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1/32 Revell Tomcat “GI Joe Skystriker”


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  • 2 weeks later...

After what seemed like weeks of bodywork, filling and sanding I gave the fuselage a good scrubbing with dish soap and a toothbrush to clean off all that sanding residue.   Siting to dry by the window getting some meager February sun.

 

hope to prime later this weekend which I’m sure will kick off round 2 of bodywork to eliminate flaws.

 

 

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My acrylic display stand showed up today.  This stand is intended for the Hasbro toy but it fits great without Phoenix middles installed, so no Pheonix middles on the center pallets for this build.   I can put a Phoenix on each of the outboard shoulder pylons however.

 

 

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Well gosh darnnit, getting down to some sub assemblies and I find that I have an engine missing!   I saw this a while back actually but it’s just now getting real.

 

So, anyone out there have some unused exhausts from a 1/32 jet aircraft kit?   Heck, doesn’t even need to be accurate to the P&W TF30 as this is a bit if a Fantasy build.  Maybe from a Tamiya or HobbyBoss kit?

 

I don’t want to purchase resin cans as $30-60 aftermarket isn’t what this build is about.

 

 

 

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Decided to go black tails, fuel tanks and lower fins.   I primed a dark grey first and than airbrushed Tamiya X-18 Semi-gloss black.

 

I did a stupid and poured my thinned paint into my gravity fed Iawata airbrush without the needle installed…uh!   What a mess and I need to completely strip down and clean my airbrush now as I got paint backups up into the trigger mechanism area…

 

 

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That sidewinder is awful! whyyy revell?

 

and did the same thing with my airbrush once ... with a Mr. Hobby trigger airbrush ... what a mess!

 

But back to the subject at hand, great job with the persistence to power through all that sanding and filling. 

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Today was the day to lay down the main fusalage paint.   I had 2 good options, continue with the Tamiya AS-20 Spray Bomb like I did on the wings, or airbrush ArchiveX Reefer White (a match of the old Floquil Reefer White used by Star Wars modelers).   I had probably just enough of each.

 

if it were warmer out and I had more time, I’d go the airbrush with the Reefer White.   But it’s still winter where a quick application of a spray bomb in the garage makes more sense. Also this model is substantially large, so I decided on the spray Bomb.   It was a good choice and everything went quick and smooth today.

 

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I couldn’t resist just a quick photo op of a few items slapped together

 

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It’s Beautiful!  Happy Valentines Day to this Gorgeous Babe!

Edited by toadwbg
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I’m ready to print the specific decals I need from some scans a trusty GI Bro provided me but it’s been years since if done Graphics work.   
 

besides Photoshop, is there any good (maybe free) and fairly simple  image program anyone here uses?  Even a good phone app might work.

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1 hour ago, toadwbg said:

I’m ready to print the specific decals I need from some scans a trusty GI Bro provided me but it’s been years since if done Graphics work.   
 

besides Photoshop, is there any good (maybe free) and fairly simple  image program anyone here uses?  Even a good phone app might work.

Try GIMP. It's a free image editor similar to Photoshop.

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15 hours ago, Cool Hand said:

Try GIMP. It's a free image editor similar to Photoshop.


thanks, I had heard of it but forgot about GIMP.   In fact, I think I had it on my old computer.

Edited by toadwbg
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I downloaded GIMP and did some quick proofs of the decals I will print.   Will do a little more work in these yet.

 

most my stencils and standard Tomcat markings will come from old decal sheets in my spares box

 

 

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Edited by toadwbg
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I started decaling standard markings and masking the engines for airbrushing the exposed metal.

 

Anyone recommend a good metallic jar paint for these?  I got some old MM Metalizers shown below.   The one on the far left I believe is “Jet Exhaust”

 

I have the Daco Tomcat book by David Coremans (highly reference) which gives me some ideas.

 

 

 

 

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Edited by toadwbg
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After some experiments printing, good decals for the tail Eagles is going to be a challenge (sharpness, brightness).   So I’m going to mask the red circle than print off just the Eagle.   I Airbrushed a base of light grey and will follow with the red.   In the past, I’ve found masking and painting large color patches to work better than decals, especially in larger scales.

 

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Masked off and Painted the “fun bags”

 

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red circled came out pretty well

 

 

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Edited by toadwbg
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Being myself and old school patriotic American, getting the stars and bars right is a high priority.    


For the most part all my decals are going on well over a layer of hardened Future and a wet application of Microset.   But darn it if these insignias didn’t give me trouble!   Old large decals will do that.    
 

so I’m going to tear off the topside wing insignia with masking tape and fry again from a set of Superscale decal insignias

 

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the classic tape removal method 


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The ones on the forward fuselage sides also were a little fiddley due to the trench-like panel lines.   These required some slicing with a sharp Xacto and re-application of settting solution.

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Edited by toadwbg
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