M.F.Lunder Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Hi Guys, 30 years has gone by since the Gulf war,, how time flies by!! Being a Tomcat fan at first I wanted to build the NE-103 that shot down a Mi-8, however I couldn't any decal or kit. Later I bought the super scale desert storm F-14 decal. I am going to use the Academy kit for, as it has all the parts to build all versions of Tomcat, then I came across the Fujimi F-14 desert storm kit, so let's build them together! First, I masked the canopy inner frame and pained it with black. I always use a "lighter version" of black - a mix of Tamiya X-18 and XF-63, which allows me to do highlight and shadow... ...as you can see on the vertical fin... The same black was airbrushed on the cockpit tub, before interior grey (H317), creating a basic light and shadow effect. Same went to the instrument panels, I kept a downward angle when airbrushing, to give a more 3D effect, a technique I learned from a figure painting video. I also painted the intake fan. At first I used AK titanium, to my surprise it was rather dark, so I over sprayed a layer of Gunze titanium, now they look OK. While waiting the paint to dry, I worked on the intakes. The Academy kit has full intake trunk but in pieces, so they are glued and seams has to be removed before painting. The Fujimi intake was a bit warped, so I had to glue them together, and removed the joint seam by section. Well that's so far I got now, everything looks ok at the moment. What do you think? Any comments or suggestions are most appreciated! See you next time, Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ExchefAndy Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Welcome to ARC! And then you start with a tip... the 3D airbrushing effect 😲brilliant!!! I'll be watching, as many of us will Andy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 Very nice start on the two Tomcats! Also, Chris! -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thadeus Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 Shame You did not enter the Tomcat GB here on ARC 🙂 It's running until 22 september. Still, a very nice project. That Academy Tomcat seems like a very nice kit. Nice work on the cockpit. Can't wait for some more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M.F.Lunder Posted August 25, 2021 Author Share Posted August 25, 2021 (edited) Thank you for your kind words Andy, Gregg and Thadeus! Too bad that I didn't notice the Tomcat GB, I just keep going on here so not to double post, besides I am not sure I can make the deadline! Here is the current update: Think I have to post the following pic before closing the cockpit. The decals of both kits did not only work well with softener but also fit the details of the parts perfectly, gotta give both makes a lot of credit. Then I closed the fuselage halves. Academy provides 3 gun vents I use the one look the same as the Fujimi one. For the canvas cover I glued a single layer tissue, painted it Khaki, added a bit panel liner and dry brushing and the job is done! To avoid drilling a bunch of holes, I used magnets on the fuselage and the Phoenix launchers, to keep them in place. Please ignore the misalignment of the missiles as they are just held temperately by Tack-it to test if the magnets could hold the weight. Now I can choose to use the Phoenix missiles... Or Sparrows, without any holes... Or a mix...just having some fun Another decal arrived, F/A-18C desert storm MiG killer Actually I already started building the Hornet, using the Academy "Golden Dragon" kit. The kit depicts a later version Hornet, so I have to back-date it a bit, like using some of the "unused part", and removing the AIFF on the nose. The build was simple and straight forward, and close to paining stage now. Well that's so far for today, thanks for watching~~ Chris Edited August 25, 2021 by M.F.Lunder Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ruud Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 They're looking good Chris! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 On 8/24/2021 at 7:43 AM, GreyGhost said: Very nice start on the two Tomcats! Also, Chris! -Gregg Plus One. Hello Chris. MY favorite fighter jets so looking forward to your lovely build. Enjoy. HOLMES Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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