less noticable on the final product. From here, its just enamel wash, gluing on weapon stations and missiles, and a final dull coat to seal it all up! Anyone have a good suggestion for a mount I could use for this? Its in gear up configuration, s
  4. pdate: Exhaust Added some heat stain coloration today (Alclad Hotmetal red/blue): The reds and blues came out a bit too dark, so I went over it with some Aclad Stainless Steel: Next up is fixing the broken off wingtips and then FINALLY clear coating, decaling, and washing. Jesus its been a long road with this.
  5. Thanks! I have found it is ALL in the gloss coat you lay down first. if its smooth, the NMF comes out really nice. As far as taping, how de-tacked does the tape need to be? I really would ratherf not have to restart all this because I get lifting.
  6. Update: Exhausts are in the painting process! First Coat of Alclad Steel and a little bit of Stainless Steel: I will be clear coating this, and doing a variety of hotmetal shades and colors, mainly red and blue for heat stains.
  7. Update: More decaling done, and I am just about finished as far as i can tell. Under Fuselage fuel tank is all decaled and ready for clear coat: I did a dry fitting of all the wing station tanks and weapon pylons. Very tight fit but all looks good. Bit of a bummer that spraying the clear coat over the black bits made the paint bleed. Wondering if there is an easy fix for this.... Next step: seal up all the decals and prepare for the panel wash. Missiles still need to be decaled, and
  8. Update: Got the Vertical Stabs Decaled. Though, without a base coat of paint or clear coat, the decals refused to stick. So I got them all on, and sprayed some spray can clear coat. Things have stuck, and I will apply a more refined clear coat after. Painted the black bits, and they came out quite well. Need to seal it up with clear coat, as it is just gloss primer. But so far, so good.
  9. Update: Decided to strip the crappy black decals and paint them. I used ALclad black gloss microprimer as it would level better than, and dry faster, than standard MM enamels. Came out nice and smooth, and I think I was able to keep it covered long enough to avoid debris getting imbedded into it too deeply. Meantime anyone have recommendations on a good 1/72 FA18E/F decal sheet? I ruined a few other decals in this process and need to replace them. Will begin decaling Missiles and other bits next.
  10. Update: Decaling has begun, and I have found that the provided decals are extremely stiff, unwieldy, and prone to ripping. The large black decals shown below are extremely difficult to place correctly. Makes me wish I had just painted those sections black. These decals are Academy branded, and a far cry from the Cartograph branded decals included with the F15E strike eagle I build late last year. Those were easy to use and very solid. Decals: Will be continuing this tonight and until I finish. Also not going to do salt weatheri
  11. Update: Sidewinders painted: Landing Gear bay painted: AMRAAMs also painted and awating clear coat: Clear Coat: First coat did NOT go on smooth, but as I am doing salt weathering, it shouldn't be such a big deal. Got the gun section painted in a custom mix of MM enamel steel, RN Dark grey and burnt metal: Next up will be salt weathering. No clue what I am doing with this, but it seems like if I take my time, I will be fine. Stay Tuned....
  12. Update: Canopy is masked and ready for some gloss black paint. Update: Got the Canopy painted and curing: Radome done as well: Front gear bay painted as well: Sidewinders are ready for decals (post curing): And got the gear built: I know there is some kind of red striping on the front landing gear, but cannot, for the life of me, find any pictures that show the backside of the gear. Aside from this, I will likely go with some enamel steel to denote the
  13. Update: The postshading came out really bad, at second glance, so I went back over it and covered it all up (on the top). Looks uneven, but not ridiculous like with the squiggly lines. Landing gear bay doors are complete as well Next is cockpit masking, nose painting, and curing.
  14. Update: Postshading Took my first stab at postshading today. Did not come out clean or orderly, but I am not concerned due to this F18 being a very dirty bird. Also have all the AMRAAMs white tips painted as well. Next: Curing, landing bays, and random bits.
  15. Update: Topside base coat is down: Note the blotchiness all over the top. This was done purposefully to add some weathering effect, like salty air eroding at the paint unevenly. It came out ok, but once I add the postshading effects, and addition weathering, I think it will end up looking at bit better at the end. Next: Postshading top and bottom, and additional weathering effect (maybe salt crystals). Landing gear bays, doors and the gear itself also need to be coated in White and LG Grey. Stay Tuned.....
  16. Update: Finally just about ready to lay down a topcoat and begin decaling. Fixed the mistakes with the wingtips and added the light grey bit on the rightside vertical stab (you'll see what I mean). Overall pretty decent, but there was, somehow, some paint bleed under the masking tape! And also some peeling from the masking tape on my precious CAMO! Beginning to feel like every step forward I take, another step back occurs. Likely going to just finish this build up as is and call the damaged bits "weathering". Not givi
  17. Update: Bird is primed and half painted: Primed in Alclad grey primer. Looks extremely close to if not identical to the Light Ghost Gray MM enamel I used on the bottom half. Light Ghost Gray MM Enamel: Coat came out pretty smooth and adhered well to the primer. 2 AIM-120s are done: 2 others are mostly finished (paint wise) but need a second coat as the acrylic MM I used was runny and the coat is uneven. Next: Topside of the airframe, Canopy masking and painting (gloss black), a second
  18. Update: Puttying was complete, then I noticed that the nose was unsecured on the lower section, so it would come apart slightly and the putty had not properly adhered to the plastic, so I applied more putty, and cemented the inside of the LG bay to hold the nose on. Weapons (mostly) painted. Most won't be used, aside from 2 AIM-9x and 6-7 AIM-120s. LAUs in there for good measure. Will update with those pictures, as well as the bird fully primed and ready for paint.
  19. Update 1: Cockpit tub and displays are painted and in. Almost done with final assembly Fitment issues with the nose section, very uncharacteristic of these new tooling Academy snapfit kits So I used plastic cement to get it attached evenly, and slapped putty on to fill in the gap: Weapon Mounts! Decided to use the resin dual LAU launchers from Attack Squadron, and attach them to the pylon meant for the 500lb JDAM: And here it is after gluing the resin to the plastic
  20. Quick question so I don't have to start another thread. Do planes fly combat missions with fancy paintjobs like the Jolly Rogers below?
  21. Decided to go with Academy's new FA-18F Super Hornet (new tooling). Going to build this as an air to air specific interceptor with all air to air missiles (6-8 Aim-120C/D and 2x AIM-9X). Weapons spread will be 2x Sidewinders on wingtips, 2x AMRAAMS each on two underwing dual LAU 115 launchers, and two AMRAAMS on single LAU 127 launchers. May put another 2x AMRAAMS on additional single LAU 127s on each wing for 8 AMRAAMS total (less realistic build). Using the Hasegawa Weapons 5 kit for most of the AIM-120s and the LAUs. I do have the option of using the Attack Squadron ones I purchased, but I
  22. Another quick query. How would I modify this kit (for future ref.) to have the flaps down. I have seen others do so with this kit, but do not want to cut into it without at least a little know how.
  23. Thanks Falcon! And thanks again for your advise and help through the build. It is much appreciated!
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