lgl007 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 (edited) Well boys and girls time for another build... this time the 1/48 Hasegawa A-7E. I'll be doing the VA-25 bird from the early 70's... Here's the bird in question: [image from www.carrierbuilders.net] And the kit and decals... Started with the pilot: Still wish I could find some decent tiny decals to put on the helmet itself... to spruce it up a bit... Did some work on the cockpit... it needed some TLC: Edited December 16, 2008 by lgl007 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lgl007 Posted July 12, 2008 Author Share Posted July 12, 2008 Started work on the air intake... first the imperfections had to be addressed: Next a quick dry fit to see what it all looks like... will require more work later on as the pieces don't align pefectly... Put the two halves together and applied the Tamiya filler to get rid of those nasty seams on either side... To make quick work of sanding it all down I took Q-Tips and glued on 400 grit sandpaper and used my Dremel... Also removed the back wall which will be added later after the seam has been dealt with... Here they are sanded... I'll airbrush inside the air intake black from the rear end and white from the front end... that way I get a nice transition from white to dark into the back... That's it so far... let me know what you think. As always advice and comments very appreciated. -Greg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChernayaAkula Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 (edited) Very nice work so far, especially on that pilot! Will it be an in-flight display or will he just sit in the plane still on the ground? Edited July 12, 2008 by ChernayaAkula Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Cheslo Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 You are clearly quite talented at doing figures in excellent detail, and at 1/48 scale, that is no easy accomplishment. Very nice progress on the pit and on the intakes so far. Neat idea with the dremel! Looking forward to seeing more of this build. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jack-Swiss Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Hey Greg...if it comes out like the mirage we are enjoying a great buildin thread again LOL! and so far it is absolutely!it is a great WIP...great work!!!!!! Cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Great looking build so far!! A neat trick with the Dremel too!! Gotta try that About decals for the helmet, well have you tried to paint empty decal film and cuta out stripes from that? Cheers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marine4 ever Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 that smart work on that intake!! love the pilot as well. Semper fi Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lgl007 Posted July 12, 2008 Author Share Posted July 12, 2008 Thanks everyone... Mortiz: no it'll be a grounded A-7E... haven't gotten the urge to do a nice base... I have a Hasegawa 1/48 A-4M in the stash that I'll be doing in air... it's a nice small jet in 1/48 so it should look pretty good ;-) Next project perhaps ... hehe Aigore: no I haven't tried that... I was just hoping that perhaps somebody would have some nice small red or yellow lightinging bolts perhaps from some ACM pod decals, or missile decals... or even from a 1/144 decal sheet... anything that I could use... still keeping an eye out... I'd really appreciate it if you guys checked your old decal stashes for such 'mini' decals ;-) Thanks again everyone. -Greg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hornet78 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 An idea; First don't airbrush the intake trunk. White Glue on a plastic card backing where the fan goes. Let it dry overnight then pour, yes pour some semi gloss household white latex into the trunk filling it alost to the brim. Roll the paint to the lips getting good coverage then pour the apint back into your orginal paint can. Pull the card off the back and allow for the wet paint to drip out that on the sdies of the trunk. Let it dry and in the end you should have a shinny smoth gloos white finish just like the real thing. Jim PS I love the q-tip trick, I gotta remember that one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Simon L Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Looking good greg, i will be watching this one. Good luck and nice to see the decals finally getting used. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tomcatter727 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Looking good! I've always thought that might be a good way to work with intakes like this so I'll be watching closely to see how it turns out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lgl007 Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 (edited) Jim, yes that could do it as well... and I might end up doing just that in the end... if my method does not work out... BTW I assume that a heavy coat of white latex paint would actually get rid of any inside imperfections as it is quite thick... correct? Simon, yes indeed... thanks so much for the decals :-) U DA MAN! -Greg Edited July 13, 2008 by lgl007 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lgl007 Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 (edited) Ok did some more work on her... Test fitting of the cockpit left a bit of a large gap between the top of the cockpit tub and the top of the fuselage so I added plastic card... Here's the cockpit so far... Painted the interior of the exhaust... Did some work on the inside side walls... And then this ... ... both the clear canopy pieces are about 6mm too wide... they either got squished in transit or something terrible happened in the moulding process. At any rate... I posted on the HINTS and TIPS section and seems that one idea is to submerge the pieces in almost boiling water for a few seconds and then re-shape them... so I'll give that a go... /crosses fingers I wonder... is this an issue in ALL the A-7E boxings? Or am I just unlucky? Best, -Greg Edited July 13, 2008 by lgl007 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Damian Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Wow, love the work on the pilot!! Are those sholder patches painted on or are they decals?? As a fan of the VA-25 schemes I can wait to see more of this bird! D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lgl007 Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 Damian... The shoulder patches as painted on ;-) I wish I could find accurate shoulder patch decals... shoot every decal manufacturer should add some to their sheets ;-) I tried to replicate a couple I found on the net as best I could. The photos above are super exagerate in terms of size so you can really see the imperfections. In real life they actually look pretty good... I was quite surprise how they came out... It's quite easy when you use very quick drying acrylic paint... you can touch things up as soon as you make a mistake... I really do hope to do the VA-25 justice... It's a brilliant scheme for sure =) -Greg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Cheslo Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 That is looking absolutely fantastic! Hope you get your canopy fit issues worked out to your satisfaction. Hard to believe this would happen with a Hasegawa kit..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jack-Swiss Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Great job..keep it up man and I hope "my" lil tip wll help you out! that's a great drybrushing you got there! Lovely work Cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
copey Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Top job mate. Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hornet78 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 BTW I assume that a heavy coat of white latex paint would actually get rid of any inside imperfections as it is quite thick... correct? BINGO You got it , thats the beauty of this method. Jim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
agelos2005 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 mate the pit looks amazing! sorry cannot help with the canopy!!!!! Dont forget to add the oxgen hoses!!! Just check your references cause i think the back of the pit is black! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marine4 ever Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 that is some great work on that A-7. i'm watching this with great interest!!! semper fi Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChernayaAkula Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Damian... The shoulder patches as painted on ;-) <...> No! Frickin'! Way! Amazing! <...> every decal manufacturer should add some to their sheets ;-) <...> Absolutely! And kit manufacturers could also include ejection seat stencils. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loftycomfort Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 That is some awesome detail painting you did there. Keep it up and keep us posted please. Cheers, Terry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ikar Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Here's a little motivation for your build. I caught the entire squadron passing through Sheppard AFB one weekend. The strange thing was that they were in the middle of a paint job at the time. It was the only time I saw this happen. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Looking very good, especially those pilots! 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.