pinky coffeeboat Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 This is such a beautiful build of a beautiful model of a beautiful aircraft. Mike do you have any standing 1/48 figures to pose by the aircraft ?. It's a big beast but we need a sense of scale to really appreciate its size! Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin @ AMK Hobby Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 She should be neutrally balanced so you can show her taking off if you want. Of course you would need pilot(s)...... hence the reason we opted to provide the dropped flaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 Not altogether sure about whether I've got any standing 1:48 figures. I'd like at least one to go next to her though, just so people can see what a monster she is I'll have a rummage... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solo Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Gentlemen from AMK, please tell me that your F-14 Tomcat will be not worse than above showed beauty... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 I've dipped the canopies in Klear, then brushed tinted clear onto the insides of the parts to retain the exterior shine, and now the central tunnel plus windscreen are attached after a tiny bit of paint touch-up on the aft instrument coaming. I've also painted the interiors of the canopy parts, which are a mixture of cockpit green and the same wheel-green, which is actually padding, held down with little cockpit green strips. Slightly fiddly to paint, but they came out ok with the occasional touch-up. I'll post a pic of those later when they're attached to the clear parts. meantime, canopy in position, and off, showing the quality of fit of the parts. You really don't need the one-piece canopy that's supplied, as the fit of the four sections is perfectly good enough I'm working on getting the intakes painted up inside now, so I can attach them to the fuselage, then stuff them with foam and not worry about overspray Oh, and I've installed a little extra nose weight in the nose cone, but need to mix up a plug of Milliput to keep the pieces in place in the event the CA lets go. We don't want a rattly Foxhound! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solo Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Mike, I do believe those canopies are more in lemon colour then in gold... What about mixture of Gunze clear orange, Tamiya clear smoke and Gunze GX-100? I used it on my Rafale and I think it is not so bad result: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 It's difficult to tell when the inner sections aren't in place because portions of the canopy aren't covered, or have only one coat outside of the intended area, but they are probably a little more yellow than orange. I'm not going to mess with them now though, as the two fixed portions are glued in place. I'm just clear coating the intake and canopy interiors, then they'll get a light wash, and after that a matt coat. Once they're done, they can be installed, and the intakes faired in by whatever means necessary 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F4u Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 This just gets better Mike nice to see a build without filler every where !! Lovely work. Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitok1983 Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 The more I watch the building process, the more I want to build her! It is just amazing (even the fitting is not a brilliant!) ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solo Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Mike, by the way, your pictures are just awesome and I hope my question won't be too personal and inquisitive.Could you tell us something more how to get such level of perfectionism?What equipment do you use, the light sources?It is absolutely marvelous what I can see in your WiPs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 Thanks chap it's a matter of trial and error over the years, which is difficult to sum up in one sentence or less! I do use a decent Canon SLR, but light is incredibly important too, because without enough of it even the best camera will struggle. I use a 60cm photo-booth with four 15w LED lights (two each side), and one 5w in the top, and always shoot at 50mm using a fixed lens. Keep the F-stops to a reasonably low figure (8 for flat pics, 11 for deeper field of focus) to maintain sharpness, and shoot in RAW if you're able, as it gives you more leeway to pull a shot from the bin, and sharpen the edges of your intended focus. I could drone on for a while about it, but that's not the focus of this thread (please excuse the accidental pun ). Funnily enough though, I can't take pics at airshows to save my life! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solo Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Thanks a lot Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 If you ever want some more info, just drop me a PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Thanks chap it's a matter of trial and error over the years, which is difficult to sum up in one sentence or less! I do use a decent Canon SLR, but light is incredibly important too, because without enough of it even the best camera will struggle... Funnily enough though, I can't take pics at airshows to save my life! Is that 'cause the buggers keep moving? Seriously though, thanks for sharing you technique and keeping the explanation simple, even I almost understood most of that. Makes me realise pointing a phone camera in the general direction of the object and hoping for the best really doesn't cut it. Nice work on the -31 again Mike Not seen a WiP from you for a while but this one is worth waiting for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 I've been a bit lax in my modelling duties of late Col, and haven't really finished much this year other than a few Star Wars figures from Bandai It's good to be building something that is such nice quality as my return to it all though, and it's certainly helping me get going Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinistervampire319 Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Bravo Mike! More! More!What a beaut of a model. Been waiting so long for one of these, and such amazing quality to boot.Can't wait to get my hands on one of these and other gems that AMK will be bringing to the table. Anyway crack on Mike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 Thanks fellas - I've called time on it tonight, as I was getting tired & making mistakes. The intakes have been fettled and installed, which was one of the hardest jobs of the build, probably down to my slight mis-alignment of some parts somewhere along the line. A bit of scraping has solved the issue, and they're now setting up. I've also installed the interior skins on the canopies, but have had a little GS-Hypo leak onto the clear section in a couple of places, the repair of which is a work-in-progress. If I can't get it right, I'll remove the skin and clean the canopy off by dipping it in Klear. Hopefully it won't come to that, but it might. I'm quite pleased with the paint-job of the canopy skins though, so I'm going to have to be very careful removing them if it comes to it We're not far from primer now, just a few more things to do, such as adding the elevators and masking everything up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
March Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Already noted elsewhere Well... the fuselage is together now, and she's starting to stretch the sides of my 60cm photo booth. I've given her a couple of false back legs using some cut-down cocktail sticks, and the nose cone is only hanging there due to friction, which is why it looks a bit droopy. Such a nice model to put together, but did I mention it already? It's big Sorry about the sanding residue here & there BTW - at the moment she's a borderline tail-sitter, and even with the majority of the parts on, I'm going to add a bit more weight to the nose just to be sure. I'm sure the leverage applied by the horizontal main gear struts will sort that out, but I'm not taking any chances. A few bits of metal glued into the nose cone before I attach it should do the trick Pics like this only serve to make me look forward to the back order email from Hannants all the more. Should be any day now... Cracking work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesthegringo Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Lucky chap that you can back-order - us brits in Aus will have to wait until someone decides they will get it! Cheers Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Yep, superb work and I can't wait to get my own hands on one soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiGFan79 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Can't wait for this kit to drop. Having fondled the test build at Telford it looks stunning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Great work Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 Thanks Val - I've been fixing my booboo with the canopy, and each time I attack it, it becomes less visible, so I'm hopeful I'll be able to stave off a re-paint. In other noise news, I've been been masking up the canopy, cockpit and wheel bays, followed by the intakes and exhausts. I also glued the nose cone on, and it's currently clamped in my vice in the upright position, so it doesn't droop off the flange under its own weight! I've been plugging away at some of the little mistakes that always creep into a build, such as glue marks and panel lines that are clogged with sanding debris etc. No matter how hard I try, I'm still a bit crap with the glue stick! Pics when I'm confident the nose won't come off in the horizontal position Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin @ AMK Hobby Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Lucky chap that you can back-order - us brits in Aus will have to wait until someone decides they will get it! Cheers Les Hi Les, In discussions with a distributor in Aus now. We have been asking for months! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 The airframe is now complete, and only a few small parts need adding now. Everything is masked and ready for the initial coat of primer, but I will blow a coat of cockpit green over the frames first just in case anything is visible after. 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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