ALF18 Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 (edited) I often get impatient at this stage, but the work schedule forced me to take it slowly, and I managed to do a better than usual job of masking. Top grey is now applied (Modelmaster acryl FS 35237), with varying intensities, to a nice semi-weathered look. Next step is to touch up the white inside the wheel wells. A fun little comparison against my laminated 433 Squadron print. Pencil-lead weathering next. ALF Edited August 10, 2014 by ALF18 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Now for my patented (but licenced for free, unlimited use by anyone) pencil-lead CF-18 weathering. On the left wing, you can see how I have started. CF-18s tend to get greasy where hydraulic fluid and/or oil streaks the paint, and the small dirt particles in the air adhere to the paint. In this case, I have taken a pencil lead and scribbled some dark areas where they typically occur, then wet my fingertip and smudged the pencil lead until it looked like grease. The neat part about this technique is that if you overdo it, you can just rub it some more with a wet finger, or even remove it entirely and start afresh with a pencil eraser. The walkway on the left LEX has been scribbled here. And, the end result after smudging with the wet finger. Left side done, on to the right next. Thanks for dropping by! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Al425 Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Hi Alf, nice progress! I especially like the weathering tip using lead pencil... definitely a keeper in the weathering category. Also good the know about typical spots on the wings. Almost done, can't wait to see her all dressed up! Philippe Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 Hi Alf, nice progress! I especially like the weathering tip using lead pencil... definitely a keeper in the weathering category. Also good the know about typical spots on the wings. Almost done, can't wait to see her all dressed up! Philippe Thanks Philippe. Keep in mind that this is a VERY heavy weathering look on this model. It is rare that CF-18s get this dirty. When we were in Europe, they got quite dirty, but in Canada, they were not that bad, except for recent years. Even then, this is dirtier than they usually are. Here are some shots (DND photos), showing very dirty to more typical (lightly soiled) weathering. Typical modern shot, from about 2004 or so: Very dirty, over West Germany, circa 1990 1988, West Germany, my good buddy Doug Stroud, photo taken by DND photographer Vic Johnston. Note how there is a lot of dirt on the forward fuselage around the refuelling door, and other access panels. DND photo, what looks like Bagotville's QRA parking area, showing more typical weathering. You can see it's not too severe. There tend to be some variations in the paint hue, but not so much dirt and grease. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bikerider Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Great photos! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thadeus Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 (edited) These are very nice pics. I've always thought that CF-188's got quite dirty. The walkway trick indeed is awesome. So simple, so effective! Edited August 12, 2014 by Thadeus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 12, 2014 Author Share Posted August 12, 2014 Great photos! Thanks, Bikerider. Over my 30 years of association with the CF-18, I have ammassed a huge collection of photos of them. These are very nice pics. I've always thought that CF-188's got quite dirty. The walkway trick indeed is awesome. So simple, so effective! For the majority of their service life, the CF-18s have been quite clean, especially compared to carrier-borne USN aircraft. Their paint makes them hard to clean; any dirt or dust in the atmosphere causes them to stain. When we flew our aircraft to Europe for deployments in the late 80s and early 90s, it was amusing to see the difference between a Canadian-based Hornet and one from Germany. The soot in the air in Europe got absorbed into the paint, and made them quite dirty, despite the ground crews' best efforts to scrub them regularly. Ours, flown in the relatively clean air of Northern Canada, were pristine in comparison. Panel lines were hard to see from any distance, and the colours were quite uniform. They are occasionally repainted, especially following a major overhaul (like the A+ mods). I'm glad you like the pencil weathering technique. I discovered it quite by accident, in my attempts to replicate what I saw every day on our squadron aircraft. What I love about the technique is how you can screw it up, erase, start over, and get it exactly the way you want it. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Emvar Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 ALF, You know I've been watching your progress..... Damn fine job Brother. Now get it done so I can copy your work. Soooooo after this you feeling like a Tutor? I just pulled out the CF-100 and can't make up my mind which Canuck sheet to get. I'm thinking Mk.V. E Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I'm thinking you should trade the Mk5 to me!!!! Looking great Alf, I like the med tape idea! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) Great work as usual sir. I really like the 3M tape. It's easy to work with and is wonderful for compound curves. As I mentioned at breakfast, you know I'm stealing your pencil weathering trick. Hope the back to work bit isn't bothering you too much. Still haven't started mine yet. Gotta get the lead out and find some mojo. Summer has been too nice. Take care, mon ami. Mike Edited August 13, 2014 by AX 365 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 ALF, You know I've been watching your progress..... Damn fine job Brother. Now get it done so I can copy your work. Soooooo after this you feeling like a Tutor? I just pulled out the CF-100 and can't make up my mind which Canuck sheet to get. I'm thinking Mk.V. :cheers:/> E Emil, I have been looking at the vac-form Tutor, and quaking in my boots a bit... I think my next model will be something easy, like a 1/32 scale CF-18 with lots of AM resin... But I haven't forgotten our deal! I'm thinking you should trade the Mk5 to me!!!! Looking great Alf, I like the med tape idea! It works beautifully, Shawn. Before, I had all kinds of trouble trimming Tamiya or other masking tape, to get curves just right, until Mike told me about this, and also sent me a roll in the mail to make sure I had the right kind. With that kind of boost, I can't go wrong. Great work as usual sir. I really like the 3M tape. It's easy to work with and is wonderful for compound curves. As I mentioned at breakfast, you know I'm stealing your pencil weathering trick. Hope the back to work bit isn't bothering you too much. Still haven't started mine yet. Gotta get the lead out and find some mojo. Summer has been too nice. Take care, mon ami. Mike See, Elmo? Mike and I both need some mojo to get our hands dirty with the vac-form stuff. I think the advent of cool weather and morning frost will help with the inspiration; at the moment, it's too much fun to enjoy the outdoors and build Hornets... Thanks for dropping by, guys! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Emvar Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 This is why I set the time frame as 'ish..... My mojo is pretty strained too with all this nice weather. Even Charlene's HDL (Honey Do List) has been put aside LOL There is never any pressure just a new thing to Learn. Kinda like the first time I had to do stalls and spins.... First thing that came to my mind was You gotta be F'n Nuts..... but knowing how to get out of it just makes you a better flyer. And then there is that Sadomasochistic thing..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 Slow to post progress; back to work teaching is a drag! Have I whined about that enough? Those of you who have 2 or 3 weeks vacation each year are probably screaming "stop whining", and you're right... but now back to modelling. I painted the insides of the nozzles with a cream colour, and noticed there is no moulded detail of the interior petals. I drew some in with a pencil; hi-res photography shows me that I need to fix it up a bit. The outsides of the nozzles are Tamiya acrylic metallic grey. I also worked on the fiddly bits. Here you can see I'm painting the seat, and the AMRAAMs that I robbed from the Kinetic F-16 kit, and also the wheel bay doors. I used a red magic marker for the edging on the doors; a lot easier than paint, but caution: don't get it wet! It smears everywhere. It's starting to look more like the finish line is in sight. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Looking pretty good there, daddy-o! Grubby and grimy effect very well replicated. I was reviewing the photos you sent (thanks again by the way!) and 703 is really quite clean, for the most part. Underside is pretty neat and tidy but the tops of the wings and part of the horizontal stab have some grubbiness to them. I'll do a bit of weathering but nothing over the top as I remember you saying that demo birds are kept pretty clean, or at least the crews do their best. Keep it up chum. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tosouthern66 Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Very nice ALF, keep her moving forward! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 Thanks guys! Just before bed, a last shot. I did some more robbing of parts from my Hasegawa donor kit. The nose gear door shown here from the kit is not right; it has an extra bulge only the C/D models have (has to do with USN ECM gear). Rather than scrape it off, I just ripped off a door from the old kit, and used it. I have been fixing decals in place. The old set of Leading Edge decals I have (about 5 to 6 years old) is OK, but the formation light strips shattered immediately. I am using the kit formation lights instead, even though they are a bit too boldly coloured for realism. The Leading Edge lights are nice, but shatter-prone. I also found that the false canopy decals were too big for this kit's nose gear doors, so I had to trim them a bit, but that also led to some shattering. Judicious use of Future and shattered portions persuaded them to sit in place. In the future, I think I will always mask and spray for the false canopy, because I have had many problems with decals in this area. More pics soon as decaling progresses. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 Finally, got around to posting some pics. Decals are going on. The old Leading Edge Models decals were generally pretty good, although the formation lights shattered on me as I started to apply the first two. I decided to go with the kit formation lights, which are not nearly as realistic as the colours and shape of the LEM versions, but at least they didn't shatter on me. Serves me right for keeping decals far too long, and not building as quickly as Phantom! Working on the Slammers. I used silver pens for the bands, and some Tamiya acrylic metallic grey for the large band aft of the fins. AIM 9s partially done. Again, silver pen for the silver bands (and will do the tail gyros with that as well). The kit formation lights look a bit cartoonish. Oh well... The nose area. I picked 734 because it was a jet that was deployed to Libya, and it belonged to 425. The bottom is coming along. Wheels installed. Decals going on. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 And pretty much done. Lots of fiddly work at the end, of course. When it stops raining, I will get some better outside shots. Also look in the finished build threads for some. I'm happy to call this one done; I need room for my big Dual! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Liking this one, only one suggestion. The sun really shows you need to paint the inside of the canopy black. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Looks great. Nice job Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted August 29, 2014 Author Share Posted August 29, 2014 Liking this one, only one suggestion. The sun really shows you need to paint the inside of the canopy black. True, Shawn. Hate those high-resolution cameras and good lighting. I'll try to do it without breaking the fragile canopy support. ALF 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.