PaulR Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 (edited) Evening chaps, with reference to an earlier thread, here are the initial set of piccies for my 2nd ever online build. I have to admit to a certain amount of smugness; I managed to snag a couple of Italeri F3s on Ebay recently, but luckily my wife suspects nothing . . . Anyway, here are the obligatory box shots . . . . . . plus the aftermarket porn, namely Paragon fin correction, afterburner cans, wheels, slats and flaps, wing pylons, Aeroclub ejector seats, turned brass pitots (more of this later), Eduard P/E and the Xtradecal sheet for 23 sqn. I was humming and hahing about doing in the 111 sqn Flagship circa 2005, but in the end the 23 sqn marks won out - I just think the red and blue suits the grey schemed F3 very well. The other thing is that I have been reading alot about air ops over Bosnia, including 23 sqn's work during 1993/4, just before they were disbanded as a Tornado unit. Various pictures show them equipped with Phimat pods (which I will scratch build using an Amraam missile body - almost identical length and diameter, funnily enough) and a mixture of grey/green and desert pink tanks. These Bosnia Tornados also had various RAM applied to the leading edges of wings and fins, so should make for interesting painting! I may not actually use all of the aftermarket; I might save the flaps and slats set for the second kit, which will be done in those 111 sqn marks mentioned earlier! I couldn't resist having a little bit of play with the aftermarket stuff, so tried out the metal pitot on the nose cone. Absolutely fantastic effect, so much so I may be forced to get more. . . by the by, I don't tend to build in a 'logical'manner; I tend to do things like wheels, tanks, missiles etc first, as these are the bits that are a faff, and end up not getting done otherwise. Anyway, more updates as and when. I think some other chaps said they might start their F3s at the same time, so as to swap tips and ideas; if we can do this without breaking any rules or upsetting the mods, it would be great to see! More anon Paul ps here's a link to a picture of what I am planning do. It's not the exact aircraft, but you get the idea . . . Edited September 5, 2011 by PaulR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I also got one of these got off eBay, will keep an eye on this one, pick up some tips and write a shopping list for extras! Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worm Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I managed to snag a couple of Italeri F3s on Ebay recently, but luckily my wife suspects nothing . . . Thats what the last guy thought, then he found out that his wife had signed up on the site........ Best of luck with the build, you don't see many 1/48 F.3's getting build for some reason so I'm looking forward to it. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longmc Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 I've snapped off so many kit pitots that I will only use metal from now on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim T Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Great to see one of these being built rather than touted round on ebay as Extremely Rare, Out of Production, Made from Pieces of Douglas Bader's Left Leg. Will look forward to watching this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedfellows Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Hi Tim, Well done on starting your F.3! I'm building the Hobbyboss 48th ADV at the moment and dont understand why its getting slated as it really does look nice built up (will pop a few pics up later) Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smark Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Hi, Likewise I've managed to acquire a couple of these, so I'll be watching this with interest. Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 (edited) Great to see one of these being built rather than touted round on ebay as Extremely Rare, Out of Production, Made from Pieces of Douglas Bader's Left Leg. Will look forward to watching this. The F-3 kit is listed as a Italeri catalogue item for 2011, so we should see them back in the shops at last. Be nice to see how this build turns out, the 23 Sqn markings looked great on the F-3 in service. Shaun. Edited January 22, 2011 by Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 The F-3 kit is listed as a Italeri catalogue item for 2011, so we should see them back in the shops at last.Be nice to see how this build turns out, the 23 Sqn markings looked great on the F-3 in service. Shaun. Absolutely typical! I hold off for years (literally) from getting my F3s from Ebay, and the s@ds at Italeri decide to re-release this year - two months after I bankrupt myself What makes it even worse is that I finally went for an Airfix Lightning F1/F2/F3 just prior to Christmas for my CMK T.5 conversion . . . and get what gets re-released next year as well! Yours, feeling slightly rogered, Paul PS it will be just my luck that they release it with upgraded parts, like flare dispensers etc . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Should do mine one day... gave one of the two I had to my buddy Chris, so I should make him do his too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Hi Paul, Will keep an eye on this. I have just started the Revell 1/32 ECR kit which I am converting to an F.3. I am unsure yet which scheme yet as I plan to do another one later this year. My options are 111Sqn's 75th Anniversary scheme with black spine/black & yellow fin (Flightpath dec's) or 56Sqn's 90th Anniversary scheme with a red spine and flames/phoenix on the tail (custom masks by AdAstra). I hope to post some pics soon. Anyhoo, good luck. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phartycr0c Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Hmm F3,s in the air at the moment...... If your luck is anything like mine, Revell will release a 1/32 updated F3. Pchar Right, and monkeys might fly out of my butt! Will be watching this with interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 Right - a rather overdue update! Sorry - work's been rather overpowering lately! Anyway, a random collection showing could be loosely called 'progress' . . . Drop tanks - one is in desert pink, and the other is in grey/green or at least it will be in due course. Xtracrylix paints. Paragon wheels. Hubs sprayed Light Aircraft Grey and then Humbrol 66 thinned and run around the hubs using capilliary action, my fave way of getting crisp wheel hubs. Depends on having well defined wheel hubs however, which luckily the paragon wheels do. Given an oil wash to pick up the detail. The humbrol 66 gives a very pleasing tyre black effect. I've masked off the metal pitot and sprayed it Vallejo medium sea grey. Photos of 23sqn tornadoes tend to show quite a dark radome contrasting sharply with the Barley grey of the airframe, so hopefully this will replicate this effect. This is the rear fuselage built up. You can see the paragon fin correction in place, and it just needs filler to blend it all in to shape. I'll add the paragon thrust reverser mechanism next, along with the Eduard wing glove seals and blade antenna on the fin. I've also go to scratch build the right flare dispensers under the rear fuselage. The italeri parts fit well, but I've found you need to be careful lining everything up to get the best result. The airbrakes in particular needed work to fit well. Lastly; this is my scratch built Phimat pod, built out of a Hasegawa Amraam body - luckily the exact diameter and length. I sanded the nose to get the pointed nose of the phimat pod, ditto the rear. I also added a small piece of stretched sprue at the end and plastic strip shaped and sanded along the pod sides. I still have to add the mounting pylon. I used the Phimat pod on my Airfix Jaguar for reference. Hopefully will look good after a coat of primer. Anyway, there it is. Will make the next update sooner than this one! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 Evening all! Realised I hadn't updated for a while - work doesn't half get in the way of life's really important things, such as gluing and painting plastic. Anyway, some more progress . . . Cockpit. Have used the Eduard photoetch, which to be honest is the first time I have actually used it. I'm not that bothered about a hyper-accurate cockpit, since I generally model with canopies shut, but it seemed rude not to have a bash since I had paid for it . . . Next up is a few shots of the (mostly) scratch built flare dispensers, the eduard wing seals which really are rather cool, and the paragon thrust reverser mechanism that sits between the tail pipes. The flare dispensers were built used the fairing from the Paragon dispensers. As they come, they depict the angled type that F3s used during Desert Shield. I sawed off the angled dispenser, added in rectangular plastic rod, drilled out 8 holes in each, and mounted the whole thing on very thin plasticard to depict the mounting plate. There is a really good shot of an F3 underside in the latest RAF review. I also blunted and rounded the front of the paragon dispensers to get a more accurate profile. Although the holes I drilled are not perfectly level, I am really pleased with the overall effect. I couldn't get a very good shot of the paragon thrust reversal mechanism, but you might be able to see some of it. I found it fairly difficult to get off the backing resin; I also think it's designed for the GR1 version with the slightly shorter fin base. I had to use some plastic card at the top to blend it in. I did try the Eduard photoetech mechanism first, but managed to bend it all to buggery, after which I ripped it off in frustration. I also chose to use the kit tail pipes. There is actually very little difference between the kit and paragon parts; I decided not to use them because to do so you have to ream out a reasonable amount of plastic, added to which the only set I tried to use on a GR1 build were fractionally too small. creating a step between fuselage and tailpipe. I guess this was the resin shrinking. In any case, I took the easy way out and stuck with plastic! Anyway, there it is for the time being. I am going to hit the Paragon pylons next, and do the WSO's photoetech instrument coaming and Aeroclub ejection seats so that I can get the cockpit painted and the front fuselage sealed up. As ever, grateful for any comments! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Hi Paul, Nice work on the flare dispensers. Eduard set for the pit looks quite good also. Keep up the good work. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedy Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I've got one of these, but never intended to sell it. Mines going to be the F2 prototype, but I'm watching this one................................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Will be updating with pics just as soon as I find my digital camera . . . cockpit has been sprayed and given a wash, and the left fuselage side has been attached to the rest of the fuselage. In the meantime, could anyone advise what colour the phimat pods were? The pics I have could show either a darkish grey or green, but difficult to judge because of the shadow of the wing. Cheers.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 Evening all, am making slow progress on this build, but things are beginning to come together. I've been using photo etch for the first time - fiddly, but I'm pleased so far. Anyway, a few photos to show what I've been up to . . . Painted and oil washed cockpit . . . ejection seats. These are a hybrid of Aeroclub and Eduard photoetch. I've not glued the belts for ease of painting, and I've still got to add on the seat cushion and belts. This is a quick shot of the WSO's instrument coaming from the Eduard PE.. . Overview of the airframe beginning to come together. Lastly, and I'm not sure how well the camera has picked it up, is a shot of the undercarriage with PE hydraulic lines etc. More later as and when! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentalguru Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Nice work- and please note I am exceptionally jealous that you have the kit and parts to enable this project to go ahead- so... don't bugger it up!!! LOL I have to say that the outline shape looks good- if only---- well you know what's next don't you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FZ6 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Looking good so far. I notice you have the Paragon pylons. How different are they to the kit ones? Regards, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Looking good so far. I notice you have the Paragon pylons.How different are they to the kit ones? Regards, Mark Hi Mark, they are much more detailed both in terms of raised and engraved detail. Well worth getting I should say, particularly as you get the underfuselage flare dispensers as well. Although they are not the latest pattern, they can serve as a basis for modification. Hope this helps! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 Slight update! Got the cockpit installed and fuselage closed up. Not really fussed about cockpits, but am really pleased with the ejector seat harnesses - first time I have used photo-etch. The airframe is basically done - now working on pylons, undercarriage etc. I'm looking forward to the painting; I took good advice from a guy on this website and have got myself some Mr Color Barley grey - it's the best Barley Grey out of the tin I've seen yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 (edited) Paul R I have been following this now for a few days and I think your work is impressive Edited March 21, 2011 by HOUSTON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spooky56 Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 23 Sqn marking are definitely the way to go. I look forward to seeing her all dressed up. Good work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Time for a long overdue update . . . airframe masked up and pre-shaded . . . . . . now up on wheels with most of the masking removed. I've left on the masking covering the metal areas until after the final varnish coats. I've used Tamiya NATO black for the RAM coating on the wing and fin leading edges, Mr Color Barley Grey for the top coat and a mix of Tamiya white and XF-80 grey for the undersides. I tried Xtracrylix Light aircraft grey for the undersides initially, but this was too close to the Mr Colour barley grey. The radome is painted Vallejo medium sea grey; photographs show a very wide disparity between aircraft radomes, but 23 sqn airframes seem to have very dark radomes in the 1993 time frame. You can also see the mix of camouflage and desert pink tanks. I am intending to get back on schedule with this build asap, so next steps will be the pylons and detail painting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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