Flankerman Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 Great progress - looking good so far. Can I just point out that the raised circle below the IFR probe recess is way too prominent and needs sanding back a bit. The raised circles (there's another one on the starboard side) are actually pop-out lights to illuminate the probe during flight refuelling - and they are pretty much flush with the surrounding skin surface. Keep up the good work. Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paulsbrown Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 On 12/4/2018 at 4:08 AM, Fighting Eighty-Four said: I am thinking it is his older conversion that uses the Academy, the cut points line up pretty perfectly to the HB kit, so I would be inclined to believe that is the case. Good point, he's certainly made a few! Loving this build, it's tempting me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mario krijan Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 Great work so far!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 10, 2018 Author Share Posted December 10, 2018 On 12/4/2018 at 3:55 AM, Flankerman said: Great progress - looking good so far. Can I just point out that the raised circle below the IFR probe recess is way too prominent and needs sanding back a bit. The raised circles (there's another one on the starboard side) are actually pop-out lights to illuminate the probe during flight refuelling - and they are pretty much flush with the surrounding skin surface. Keep up the good work. Ken Thanks Ken! I did not know what those circular things were, so thanks for the enlightenment! Interestingly, they do not look quite so prominent on the model, seems the pics magnify it. But yes, they definitely are more than almost flush. I am a terrible re-scriber of small details, so I will have to think about whether I want to sand that down or not. On 12/6/2018 at 2:10 AM, paulsbrown said: Good point, he's certainly made a few! Loving this build, it's tempting me. Thanks Paul! So which one would you do? SM, MKI, MKA, or another MKM? On 12/6/2018 at 6:20 AM, mario krijan said: Great work so far!!! Thanks Mario! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 10, 2018 Author Share Posted December 10, 2018 Some more work done... Got the shoulders pretty much done. I am very pleased with the fit of the resin from Naza, and if I had spent just a little more time on pre-fitting and sanding of the cut areas I bet this would have fit perfectly. As it is, though, I did have to throw some filler in and do some sanding, especially on the gun side. But I am happy with where I am now. Apparently I have lost the gun barrel from all the handling. I will do a thorough work area search and rescue of my work area tonight, if I can't find it I will have to consider another option. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 10, 2018 Author Share Posted December 10, 2018 Also added the radome and wingtip pods. I believe I will have to modify them to be correct for this aircraft slightly. I need to research a little more before I do so. I think I probably should have done that first before attaching them, but it is not unusual for me to get a little ahead of myself. LOL As for the nosecone, I put 4 fishing weights in there. That's a lot more than I usually do, as I am worried about all the weight at the rear with the resin vertical tails and resin AMR nozzles. I hope it is enough, but I also hope it is not too much weight for the nose gear either. We shall see. Starting to look like a Flanker!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 Looking good, following with interest. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 12, 2018 Author Share Posted December 12, 2018 On 12/10/2018 at 3:45 PM, Janissary said: Looking good, following with interest. Ya know, I just now saw your Venezuelan Flanker build, now THAT is very inspirational! Unfortunately I do not have your level of patience for re-scribing or meticulousness overall. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 12, 2018 Author Share Posted December 12, 2018 Update! I have finished the intakes, the fit there is quite good. I pre-finished the insides and outsides around the opening since that would be much harder to do after assembly. Also added the resin LWS310 pods on the sides of the intakes. I had to sand down that area first as it had detail for the MKK pods that go there from the kit. I also added the doohicky that goes right in front of the IRST in front of the windscreen. Not sure what it does but it seems to be unique to the twin seat canard Flankers. Also, while I was looking for the clear part for the rear coaming, I noticed a clear part that is unused in this kit, and interestingly it looks almost exactly like the Thales HUD! The HUD glass square fits perfectly in the frame, so it must be for that reason, maybe for a future kit? That would be cool! I did have to sand angles at the top of the square piece to make it look like the Thales piece. But I am pretty stoked with this development! Anyway, I have a few little pieces to add, mask the windscreen and canopy, and attach the windscreen, then it will be time to prime! Starting to get excited for the next steps!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 On 12/12/2018 at 6:45 PM, Fighting Eighty-Four said: I also added the doohicky that goes right in front of the IRST in front of the windscreen. That is an aerodynamic shaped 'wedge' - to divert the slipstream away from the IRST glass to keep it clean. It isn't just on two-seaters. Another small detail....the MKM also has four 'bird slicer' IFF antennas in front of the windscreen.... Great progress BTW Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 14, 2018 Author Share Posted December 14, 2018 2 hours ago, Flankerman said: That is an aerodynamic shaped 'wedge' - to divert the slipstream away from the IRST glass to keep it clean. It isn't just on two-seaters. Another small detail....the MKM also has four 'bird slicer' IFF antennas in front of the windscreen.... Great progress BTW Ken Aaaaaand THAT is why I love this place! Thanks Ken, great info! As for other Flankers, I do see now it is on some others, but it appears to be considerably smaller. Yep, still gotta do the IFF bird slicers. I will play around with that this weekend, hopefully I can keep mine in scale and correctly positioned. I am not the best scratch builder, but then again this is not a terribly difficult one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 17, 2018 Author Share Posted December 17, 2018 A small update today, got the MKM specific lumps and bumps attached, including the IFF bird slicers. That was a fun venture, as I am not a good scratchbuilder and it was quite tricky to get lined up correctly and evenly spaced, as well as glued into place. Also masked and attached the windscreen. Masking that, with the integrated IRST, was also not much fun. LOL Blended the windscreen and fixed a few other small gaps and primed... Next up will be the pre-shading marble coat with Tamiya white primer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DIO Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 I love this one. And the conversion is truly amazing. The only thing that has kept me away so far, are those inclined wheel bays 😞 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 19, 2018 Author Share Posted December 19, 2018 Thanks DIO! I look at it this way, once I put it on the shelf for display those angled bays won't be seen ever again. Indeed, there is no way to excuse such a mistake on a modern kit, so I completely understand your trepidation, however for me it is enough to let me build the HB Flankers without reservation. This is my blessing and my curse... I tend to be a "geed enough for me" type builder. While I will make an effort to be as accurate as possible or to make a seam disappear completely, I do not get hung up on certain kit errors or construction flaws of my own doing. Now, some things do bother me more than others, and if it is one of my "red line" accuracy types, then I will go aftermarket and spend more time to correct. Anyway, I digress... LOL So I spent last night doing the pre-shading marble coat. Got it all done in a little over an hour, moving as quickly as I can do ensure randomness. My airbrush hand always gets sore doing this, as sometimes I am stop and go stop and go over and over for many minutes in a row. LOL Anyway, this is the part of the build where things really start to come together. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to lay down the base coat. Nice thing about this is the Malaysian Flanker is all one color, and I will be using Gunze H335. Considered using H337, but decided H335 is best. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paulsbrown Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 On 12/10/2018 at 4:12 PM, Fighting Eighty-Four said: As for the nosecone, I put 4 fishing weights in there. I'd say it's a good idea, I was surprised at how close my KH Su-35 was to being a tail sitter with the resin nozzles. Your build is looking great, can't wait to see some paint. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 20, 2018 Author Share Posted December 20, 2018 (edited) 6 hours ago, paulsbrown said: I'd say it's a good idea, I was surprised at how close my KH Su-35 was to being a tail sitter with the resin nozzles. Your build is looking great, can't wait to see some paint. Thanks Paul, and ask and you shall receive! Got the base coat down last night, all good there. I am happy with the color, looks pretty right to me. Added a little bit of white to the remaining paint in the cup and painted the radome as well. In pics some radomes are considerably lighter than the rest of the jet, but in others the difference is quite subtle. I decided to go the subtle route and am happy with the look. I will need to go back in and paint a square patch of the base color around the IFF bird slicers as seen in pics, as well as the anti-glare black paint in front of the windscreen and on the canopy. Should be about ready to decal this weekend. Not a ton of decals or stencils on this bird, so it should not be a time-consuming task. Edited December 20, 2018 by Fighting Eighty-Four Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Falconxlvi Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Nice job on the paint- the marble coat really breaks up the monotony of a single color scheme. You amaze me with how many quality builds you crank out of the workshop! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ching kuo Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 good . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 21, 2018 Author Share Posted December 21, 2018 On 12/20/2018 at 11:49 AM, Falconxlvi said: Nice job on the paint- the marble coat really breaks up the monotony of a single color scheme. You amaze me with how many quality builds you crank out of the workshop! Thanks Falcon, I appreciate the kind words! I think my ability to complete so many models is because of several reasons... I am able to get about an hour or so each day to work on my models consistently, I only work on one model at a time, and the fact that I am not overly AMS. Because of this I will never be a master, but it does allow me to get things done. 🙂 I have so many kits and subjects I want to build, and that drives me to keep going! On 12/20/2018 at 1:31 PM, ching kuo said: good . Thanks CK! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 21, 2018 Author Share Posted December 21, 2018 So small update today, painted the anti-glare black in front of the windscreen and the canopy. I also painted the square patch of the fuselage color around the IFF bird slicers. Soon it will be time for the future gloss coat then decal time, but I think I will start the metalwork next. That should be fun! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Falconxlvi Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 Looking good- bring on the Alclad! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Doppelgänger Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 Impressive skills! Michael, do you plan on doing something about those wingtips? The Sorbtsiyas already point way too up, when they should point downward just like the nose. The lack of a washup on the wingtips is yet another issue on the Hobby Boss kits. Too late to try to correct the wingtips by heating, but you still could try to unglue the pods to glue them back again pointing a bit down. Your Su-30 is looking awesome! Cheers, Onigiri Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 22, 2018 Author Share Posted December 22, 2018 8 hours ago, Falconxlvi said: Looking good- bring on the Alclad! Yessirrrrrrr! Got the metal areas masked off and the gloss black down last night. Today will be Alclad day! 1 hour ago, Doppelgänger said: Impressive skills! Michael, do you plan on doing something about those wingtips? The Sorbtsiyas already point way too up, when they should point downward just like the nose. The lack of a washup on the wingtips is yet another issue on the Hobby Boss kits. Too late to try to correct the wingtips by heating, but you still could try to unglue the pods to glue them back again pointing a bit down. Your Su-30 is looking awesome! Cheers, Onigiri Thanks Onigiri! Hmmm, so I was unaware of this issue with the wings and pods. I do see it now that you mention it, and am unsure what I will do. My lack of AMS may allow me to move on as is though, I will have to think this over. But I DO appreciate you pointing this out to me. If I do another HB kit in the future I will definitely try to address this early in the build. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 26, 2018 Author Share Posted December 26, 2018 Got the fuselage engine area metalwork mostly done now, will probably go back and tone down the bright silver areas on the top, I think they stand out a little too much. I will be also spraying this area matte, so it will also help. I did take some pics of the painting progression as well. Pretty happy with how this looks... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 Great work on those metal areas! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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