Harry_the_Spider Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 (edited) After the colossal disappointment of The Kit That Shall Not Be Named I thought I'd crack straight on with something to restore my faith in little plastic aeroplanes because... a.) I've just watched Top Gun on DVD b.) It is still raining c.) There was one in the stash and I need to free up some space I've only done the cockpit so far. Made some seat belts from tape and the ejection handles from a bit of painted quiche foil. Blown up massively the painting looks crude compared to what others on here can do, but those loops are only a millimetre or so in diameter. I've been trying to work out the centre of gravity to determine if it will need a weighted nose. I don't think it will, but if anyone can confirm or correct that assumption please feel free to chip in. Looking forward to see what I can do with the paint job. Images online would suggest that these things can look a bit grubby. Initial impressions are that this will be a tenner well spent. Edited April 7, 2018 by Harry_the_Spider 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 Had an hour to myself. Painted the wings grey. Painted them all sorts of colours. Painted them grey again. No idea how it will look in daylight. If it has worked I'll do the same on the whole airframe, if it hasn't I'll paint the grey again, again... errr again. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted May 8, 2018 Author Share Posted May 8, 2018 I've been away doing boringly grown up things and hope to get on with this again shortly. Before I glue up the fuselage I have a question... Are Tomcats tail sitters? I see no reference to adding ballast to the nose in the instructions, but would like a second opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 Nice work! Nice looking cockpit and interesting paint technique! Håkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolay Polyakov Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 On 11/04/2018 at 22:23, Harry_the_Spider said: Had an hour to myself. Painted the wings grey. Painted them all sorts of colours. Painted them grey again. No idea how it will look in daylight. If it has worked I'll do the same on the whole airframe, if it hasn't I'll paint the grey again, again... errr again. Very interesting and creative approach, fantastic results! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted May 11, 2018 Author Share Posted May 11, 2018 (edited) Stuffed 25g of wheel balance weights in it to be sure. Painted the engines. I know that in real life they are not orange with a spiral, but I don't care. Primed and ready for multi coloured pre-shade. Edited May 11, 2018 by Harry_the_Spider 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Nice! Looking forward to the pre shade! Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Always had a special fondness for this particular kit, without really knowing quite why; better ones are available, but I've built a passel of these over the years. On 5/8/2018 at 2:57 PM, Harry_the_Spider said: Are Tomcats tail sitters? I see no reference to adding ballast to the nose in the instructions, but would like a second opinion. As far as I can recall, I've always ended up plunking a fishing-weight or two into the nosecone; but you've probably already sorted that with the weights added to the fuselage. Much looking forward to seeing how yours turns out. Your pre-shading worked a treat! Will you be using the kit decals, or have you something special in mind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted May 11, 2018 Author Share Posted May 11, 2018 (edited) I've found the centre of gravity by balancing it on a pencil. It is way forward of the main undercarriage now. I'm doing it OOB with the mulitcoloured decals as on the box art image at the top. I've got an F 18 and an F 15 to build that are all low-viz, so I thought I'd do the blingy one. I've also stuck the bigger nose pod on that came with the kit because it looks cool, and ditched the big sensor pod that sits between the engines because it doesn't look cool. Edited May 11, 2018 by Harry_the_Spider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted May 14, 2018 Author Share Posted May 14, 2018 Pre-shade/fade on. Sadly real life is going to get in the way for the next 3 week so, unless I can grab an hour on Wednesday, that will be it for a while. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Looks interesting! Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted May 15, 2018 Author Share Posted May 15, 2018 Grey coat on. I don't fancy the chances of the 4 pitots around the nose surviving my ham-fisted attentions. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 Looks nice! No, it's quite easy to break off such things when handling the kit! Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 ...and unfortunately I'm going to have to leave it there for the next month or so. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 Construction and paint more or less done. Next some touching up, then decals and clear coat. Thoroughly enjoyed this build so far and I'm becoming a real fan of Italeri. A bit of drama though, whilst fixing the undercarriage some cement got through and bonded the wing to the fuselage. Will leave it to harden for 24 hours then try and sand it out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 Nice work! Looking forward to the decals! Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted June 7, 2018 Author Share Posted June 7, 2018 (edited) I think that I've got away with the mess that I made under the wing. It sanded flat and I've added a fresh grey coat. Some additional "filth" will disguise it nicely. Also, as predicted, I snapped a pitot off, so I hand wittled one from a bit of a bomb rack from the spares box, bunged it on and painted it... Then found the missing original that had pinged off under some furniture. So now I have a spare pitot. Edited June 7, 2018 by Harry_the_Spider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted June 16, 2018 Author Share Posted June 16, 2018 I'm calling it done. Clear coat and weapons tomorrow, then my son will steal it and put it in his room. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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