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A 1/72nd C-17 Globemaster - the hard way.


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Thanks again for the kind words folks... it certainly helps with the motivation!

I thought I'd take advantage of the gorgeous weather we're having here in Kent (a balmy 27c on the patio!) and make a start on painting the engines on the C-17. I like to get these smaller areas of the model painted first, as it means it's far easier to mask these smaller sections when it comes to applying the top coats than the other way around.

The paint job on the interior of the engines themselves is quite tricky to replicate. When you peer inside the inlet cowl of the real aircraft there is a section of reinforcing visible around the outside of the fan blades - this is protect the airframe in the event of a blade failure and keep any debris contained within the engine. This was recreated with careful masking of the base-coat of filler primer, as the colour is almost identical. The cowl itself is made up of various sections, which meet under strips of grey, so after a quick spray of a medium grey, these were masked off and the whole inlet given a coat of aluminium. The fans themselves were then given a coat of Humbrol's MetalCote and polished to a metallic sheen:

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Considering the 'blobs' (and that's being generous) that I started with for the engines, I'm chuffed with how they've come out. These sections will now be allowed to harden off for 24hrs before they are masked off for the main paint job.

And for those who wanted a 'with something else picture' for a sense of scale, here's the model with an iphone and a set of car keys:

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Tom

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Tom,

Spectacular. Those engines really came out the equal of most injection molded ones, especially once you applied some paint to them. That comparison pic is amazing. I just didn't comprehend the size of the C-17 in 1/72 scale.

Joel

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Tommy your build throughout is so inspiring that I aspire to hopefully one day, have some elements of your skillset. Especially your flawless scribing! That is a skill that I am still intimidated by. Simply fantastic work. It's almost as if you don't make any mistakes at all! ..... and maybe you don't! That is simply amazing mastery!

-Mark

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Tom

This absolutely has to be the most amazing modelling work I have ever seen. I bought the Anigrand kit ten years ago and have never been brave enough to even try to fix the huge errors in that kit. I wish I had gotten the Combat Models kit now....

Please keep posting these updates as they are incredibly inspiring to see.

Well Done!

Jason

Edited by Jay Hornet Fan
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Thanks for the kind words gents... it's much appreciated!

Tommy your build throughout is so inspiring that I aspire to hopefully one day, have some elements of your skillset. Especially your flawless scribing! That is a skill that I am still intimidated by. Simply fantastic work. It's almost as if you don't make any mistakes at all! ..... and maybe you don't! That is simply amazing mastery!

-Mark

Hi Mark,

Scribing normally goes one of two ways for me - either perfectly or the total opposite. This build has been the former and has gone really well - it's a case of not attempting to apply too much pressure on the first pass and allow the depth to build up slowly over multiple passes. This way, if you do make an error it's far easier to correct as the line isn't too deep.

Tom

This absolutely has to be the most amazing modelling work I have ever seen. I bought the Anigrand kit ten years ago and have never been brave enough to even try to fix the huge errors in that kit. I wish I had gotten the Combat Models kit now....

Please keep posting these updates as they are incredibly inspiring to see.

Well Done!

Jason

Cheers Jason,

I've seen a few of the Anigrand kits built up and they never looked right to me, hence I went down the vacform route. Granted, they're not everyone's cup of tea, but I find them much easier to work with than resin and it's far easier to correct shape issues than carving huge chunks of resin!

In the meantime, not the most exciting of updates, but after some final surface prep and polishing with micromesh, I've got the C-17 painted. She's also had a liberal coating of gloss-cote in preparation for decals. Please forgive the poor picture quality; the light wasn't great and and they were only taken with my bog-standard camera - when she's decalled up I'll get the proper set-up out:

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On to finishing off the u/c bays now, which will need a coat of gloss white, and then it'll be decalling time, where hopefully it'll really come to life.

Tom

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Tommy,

Your paint job looks perfect. Smooth and consistent. Same for the Glosscote. The decals should be a breeze to handle and get into the proper position with that surface.

Joel

Thanks Joel - after applying the base coat of grey it received a good polish with MicroMesh pads, and then I built the gloss-cote up with multiple, thin 'dust coats'. That way it dries quickly and you get a near mirror-like sheen - as you say, perfect for decaling.

Tom

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's time for a long-overdue update on this project... I had taken a break from this build due to getting very frustrated with the installation of the landing gear. The Anigrand set I sourced is a vast improvement on the Combat 'detail set', which bares absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to any C-17 landing gear I've seen. However, the Anigrand kit has all of the support structure in place to support the gear, whereas mine did not. Therefore, much head-scratching, swearing and general frustration ensued, before I decided it was time for the model and I to have some time apart before it took an unscheduled first flight. I just simply could not get the gear to sit right, so it went back into the attic for a fortnight.

So out it came after some 'time apart', and hey presto, with a little time to mull over the problems of mounting the undercarriage as well as a fresh pair of eyes, I had it installed in a couple of hours. Isn't it amazing how a break can be all that's needed?

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With the gear installation done, I have now begun the decalling process, working from front to back:

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Still lots more to do in terms of decals, but all being well another update in the not-too-distant future.

Tom

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Tommy,

Your landing gear looks like it was made for your build. Simply stellar. I've tried myself to put down a frustrating build and work on something else till the urge and a fresh does of Mojo kicks in, but I just can't do it. I hear it calling my name, and slowly seducing me back to the bench. :bandhead2:/>

You decaling really is coming out looking like paint and stenciling. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the aircraft decaled and stenciled.

Joel

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Thanks once again for the positive feedback gents... much appreciated!

Time for another update...

It's taken a few sessions, mainly due to the sheer size of the thing, but decaling has now been completed.

I've used DrawDecals a few times before and was never disappointed - the same apples here. The decals went on beautifully, and when compared to pictures of the real aircraft, look spot on, too.

The black wing-walkway markings were made up using an Xtradecal black strip sheet - pretty time consuming but a far easier task than masking and painting them all!

17889116209_c6406e4a5c_c.jpgS1030251 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

17887812910_17caed8bc2_c.jpgS1030248 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

18071990232_805c3a62aa_c.jpgS1030259 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

The 10th Anniversary tail marking is certainly an eye-catcher:

17887647180_d0bd845267_c.jpgS1030253 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

She'll now need a coat of matt varnish before I commence on the natural metal areas.

Until next time,

Tom

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