Karl Sander Posted July 10, 2006 Author Share Posted July 10, 2006 With the air wing done, my sister's wedding successfully concluded, and my chores caught up with enough to get some work done, here's a bit of an update! First is a close-up of the USQ-113 I had to fabricate, since I couldn't find a decent part in my spares collection (which I find needs some organization!) Wasn't hard to make - measured dimensions off pictures, drew 3 copies on sheet styrene, cut them out, laminated them, and shaped them. This is before painting so you can see it better: And here is the view of the underside with antennae and landing gear doors added. Also the first round of relatively light weathering. I won't actually put the pods and drop tanks on until after I apply the flat coat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dan 88 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Looks great Karl, glad to see you making progress. :blink: BTW What air wing was recently there? -Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Karl Sander Posted July 10, 2006 Author Share Posted July 10, 2006 Looks great Karl, glad to see you making progress. BTW What air wing was recently there? -Dan CVW-7. CVW-9 shows up end of this month.... I MIGHT be done with this by then... who knows... :blink: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Karl Sander Posted July 17, 2006 Author Share Posted July 17, 2006 Darren Roberts gave me a great tip about using Tamiya smoke for making the landing gear areas not-so-starkly white - also turns out it's good for representing the greasiness of the Prowler's motors. So, finishing up the underside for now, I turned to a bit of fabricating before wrapping up the topside. Here's some of my home-made stuff... 1) One of the ladders is from the kit, the other one isn't - because they only give you one! But if you've been following along - and if you have - you know I wanted to show the right side ladder down too. Somewhere up above there's some in-progress of me hacking up the right side to scratchbuild the upper half of the ladder. Here's both the lower halves. 2) The forward boarding platforms were made from 2 pieces of sheet styrene each to try and approximate the way the real ones look. The outer one was cut to match the milled out opening in the side of the nose, then bent lightly (probably too lightly - don't know if anyone will notice!!) to follow the contour of the plane. The inner piece was cut slightly smaller, then laminated onto the outer peice. They are red, with black nonskid. The retaining strap that helps support the platform when it's opened will either be fine styrene strip, or scrap PE - not sure yet. 3) The red thing on the side of the intake is a springloaded cover for the AOA probe. On the real plane, when you open the right side boarding ladder, this thing springs forward (leaving the square shaped opening) and covers the AOA probe to avoid it being damaged by clumsy boots. 4) Lastly, the white round part just behind the aft canopy is the GPS antenna. I started with a disk of sheet styrene punched out using a paper punch. Then I added a generous drop of gap filling CA, hit it with the accelerator, and sanded to shape. I did a few iterations of CA/accelerator/sanding to get the shape and size I wanted. So, next up is the rest of the topside antennae. Then I'll probably do a few more cockpit details (the ones that I was afraid I'd break up to this point, but that I'll have to do before putting on the windscreen) and finsih the wingfold mechanisms. Then dullcoat. But first, a pizza craving to take care of.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Mullen Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Looking great Karl Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Karl Sander Posted August 6, 2006 Author Share Posted August 6, 2006 Home stretch - rest of the antennae are on, the ladders and platforms attached, and things like the control stick and throttles installed. First shot of clear flat done, and the pods/drops installed. Had a couple blemishes on the flatcoat (probably caused by me handling it too soon - just a bit eager to finish up!) but I was able to get them smoothed out with some extra fine sandpaper and I planned a second coat of clear flat anyway... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dan 88 Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 You gonna enter this in a contest Karl? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Karl Sander Posted August 7, 2006 Author Share Posted August 7, 2006 You're too kind :lol: My photography hides a multitude of sins (hey, maybe I should just take pictures of models instead of actually making them! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dan 88 Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 (edited) You're too kind :( My photography hides a multitude of sins (hey, maybe I should just take pictures of models instead of actually making them! Believe me Karl, I've made plenty of mistakes on my models. I know they're there but I don't tell anyone. BTW you going to the NATS next year here in California? Edited August 7, 2006 by Super Hornet 88 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Karl Sander Posted August 7, 2006 Author Share Posted August 7, 2006 Believe me Karl, I've made plenty of mistakes on my models. I know they're there but I don't tell anyone. BTW you going to the NATS next year here in California? Not if there's an air wing. Air wing = no leave. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Karl Sander Posted September 6, 2006 Author Share Posted September 6, 2006 It's a wrap, y'all Finished pics here Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.