Freester

I'm doing the same kit and I kinda discussed this with my son and he decided he'd like to do the 'Golden Dragons'. But no worries I'm not precious - I'm sure you'll do a waaaay better job than me anyway (noob here)...

Still waiting for a key paint colour should be coming tomorrow. I did a few bits on my other kits in progress last night and then spent some more time planning my attack on this build. I ended up looking at the external fuel tank / missile / scanner options which seem a little overwhelming. Do I just put it all on? I guess it might come a bit clearer once I've got the fuselage and pylons mounted...

Well some serious progress looking across the threads and some outstanding work. So far I've started my thread 'WIP' thread. Washed my sprues, I'm waiting for a key paint colour to be delivered. But should be able to make a start before then... Some pre assembly painting and dry fitting...

That's some seriously impressive work there.

First rule of ping club. Don't talk about ping club. Or you'll get pinged by the ping fairies.

Sorry I can't add any technical advice but that made me proper larf out loud 🤣

Thank you for the heads up. I should have olympic gold medals for pinging tiny pieces across the room never to be found again based on my previous few recent builds. I will be careful. Until I forget the good advice I received here 🤣

The hairs on the back of my neck actually stood up looking at the pics of the kit and the 'one you made earlier'. It's a big'un for sure I look forward to seeing how this will pan out.

Thank you - I think I may have forgotten to acknowledge you as another who suggested the Academy over the Italeri. Trouble is I'm a cheapskate at heart. You've no idea how hard it was to justify to myself the extra couple of quid for the Academy 🤣

I must admit that was my first thought - hope the decals are OK. But they were in plastic so no worries 👍

OK my first GB. I model planes with my 10 yr old son. We were talking about what we wanted to model and we wrote a long list of carrier based aircraft we wanted to complete. The Hornet fits in nicely and was on our list and then I spotted this GB! So thought I'd dive in. I've currently got a Tomcat on the go, and also a Sea Vixen with my son. I suspect the Tomcat may have to take a backseat while I work on this. I was originally just going to add the cheap 1/72 Italeri F/A 18 to my stash, but was advised by @PhantomBigStu and @vppelt68 that the Academy was a better bet for a few more quid. So I ordered one and it arrived today. The online seller packaged it in a lovely environmentally friendly cardboard package 👍 Mr Postie left it outside the house as no-one was in and it was completely sodden by the time I got home . Ahh well luckily the model box inside the package wasn't too bad (you can see the wet bits in the photos) and the only bit not in a plastic bag in the box was the instructions which were a little damp but nothing to worry about. Sooooooo. Plan is. Build this completely OOB. Not sure which of the 3 decal options I will apply. I'll probably let my son decide. I'll be hand painting using mainly Revell Enamels. I'm just about to see if there are any colours I need to order, and wash the sprue. Thanks for having us along.

OK my son and I have a 'carrier based' plane project going. This GB falls into that nicely. I was going to just get the cheapo Italeri 1/72 but was advised a bit further up in this thread the Academy was a bit more bang for buck for a few more quid (apologies for mixing currencies in the same sentence), it landed on my doorstep today! I'm a real noob on here and this is my first GB. Do I just start a new thread in this sub forum as my GB 'WIP' now?

https://excelribbon.tips.net/T001775_Creating_a_JPG_File_from_a_Chart.html

Am I too late to throw my hat in the ring for this GB?

Ahh well button pressed. No backing out now...

Well a relative newb on here. Got a couple of builds on the go but I love the Hornet and it would go with mine / my son's carrier based aircraft project. Tempted to press the button on a cheapo Italeri 1/72 F/A 18 C/D kit for this GB and build OOB. What could possibly go wrong...?

There are other people way more qualified than me. I recently took this hobby up again but my advice is... As a hairy stick painter I've been using Revell Enamels thinned with white spirit and latterly enamel thinners. Thin coats let them dry overnight at least 4 or 5 coats. Don't go buying all the Revell paints you most likely have a lot of colours close enough in the set of Humbrol you have. I am the other way round started building up a collection of Revell enamels which I use for my Airfix and Hobby Boss kits as well. Google for modelling colour conversion charts you should be able to find equivalents. Looking at Scalemates instructions of similar models from different manufacturers if they exist to get the equivalent colours in different brands. Unless you are hell bent on getting the correct colours don't sweat the small stuff. OK for a big part of the body get the right colour or equivalent. BUT if it says a specific 'khaki' for the interior of a 1/72 model just see if you have a close colour. Some of the shade differences are minute and not noticeable. Find a local store that stocks the paint you like to use...

First of all please tell your son he has done a great job with this model, - He's done a good job with the paint (I like the german camo, and we all know yellow is a really hard colour to get right), - the canopy - and @Pagey - you haven't done a bad job of yours either . As a fellow modeller who rediscovered this hobby since my teen years - I also got back into this because my 10 year old son got given a few model kits. I think you have done a great job guiding and mentoring (and most likely suppressing your inner perfectionist when you see your son trying to run before he walks). When I was a teenager I could knock a model up in an afternoon. I don't think I actually painted a model for years and didn't have anyone to really teach me the basics... So I'm trying to address that now with my son but it's so difficult to mentor and guide and let them find their own way, and not set those standards so high they aren't really learning...

Well I worked out what this part is. It's called the 'Glove Vane". The instructions don't make it obvious but you could fit them extended out. I'm not going to do that but still need to cut the slots out of the fuselage. Found a video online building this model or the previous version and saw the builder cut the plastic out so I'm feeling a bit more confident about this 👍

Well not a lot of progress to report - and no pictures. That said I've spent a bit of time poring over the instructions, planning my attack. One thing that confused me in the instructions (link to them on Scalemates not sure if it's OK to post a picture from the instructions?) is on Page 4 it states a small part of the upper / lower fuselage has to be 'cut / removed'. After a long time staring at the instructions, dry fitting the parts, I realised (on Page 5) that an extra little part will slot in and make the forward part of the fuselage / wing appear to have an extra 3rd panel. Examination of photos of the F14 also show this, usually just forward of where the ship name is painted. So at least I've worked that out. I'm a little daunted by this as there aren't any very obvious guides or lines to cut this out. So any recommendations / advice on how to go about this gratefully received. Tools? A rasp? Razor blade? Or just take time sanding it down...?

Calling this one done

OK here goes... A Hobby Boss 1/48 F4U-5 Corsair. Initially a project for myself and my 10 year old son. We found this kit hard and he lost interest along the way with this kit so it's more my work than his (luckily he's not lost interest in modelling we have another two kits he's working on). The WIP is here. Hand brushed with Revell Enamels the main 'Sea Blue' is a 1:4 mix of Anthracite and Lufthansa Blue thinned with White Spirit. 5 coats applied. Coat of Humbrol Gloss varnish (thinned with Humbrol enamel thinners discovered this half way through the project!!!) hand brushed before decals were applied using Micro Set mainly (a little micro sol for the decals over the detail). I did try a little gun smoke / exhaust smoke by dry brushing some ground pastel (black for the gun, brown / black for the exhaust) but they don't show that well - mainly due to the dark of the blue I think. Final coat of gloss was Humbrol spray enamel. Not sure I was so happy with this finish I think my spray skills probably lacked below my brushing skills. This is my second model since rediscovering this hobby. I learnt a lot. There were a few emotional times when things weren't going right. But some rewards along the way. Here it is 'warts n all'... Any feedback appreciated.

Hello and welcome. Like you rediscovered this hobby after last building a model in my teens. Now I'm sharing with my son. This forum is a great resource and very friendly. I'm still painting my models with the hairy stick 👍

David thank you for your reply.

I grew up in Weymouth that is definitely Portland. Yes I've heard this but not seen them. My 10yr old son reckons he's seen them fly over (we're still in Dorset but not so close to Weymouth / Portland) they have German markings he believes.