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'Essentially, there are 4 lights mounted to a disc . . . . '

Pete,

Is this your design, an off the shelf item, or a modification to an off the shelf item?

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Mark

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'Essentially, there are 4 lights mounted to a disc . . . . '

Pete,

Is this your design, an off the shelf item, or a modification to an off the shelf item?

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Mark

This is a custom setup for me by Randy Neubert at VoodooFX: he built the circuit board and ran the wires to the LED's. I had to run the wires from the circuit board to the on/off switch and the battery. I also had to decide where and how to install the lights and do that myself.

Regards,

Pig

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Hi Pig,

As the other guys have said, super impressive so far.

You have a winning formula that gives outstanding results. I spent a long time looking at the pics and kept spotting more and more interesting details. That HUD symbology is trick and works a treat. :)

Did you use two shades of black on the exterior of the glare shield? It's attention to detail like that that really livens up a model. :)

I'm always impressed by the amount of depth that your technique imparts. The pilot is stunning. Rarely have I seen as much life given to a figure. If you ever get the time, I'd love to see a step-by-step article on how you paint a flight suit/ bang seat para-pack/ tail chute pack etc. I'd be very interested in the comparative colours used for the base, dry-brush and washes.

I'm already looking forward to more. :lol:

:cheers:

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Hi Pig,

Did you use two shades of black on the exterior of the glare shield?

If you ever get the time, I'd love to see a step-by-step article on how you paint a flight suit/ bang seat para-pack/ tail chute pack etc. I'd be very interested in the comparative colours used for the base, dry-brush and washes.

:jaw-dropping:

Hi Guy!

You have a sharp eye my friend! For the glareshield, I painted the whole thing Grimy Black, then ran a mask along the vertical line that separates the front of the glareshield from the back, then used a gunship grey to heavily dry brush the aft section. When you remove the mask you have a crisp demarcation between halves and a subtle color change.

I like your idea about a step by step painting of fabric items. This would really help us aircraft modelers! I'd be happy to share what little I know, and maybe other folks could chime in with their techniques as well. I'm no figure painter, that's for sure!

Regards,

Pig

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Ah,..I thought there was a subtle difference on the glareshield. Nice touch that. (~frantically scribbles notes...~)

Hi Guy!

.................. I'm no figure painter, that's for sure!

Regards,

Pig

Pfft....!.....yeah,...right....and I'm not bald as a coot! :woo:

Dude, don't put yourself down, that little guy rocks! :pray: I'd love a little insight into how you achieved the look. You definately have a knack of bringing this sort of detail to life and I'd like to steal all of your techniques.......(where's that evil grin, wringing hands emoticon?)

but,..........you need to tell the little jet jockey to look where he's going.......... :yahoo:

:yahoo:

;)

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but,..........you need to tell the little jet jockey to look where he's going.......... :thumbsup:

:woot.gif:

;)

Hi Guy-

You know, funnily, more than one person has commented to me as to "why is the jet turning right with the pilot looking left"? In all seriousness, I did that on purpose- It's the middle of a furball, head on a swivel trying to not get shot thing-One more quick look to the left before the pilot bends the stick into the guy he's after.

I spent alot of time in the jet with my shoulder into the seat 90 degrees with my head jammed between the top of the seat and the canopy.. looking over the tail or down the wing line-Also, you gotta keep your head moving..

If I were a better figure converter, I would have had the pilot leaning forward out of the seat with his torso turned to look down the wing line. The 30 degree seat is nice in theory, but on the (rare :thumbsup:) occasion that you are defensive you have got to get your back off the seat and turn in the seat to keep sight of the threat...sorry, I digressed there!

Regards,

pig

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HUD symbology depicting the attitude of the aircraft? :rolleyes: Can it possibly get any more awesome? THAT is attention to detail! :woo:

You'd think the guy knew something about F-16's! :shoot:

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I'd love a little insight into how you achieved the look. You definately have a knack of bringing this sort of detail to life and I'd like to steal all of your techniques.......(where's that evil grin, wringing hands emoticon?)

:rolleyes:

Sorry Guy, I guess I didn't answer your question did I?

OK. The pilot. First I assembled him with a left arm from the spares box, but I left the head off and painted it separately. For the body, the whole thing was airbrushed about 2 shades darker than what I thought it should be. I did this because the darker shade will end up being the dark recesses of the clothing folds when I start dry brushing. Once dry, I used a flat sable brush and began dry brushing with the original color (not darkened) Scoop the thick paint out of the bottom of a jar and put it on an index card. Dip your brush in the paint and pull it through a clean cotton rag several times, then test it on a paper towel. It should leave a light dust with no streaks. Work under good light and hit all the high spots with the brush-sometimes you'll have to use a scrubbing action. Once the whole thing gets this treatment, set it aside and work on something else. Come back the next day and dig out the blob of paint, put it on your index card, then dig out a blob of white and drop it on the index card next to the green blob. Using you brush, mix a new spot that is lighter than what you did yesterday, and dry brush the whole figure again. Come back the third day and add more white, but this time use more restraint on the brushing, and only hit the extreme high points-just the ridge lines. Then, add a little tan to the green/white mix and using a very small chisel-tip brush hit the G-suit only-This will help separate it from the flight suit. Then, use a fine tip brush and pick out a suitable color and paint the harness straps. Use the chisel tip small brush and dry brush the harness straps with a lighter version of whatever color you painted them. Use a tan/green mix to paint the velcro on the shoulders and wrists with a fine pointed brush. Paint the inside of the gloves grey and dry brush with straight white. Paint the boots black and dry brush with Gunship Grey. Paint any exposed flesh and drybrush with a lighter version.

When all that is dry, clear coat him. I used Future.

When the clear coat is dry, grab your box of artist oil, and mix up a dark green/brown, but more green than brown, and give the figure a wash only in the recesses. Let it set up for about a half hour, then wipe it back with cotton buds to blend it. Add a little black to the mix and wash the really deep, dark areas with this using control and a pointed brush.

When dry, flat coat him.

Then come back and paint the tiny details like the connection ring around the CRU-90, open zippers, red T-shirt, pen in left shoulder pocket (pocket made from lead foil w/streched sprue Cross pen)

Dry brush before you paint any well defined, specific details, as dry brushing would obliterate them if you painted them first.

For the helmet, it pretty much goes the same way. The mask connections on the helmet, as well as the NVG brackets get painted before I paint the surrounding color, that way I can dry brush these tiny items without worrying about my silver dry brush straying onto the surrounding grey-

That's about it!

HTH

Pig

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Brilliant Pig, thanks :coolio:

Now I know how you achieve the results I can try to put it into practice. I suspect that the oil washes are the key.

I have n't used that step on my figures before and I can see how that would be the difference. I'm grateful for the explanation and I'll be sure to use it next time I add any figures to a diorama, thanks. :)

And thanks for explaining the pilot posture too. I guess this shows the difference between an armchair pilot and the real deal. I'd be so terrified my eyes would be glued to the inside of my visor with my head frozen straight ahead in fear..... :lol:

One more idsy bidsy question. Do you plan to add the comms line wrapped around the O2 hose? I liked the black and yellow over the grey. It adds a visual point of interest......

Superb build my friend. Please keep us all up to speed over here.

Cheers,

:cheers:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Boys,

Well, the wife was in the Middle East on business, and my middle son was on holiday in the UK and points beyond. I got a fair amount of work done while they were gone, but they each took a camera (of mine) Soooooo, not alot of in progress images to show. But, I did get some paint on:

100_7609.jpg

100_7610.jpg

100_7611.jpg

100_7612.jpg

This one has suffered from a bit of "camo creep". The pattern moves ever so slightly as I touched up spots or transitions I wasn't happy with. Also, I realized that I need to move the black swath aft of the canopy further aft...so more adjustments are in order.

Here is the pod and pylon. The Aires pod was very nice, but mine was a "short" cast, with a big 'ol sink hole in the belly of the pod. I filled it with Miliput and sanded it to shape, and replaced the bands with strip stock. This is just paint only with a spot of drybrush..and some colored pencil

100_7615.jpg

Captive AIM-9 and ACMI pod. The ACMI pod was scratch built. The forward section was made by inserting a small evergreen tube into a larger one, then slowly turning it down with a file while chucked in my power drill. The sensor tip is fine stainless tube.

100_7618.jpg

...More in a minute!

Pig

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OK, here's a rough hack at how it's going to look on the stick. I chose the asymetric angle of the stick to lend a little more motion to the display and add to the illusion of flight. I wanted it to look like it shouldn't stay up there-

100_7624.jpg

I built up the base to be hollow, so I can mount the switch assembly, battery, and run the wires underneath-

100_7626.jpg

100_7628.jpg

100_7629.jpg

Thanks for looking!

;)

Pig

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Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful!!!!!!

No words can describe how beautiful this viper is...

Cheers,

J

P.S. Pete, is it gonna be "86-0305"? From the scheme, I can tell it to be that one:p

Edited by viperbite
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Pete,

You're killing me already.

Turn off the lights and turn on the switch!

I like how you've crossed the 'T' between the aircraft and the base,

and how both the post location and aircrafts' attitude are asymmetrical solutions.

The dynamic diagonal at work in 3 dimensions. Very nice.

Are you going to paint the wood base, and if so, what color?

Sincerely,

Mark

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