Jump to content

1/48 Hasegawa F-22A Raptor, 1FW, Langley AFB, 2008


Recommended Posts

Hi all!  

 

Back again with my freshly completed 1/48 Hasegawa F-22A Raptor.

 

So when considering building a Raptor, two things usually come to mind before starting:  How to handle the metallic "Raptor Sheen" and "Gold Iridium" tinted canopy.  I have seen various approaches to solve these issues, with varying degrees of effectiveness.  But since I like to experiment and try new methods, I decided to try techniques for both that I had not yet seen done.  For the "Raptor Sheen", I decided to paint the normal camo colors (non-metallic), and then add a light coat of Alclad Airframe Aluminum on top of those colors.  I wasn't sure how that would come out, but once completed I was pleasantly surprised by the subtle variable sheen I was getting and how it really blended the camo in a very realistic way to my eye.  Hmmm, maybe I was on to something!  I did worry about how the sheen would hold up after the gloss coat, wash, and flat coat, however.  And indeed, the sheen was diminished quite a bit after these steps, so I did go back in after the flat coat was applied and added some Airframe Alumuminum randomly and very lightly.  This actually really worked well, because this gave the model a bit of an uneven sheen, which seems to be what happens on the real aircraft as it weathers.  Since I was going for a moderately weathered Raptor, this was right on point for what I was looking for.

 

As for the canopy, this is something I had been thinking about how to handle for a long time.  I did experiments a while back on a spare Tamiya P-51 canopy and found that a particular nail polish I found on eBay worked pretty well.  I did not know how that would translate on a finished model, but was very happy to see that the effect was exactly what I was looking for, and something I had not seen done on any previous Raptor model.  In person the effect is very cool, depending on how you view the model and how the light hits it, the canopy is either opaque gold/reddish, all gold, or even translucent gold where the pilot is clearly visible inside.  As for how I applied the nail polish to the canopy, I mixed the polish with Mr Color Levelling thinner at a pretty high ratio of thinner to polish.  This was applied to the INSIDE of the canopy then dipped in future to protect the polish and to increase the canopy luster.

 

As for decals, the ones supplied in the kit are just not of the right color, so I had to source aftermarket, which is not easy!  There is really not much available right now.  I wanted to to an Alaskan Raptor, but there just weren't any usable decals I could find for that.  I did luck out in finding a set of TwoBobs Langley Raptors decals, and went with those.  They performed quite well and the color was right on IMHO.  Other than the decals, this was completely out of box.

 

The Hasegawa Raptor is a nice kit, and fitment is quite good overall, but this is a seriously over-engineered kit.  There were so many internal braces and guide pin style interior assemblies that I actually had to cut some off and remove others to get the fuselage halves to line up right.  That may have just been me, so I dunno about others.  Another issue with this kit is the over-scale raised panels.  Many people sand these down and replace lost detail, but I wasn't really in the mood to do that, so I left them be.  I wasn't too bothered with them, and on the finished, weathered model, they really don't stand out as much as they do on the bare plastic.

 

By doing this in-flight with closed bays, no weapons, and no landing gear it was a rather fast build of one month.  This has really helped me get my modelling mojo back!  Overally, I am very very happy with how this model turned out, and how my approaches to solve the problems of the sheen and canopy worked like a charm! 

 

Here is what I used for this build:

 

Kit: 1/48 Hasegawa F-22A Raptor (07245 PT45)

Decals: TwoBobs F-22A "Langley's Raptors" (48-123)

Aftermarket: NONE

Paints: Gunze Mr. Surfacer Black 1500 (main aircraft primer base), Tamiya Liquid White Primer (for marble coat),   Mr Paint MRP-094 FS36251 Medium Mod Gray,  Gunze Aqueous H308 Light Ghost Gray and H305 Gunship Gray, Tamiya Rubber Black, Clear Red, and Clear Blue, Gunze Mr Color GX2 Gloss Black (gloss black primer for metalwork) and Alclad II Airframe Aluminum and Burnt Iron. Future Gloss coat for decals and Future+Tamiya XF-21 Flat Base 6:1 ratio for final matte coat. Mig Ammo Deep Gray panel wash.

 

Now on to the pics!

 

716386-16625-45.jpg

 

716377-16625-42.jpg

 

716379-16625-11.jpg

 

716384-16625-96.jpg

 

716398-16625-43.jpg

 

716400-16625-42.jpg

 

716387-16625-40.jpg

 

716391-16625-15.jpg

 

716393-16625-99.jpg

 

716394-16625-40.jpg

 

716395-16625-75.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

That's really nice! I especially like the canopy. Could you share some detail on which nail polish you used? Brand, color etc?

I'd really like to tackle one of these some day. I really like the airframes with all the mismatched panels. Some repainted, some seemingly worn down to the metal. All with that crazy sheen. I really like how yours looks though.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Here is what I used for this build:

 

Kit: 1/48 Hasegawa F-22A Raptor (07245 PT45)

Decals: TwoBobs F-22A "Langley's Raptors" (48-123)

Aftermarket: NONE

Paints: Gunze Mr. Surfacer Black 1500 (main aircraft primer base), Tamiya Liquid White Primer (for marble coat),   Mr Paint MRP-094 FS36251 Medium Mod Gray,  Gunze Aqueous H308 Light Ghost Gray and H305 Gunship Gray, Tamiya Rubber Black, Clear Red, and Clear Blue, Gunze Mr Color GX2 Gloss Black (gloss black primer for metalwork) and Alclad II Airframe Aluminum and Burnt Iron. Future Gloss coat for decals and Future+Tamiya XF-21 Flat Base 6:1 ratio for final matte coat. Mig Ammo Deep Gray panel wash.

 

Once again FE-F, excellent results with the entire paint application. Paint job looks believable.

The mixture of Future & Tamiya should be X-21 Flat Base, without the (F). XF-21 actually is

a Tamiya color (Sky).

Link to post
Share on other sites

Excellent results. Appreciate your paint call outs, will help with my future build of this kit. Nice to see a gear up version as well. 

 

Curious as to what nail polish brand/formula you used. I’ve been down that path with very little success. I didn’t see it mentioned in your above post. 

 

Cheers

Collin

Link to post
Share on other sites

Another top notch model. I think this one is my  most favorite one you have done so far! You nailed the canopy! I'm also interested in the brand of nail polish you used for the canopy. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 3/2/2020 at 11:21 PM, Mstor said:

That's really nice! I especially like the canopy. Could you share some detail on which nail polish you used? Brand, color etc?

I'd really like to tackle one of these some day. I really like the airframes with all the mismatched panels. Some repainted, some seemingly worn down to the metal. All with that crazy sheen. I really like how yours looks though.

 

Thanks Mark!  Unfortunately, as you have seen in the Canopy Tint Thread, the polish I used is no longer available.  Hopefully a replacement can be found in that thread!

 

On 3/3/2020 at 1:44 AM, arnobiz said:

Fantastic build, thanks for sharing! I'd be very interested to know more about the nail polish you used too 😉

 

Arnaud

 

Thanks Arnaud!  Unfortunately the polish is no longer available.  We are having a discussion about it here:

 

 

 

On 3/3/2020 at 5:24 AM, Dafixer said:

Very nice!!

 

Thanks D!

 

On 3/3/2020 at 5:27 PM, Sysxii said:

Excellent finish sir! You're right regarding the RAM panels, they are pretty loud on the unpainted plastic but much more subtle when everything is painted and weathered. 

 

Thanks Sys!  Just wish Hasegawa would not have made them so ridiculous to begin with.  They got the shape right overall, unlike the issues with the Academy nose and tails.  But Academy's panels are much better.

 

On 3/3/2020 at 9:12 PM, The Underdog said:

Here is what I used for this build:

 

Kit: 1/48 Hasegawa F-22A Raptor (07245 PT45)

Decals: TwoBobs F-22A "Langley's Raptors" (48-123)

Aftermarket: NONE

Paints: Gunze Mr. Surfacer Black 1500 (main aircraft primer base), Tamiya Liquid White Primer (for marble coat),   Mr Paint MRP-094 FS36251 Medium Mod Gray,  Gunze Aqueous H308 Light Ghost Gray and H305 Gunship Gray, Tamiya Rubber Black, Clear Red, and Clear Blue, Gunze Mr Color GX2 Gloss Black (gloss black primer for metalwork) and Alclad II Airframe Aluminum and Burnt Iron. Future Gloss coat for decals and Future+Tamiya XF-21 Flat Base 6:1 ratio for final matte coat. Mig Ammo Deep Gray panel wash.

 

Once again FE-F, excellent results with the entire paint application. Paint job looks believable.

The mixture of Future & Tamiya should be X-21 Flat Base, without the (F). XF-21 actually is

a Tamiya color (Sky).

 

Doh!!!  I have been mentioning the wrong product code for this for a long time!  Thanks for the heads up on that.

 

Thanks UD for the kind words as well.  It is much appreciated!

On 3/4/2020 at 6:13 AM, Collin said:

Excellent results. Appreciate your paint call outs, will help with my future build of this kit. Nice to see a gear up version as well. 

 

Curious as to what nail polish brand/formula you used. I’ve been down that path with very little success. I didn’t see it mentioned in your above post. 

 

Cheers

Collin

 

Thanks Collin!  As mentioned in one of my earlier responses the polish I used is discontinued.  There is a search for a replacement here:

 

 

16 hours ago, caudleryan said:

Another top notch model. I think this one is my  most favorite one you have done so far! You nailed the canopy! I'm also interested in the brand of nail polish you used for the canopy. 

 

Thanks Ryan!  I love this one too, I had to solve a couple of challenges with this one and feel I came up with good solutions.  

 

I actually had a Langley liaison officer from the Pentagon contact me to offer to buy it from me (wants it for his desk), but I think I will just gift it to him in exchange for some squadron swag... even though parting with it hurts a little.  I'd rather it go to someone serving that would truly appreciate it then for it to stay at home seen mostly by people who could never appreciate it.

Link to post
Share on other sites

+1 in the chorus!

The build in general look great and the canopy is just brilliant!

I've read your post at the time but for some reasons (money maybe...) I don't bought the colors,hope isn't too late now,or I'll try another way for my Prowler...

 

Gianni

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 3/5/2020 at 4:32 PM, The Underdog said:

F84 wrote:

Thanks for the heads up on that.

 

No problem, I'm sure everyone knew what you meant. I appreciate you taking the time and

efforts, in listing all the resources you have used during the build.

 

No prob, I do that because I often look at finished models by others and wonder what they used in their builds, so I just decided to list everything I use so that it may help others with the same questions I often have.

 

On 3/6/2020 at 7:24 AM, crackerjazz said:

Amazing stuff, Fighting Eighty-Four!  You always surprise us with your work.  Canopy tint looks beautiful!

 

Thanks CJ!  I always appreciate your feedback, and it always puts a smile on my face.

 

On 3/6/2020 at 8:57 AM, Janissary said:

Beautiful model and display! Thanks for the canopy tint ideas as well. They will be handy as I plan my next build. 

 

Thanks Janissary!  Your beautiful F-22 build I found from 8 years ago inspired my to build a Raptor myself actually.

 

On 3/7/2020 at 3:02 PM, fulcrum1 said:

Wow, that tint is fantastic as well as the rest of the build

 

 

Thanks Brian, I appreciate the kind words!

 

On 3/8/2020 at 4:03 AM, kurnass77 said:

+1 in the chorus!

The build in general look great and the canopy is just brilliant!

I've read your post at the time but for some reasons (money maybe...) I don't bought the colors,hope isn't too late now,or I'll try another way for my Prowler...

 

Gianni

 

Thanks so much Gianni!  Hopefully someone can find a suitable replacement and do some testing to see what kind of results can be had.

 

15 hours ago, Falconxlvi said:

DUDE!  Dude.  You nailed it!  That looks incredible and I love the finish on the canopy- thanks for the explanation on that- genius!   This is probably the best F-22 in scale I’ve ever seen.  
 

Well done!

 

Steve

 

Thanks so much Steve!  Man, that is some seriously high praise. I am truly honored and humbled to have this be favorably compared to some of the great Raptor builds I have seen.  

Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice Raptor! Painting must have been quite interesting. It scares me to paint an F-22, probably even more than F-35. Did the final coats change the apperance of 36251? When I did mine, it came out with a strong brown hue which didn't look right. I've used Lifecolor though.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 years later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...