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Hi all, a new one onto the workbench...a RAAFie this time. Since Steve Evans from Ronin decals released these decals earlier in the year, I've been eager to build this kit. I did however have one small problem, I didn't have the kit I needed in the stash. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I managed to score the kit with the right bits and pieces in it from a store here in the middle of Brisbane. So the plan is to turn this... into this…though just a smaller version in 72nd scale. The original kit of the 1/72 Hasegawa F/A-18F family has been around for a while now with releases seeming to come out of Japan at a steady rate of either the latest CAG jet or aircraft that adorn colourful artwork. This release which was released in early 2016 fortunately has all that's needed for a RAAF jet. The only real draw back is the lack of ordnance supplied. You need to supply your own and in my case I'll be loading it with two GBU-38 and two GBU-54 ype bombs, both 500lb class bombs. The correct bard stacks are also moulded in place which is correct for our Rhinos. I recently found some excellent photos of this jet on the Defence Media site while it was deployed on combat operations overseas which is where I got the one above. It's an interesting load out in the fact that it's asymmetric. The tanks are loaded in the 'goofy gas' configuration which allows a greater field of view for the designator pod on the left shoulder station. The port wing carries two GBU-38 bombs on the inner two pylons and a single GBU-54 on the outer. Turning to the starboard side we can see the drop tank and then a single GBU-54 on the middle pylon with an empty outer pylon. Both wing tips are carrying AIM-9X Sidewinders and the right shoulder station carries a lone AIM-120 AMRAAM. As mentioned the ATFLIR is being carried on the port shoulder station. With regards to the kit, it does have the correct ACS coaming that the later Lot jets have, however the rear instrument decal IP represents the earlier style of rear cockpit. I'm not too fussed on this as the model will have the canopy closed. I have ordered a set of Quickboost resin seats to add some visual interest to the closed cockpit as the kit seats are quite simple one piece items. I’ve also got the GBU’s covered with some Attack Squadron products. Construction is fairly straight forward however there are a few spots that need some attention. The kit intakes are extremely short and have an obvious seam in the roof of the intake. There's not much to do about the short intakes unless some major plastic surgery is undertaken. The seam however can be easily dealt with. It had a touch of Tamiya grey putty mixed with some Tamiya lacquer thinner to make it into slurry, kind of like the texture of soft butter. This has been applied and I've started to smooth it in as you can see in the photo. I'll sand it back and apply some primer to see how it looks. The cockpit tub has been installed on the lower forward fuselage half and has had paint applied along with a gloss coat ready for the decals. The same thing goes for the front and rear IP. The engine exhausts are a simple affair and in hindsight I wish I'd gone for some aftermarket items. I might get away with sleeving they outlet with some tube with the right OD, we'll see. The basic representation of the flame holder has been painted Burnt Iron from the Mr Color Metallics range. The great thing about this stuff is that it can be polished. You can see the results in the picture of the differences between a polished and non-polished paint. I hit the polished parts (on both sides) with a micro q-tip and it looks the part. Sealing this stuff is a bit of a grey area for me at the moment as any form of lacquer or hot thinner in the gloss will cause the grey to change shade, not exactly something I'm interested in achieving. If you have any info on how you go about sealing these paints I'd be interested to hear. An upper and lower half capture the polycaps for the elevators which in turn also holds the flame holder. This part is installed in the rear of the fuselage. I’ve added a splash of the same Burnt Iron in the bare plastic after i took these photos. The upper and lower half of the fuselage are one piece items. I’ve applied some Gunze FS36231 on those. [PIC] The fuselage join is pretty good. The dark grey paint is the Burnt Iron after it hit it with some Humbrol poly. I’ve used this on the fuselage seams as I’ve heard it’s a bit more forgiving with regards to ghost seams than Tamiya Extra Thin. The fit of the LERX is very good too. The first pic shows the fit of the parts held in place by gravity. The second two images shows it buttoned up with glue applied. And this is where I’m at with the build; I’ve also assembled the two drop tanks. More to come soon. Mick

Hi fellas, With a few models sitting waiting for the gloss coat to go off, I've cracked out the neat little Hasegawa F-4EJ Kai boxing of the Phantom in 1/72nd scale. The kit is the perfect starting point for an RAAF machine as all the parts except weapons are included in the box. The RAAF machines had unslated wings so no need for any mods or hacking of the kit. The final item will be an inflight display of A69-7205 carrying two sticks of three 500b bombs on TER's on the inboard stations. Missile stations will be empty but it will have a full compliment of gas bags as per this pic from add-serials (the aircraft in the foreground on the right is A69-7205). I've skipped the cockpit build for the moment and gone straight to the fuselage to get the bulk of the exterior done as there's nothing too adventurous going on externally. The blisters just aft of the intakes need to be removed. Before After The sharpie outline for the mounting post is marked here. It turns out I needed to move it forward a panel as it would foul the exhausts when they were inserted. The two blisters further behind the main gear towards the trailing edge have since been removed as Aussie Phantoms didn't have these. Perhaps the F-4 gurus can shed some light on what they were/are? A start on the cockpit. There's not much to it but once the crew are installed the decal instrument panels should be okay. The rear section of the nose gear door installed. No filler required here. I've started to busy up the sidewalls as they will be partly visible. I've no idea what the rear left hand sidewall of an F-4E looks like, but some gizmology will get me by. For whatever reason the right side is provided as an insert but no mention of it is made in the instructions. Some of the panel lines on the spine needed reinstating after being removed when cleaning up the seam. Some Pactra tape and an Olfa scriber put them back in their right place. Before. After. The circular access panels also needed some work. The first effort was made using a fluted punch but I wasn't happy with the result. Perhaps okay for a flat surface but not on a curved one. I reverted back to the old scribing template and needle for the rest. Progress so far after two evenings. The outer wings and fin cap have also been adde. You can see the hole where I had to move the mounting post position to. I've been doing some work on the ejection seats and drop tanks but once they're done I'll load up some pics of them. Anyway, that's it for the moment. I'll be back with another update tomorrow. Cheers, Mick

Hi all, After 10 months and a few hours on Sunday afternoon it's finally done. This has been built for a friend as a thankyou for some bits and pieces that he helped me out with in 2012. Gary H...I hope you like it mate! The aircraft represents A8-127 from 1 Squadron circa the mid 70's well before the Pavetack and AUP programs were implemented. The gun fairing is installed. Of note is that during this period the squadrons had not yet applies squadron specific markings hence why the tail is vacant of advertising. Sadly, this aircraft along with her crew was lost on the 13th of September 1993 near Guyra in New South Wales. A brief summary. The kit is the venerable original boxing of the Hasegawa RAAF F-111C. Some modifications(albeit small) have been made and they are mainly in the cockpit. The pilot side canopy has been cut open and the internal framing added. A new instrument panel was built to represent the aircraft at the time as the kit only supplies a decal which is inaccurate for the C. A simple case of copying the pattern of the kit IP and then drilling holes in it and scoring lines to represent the instrument sections. A radar scope and radar hood have also been as well as well as throttles which are normally represented by the kit decal. Paints are Gunze Acrylics and decals are 23 year old kit decals which silvered a bit unfortunately. The exhausts are various shades of Alclad with Tamiya weathering pastels and graphite applied. The 500lb Mk 82's are sourced from the Hasegawa X-72-1 Weapons set. Here she is in all of her glory with the canopy glue for the open cockpit still drying. Hope you like her. Cheers Mick

Hi all, Not done a great deal in the way of modelling lately, day job has been hectic and my workbench is covered in 1/1 scale parts from my 1961 Vespa that I am restoring so doing a lot of sanding & filling!! Anyway, finished the Italeri Tiffie a few weeks ago, not an expert on 21 Century jets, but kit went together ok and despite the fact I think this is really the demo aircraft it looks ok in 1 Squadron markings, just need to source some pylons & stores to make it look a bit more like an FGR4!! Built OOB apart from Xtradecals and a few bits of cockpit etch left over from my Hawk T2. Crit more than welcome! cheers Simon