THX1138 Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Every build starts with the box and it's unpacking. Joy of joys. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 (edited) First set of progress shots. Cockpit parts Exhaust inner area, all ready and washed. Front wheel well. I was a bit too rough on the wash removal. Needs some touching up. I removed the intake end plate and placed a custom engine rotor. Doesn´t fit completely, but the point is to see the rotor from the front I decided to close up the instrument panels on the sides. Wheel well pre/painted white. Lots of detail here, which will be difficult to use a wash on without it becoming too heavy. That´s it. Nothing too exciting. Edited December 21, 2009 by THX1138 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Nice work so far. I'll be watching this one as well. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Nice work so far. I normally paint wheel wells when plane is buttoned up. I might try doing the front one as you have done it cause it look like it will be easier to paint and detail. Is there much to touch up when in goes in to the body? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 Nice work so far. I normally paint wheel wells when plane is buttoned up. I might try doing the front one as you have done it cause it look like it will be easier to paint and detail. Is there much to touch up when in goes in to the body? I coated it with Future before the wash, and when it's not in the body or attached to the intake, the front-well side wall are easier to clean the wash off that way using cotton buds. I'd imagine if you put in some extra scratch built parts you will need to do the same and not attach the side wells yet or put it in the body. Much easier access. Basically get things done on the front wheel well before you put it in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Julien (UK) Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Looking good, who does the decals for that camo or are you making your own? Julien Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 (edited) More progress. Inevitable putty work done on the intake. My advice is to get to work on this as soon as you can, since you will spend lots of time on it. Constantly comming back after it's dried off. I put several flat white coats on it to fill in the smaller gaps and scratches. Like Mr Surfacer. Now I'll have to wait for the paint to fully dry before I sand it smooth for the final time. There are big gaps on the airbrake. It doesn't fit the body snug. Nearly impossible to fill this out, so I'll leave it and hope the wash will mask it out somewhat. I would think there's a bigger gap on the real plane also. Not like a normal panel line. I rescribed the lower intake panel lines. The kits worst area. Wing doesn't fit the top fuselage fully. Needs a lot of sanding on both front and back. Cockpit area. Eh....well not much to say really. Now on to my Trumpy Tomcat. Edited December 28, 2009 by THX1138 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Great pic's and great work so far. The intake trunk will take a lot of work. I got the back end end looking good, but, noticed that the front is going to be a challenge. Thanks also for pointing out areas where there are other fit issues Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Cooper Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 (edited) I've picked up from others on this group build that the speedbrake was usually left drooped down by six inches or so when the aircraft was parked. Might be good to model this to avoid the problem with the gap. That's what I'm planning to do :) When I built my A-7E a while ago, it took me a while to get the intake clear of gaps and bumps too. Yours is looking good now though. This time round, with my A-7D, I'll be covering the intake to recreate the aircraft in my banner. That means I don't have to worry about the intake seam this time round. :D Keep up the good work THX1138. Cheers, Ian Edited December 29, 2009 by Ian Cooper Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Looking good,who does the decals for that camo or are you making your own? Julien TwoBobs has a decal set http://www.twobobs.net/contents/en-us/d5_11.html#p204 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted January 27, 2010 Author Share Posted January 27, 2010 I managed to sqeeze in some time for the GB in between the big F-14D build. One of the more fun parts. Pre-shading. I used model-master acrylics for the black. But I again had a tough time getting the mix right. I need to keep the air-pressure down, to not flood the model with black. But then the paint has a tough time being sucked up the cup (bottom feed). So I thin it more. But when I thin it too much it becomes too fluidy and suddenly jets out the airbrush, again flooding it. Still thinking of getting a top-feed airbrush that I hear works better in supplying an even-flow and needs less effort to suck up paint that is thinned less. The tough part is comming up soon. Camouflage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nubaba Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Nice work. Glad to hear that I am not the only one that has trouble getting the right mix/flow of paint when pre-shading :). I have a single action syphon airbrush and really struggle with it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 (edited) I just ordered a new top-feed airbrush. I really need to have things working like I want before I get to the camouflage. There's an Arctic F-16 in my stash, and ideas to make an Arctic A-10, and camouflaged F-18's too. So this will come in handy. This is the one I picked. http://hyperscale.com/2009/reviews/tools/b...reviewse_1.html Edited January 29, 2010 by THX1138 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 Got my new airbush. Man that top-feed and finer needle makes a huge difference. Much much more control over what´s happening with the spray. So I couldn´t hold back any longer and went straight to the camouflage. Here´s the first result. It will need some touching up and refining. And more dis-colouring later. I like the result. Much more fun to do these patterns then simply slapping on 2 shades of grey. I´m sure more camo scheme´s will be on my desk in the future, like F-16, A-10, F-18. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kilroy Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Frickin cool camo work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted February 7, 2010 Author Share Posted February 7, 2010 Future coat applies. Slapped on the decals. Another future coat. All ready for the wash. I f'ed up one of the redcock decals. It split so I need to repair that with some red paint. On to the smaller bits like undercarriage, pylons and ordnance. Now where did I leave those MK82 snake-eyes ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted February 13, 2010 Author Share Posted February 13, 2010 Finished the enamel wash. The future coat made it too shiny so I will finish with another flat coat, after a final cleanup, because it's just a bit too dirty now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
POMPEO Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 very nice, looks geat, the paint job is great cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 Time for some things that go : Boom !!! There's been a lot of talk about the loadout on A-7's during Praying Mantis over here. Since the A-7 could haul pretty much anything, the options are almost limitedless. I also like varied loads, too also show the availble options. I don't think this actual load is 100% realistic from a pratical view, but technically it would be possible. AFAIK. Triple Mk20's on station 1 Single Mk83 on station 2 Droptank on station 3 Sidewinder on station 4 (kit comes with AIM-9H, while I guess the L/M models where more common in the 80s') Sidewinder on station 5 (kit comes with AIM-9H, while I guess the L/M models where more common in the 80s') Droptank on station 6 (I didn't go with the FLIR pod) GBU-12 on station 7 Walleye on station 8 Gear is attached too. Getting to the final stages. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted April 30, 2010 Author Share Posted April 30, 2010 It's done now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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