crackerjazz Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 Hi Tracy, cool stuff! I notice you still use Apoxie Sculpt. I thought you've switched completely to Free-From Air. Are there applications you prefer one over the other? Also, do you also wet the area with water before applying the Air? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted December 22, 2022 Author Share Posted December 22, 2022 Hey CJ Oh no, I still use Apoxie Sculpt. Imaging trying to free stand sculpt with the foam to repair the tail I showed here on page one. The Free Foam is great for filling in large and small gaps then smoothing them in leaving very little sanding. Both products are also considered an adhesive. So, you're getting more construction support in assembly. Interior turkey feathers are mostly done. For some reason, my phone camera doesn't show the tan colors I blended in that well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted December 30, 2022 Author Share Posted December 30, 2022 Basic paint on the ejection seat Excuse the pics from here.... For some reason they turn out dark. After the clean-up of the dark wash, the dry brush work was applied. Cockpit tub completed. Since this Black Box cockpit was not made for this kit, a ton of changes had to be made to both the kit and the aftermarket piece. Here, I added Sculpting Dough to fill in the cavities around the tub to secure it into position better. There were just a few gluing points, which concerned me, so this really locked everything in. Again, this was an exercise of fitting a round peg into a square hole, but I think I pulled it off. Test fitting of the bottom of the fuselage showed that I still needed to remove more material off the bottom of the tub to allow the kit parts to close up properly. This did not affect the seat position in the slightest. As a matter of fact, the seat still doesn't touch the floor in the proper position. The seat was accidentally dropped and snapped off one of the seat rails, which disappeared into oblivion. I clipped off the other for symmetry, but that just isn't gonna do. I've already ordered a replacement seat. While I wait for the replacement ejection seat, on to detail painting the wheel wells. More to come! Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted December 30, 2022 Share Posted December 30, 2022 Hi Tracy, sorry to hear the seat ejected. That was some fantastic paintjob, though. Mind if I ask what colors went into the seat padding? Looks really realistic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jgrease Posted December 30, 2022 Share Posted December 30, 2022 Looks great so far - sorry to hear about the seat but it sounds like you've got that handled. Looking forward to more! John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted December 30, 2022 Author Share Posted December 30, 2022 Thanks guys... CJ, I used Model Masters Sand as a base then added drops-at-a-time of SAC Bomber Green until I got a close match to my reference material. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted December 30, 2022 Share Posted December 30, 2022 WOW, great work so far Tracy, keep it going. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted January 1 Author Share Posted January 1 Wheel Wells done. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 Pre-basing the external engine exhaust areas... Special mix for the turkey feathers, and a few grey panels to the base for added details before adding metalics. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 External details on the engine are coming along. Below are two strips of white decal painted Grey ready to be cut into squares. Each pedal gets a thin square at the end, and a fat square at the base of the nozzle assembly. Once the decals cure, I'll apply the washes and finish to unify the surface Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Awesome weathering on the petals, Tracy. And those wheel wells are sick! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr.Happy Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Fantastic work. Mr.Happy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 Wrapped up the exhaust. Ready to close up the fuselage, but a few things to do first... Gun port was pathetic, so... before. After. Final main wheel wells parts installed. A small dilemma. As I waited on a replacement seat, I thought, "what the heck", try scratch building new seat rails and try to blend them in... First seat by Black Box on the left, and CAM's earlier version on the right. Which one should I use? On to closing up the fuselage! Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Nice work so far Tracy, I'd go with the Black Box seat. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 I know this is a Whiff and this kit is like starting with a sow's ear, but the XL gunport was different than the production jets and the kit depiction. I'll try to find a decent pic to illustrate when I get home. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 Small update. 15 brass static wicks installed, 6 per wing and three on the tail. These come from Master-Model. A little clean-up is still needed. The tail installed first re-enforced with a wood screw through the top of the fuselage into the base of the KASL resin tail... I don't trust CA glues. The top half was finally cemented onto the bottom assembly... TERRIBLE FIT! It will need being beat into submission to prep for the wings being glued on. Curing over-night before I grind away at where the wings glue on. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 (edited) Engine assembly is done before epoxying it to the model. Glued in then beaten into submission to blend it into the model. The KASL engine was not made for this kit, so it had to be convinced. Top Bottom One the other hand, the radome part DID come with the kit, yet it extended almost a 1/16" all around. So, it had to be sculpted back and feathered into to the fuselage. Starting to look like and F-16... Edited January 27 by Vidar_710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 Happy accident... I was giving the model a clean wipe down with IPA. When I went over the deck under the rear canopy area, it wiped the MRP primer clean. So, I'm taking this opportunity to add rivet details to the area using the Tamiya F-16CJ kit in my stash as a guide. The squadron I'm leaning towards has a squadron zapper on this deck, so the rivets popping through the zapper should look cool. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RichB63 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Outstanding work Vidar_710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Very cool rivets, Tracy! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 So....... The wings are glued on??? Kind-a? How about this awesome kit engineering! Just a few points make contact. The two Toung-n-groove points make the most contact. I let this set for 5 days in a jig while I was out on a 4-day trip. I'll blend the fuselage to the wings before I fill these canyons because the wing's profile doesn't quite match the wing profile on the fuselage. I'll be using my favorite stuff introduced to me by one of my best friends. It's called Smooth-On Free Form Air. It acts as both a filler and an adhesive. Feather light and is easily manipulated with water. It cures "with zero shrinkage' in about 4 hours. Pics to come... Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Ouch, that's quite the mess you've got on your hands there Tracy. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 Tape it off to concentrate getting most of the filler down into the gaps using a wet nylon artist's brush. Remove the tape then feather the dough on the surface in with damp fingers. Little sanding is needed from here. Bottom... Top before sanding. Canon opening was a bit unsymmetrical, so some Air Dough was inserted then sculpted in to refine the opening's shape. I'll give it a full day at least to cure before sanding and feathering, then I'll re-scribe lost paneling details. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ikon Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 It'll be like they never existed! Looking great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 Still blending these wings in and re-scribing panel lines. Once I'm happy, I'll mask off the wheel wells, intake, and cockpit then prime the whole surface. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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