Sam

Next topic. The walkways. I tested the big decal for fit, and it is not going well: The rear red line indicates the spot where the walkway has to line up with the fairing. And the front arrow shows where the decal should end up in the front. The decal is too short. Well, masking and spraying it is then. Will be a fun masking job with all the parts of the rotodome carrier installed, but I think I can handle that. Colourwise, does anybody know what colour tone would be suitable? And I presume it should be anti-slip in texture? Maybe MrSurfacer to fabricate the texture?

Skipping ahead… Assembly was finished. I gave the whole thing two layers of white primer, consisting of a 70/30-mix if MrSurfacer1500 and Leveling Thinner 400. After a week of curing time I followed up with two coats of FS36440 (Vallejo Air), diluted with about 20% of Thinner. The thinning of both the primer and the colour coats results in a much smoother finish than with unthinned paint. I know the final colour should be FS16440, however the first digit in the FS nomenclature indicates the glossyness, which I will render with a glossy topcoat anyway. However, I should have checked the filled and sanded assembly gaps with a quick spraying of paint before proceeding. I now can see a couple of spots where I need to correct the situation. In these cases I had used the thick MrSurfacer to fill the gaps. Probably the wrong choice of filler, I now have ghost seams and filler shrinkage spots. Example here: That‘s going to be fiddly with all the antennae in place, ready to be knocked off… Here some other shots of what it looks like right now:

@Zigomar, very nice modeling! The figures look ace! ( no pun intended).

Lovely Hunter @CplPunishment! it‘s not that the more models you build the worse you get. It‘s that the more models you build the higher your aspirations get. At least that‘s what I see happening with myself. Of course, I personally can never match my aspirations in modeling, and I see it as a challenge to improve my skills and widen the set of techniques (and materials)employed. Your Hunter looks fantastic and reminds me of old times when we used to see masses of them dashing around here in Switzerland.

Hoi Tristan @Warbird78! Congratulations! Lovely job on a fun jet 🌞! I have the same AFV kit in the pipeline. Plan is to create the Vandalo. In hoc signo vinces!

Inflight, yesssss!!!! Great job. Pilot looking great too and base plus mounting nicely done!

I finished the detailing and assembly of the engine nacelles. Fitting to the wing required a lot of cutting and sanding to avoid any gaps and steps. The panel linings and quick fastener patterns for this piece had to be completely modified to match the real thing: The wheel wells were detailed with PE parts and scratchbuilt hydraulic lines and parts: Front gear wheel bay had PE parts added: PE parts with mesh grilles were added in several spots: I used the wheel wells as assembly jig for the gear struts. The kit provides compressed shock cylinders and torque links, so I had to cut them off and replace them in order to represent the inflight position. A few PE details were also added:

Lovely scooter @MRMRL!

Great to see you back @Christer A! I‘ve been battling the engine nacelles for the last couple of weeks. I am using the same PE set you‘re having there, mainly for the wheel well details. I am also adding all the hydraulic lines which proved to be quite extensive and rather fiddly. It‘s a timesink but I love it. I estimate that a good 70% of the total construction time goes into those two rather complex engine nacelles which have considerable fit issues.

Yummy, Tomcat 😎

Air Force was fine. But rhe airlines have become real enslavers, thank you beancounters. That being said, there are still wonderful moments in that job. Go for it 😎 Looking forward to your next steps!

I‘ve heard that motto before! What is annoying me the very most, is that I am stuck in hotels all the time and my hobby stuff is at home, waiting for me, together with my family. Sorry for the rant….

If you‘re not under time-pressure but you actually come to a decision I believe there is no such thing as overthinking 😜 Clean job so far 👍🏽

Hello @Christer A during my research I read up that VAW-112 are nicknamed the „Golden Hawks“. Not that this would impact your build, just for my OCD 😂

Now The panel lines on the fuselage. They are almost 1mm wide and deep, which means Grumman plonked together the skin with almot 48mm gaps between panels. If you look at Hawkeyes, the skin is smooth. Out with the masking tape. Filler. Happy sanding Sam. Note to myself: shut up mate, YOU wanted this.