haneto Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 (edited) Just finished the MiG-25, and then I started doing "Foxbat"'s "victim", "403" by LCDR Michael Scott Speicher, from VFA-81 "Sunliners", CV-60 Saratoga. If you're interested in the MiG-25PD, please check it here: MiG-25PD Foxbat IrAF "US NAVY Hornet Killer" Here is a very useful thread I started 2 years ago and here finally I start to make Speicher's one. Thanks a lot for your info again, guys! F/A-18C VFA-81 Any 1/72 decal available? I use Academy's incredible 1/72 F/A-18C kit with some aftermarket goods as below: Edited July 17, 2011 by haneto Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 I only used the pipe area of Dr. Pepper's seamless intakes with original plastic parts on the top. After painting and assembling. Remember to dry fit before you glue and close the fuselage because the intake pipes may bother other parts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Thinning the edge of HUD cover here. That would do a lot to the final effect. Paint the screen with GSI Creos hydro-paint gloss clear to replicate the glass effect. Cockpit finished.Very easy indeed. The HUD is a gem! After sanding and polishing the canopy to get rid of the harming line, mask the inner clear area then add the back mirror and handles, spray them all flat black. Since I decided to make canopy movable freely this time, I found this part is too thick to close the canopy after gluing, so again some sanding work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Resin seat from Quickboost, but I found it a bit too small. And I also found an error of this Academy kit: the cockpit is about 30mm too low. I did not adjust the whole cockpit because I mentioned that too late. So I just added 30mm plastic sheet below the ejection seat. Canopy closed. Again this auxiliary intake edge is thinned from inside to make it look sharper. According to the references, VFA-81 Hornets during Gulf War do not have GPS antenna so just cut it off. Restrenghten beams of intakes. Canopy could open or close freely. No additional IFF antennas on the nose, either. Be sure to fill the small lines between windshield and nose. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 And you need to make some rescribing work here after the fuselage sanded. When Hornet is parked, the rudders on verical fins are positioned at about 25 degrees interward. So I cut the rudders off by a P cutter, then glue them back again. Folding wings from Wolfpack Design, but they are all wraped. And what's more, they shrinked a lot and cannot fit the fuselage: While this is the original plastic parts which fits quite quite well. So I decided to make the folding wings parts from the plastics parts. Add brass rod to increase the strength. So that' all I got till this weekend. Thanks for looking! Cheers, Yufei Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chinazou Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 good job! 1st time to c u build the NAVY Jet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Supertom Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Hi Yufei, Can you verify that the cockpit is 30mm too low? 30mm is more than the height of the top of the canopy to the bottom of the fuselage. Did you mean to say 3mm? Thanks, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mdlchiw Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 for the vertical stabs, do they really tilt inwards? this pictures shows they are displaced outward: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:F-18C_VFA-25_CVN-72_2000.JPEG Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 Hi Yufei, Can you verify that the cockpit is 30mm too low? 30mm is more than the height of the top of the canopy to the bottom of the fuselage. Did you mean to say 3mm? Thanks, My fault. Mistyping, it should be 3mm. for the vertical stabs, do they really tilt inwards? this pictures shows they are displaced outward: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:F-18C_VFA-25_CVN-72_2000.JPEG They could displaced inwards or outward actually. And I personally prefer inwards. :) Some progress here. Seems US birds not so welcome in a Western forum? Because it's a shot down one? The "air wirer" slice on the windscreen. I rescribe the line and put some putty to make the bulge. Airbrakes off, and you need to put 0.3mm plastic card inside to avoid gap. IFF antennas way too think. Rivets also added. Academy make the landing tail hook a total rounded one but actually some area should be flat rounded. I used a vise to flatten the area. Some cusions and release structures need scratchbuilding. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 Lowered flaps do not fit quite well with the original plastic wing parts. So adhere some putty and rubbing the surface by a Q tip with Alchol when putty is 70% dried. Fill the injection holes. HARM pylons from Academy 1/72 F-16C kit, and a bit modification to fit Hornet's pylons. Drill holes for all missiles. The standard SEAD mission weapon set for VFA-81 on the night of January 17th, 1991. AIM-9L*2,AIM-7*1,HARM*2, FLIR*1, fuel tanks*1 HARMs are from Academy F-16 kit, too and special thanks to my friend for his selfless help! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 Now here comes the problem of this kit. How big? It depends on you. Note the angel of the real plane from side profile. This is Academy one. Too close to right triangled. I replaced the main landing gears with Italeri 1/72 F/A-18E/F ones because they are cheap enough and according to my study, they were made according to C/D gears but not E/F ones. If you think it's so so for you to take from side prifile, then take this view from front. The Academy gears are almost vertical to the ground and it totally ruins the look of Hornet. This is Italeri ones. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 Choosing some details added. The landing gear lamp is from the Belussian brand ELF and it's terrific! Insert wet tissue paper inside the intake pipes for masking usage. And we are ready to paint buddy~ Thanks for looking! Yufei Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Benner Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 nice work so far :) .. just some info if you didn't know already, 403 did not have speicher's name on it. Also, I read somewhere the load out on his plane that night was 2 aim-9, 2 sparrow, 3 HARM, 2 fuel tanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
helsupspecron-5 Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Nice build, One thing about the Sidewinders and HARM missiles. they have weather seals at the back of the rocket motor, like in this pic. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/AGM-88_AGM-45_and_AGM-65_rear_view.jpg The Sparrow has a slightly recessed seal. http://cdn.wn.com/pd/1e/7f/a79e80a92d3a86922e384944ddbb_grande.jpg great build cant wait till you finnish jose Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Great work, I am especially impressed by how quickly you get things completed. Very rapid progress. Looking forward to more updates. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mdlchiw Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 They could displaced inwards or outward actually. And I personally prefer inwards. :) Oh I see :) Great job on the main landing gears, do the italeri MLG fit ok with the Academy wheel wells? I might have to go this route with mine too! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 Thanks for your feedbacks! nice work so far :) .. just some info if you didn't know already, 403 did not have speicher's name on it. Also, I read somewhere the load out on his plane that night was 2 aim-9, 2 sparrow, 3 HARM, 2 fuel tanks. Thanks for the info! Would you mind informing me the resource of that info please? Nice build, One thing about the Sidewinders and HARM missiles. they have weather seals at the back of the rocket motor, like in this pic. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/AGM-88_AGM-45_and_AGM-65_rear_view.jpg The Sparrow has a slightly recessed seal. http://cdn.wn.com/pd/1e/7f/a79e80a92d3a86922e384944ddbb_grande.jpg great build cant wait till you finnish jose Got it! I'm quite unfamiliar with US birds so thanks a lot for the hint! Oh I see :) Great job on the main landing gears, do the italeri MLG fit ok with the Academy wheel wells? I might have to go this route with mine too! Generally it fit not bad, but you need to add 0.3mm plastic card on one side of the hinge of Italeri gear part, then sand down the other side to allow it fit in the correct angel to Academy MLD bay. Dry fit it and you can solve the problem in 5 minutes! Cheers, Yufei Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chinazou Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Lucky, still can find out the update w/o the poor SM. 大舰, did you start painting yet? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pirata Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Excellent work and much quicker progress than I can make! I've always wondered what makes the Academy kit so incredible when one requires so much resin (Or scratchbuilding.) to make it look realistic when sitting on the ground. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Milo Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Hellz yeah! I'm loving this build so far! Great details so far. I can't wait to see it finished! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 Fianlly I found some time to update my thread here so here ya go! I sprayed Mr. Surfacer #1200 firstly and sand the surface with #2000 fine sanding paper. Then wash it with the help of a child use toothbrush. Because the main colour of Hornet is grey, I sprayed another white surfacer to help the grey looks right. I used GSI Croes Mr. Color for painting. C307 and C308 has been sprayed upper and lower surface, just as indicated in NAVY painting rules. Arrest hook also painted with C307 and C308. Then spray C305 for post shadow, just releax. You'll have tons of time to play with several kinds of grey now on. C308 sprayed again but this time just aiming the panel lines which have been coloured C305 one step before. The reattached/repainted colour is a mix of C323+C308+White, ratio is up to your flavour buddy. Spray another C308+White+Brown(extremely little), to overspray the whole plane to make the repainted area more gentle. Apply the walking area decal, and spray the colour which you used last step to make a worn out effect. By the way, the decal in Academy Hornet(not Cartograf printed) is quite nice indeed! What a surprise!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 Then attach some antenna things into white. Three antennas on this VFA-81 Hornet are all straight vertical ones, as photos indicated. Radome colour sprayed. Painting is finished. Wash the plane with brown+medium grey enamel colour. And add the dirty area with sevral kinds of brown enamel colour. The exhaust weathering effect was made by pastel. The oil dirts also. Then after all dirty things you added, spray a flat coating to protect the effect. Some metal area brush painted after washing and coating, in order to save the metal effect most perfectly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) Landing gears and white stuff got painted and weathered with dark brown or brownish black enamel colours again. Wheel bays. I did not spend time detailing it because it's not very visible after finishing. Landing gears. The lamp was made by ELF landing lamp detail set. Extremely recommended! I firsly planned to use Aires resin nozzles indicated for Academy kit but found it way too small in section! So I gave up and consentrated myself to detail the original plastic parts. First, make the patels look thin. Next, add EVERGREEN 0.13mm plastic card to make the inner patels. Then painted and weathered. Caution: Speicher's F/A-18C is an early C model so it still used GE F-404-GE-400 engines but not F-404-GE-402 ones. So the inner material is not white! Edited August 18, 2011 by haneto Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) Chaff dispenser launchers need to be drilled 0.3mm holes. The AIM-9L/M Sidewinders. The original fins of kit parts are way too thick so I replaced them with myself cut 0.2mm new fins. Painted. Notice the different metal material and seeking head. All weapons painted and washed. Some small area of the main body need some attached painting. Stabilizers are made movable by placing a ring inside the fuselage. Early C models do not have nit alike antennas but more like fins. Hand brush Mr. Hobby Gloss clear on the light surface. Edited August 18, 2011 by haneto Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haneto Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) Navigation lamp replicated by melt clear plastic runner. Final attach! Finish! More photos coming next! Thanks for watching. Yufei Edited August 18, 2011 by haneto 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.