Seamus Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Afternoon all Here's the next build lined up on the bench, Hasegawa's rather lovely little Super Bug. This is being built as part of the Modern Mil GB over on UKAR. She'll be finished in the rather fetching markings of VFA-102 'Diamondbacks', the scheme depcted on the box. Here's the obligatory box and contents shots There's a whole load of plastic and a very nice looking decal sheet, so pretty good value for money at only a tenner ;) Detail looks very nice, with some finely engraved surface detail, and nice detail in the wheel wells and undercarriage. The cockpit is disappointingly sparse, so I may decide to add a bit of detail in there, just need to find some suitable reference material. The only problem is the canopy, which has a nasty seam, and a little bit of a crack. I'm gonna have to learn to polish these out, though I think I have the tools to do so. First progress then, which has been slower than I had hoped as I've come out in a stinking cold :sick: The boss told me not to come into work today, so I've been plugging away with this one, in between sneezing and coughing fits As the aircraft have all their control surfaces dropped when shut down, I decided to reposition them all. First time at doing this sort of thing, so was a bit apprehensive to begin with. I began with the rudders, which were straightforward enough- I scored a long the hinge line, and separated them at the upper join with the fin before deflecting them to starboard. The wings were a little more troublesome and required the complete removal of the slats, flaps and flaperons. These parts were then cleaned up before re-attaching them in the drooped positions. The slats went on trouble free, probably as there is only a small deflection. For the flaps and flaperons, I needed to glue a thin strip of plasticard along the trailing edge of the main wing section, to provide a better surface on which to join the first section of the flap. This is alsp helped to fill a small gap between the wing and flaps. The first sections were then glued in place and held with tape to allow the glue to cure only a bit so that there would be a degree of give in them to position them properly. I then fixed the main flap sections to these, at a greater angle of deflection, and taped everything up to allow the glue to dry thoroughly. I couldn't resist a dryfit of everything, including the tailerons :D There's a still a bit of clean-up required, and there are a few gaps that are perhaps a bit too large and may need some attention, but overall I'm happy with the look of things. When I'm feeling a bit better, I'll make a start on assembling and spraying up the cockpit. I was unhappy with the lack of detail in the office, so I've ordered up an Eduard pre-painted etch set. I feel like its a bit of a cheat buying the pre-painted stuff, but as I've never used etch before, I guess it's a nice way to introduce me to it :) All comments welcomed as always Cheers Shaun :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Platypus Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Nice job with the wings/flaps matter. I've been lazy and ordered the Wolfpack set. :D Besides I got meself a set of intakes from DrPeppers. It requires quite a lot of cutting the original parts, but it's almost a drop fit to my surprise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doctorpepper Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Nice job with the wings/flaps matter. I've been lazy and ordered the Wolfpack set. :DBesides I got meself a set of intakes from DrPeppers. It requires quite a lot of cutting the original parts, but it's almost a drop fit to my surprise. i tried my best to lessen the cutting work as much as possible, unfortunately, due to the piece, that large block at the rear had to be there, so i settled for the next best thing - easy cuts (you know how some resin you build has weird angles to cut at that your razor saw simply can't reach...) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Platypus Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 i tried my best to lessen the cutting work as much as possible, unfortunately, due to the piece, that large block at the rear had to be there, so i settled for the next best thing - easy cuts (you know how some resin you build has weird angles to cut at that your razor saw simply can't reach...) Not a criticism. The instruction sheet and the pictures on your site made the operation pretty straight forward. :( Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Will be following this build. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChernayaAkula Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Nice! Diamondbacks are always a good choice! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Seamus Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Cheers guys Right, I'm getting bored of waiting for the etch to arrive, so I decided to have a little bash at some detailing this afternoon. I've added some brake lines to the undercarriage legs. Tried adding some piping to the gear bays as well, but I struggled with that for some reason, so I'll probably leave it now. I've read that the canopy doesn't fit too well in the closed position, so I'll be displaying it open. The etch will help improve the detail in the office, but it doesn't include any sidewalls, so I've spruced these up with a bit of plasticard. I've also added a couple of strips on the rear decking. This is far from my forte, so it's a bit rough around the edges. I've used a bit of artistic license here, but it at least adds a bit more interest to the office, and hopefully should look much better after a lick of paint. Should be able to get some paint in the cockpit and undercarriage now in preparation for the etch to go in. All comments welcomed Cheers Shaun Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Seamus Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 OK, the Eduard Zoom set finally arrived after a two month wait, so I've now resumed progress on the Super Bug now having just finished the He-111. I began by assmebling the etch parts for the cockpit. As it's my first time using etch, I thought I'd go with the pre-painted stuff just to get my eye in. The side consoles and IPs have been jazzed up, as have the seats- a definite improvement over the rather bland cockpit OOB methinks. After assembling the cockpit, I've got the bulk of the main assembly completed during today. The new IPs were slightly taller than the kit parts, pushing the whole cockpit down by 1mm or so. So, I've simply filed down the roof of the nose gear bay onto which the cockpit sits, so that the forward fuselage fits together correctly. Overall, the fit is pretty good, as you would expect, with only a few gaps that will need filling and sanding, along with the seams. Note, the tailplane is dryfitted in place for show, and the intake interiors have been largely ignored as I intend to fit some FOD covers over them- these have been made from cling film and now just need trimming to size and painting. Also, the canopy has had it's seam removed and polished back up before being dipped in Klear. Annoyingly, there's a little crack at the front edge, but there's not much I can do about it..... Will make a start on filling and sanding work tomorrow, fun times! Now, a quick weapons question. I have a couple of JDAMS from a Raptor kit, that I intend to put on one of the double launcers. I've also got a couple of LGBs from an F/A-18C kit that I thought would be nice to hang from the other launcher. Would this be a likely loadout? And what sort of Laser Designating pod would I need to hang? There's a TIALD pod (i think) supplied in the kit, so would this be sufficient? Thanks for looking, comments welcomed Cheers Shaun Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joe Hegedus Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Now, a quick weapons question. I have a couple of JDAMS from a Raptor kit, that I intend to put on one of the double launcers. I've also got a couple of LGBs from an F/A-18C kit that I thought would be nice to hang from the other launcher. Would this be a likely loadout? And what sort of Laser Designating pod would I need to hang? There's a TIALD pod (i think) supplied in the kit, so would this be sufficient? No, it wouldn't. Dual carriage of PGM is generally not cleared on the Super Hornet (yet). The kit supplied ATFLIR would be the appropriate pod to use though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Seamus Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 Cheers for that. between you and a chap on antoher forum, my wepaons issues have been sorted Righto, more progress to report on the Super Bug. I spent Monday and Tuesday filling and sanding the thing then sorting out some of the joins that still needed attention. If I'm honest, I'm not too happy at all with my handy work in drooping the flaps- the joins aren't at all tidy, especially on the port wing. I've tried to sort them with limited success, so I'll put this down to experience Needless to say though, my legacy Hornet will not be receiving the same treatment..... I've ploughed on anyway, and will use this as a test bed for painting USN jets, for when I get round to the Hornet and Tomcat in the stash. As usual, I began by preshading, before forgetting to take photos and moving onto the light ghost grey undersides. Once the base coat was on, I then added a drop of black to the mix and thinned it down before effectively mottling the darker grey over the model in an attempt to replicate the worn, grubby look of these naval birds. Then white was added back into the mix to tone down areas where I got a bit close with the AB, before the entire process was repeated again, to give me a load of different tones to break up the scheme. It's come out looking OK I guess so I'm pleased enough I'll let that little lot dry fully overnight before masking it off and getting the dark ghost grey on tomorrow, again with the same postshdaing method-hopefully she'll be nice and grubby by the time I've finished with her As always, all comments and suggestions welcomed Cheers Shaun Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jinxter13 Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Looking good Seamus...very good, of course we expect your usual fine craftsmanship....... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Seamus Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 Thanks very much Clif, you're too kind fella More progress today (loving having 3 days off work :unsure:) and the dark ghost grey is on. Again, I applied the base coat over the preshade, before adding a drop or two black, followed by white to get some tonal variation and wear into the basic scheme. Pretty happy with the results there- should blend in nicely once a matt coat is on- so once I've done a touch of detail painting she'll be ready for a gloss coat and decalling. Thanks for looking, comments welcomed Cheers Shaun :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Nice work on the LEFs and TEFs as well as the paint ... A nice worn look to the TPS ... Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jack-Swiss Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Great paintjob indeed mate! Cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
antony robertson Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Lovely looking bug, looking forward to seeing this one finished! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Seamus Posted May 16, 2009 Author Share Posted May 16, 2009 Thanks for the comments, much appreciated More progress then, and after a touch of detail painting and a coat of Klear the decalling is done. Decals came from the kit and went on quite nicely with some microsol. Just needs another coat of Klear to seal them in before making a start on the weathering thanks for looking, comments welcomed Cheers Shaun Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DMac Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Looks great Seamus, really love the dropped flaps. Just couldn't bring myself to do the surgery on my E model. Did you bother trying to do the white inside the intakes? because it is a real pain! They are a nice kit but I still find the outward angle of the stores somewhat disturbing from an aesthetics point of view, I know this is how they really are but you know it's just a visual thing. Should be getting ours in Australia in about 9 months so I might see one around. Cheers DMac Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Seamus Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 Cheers chap :) It was a big step doing the surgery on the flaps as I've never done this sort of thing before. Maybe I should have gone with something easier, with just plain flaps, as I'm not entirely happy with the joins between each flap section. That said, it's something new that I've learned, and, provided it's viewed from a distance, adds a little extra to the model I think :) As for the intakes, I'll be covering them up with some home made FOD covers as they're disappointingly shallow, so haven't bothered painting them Right then, more work has been done on the Super Bug these last few days, with the weathering now complete. I've given her a light pastel wash to gently highlight the panel lines, before whipping out the oil paints to add some staining trailing from the various hinges on the control surfaces and the distinctive smears on the lower rear fuselage. I've also applied a black oil wash to the undercarriage and wheel wells to dirty them up and highlight some of the detail in there. So, with the weatyhering complete, all that really reamins is to matt everything down and complete the final assembly. Hope to get the mattcote on later this evening so with a bit of luck she'll be ready for inspection sometime tomorrow Thanks for looking, comments welcome as always Cheers Shaun :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jinxter13 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 (edited) Ahhhh......Seamus..... it's good to see your progress and to be sure you didn't disappoint the massive, by that I mean.....it's well...turning out GORGEOUS!!!.... Edited May 20, 2009 by Angels49 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.