Three more that I've finished...

[Will2K65]

First up...Revell F/A-18E with Steel Beach ECS pipes, Royale Resin fuel tanks, Afterburner decals for VFA-105 and Hasegawa weaponry for a typically (ugly) assymmetric loadout. Brush painted with humbrol enamels - am quite happy with the results but the colour contrast seems a bit stark to me - do you folk tend to lighten the grey for the upper surfaces to simulate fading?

Next, Revell's 1/48 F-5E finished as an ex-Swiss F-5N in service with VFC-111 as an aggressor. Used for this were steel beach decals (excellent - the fin sunburst is a single piece red/white decal that settled down perfectly with lots of micro-sol, so much so that it looks painted on) and the Wolfpack Designs F-5E update set which includes the correct LERX extensions, fuel tank and platypus radome for the ex-Swiss variants.

I realise the colours aren't accurate but they are fairly close and this was built as an eye catching quick build - need to add weathering to it still but I find it hard to make raised panel lines stand out without it looking overdone. At the moment the model looks disappointingly toy like to me :(. Any tips?

Finally, built for the Britmodeller Tornado group build, Italeri's 1/48 Tornado F3, with model Alliance decals as the anniversary jet from 111sqn based at RAF, Leuchars in Scotland. I visited Leuchars last year and saw this jet flying frequently whilst I was there, and its a great looking special scheme! The weapons load seen here is pretty rare but sometimes flown when playing the 'red air' role in excercises - 4 CATM-120s, 4 CATM-132s, extra fuel tanks, a Phimat chaff/flare pod and a towed radar decoy pod (like the real one, modified from a BOZ-107 countermeasures pod).

All comments and constructive criticism welcome :)

[Gary West]

Good to see your still turning them out Will - and in 2's or 3's as usual

I like em all, the F-5 is quite unusual to see in that scheme and you've done a blinding job on the F-3

Question - as you don't do wheels, what do you do with your kits?

[latormentabritanica]

All three builds look really good, especially when considering that they're brush painted. I really like the asymmetrical load on the Hornet.

[GreyGhost]

Nicely done Trio !

Very nice brush work and the weathering on the Rhino looks great ...

Gregg

[Aggressor Supporter]

All three looks nice! I especially like that you build your models in flight. Big :)

[Will2K65]

Good to see your still turning them out Will - and in 2's or 3's as usual

I like em all, the F-5 is quite unusual to see in that scheme and you've done a blinding job on the F-3

Question - as you don't do wheels, what do you do with your kits?

At the moment all my models sit on a shelf without gear, they look a bit funny as they lean about a bit....but at some stage I intend to make display stands for them to sit on, posed 'in flight'. Whilst I admire the detail put into models that are build on the ground with flaps and wheels down, canopies open and so on, I much prefer the sleek shape of an in flight jet! I find building in flight results in a much less fragile model as well.

[Ken Middleton]

Will, really nice work on those, especially for brush painting.

For the F-5E, I'd highlight the control surfaces recessed lines - you could use a sharp pencil and simply draw a line. That would give some depth. Also, maybe smudge a little "dirt" (using pastels, or chalk etc) around the cockpit area sides to simulate some grunge

[jimz66]

Very nice group BIll. Very well done. Nice work on the F-18 especially. Thanks for sharing.

[phantom]

Very nice jobs, esp. that F-18 :)

[ChernayaAkula]

Great trio!