robw_uk Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 looking good...s till the best kit i have finished (for now anyway)..... you havent opened the center-line holes up - is this deliberate? anyway ... the effort is worth it in the end Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted May 27, 2011 Author Share Posted May 27, 2011 you havent opened the center-line holes up - is this deliberate? anyway ... the effort is worth it in the end No it wasn't deliberate. I realised that mistake right after I glued that part. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 More injection marks to fill.... This is 2nd filler for the left wing. Didn't put enough on 1st try. Painted the guidance units and fins on the GBU-12. Used Gunze Aqueous Khaki Green. Brush painted the tip with Mr Metal Color Dark Iron. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted May 30, 2011 Author Share Posted May 30, 2011 Will need to fill those grand-canyon-sized gaps.... Will most likely lose ALL of those nice details... Not sure how well I'll be able to rescribe 'em..... Oh well... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eric2020 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Work with very small amounts of Putty mike! Tape along both sides than add the putty. I do not know what you will be using, but Miliput would be best as that does not shrink. Tamiya does, and you need to do it several times befor you can sand it smooth. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 3, 2011 Author Share Posted June 3, 2011 Work with very small amounts of Putty mike! Tape along both sides than add the putty. I do not know what you will be using, but Miliput would be best as that does not shrink. Tamiya does, and you need to do it several times befor you can sand it smooth. Thanks. I have done that, but with Tamiya putty. I prefer using Tamiya putty for little gaps like these. I probably should start using Milliput a bit more.... Will try to upload a pic later.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Some updates.... Filled the gap between the wings and fuselage. Tried using PVA glue but didn't work that well, so I went back to the tried-and-true Tamiya basic putty. I'll spray a thin coat of 36320 a bit later to see if more puttying is required. I also decided to give the LifeColor gloss clear a try. I must say that it's far inferior to Tamiya's X-22 gloss clear. Here's a pic of the gas bags after 3 coats of LifeColor gloss clear. Tamiya's gloss clear has this self-levelling characteristics that the LifeColor's does not seem to have. Tamiya's also far glossier, while LifeColor's appear more semi-gloss. GBU-12's are done. Just need a couple of coats of gloss, then some light weathering. Thanks for looking! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eric2020 Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Great to see you got this far Mike!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Mike C Firstly I am SO pleased you did NOT bin this.. Secondly there is a lot of BUT you did good Sir. Persevere and it WILL come out just as you want it...SUPERB. Looking very good so far even with all the headaches this kit has given you..But hang in there, you are doing a GOOD JOB... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
limyc Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Great work so far! Your effort will pay off soon! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Thank you all for the encouragement FWIW, I don't bin models easily. The only one I abandoned so far was the Italeri Black Panther Tornado. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Masked the 'Winders then sprayed gun metal on the tip. Also painstakingly masked the GBU-12's then sprayed the area between the front fins with brown. After all that.... I found out that Academy supplied decals for those brown bits for the GBU-12's!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 10, 2011 Author Share Posted June 10, 2011 Put in a bit more work tonight. I sprayed the jet exhausts some time ago. Tonight I dry-brushed flat white and then Tamiya copper, then glued 'em. Painted and installed HUD (not displayed). Masked the canopy and windscreen. Glued windscreen on, and used Blu Tack to temporarily close the canopy. Also temporarily installed the speed brake. Bird's now ready for priming. Will spray Tamiya Fine Surface Primer (White) tomorrow. Thanks for looking! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 As I'm reading through the instruction sheet, I noticed that the port fuselage station is meant for the AN/AAS-38 FLIR pod, while the starboard fuselage station has 2 options: AIM-7 or sensor pod (either AN/ASQ-173 or AN/AAR-50). What would be the most likely configuration on operational bird? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 13, 2011 Author Share Posted June 13, 2011 Sprayed a thin coat of Tamiya Fine Surface Primer (White). Noticed a couple of places that still need a bit of putty. *sigh* Thanks for looking! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 Started painting. I initially sprayed a couple of thin layers of LifeColor FS36375, which basically used up my LifeColor LGG. I then sprayed 2 layers of Gunze Aqueous H308 thinned with Tamiya X-20A (3 parts thinner, 2 parts paint), which I found a bit too runny. I decided to try using methylated spirit (denatured alcohol) for the final layer, using the same ratio, and found that the coverage and finish are much better than using X-20A. Also sprayed one side of the vert stabs with Gunze H308, but couldn't be bothered taking the pic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 Sprayed Gunze FS36320 on the upper fuselage, elevators (top-side), and the outer side of the vert stabs. After 3 layers... After 2 layers.... Need at least another layer there. Finished the Sidewinders tonight. I initially tried to use the decals, but I didn't like the look, so I stripped off the decal and brush-painted the striped instead using Tamiya XF-3 (flat yellow) and X-9 (Brown). I thought the GBU-12s are done, but then I noticed that the yellow stripe decals reacted badly with the Tamiya Mark Fit solution (not quite obvious on the photo tho). I'd have to get decal stripper and then brush-paint the yellow stripe later. Thanks for looking! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 Sprayed some post-shading up top... Hmmmm.... Hardly noticeable on this pic.... Let's try another... Without flash this time, and from a different angle... Still barely visible... Oh well.... Never mind... Thanks for looking! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eric2020 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I looks very good Mike!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 Some more updates.... Finished the wheels.... Not really sure if I'm going to use these, since there's some faulty molding on the rim that I could not fix. I might end up using the spare wheels from my Hasegawa E18 "F" Super Hornet (I built the E18 as in-flight bird). :unsure: I painted the exhaust "root" with Mr Metal Color Aluminum by brush, waited about 30 minutes then buffed with cotton bud, then dry-brushed with Mr Metal Color Stainless. Sprayed Tamiya gloss clear (X-22) to prep the kit for oil wash and panel lines highlighting Painted the "cans". Started with Mr Metal Color Stainless, but I found it a bit too light. So, I decided to mist over it with "dark metallic grey" mixture that I'd use for my future Raptor build, which is Citadel's Boltgun Metal (3 parts) + Codex Grey (2 parts) + few drops of flat black. I thought the result looked pretty convincing. Just to see the difference the Mr Metal Color "undercoat" made a difference, I sprayed a spare jet exhaust with just the "dark metallic grey" mixture. I still need to paint the "notches" on the exhaust with a darker color (perhaps Mr Metal Color Dark Iron?), as well as "weathering" 'em. Thanks for looking! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 Put in quite a bit more work since last update, mostly decaling. Also glued on a few small bits and pieces. The two small white bits just behind the canopy (some kind of antenna) will need to be repainted. Instruction sheet stated they should be white, but I don't like the look. Instead, I'll try repainting them with Gunze H311 (Gray FS36622), which appears almost off-white. Managed to destroy a few decals thus far. Lucky none of them were significant/obvious. For some reason, every time I build a kit, I ALWAYS destroy at least 2 or 3 decals!! Decaled the vert stabs, then sprayed a couple of layers of Tamiya gloss clear (X-22) to protect the decals from oil wash to be applied later. One of the blue decals was actually torn. The other side of the vert stabs. I made a mistake of leaving Tamiya Mark Fit to dry, which left dark spots on the surface, so I deliberately sprayed Gunze FS36375 (instead of FS36320) to touch up to make 'em appear as though they were rust-control touch up. One of the "WD" decals was also slightly damage. Oh well... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 MikeC You have come a logn way, in leaps and bounds and a lot of along the way, but you are doing a FANTASTIC job on the Bug.All the bits and peices are falling nito place and the wheels will be as you want them you 'll see. You have done such neat hard work on this and LOOKS MIGHTY fine... Keep up the GOOD HARD WORK HOLMESY Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 Thanks Holmesy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Very nice work, Mike ... Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 Decided to do something a tad different this time... For panel line highlights, I'd usually use oil wash, but not this time. For this model, I decided to use enamel wash. I mixed a few drops of Tamiya XF-1 enamel and Tamiya XF-2 enamel in about 4ml of enamel thinner, then applied the wash using 000 brush. Got much better result than oil wash, much more consistent. Here're pics of the vert stabs with the enamel wash applied. I cleaned one up to see the result. Thanks for looking! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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