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1/72nd Zvezda AC-130J "GHOSTRIDER" 4th SOS


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Progress update on the AC-J.

The fuselage and wings received their flat coat and I attached the engine nacelles to the wing. Overall pretty happy with how things are coming together. The fuel tanks are just held in place with brass pins, no glue, not needed. The same will be for the wing pylon and the BRU. The GBU-39's will be epoxied to the BRU.

I added the formation lights to the underside of the wing from my decal collection, ZVEZDA does not include these. I still have some things to hand paint on the fuselage then I can attach the wing and also add the horizontal stabs.

Thanks for having a look.

Steve

 

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Another progress update on the AC-J.

Yesterday afternoon I got the GBU-39's attached to the BRU-61/A's. Inching closer to getting the aircraft finished but, I will still need to work on the base for her as well as figuring out something acceptable looking for the spinning props.

Thanks for checking in and following along.

Steve

 

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The horizontal stabs got glued on today. My next update should be a finished Gunship, except for the props and, the display base..

Steve

 

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On 1/23/2024 at 2:53 PM, Dutch said:

Moving right along the production line!  Won't be long now.  Great work Steve!

Thanks very much Dutch. I'm trying to get the prop disks finished for the display photos, so at least the aircraft will be completed. Then it will just leave the base that will need to be addressed.

Steve

 

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Beautiful work here Steve! A master class in modeling, painting and decals. Your ability to identify and to correct the missing details and kit shortfalls is amazing. I really hate to see this build end, although I do look forward to seeing the completed gunship. I have learned a great deal from following your Ghostrider, and need to get started on my C-130's, rather than just collecting. Thank you for sharing your adventure!

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6 hours ago, HERC164 said:

Beautiful work here Steve! A master class in modeling, painting and decals. Your ability to identify and to correct the missing details and kit shortfalls is amazing. I really hate to see this build end, although I do look forward to seeing the completed gunship. I have learned a great deal from following your Ghostrider, and need to get started on my C-130's, rather than just collecting. Thank you for sharing your adventure!

Very kind of you to say Ty, thank you.

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Glued the main wing to the fuselage today and now she's getting real close to being finished. I figured I'd share some pics of the bottom of the aircraft for now. The two ball turrets were attached with white glue with the hope that someone will release aftermarket ones with the screens visible for "in-flight" mode. Thanks for checking in.

Steve

 

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Edited by A-10 LOADER
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16 hours ago, ST0RM said:

Completely blown away on how much you've added. Beautiful job!

-Jeff

Thank you Jeff, very much appreciated.

Steve

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Update on the Gunship,

A shot showing the status of the prop disks. They are not finished yet, the smoke and X-22 have been applied but, I still need to add the light gray edge to them. I think they give a good impression of spinning props and, I'm happy with how they're looking so far.

Steve

 

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16 hours ago, aircommando130 said:

Looks really good Steve! Paint/details make it look mean like a gunship should. 

Any current and former gunship guy would be proud!

 

Cheers...Ron

Thanks very much Ron, you've been a huge help with this project.

 

13 hours ago, Trojan Thunder said:

Looking like a Herc now, the props look good

Thanks TT, I like 'em.

 

3 hours ago, ST0RM said:

Those disks are spot on! 
Can't wait for the final shots. 

-Jeff

Thanks Jeff. Yeah they look the part to me.

 

59 minutes ago, Dutch said:

Awesome work Steve!  Glad to see she is no longer a stealth glider Wraith!  She looks terrific!  BRRRRRAAAAAT!

Thanks Dutchman, I dunno I was kind of diggin' the "Wraith Glider". 😅

 

Steve

 

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13 hours ago, philippe.chauvin said:

Hello Steve

Superb realization, it pushes me to continue mine at 1/48 😉

Thanks Philippe, you should have a WIP on here for her.

Steve

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Gunship update,

My circle cutter showed up today so I wanted to see if what I had planned for doing the light gray edge would work or not. This 'test piece" disk has Tamiya smoke and X-22 on it already. I attached the card stock mask, with tiny blobs of Elmer's Tack and, mixed up some very thin light gray and sprayed at 90 degrees to the mask while rotating the disk. I let that dry while I cleaned out the airbrush then sprayed a good coat of X-22 over the entire disk again. Not too bad but, not quite right yet. The width of the gray is a little too wide for this scale. I'm going to cut four new, slightly larger card stock masks and spray the gray a little lighter next time but, definitely in the ballpark I think. Thanks for checking in.

Steve

 

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Id like to see some decals that mimick prop spins adhered to a clear disk like you have. I know they're very subtle, but you can tell which blades are spinning clockwise vs counter clockwise, and that would be a very cool effect. Theres an idea for someone in the decal business you can credit me for!

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Steve,

Fantastic work on the spinning props, I can almost smell the JP-8. Looking forward to your finished props, as you are quite the stickler for the details. Very impressive work!

Ty

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