Mike C Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 First glance, it appears that all those bad things I read about this kit may indeed be true. There's a gigantic, and deep, ejection pin marks on the seat. Not a good start! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 15, 2013 Author Share Posted August 15, 2013 OK. Initially I wanted to build this bird wheels down. But, as I applied some putty to some of the injection pin marks, I saw... THIS: WHAT THE...?! SERIOUSLY???? So, that decided it for me... Wheels up, it is! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
xavi84 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 First of all, welcome to the group build! Secondly, holy crap! Those ejection pin marks are terrible. Good luck with this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 15, 2013 Author Share Posted August 15, 2013 Hmmmm.... It had just occurred to me that the only way to build this as in-flight model is by sacrificing at least 2 of the Phoenixes. And I really want to build this fully loaded... I guess I will still build this bird wheels down, despite the shocking pin marks in the gear wheels. Oh well, at least they won't be visible when sitting on the shelf. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 OK... Applied the decals on the instrument panels Man... Cartograf decals are really really good, aren't they? Also glued up the wings sections. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 (edited) OK. I decided to glue the rear Phoenix launchers to see if there's any way to mount this bird I can see there's a bit of space between the front tip of the rear launcher and the rear end of the front ones, so I think I should be able to build this bird wheels up after all! YEAH!! :thumbsup:/>/> Also found this little gem at my LHS: I can mount up to 3 birds on this thing. EDIT: I don't know why the picture of the display stand is upside down. Tried to edit PhotoBucket, but no effect... EDIT for EDIT: Damn you PhotoBucket!! Now it's right way up, making my previous EDIT sounds weird!!! Edited August 22, 2013 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 Lots of drama with this project. The wheel cover didn't fit at all. Looks absolutely crap. I'm not sure what to do here. I might use Milliput to patch this up later. Tonight, I decided to glue the top and bottom fuselage halves together, along with the wings and glove vanes. O...M...G!!!!!!! It took me probably around an hour to do it. The hardest part is ensuring the glove vanes would stay put. But then when I managed to get everything lined up and glued, I realized that I had stupidly installed the wings incorrectly (left on right, and right on left). Somehow I managed to pry the fuselage halves enough to swap the wings around. Considering the number of moving parts, it was surprising that the fit was still somewhat acceptable. The worst gap was the joint between the fuselage halves just behind the wings. 'Later! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 Quite a bit of puttying required... I actually lost one of the small wheel covers. So, I fashioned a replacement one using one of the pylons from Italeri E Super Hornet that I scrapped some time ago. Also finished painting the AIM-9 (L?) and AIM-7 (E?). The Sidewinders were OOB. As far as the Sparrows go, the kit's Sparrows are EXTREMELY BAD, so I decided to steal a couple of Sparrows from my Academy "C" Hornet. For newer jets, I'd normally spray the tip of the 'Winders with metallic (Boltgun Metal, Gun Metal, etc.), but I used black for this one. Also, rather than using FS36375 for the missile body, I used gloss white (Gunze Aqueous H1). 'Later! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
xavi84 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 You're making so pretty good work there on a not so great kit. Here's hoping the rest of the build doesn't give you any more trouble -Xavi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Thanks xavi. Anyway... My elbow is sore from all the sanding. And yet there's plenty more to come! AIM-54 Phonexies all painted up. Ready for decals! Man! I must've done at least 4 spray sessions on those! Each session laying down probably 3-4 layers! Yeah... yeah... I know I can use Tamiya White Fine Surface Primer. But... I thought I'd do things "the hard way" for this one. 'Later! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 Alrighty... Glued the front and rear fuselage together... As expected, they don't fit perfectly. Although I didn't expect there was such a big step on the join. The worst was the belly. After lots of sanding with 400-grit sandpaper... 'Later! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 Missiles are all done. Weathered with oil wash then finished with a thin layer of Tamiya semi-gloss clear (X-35). This is the first time I use Tamiya X-35. It's fantastic! 'Later! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Missiles are nicely done! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 Missiles are nicely done! :thumbsup:/> Thank you! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 Installed the canopy and windscreen and learned that the canopy doesn't fit the frame that well. Not sure if you can see it from the photos below, but the bottom of the canopy only barely touched the frame. One thing that I'm quite happy about though is the join between forward and rear fuselage. Can't see any evidence of seam line at all now. 'Later! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 BTW... Just realized that I forgot to upload the pics of the cockpit just before I installed the canopy... Cheers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arnobiz Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Nice work. May I ask why you post your progress on two different threads though? I will make it easier to follow if all comments and answers related to your build are in a single place :) Arnaud Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 Well, not everyone follows GB thread. Also, I may not be able to finish this project in time before the GB finishes, in which case, I'll only continue updating the normal In Progress thread. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 All 4 Phoenix launchers are installed. You know, I've had Tamiya Extra Thin Cement for quite some time, but I have only used it sparingly in the past. This is the first project where I used predominantly this fantastic substance! I think I'll start using it much more from now on. I'll still use Tamiya's normal cement, but it'll be my secondary cement. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 Jet turbines up! Sprayed with MM Non Buffing Metalizer Gun Metal. Dry-fitting the left side engine nacelle revealed not a bad fit. Doesn't look like it'd require any putty. The right side engine nacelle will require some putty though. 'Later! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 (edited) That's some serious gappage! Are you going to fill the gap using putty and/or styrene filler, or try scribing the nacelle sides? Edited September 2, 2013 by David N Lombard Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 That's some serious gappage! Are you going to fill the gap using putty and/or styrene filler, or try scribing the nacelle sides? Sanding... Lots of sanding, plus putty, of course. The front parts glued with Tamiya Extra Thin cement and held in place with hand until the cement dried enough. I then applied some Tamiya Basic Putty (highly thinned with nail polish remover) then sanded down with 1200-grit sandpaper, to blend the tips of the engine nacelles. 'Later! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 (edited) Alrighty... Seems that a whole bunch of updates were lost when the site went down. Anyway.... Here are some pics of the more significant "updates" since then... Now, I don't normally use preshading for my models. But I'm making an exception for this. I used Tamiya XF-54 Dark Sea Grey for the preshading. BTW, Tamiya XF-54 is virtually identical to Gunze Aqueous FS36118, especially when sprayed. See picture below... I used Gunze FS36118 for this: (what's that triangular area called?) I also started spraying Light Gull Gray on the lower fuselage, but then I noticed a few places that still needed some puttying. I used Gunze Aqueous H315 (FS16440), thinned with Tamiya X-20A acrylic thinner. Horizontal stabilizers slightly weathered and decaled. Vertical stabilizers all done. Ready for a layer of clear coat (I think I'll use Tamiya Semi-Gloss Clear) Gas bags weathered a bit with oil wash. Masked and sprayed the black areas with Tamiya semi-gloss black (X-18). 'Later! Edited October 5, 2013 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 Laid down a layer of gloss clear... Ready for some oil wash, then decaling. 'Later! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted October 13, 2013 Author Share Posted October 13, 2013 OK... Oil wash applied. I'm thinking of spraying random panel with slightly different colour to emulate paint touch ups. I might also spray some Tamiya Smoke over some random areas. Hmmm... just remembered that I haven't painted the navigation lights and the gun port's metallic part. 'Later! 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.