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It has been a few weeks since I have updated this thread. I finally made time at the bench, and made time to take some fresh pictures.

 

At some point between the last update and today, I assembled all the parts of the wing, the leading edges, the flaps, ailerons, and LEX, and spot primed all the areas I was working on.

 

2v2E9Q23hx9awpY.jpg

 

2v2E9Q2Enx9awpY.jpg

 

2v2E9Q2aFx9awpY.jpg

 

The wing parts fit so well I did not need to spend time sanding. I only had to sand a glue goober. The aft fuselage finally looks acceptable, though I lost a lot of rivets.

 

The problem I addressed tonight was with the intakes. 

 

I could not get a good before picture, but there was a void where the leading edge of the intake met the upper and lower halves.  I built this area up with CA and sanded.

 

Here is the after pic:

 

2v2E9Q2bgx9awpY.jpg

 

it is something that is hard to see, but I had to use my sense of touch to see if the void was still there, and if it was smooth after sanding.  Tomorrow I will need to work on restoring that panel line, but I am tired, and that requires full attention. This picture also reveals I have more gunk to clean up in the intake.

 

See ya next time.

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Nice progress Kurt. That rear seam area will be covered when you add the horizontal tailplanes, so I wouldn’t stress about that. I remember the same intake situation, the leading edge didn’t match up with the side of the intake. I glued and cleaned it up, but it still stress cracked a few times while painting...just a heads up. 

 

 

My recent build for a reference to what you can/can’t see when you finish. I didn’t bother with the see through aspect of the kit. Like you, I completely enjoyed building this kit. Think I still have a F-5E in the stash but always keeping an eye open for one of theses kits (which seems to be rare and expensive these days).  Will enjoy watching you complete this build. 

 

Cheers

Collin

Edited by Collin
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I forgot to take pictures of the intake, the glue popped out when I was sanding, so I ended up smooshing stretched sprue into the opening, which seems to have stuck. 

 

Next step was to add the forward fuselage. It fit great on top, but there was a gap and step on the bottom. I decided to only glue the top, then address the bottom later

 

2v2EuYi2qx9awpY.jpg

 

I could squish in place with my fingers, but I did not want to hold the model for hours.

 

so I used this nice small clamp

 

2v2EuYi9Lx9awpY.jpg

 

And  the fit looks pretty good after spot priming

 

2v2EuYiwqx9awpY.jpg

 

just like a panel line. I know it sounds weird, but it is still a novelty for me to work on a good fitting kit, where every join does not require hours of sanding and filling.

 

At this point, I am ready to add the stabs, and tail.. but I realized it might be tricky to mask the metal area, so I painted it now

 

I decided to use AK Extreme metal Aluminum, and I wanted to try my Bader 100 Side Feed. I got this airbrush on ebay, and after a good cleaning, it did not need any new parts. I have been experiencing trouble with metallics using a gravity feed, and I read Side Feed airbrushed work well with metallics ... so ...

 

before:

 

2v2EuYiGWx9awpY.jpg

 

 

after

 

2v2EuYinmx9awpY.jpg

 

The paint sprayed very easily with the side feed, and never clogged or acted stupid. I know this might not be the right shade, but I will weather it a little bit later. Tomorrow I will coat it with Aqua Gloss then finish major assembly. The primer was not perfectly smooth on the burner cans, so they look a little lumpy.

 

I would start masking the canopy now, but I got a little bit of paint on my hand, and I do not want to get little metallic flakes on the clear parts.

 

till next time ...

Edited by Kurt H.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have done more work, but I did not document it well. 

 

I attached the tail, and nose cone, as well as the canopy. I left the rudder off to make masking the metal area easier:

 

2v2EEuBFyx9awpY.jpg

 

Here is a close up of the clear parts. I will spot prime them later, but they appear to fit well

 

2v2EEuByNx9awpY.jpg

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have not forgotten this one, I am trying to juggle 5 models at once. I do not know why I do this to my self.

 

Any way, I have primered the model and associated parts fully. I will give it another look, but My initial impression is that there is no more filling and sanding required

 

2v2EefbqCx9awpY.jpg

 

 

How many different kits/parts of kits can you see in this picture? 

 

Since Mr Surfacer 1500 dries so quick, I did not see any reason to wait to paint the fuel tank

 

It is Aluminum AK extreme metal

 

2v2EefbFix9awpY.jpg

 

This will go on the centerline. I forgot to primer the pylon, but I will do that tomorrow.

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For me, several concurrent builds are a good thing. Keeps me engaged. If I get bored or frustrated with a build, set it down and pick up another.

 

You're build is looking good. Now for the fun part, the painting. This is my favorite part of a build.

 

Looking forward to seeing the scheme come together. 

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I had to spend quite a bit of time cleaning my work bench. It was really messy.  I started drawing the camo scheme on the model

 

2v2EemaMrx9awpY.jpg

 

 

Then I realized I was too tired to concentrate and give this task the required attention.  This is only two colors, so it should not be too hard. I get really confused with 3 color schemes. I have tried totally freehanding it by airbrushing just from looking at the picture but I found it was too difficult.I do not think I will do the marbling like I did with the F-84F, but I will include a tiny bit of variation with paint coverage to make the finish interesting.

 

 

 

I also need to add some antennas.  I will add them at the last possible moment. 

 

 

 

 

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I finished drawing the camo pattern, and mounted the model on the handle of a disposable epoxy brush. I still had trouble drawing the pattern. It gets so confusing trying  to transpose the 2d drawing on a 3d object, especially with the F-5, it is really curvy. any way, I think I got it.

 

2v2Ee5ZeMx9awpY.jpg

 

I sprayed the Tan. I could only find this color in MM enamel. I have not used MM Enamel for a while. I may have over thinned it, but I Really had a lot of trouble, it seemed like the vicostiy would change as it sat in the airbrush, it would spray as expected, then start coming out wet and heavy. I could not figure it out, but I managed. 

 

2v2Ee5ZZzx9awpY.jpg

 

 

2v2Ee5ZQox9awpY.jpg

 

 

I have the darker color in Mr. Color Lacquer.  

 

till next time....

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And next, the brown, fs32019

 

I outlined the areas to be brown with my Sotar 20/20 . I had the paint thin enough I could practically write with the airbrush, it was like a pen. The really curvy fusealage with all the tight corners posed a challenge, but I got it done

 

2v2EZWw9rx9awpY.jpg

 

2v2EZWwUNx9awpY.jpg

 

and then I filled in the brown with a larger airbrush, my vintage 100GXF with a F needle setup

 

2v2EZWwujx9awpY.jpg

 

There are some areas of the lighter color which need some more saturation, but not too many areas of color where it does not belong.

 

I forgot to paint some smail parts, but did not realize it until I cleaned all the airbrushes, and was really tired.  I will touch it up soon.

 

 

 

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I ended up with a lot of areas of uneven coverage

 

2v2EQjDJFx9awpY.jpg

 

 

The effect is pretty cool, but not quite appropriate for this airframe. The pictures I have show a pretty nice paint job, and a clean airframe.

 

I did a lot of touch up. The pictures do not make it look too much different, but I put in a lot of time and gained a lot of experience optimizing thinner:paint ratios

 

2v2EQjDHyx9awpY.jpg

 

Next task is to finish the wheels, and other details, while the finish cures completely. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Now that the Revell GB is over, and I finished the Pickup Truck, it is time to finish this model.

 

I figured I was ready for decals, when I noticed one little detail, this rectangle on the tail is supposed to be red

 

2v2E1HgMnx9awpY.jpg

 

Ok, no big deal ... Mask it and paint it

 

2v2E1Hgzqx9awpY.jpg

 

 

a quick shot of Ammo red fixed this.

 

2v2E1HWoFx9awpY.jpg

 

Now that I see this picture, it is not quite right.  .. oops

 

I reviewed the instructions, and the picture on the decal instructions and of the whole page of decals, this is what I needed:

 

2v2E1HW3yx9awpY.jpg

 

 

cool, not too much...

 

It still took over an hour. I had to double check reference photos, some parts of the decal instructions were not clear

 

2v2E1HW9Wx9awpY.jpg

 

I also applied decaled to the ACMI pod. I painted it two weeks ago with amo of mig red, and while handling it the paint started to feel tacky.  huh?

 

These are the kit decals... they got kind of wrinkly and hard to handle.

 

2v2E1HWv5x9awpY.jpg

 

I had a real hard time getting them on and straight. I see the rear one is not quite straight. 

 

Any way Decals can be fussy and defy the laws of physics so  will let the model sit for at least a day, and see if they need more setting solution.

 

I am trying to decide it this model needs any weathering. Perhaps a light panel line wash. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Kurt H.
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I have applied a coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss, this is a barrier coat for light weathering. 

 

2v2E1Afynx9awpY.jpg

 

 

Once I am satisfied it is dried completely, I will apply a panel line wash and maybe some streaking if I can find references.

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1 hour ago, Kurt H. said:

I have applied a coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss, this is a barrier coat for light weathering. 

 

Once I am satisfied it is dried completely, I will apply a panel line wash and maybe some streaking if I can find references.

 

Looking great, Kurt.

 

I had not heard of Alclad Aqua Gloss. Maybe it's better than Future for the purpose.

Do you have prior experience with it? I gather from your post that one has to be sure it's completely dry. Anything else to watch out for?

 

Cheers, Stefan. 

 

 

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7 hours ago, Stefan buysse said:

 

Looking great, Kurt.

 

I had not heard of Alclad Aqua Gloss. Maybe it's better than Future for the purpose.

Do you have prior experience with it? I gather from your post that one has to be sure it's completely dry. Anything else to watch out for?

 

Cheers, Stefan. 

 

 

 

this is the 2nd or 3rd model I have used it on. It seems to work well. It sprays easily, does not require thinner, and the bottle even says not to shake it.  As far as letting it dry, I just do not want to handle something with wet paint, or worry about the thinner in weathering products to interact with an uncured coating. 

 

 

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I went through the various products in my hoard of paint and thought about which of them to use. I have several premade panel line wash products I have yet to try. So, nothing like trying something for the first time on a nearly completed model with lots of time invested, right?

 

I decided to try Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color  (dark gray)

 

2v2E1PrsVx9awpY.jpg

 

It was pretty easy to use, and has a built in brush.

 

I used the pin wash technique and let the wash flow by capillary action into the lines. I got the effect I envisioned

 

2v2E1Pr6Dx9awpY.jpg

 

 

2v2E1Pr7Tx9awpY.jpg

 

These pics make it look grungier than it really is.    Any way, The plan is:  Tomorrow Dullcote, then Saturday Final assembly.  

 

 

 

 

 

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12 hours ago, picknpluck said:

Friggin' sweet, dude! Great job on the camo.

 

Thanks!

 

The dullcote has been applied

 

2v2E1Srahx9awpY.jpg

 

The smell of Testors dullcote is one which brings me happiness. It means I am almost done , and finishing a model is a joyous occasion which does not happen often enough.

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