Parabat Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 Thank you Cap'n, I'm getting better, one pit at a time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 A bit more progress with this one today. I joined and smoothed the intake trunking 'boxes' before glueing them into place in the big intake 'mouths'. Then I smeared some filler into the join and once dry, sanded that all down to get a smooth, seamless intake. Before glueing the fans in place I have sprayed the intakes white (thanks again Tank152, the Zero paint is awesome). I also finished off the cockpit painting, just need to spray with a flat coat, and have stuck the forward fuselage together. Also put some styrene strip and blu-tack into the wheel wells so the gear doors will glue into place securely(doing an inflight 'Cat). Intakes; Gear bays and doors closed; Cockpit being squeezed to death... While I was spraying white, I remembered that my VF-74's stablemate from VF-2 needed some whit intakes... That's all for now, just waiting for the paint to dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 looking good mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 Cheers Freezer, I think this is my best 'pit so far, so humour me by looking at my pics! Thanks for looking! Rip-Cord Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Cheers Freezer,I think this is my best 'pit so far, so humour me by looking at my pics! Thanks for looking! Rip-Cord Very clean mate, better than mine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 More done. Masked the intakes for the white/grey delineation seen HERE, hopefully there's been no bleed of grey onto the white! Put in the front gear doors, only a little sanding needed to get them to fit closed. I decided to use filler to replace the small doors to avoid getting glue everywhere. Once dry, I'll sand it smooth and scribe a line. Bit annoyed with the fit of forward fuselage to body... Got it right the last time (VF-2 build), just didn't want to know this time. Fortunately the Phoenix pallets will cover up most of this once it's all sanded and squared away. And finally, painted the GE-110 cans with my GE mix of gold, metallic black and silver. Will be toned down with a wash. Rip-Cord Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyB Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Looking good Rip-cord! A tip I've found that works when painting over masking tape is to put down a layer of the masked colour (in this case white) first then the colour you are painting with. As it's always the first colour that goes down on the masking tape is going to bleed. I do this way as I'm brush painting but can't see why it wouldn't work with an airbrush. Found exactly the same fit issue underneath my cockpit too, bit of shaving down then a bit of filling the sides slightly covered up the join nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 Nice tip for the painting, just took the mask off and it's all ok. Yeah, one or two places the fit ain't so great, I'm wondering if the Hobbyboss F-14 is any better. Not that I'd rush off and get one. Just be interesting to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 (edited) Rip-Cord, I have to apologise for not having sent the cockpit scans yet.... I see you did without and did a good job too ! I have in the meantime found a picture of aircrafts of the same unit during desert storm while on the Saratoga deck. It's one of the few pictures around showing Tomcats with a large live AA load ! The load is a 2-2-2 with Sparrows and sidewinders under the wing glove vanes and 2 phoenix under the front underfuselage pallets Edited March 5, 2012 by Giorgio N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 Cheers Giorgio, Be interesting to see those Desert Storm pics, VF-74 pics are a bit thin on the ground... I've read on the M.A.T.S website that the 2-2-2 was the typical loadout, sometimes a 2-3-2(2x AIM-9L, 3x AIM-7, 2x AIM-54C). I'm going with the 2-2-2 though. Thanks for compliments on the 'pit, I'm vainly claiming it to be my best 'pit yet! Rip-Cord Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank152 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Some clean looking building going on here, the pit is pure class. Glad your finding the Zero paint useful. Looks like another build i'll be following from now on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Thanks tank152, that Zero paint is a Godsend. Some iffy bits on this build, but judging by others' builds, not unexpected unfortunately. Rescribing to do now around the wing extensions and rear fuselage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 Not the most upbeat of updates... Got the intakes and pallets on today, and things haven't quite gone well. Intakes had loads of gaps to fill, pallets went on ok and cover the join of the fuselage well underneath. A lot of filler on the intake to wing glove area... Also on the gear doors. Pallets went on ok, but I had to re-filler the the front gear doors. Sprayed up the GE-110 shrouds, which will later be edged with silver and then gloss/satin coated for the sheen. GRU-7's are an ongoing WIP, added some wire to the top and added some tape to represent the elastics on the sides of the container. While I was spraying black, I decided to try some pre-shading, so did the wings. Not sure yet, but I may have to play around with paint/pressure settings a bit... On a happy note, my DACO book arrived this morning, so I have plenty of inspiration and no excuses for lack of detail! Rip-Cord Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 Holy unlyrical lyrics Batman... Shoulda listened to DaveJL! Would have been quicker, and most importantly EASIER, to do gear down! Here is the resulting mess... (obviously nothing a teensy bit of filler won't square away!) Gonna be a long night...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 The gear doors do need a good bit of work when closed. For my next 'in flight' build i'm going to add pieces of sprue to act as supports so the doors don't sink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 Used Blu-Tac, but man is the fit rather poor... Cest la vie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Used Blu-Tac, but man is the fit rather poor... Cest la vie! just needs some careful trimming. Once the initial layer of filler is sorted, it should be go together fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank152 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 That seat looks rather tasty. I must admit I've used blu tac for jobs like you have used it for. Hope the sanding session goes ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Coming on a bit now, albeit slowly. Sanded off the filler, the gear doors are now pretty integrated, I will need to re-scribe some lines, but otherwise it's all good. Tried fitting Cdr Chuck Wyatt and LCdr Tim Zimmerman (pilot and RIO of 'Devil 102'), and, surprise, surprise, they didn't fit. I won't even say 'not very well' as they didn't fit at all! Plus the fact Hasegawa provide them with bionic arms - huge in relation to the body! I've had to perform some surgery on Chuck and Tim to get their arms to fit in, and perform a bottom tuck and unfortunately, the ultimate penalty for flying a Tomcat, remove their feet from the ankle down! On a plus side, the Eduard AIM-9L/M missiles are real peaches, easy to build and look really good. Filled and sanded Tailfins on Eduard AIM-9L/M with the etch template to glue the front fins on accurately. Tailfins Not a lot going to get done for a few weeks as I'm away again soon. Rip-Cord Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank152 Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Great work on the Aim-9L/M looks like intricate work.. Looks like the filling/sanding session has paid off. Edited March 12, 2012 by tank152 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Those missiles do look great ! Pity about the crew, wonder if the old monogram pilots would fit ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 Thanks Tim and Giorgio, The Eduard AIM-9's are really good, not fiddle at all - coming from me that means they're really simple to build! Yeah pity about the Hase crew not really fitting without surgery, but they'll look ok, the coaming and canopy will cover a lot of them anyway, so not too fussed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Fellow Tomcatters, It is with great regret that I too will be pulling out of this group build. Unfortunately I too have been a victim of the affliction called 'work' and simply haven't had the time I need to do my Tomcat the justice it deserves. I was tempted to rush things, but I feel it would be a waste of time and money and more importantly, will have a poor end result for the sake of finishing on time. I have therefore decided that discretion is the better part of valour and though it pains me, I am tendering my withdrawal from the GB. It's been an absolute pleasure to have been a part of the GB and witness the sheer brilliance, outstanding Tomcats and meet some very knowledgeable people aong the way. Captain Kev1n, would you be so kind as to move this thread into the regular WIP area, where it will join my VF-2 and Canberra build threads. To all the rest, good luck and Godspeed with your builds, may work not stand in your way and may Felix smile upon you! Ruari 'Rip Cord' Parabat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev1n Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 expect a call from the same high-ups that have pulled kiwiboy in for a court marshal....that said, I dont think I'll get mine finished either but I shall go down with my ship and die fighting....... oh and I cant move topics - I can only play around with things in this gb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Rip-Cord, we have another week to go, do you think this will help you in completing the Cat or will not be enough anyway ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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