ChipJean

If you're gonna be critical, at least share your knowledge and tell him what's wrong and how he can fix it. By the way, you misspelled totally.

Finished my C-141B in the gray/white "City of Charleston" markings. The kit is ok, nothing special, but the decals are beautiful and really make the model. Pics posted in The Display Case.

First airbrushed them with Tamiya lacquer gloss black decanted from the spray can, then Alclad stainless steel and finally a protective coat of Alclad aqua gloss before I masked them off for the rest of the paint job.

Out of the box with Caracal decals. It's a very basic kit with no interior detail or options. Fit isn't wonderful but not bad either so no constructions issues that a competent kit assembler can't handle. Gray paint is Model Master ADC gray (not AMC gray) enamel. The white is a base of Testors flat white oversprayed with Tamiya laquer gloss white decanted from the spray can and shot through my Badger 150. While the paint scheme looks easy, it took a fair amount of masking including the tricky area around the aerial refueling port and the curve under the rear where the cheat lines meet. In addi

True Details cockpit, Model Master paints, kit decals. A nice little kit, no constructions problems that I didn't cause myself. Kit decals worked as well as any aftermarket set, I just soaked them in hot water then used only MIcroSet for a setting solution. They into and over surface detail in minutes and dried much thinner they seemed on the paper. For airbrushing, I got the best results from my 30+ year old Badger 150 with the fine needle and tip. My Sotar 20/20 and Badger 100 side feed were disappointments, both being too finicky and constantly clogging. I used a Grex XGI for the green and

Out of the box, Model Master paints, Caracal decals. Definitely not a shake-and-paint build but not awful either. The kit comes with a large photo-etch sheet which includes all the screens you see on the model and seat belts for the cockpit and cabin

I build mostly out of the box but in this case I wanted to replace the props, which just didn't look right to me, and the vinyl tires, which I hate. But then I went on a spree (for me) and ended up getting a bunch of aftermarket stuff: Contact Resine props, spinners and tires; Grand Phoenix cockpit; SAC metal landing gear Quick Boost gun barrels; and Zotz decals. Construction was a bit tricky. There are complete engines that can't be fully displayed without cutting some panels but they will be partially visible through some openings so at least a half-assed effort is required there. All contr

Only kit mod was some generic PE seat harnesses, otherwise out of the box. No fit problems but there were quite a few sink marks on the wings and a few on the fuselage. Painted with Model Master enamels. Kit decals used throughout and they worked beautifully.

Hasegawa's 1/72nd scale F-16N. Verlinden resin seat, lead foil seatbelts with Model Technologies buckles, other Model Technologies bits around the cockpit, and ACMI pod scratched from a toothpick, lead foil and a straight pin. While not as nice as Tamiya's F-16, the Hasegawa kit holds up well for its age with no build issues. Decals, on the other hand, were a bit testy which is an occasional problem with Hasegawa decals. Using Mr. Setter/Mr. Softer, the first decal wrinkled up into a ball so after some experimenting the best solution was a little water and a little MicroSet on the model, appl

Kinetic 1/48 F-5B in Canadian markings making it a CF-116D. I replaced the kit seats with Wolfpack resin seats and replaced the plastic pitot with telescoping rod & tube. Rest of the kit is stock. I was thinking this would bean easy build but it turned out to be much tougher than I expected. Not that it's a bad kit, it's not; good detail, plenty of options, and decent fit. It just turned out to be more complicated than I expected with a 6 piece fuselage plus inserts and 8 pieces to the intakes. Paint is Model Master, metal areas are Alclad. The decal sheet is gorgeous, almost worth the p

It's my own fault. I bought and then decided to build this thing. My expectation from a Roden kit is decent plastic but lousy decals. With this kit however, initial impression was reversed. The decals looked good on the sheet, almost Cartograph quality. I was hopeful. The plastic, on the other hand, looked like a bad, early '90s limited run kit. Thick, rough plastic; lots of flash; heavy sprue attachment points; no locating pins; poorly formed small parts; vague and inconsistent recessed panel lines. And yet I went ahead with the build. Before construction could begin, all parts had to be res

Out of the box. A largely trouble-free build, except for the intakes, which are usually a problem for jet models anyway. Model Master paints w/Raptor Sheen mixed into the 2 darker grays to try to get that metallic sheen seen on the Raptor when the light hits is just right. I tried several paint to Raptor Sheen ratios but couldn't get the effect I wanted. Kit decals were printed by Cartograph and were excellent.

Out of the box with Xtradecals. It's a nice little kit, especially for the price. Definitely not a "Shake 'n Paint" kit but no serious issues either.

Out of the box with Fundekals. Not a trouble free build, but not tough either. Needed a little extra work around the intakes, the lower wing seams and the right side of the vertical stab. The Fundekals worked beautifully, fitting perfectly where fit was importantly and settling into and over surface detail. ADC aircraft were generally kept in pretty good shape so weathering was limited to a semi-gloss vs. gloss finish and a brown wash.

Out of the box. A few minor fit issues but overall a sweet little kit.

There are several batches of that stuff out there, so it depends which batch you got stuck with. When it first came out (batch 1), it was beautiful; sprayed well, didn't clog the airbrush, and buffed up nicely. So when I ran out several years ago, I didn't hesitate to get more but the new stuff (batch 2) was different; it took a lot more air pressure to spray it, it spit out lumps and clogged the airbrush. I wrote to Alclad and he told me his original manufacturer bailed on him, he had to go with another manufacturer and they changed the formula slightly. He was aware of the problem, dumpe

Aires cockpit, CMR burner cans, SAC landing gear, Steel Beach FOD covers, Furball decals, MM enamels, Alclad metal areas.

"Clean" is what was called for in this build. The box top has a good quality photo of this very aircraft and showed it to be in immaculate shape. If anything, my panel line wash made it dirtier than the photo.

If you're getting bubbles in your paint cup when you push the trigger, your teflon head washer is worn out or has a nick or crack in it. It only costs a buck of 2; hopefully you can find one locally. Just unscrew the head assembly and you'll see it.

Out of the box build, kit decals, Model Master enamels. A relatively pain-free build. No unexpected problems, just the usual hassle with the inserts, but that's the price we pay to have so many different versions from the same set of molds.

This is a very basic limited run kit with no PE and the only resin being an ejection seat that's not much better than the injected plastic version included in the kit. Construction presents no surprises as long as you keep in mind you're building a limited run kit and all that that implies, meaning there will be some filling and sanding. Added an Aeroclub metal ejection seat, brake lines to the main gear, and cat whiskers for the whip antennas. Painted entirely with MM paints.

Out of the box, right down to the kit decals. This one surprised me. Looking at it in the box, I was expecting a relatively easy build but it turned out to have lots of fit problems; large gaps between the cabin floor/roof and fuselage, poor fit of all the clear parts, and vague placement of a lot of other parts. On the other hand, the kit decals, which I expected to give me a hard time, went down beautifully.

Everything is quiet here today on the Virginia peninsula but yesterday, while on a water stop during my lunch time bicycle ride, I was 2-3 miles off the east end of the Langley AFB runway and watched 4 F-22s, 2 f-16s and 2 all black t-38s on approach. Later in the day, I saw an E-2C doing touch and go at Newport News/Williamsburg airport and caught a glimpse of ATAC's derelict Draken sitting in it's usual spot next to a hangar.

This is Hasegawa's 1/72nd scale Fw-190A/F8 with a few white metal bits thrown in the box to give you the option to do an A9 or F9. True Details cockpit, otherwise no mods or additions. It's a sweet little kit that's let down by the decals. The swastikas dissovled when they hit the water so I had to source them from another sheet. The rest of the kit decals were brittle and stiff and didn't want to settle into the surface detail. MicroSet & MicroSol had little/no effect on them yet SolvaSet was too hot for them. Painted with MM enamels.

I used 2 different washes. Straight black and the other is a black and burnt umber mix. Both are oils mixed in Turpenoid.