jenshb Posted February 14, 2012 Posted February 14, 2012 You can add more variation to the surface by mixing in various amounts of grey (or other colours) in clear varnish of various glosslevels once all the decals are on - with this you can achieve quite subtle variations. Jens
DaveJL Posted February 14, 2012 Author Posted February 14, 2012 Thanks chaps. I've been looking at various images of the jet and i have to say it does seem to be all over one colour, but not what i would call 'gloss' Have a look at this: http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/awa0...85-F-14/00.shtm I think Satin black might have the balance between gloss and matt paint. Then i can fade various panels here and there. Didn't think this paint scheme would be as hard to decide!
DaveJL Posted February 15, 2012 Author Posted February 15, 2012 A little more progress. I sanded and smoothed all the filler on the nose, gun vents and fuselage join. There looks to be more than there actually is!! Added the chin pod also. Then i moved on and attached the ventral strakes and arrestor hook housing. The gaps around the shrouds on the underside needed another dose of filler. The tail fins went on after the gaps on the upper part of the shrouds were cleaned up: A bit more cleaning up is required, but essentially, that is the airframe ready to prime. I'll paint the wheel bays and mask them off before that. Shouldn't be too long in coming together, then i can move on to my third entry! (VF-32, OIF) More to follow. 'Freezer'
DaveJL Posted February 16, 2012 Author Posted February 16, 2012 More progress for those interested. All the filler has been sanded and smoothed and the airframe is now ready for priming, well, once the landing gear bays have been painted and masked. And all the sub assemblies ready to go: Should have the first coat of black done by the weekend. More to follow. 'Freezer'
DaveJL Posted February 17, 2012 Author Posted February 17, 2012 Primer on this evening. Will be left to dry overnight and i'll get the first coat of black on tomorrow after work. I am torn between using satin or gloss black. I have both so i'll experiment slightly. All my references state the overall coat is gloss black, with some weathered panels, mainly on the top of the aircraft. Should be interesting! More to follow. 'Freezer'
Dermo245 Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) Lovely work Freezer - insanely quick build speed too! All the best. "Shamrock" PS - my vote would be for Satin Black but PLEASE canvas other views first mate! Edited February 17, 2012 by Dermo245
Neal Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Can't believe how fast your building these and to such a high standard. I imagine that the aircraft was rolled out in a fairly high gloss condition but as it was used the panels slowly weathered to satin then black, especially on the leading surfaces.
DaveJL Posted February 18, 2012 Author Posted February 18, 2012 Thanks chaps. I was fiddling with satin black last night and don't think it's shiny enough! Thinking now I'll go all over gloss and weather down a few individual panels and areas that would be 'busy' such as the pylons, crew access steps and fuel tanks.
DaveJL Posted February 19, 2012 Author Posted February 19, 2012 Ok a good bit of progress to report. Most of the sub assemblies are now painted and weathered. First up, the GE-110's: Weapons pallets: LANTIRN and ACMI pod: Missiles: GBU-31's: Seats (small tidy ups needed here): Wing glove plyons. Painted flat black with the BOL rails and LANTIRN adaptor grey as per my references: Finally onto the main airframe. Wings, horizontal stabilisers and fuel tanks: And the beast itself: Used satin black as it gives a much more realistic appearance when compared to gloss. Added patches here and there to give a bit of weathering. Will add a good bit more with pastels and what have you around individual panels. Next up is to detail the airframe: wing seal 'bags,' exhaust shrouds, leading edges of the wings, anti glare panel, nav lights and to add the pallets and landing gear. More to follow. 'Freezer'
DaveJL Posted February 21, 2012 Author Posted February 21, 2012 Another update for those interested. I added a good bit of the airframe details this afternoon, including the RIO's controls and hood, anti-glare panel and covered HUD: ECM bumps on the leading edges of the intakes were painted, as were the nav lights and the antennae were added: 'bags' painted and weathered before the wings went on: You may also notice some of the weathering i have tried on the upper fuselage. I simply went round the panel lines with a brush dipped in flat black to show were the panels have been removed then replaced. Also painted a few panels in gloss to replicate 'new' panels. GE-110's also added: Final shot for today: Next up is to add the weapons pallets, arrestor hook, some other small details and then the landing gear. Shouldn't be too long in coming together. Please let me know what you think of the initial weathering. More to follow. 'Freezer'
Neal Posted February 21, 2012 Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) The variation you've got on the black looks pretty goog to me, not sure what else it's going to need. Edited February 22, 2012 by Neal
DaveJL Posted February 22, 2012 Author Posted February 22, 2012 The variant you've got on the black looks pretty goog to me, not sure what else it's going to need. Thanks Neal. Don't think I'll add much more weathering. Don't want to over do it!
DaveJL Posted February 22, 2012 Author Posted February 22, 2012 More progress this afternoon. Weapons pallets are on as are the landing gear legs, Wolfpack main wheels and arrestor hook: Next up is the landing gear doors and windscreen before decalling at the weekend. More to follow. 'Freezer'
DaveJL Posted February 23, 2012 Author Posted February 23, 2012 A bit more progress. One thing i absolutely hate about F-14 kits is the landing gear doors. No particular reason, i just hate it! After a good fiddle, some swearing and what have you, i managed to get all the gear doors on, along with the wheels, windshield,boarding steps and glove pylons: Also did a bit more on the upper weathering: Wings will be permanently attached after decalling then there's just the boarding ladder (major pain in the bottom), canopy, antennae, pitot tube, weapons and horizontal stabilisers to go on. More to follow. 'freezer'
DaveJL Posted February 24, 2012 Author Posted February 24, 2012 Decals on! Took about 3 hours to get them all on. The Fightertown decals are great as usual, only tricky bits were the two piece tail stripes which needed a good bit of micro set to get them to settle. After the decals went on i added the fuel tanks: Missiles and LANTIRN: Final shot for today: All ordnance will be attached over the weekend then it's just the canopy, seats, antennae, boarding ladder and horizontal stabilisers to go on. More to follow. 'Freezer'
Giorgio N Posted February 24, 2012 Posted February 24, 2012 Nice ! The black finish looks very convincing to my eyes with some realistic changes in sheen on the different panels
DaveJL Posted February 24, 2012 Author Posted February 24, 2012 Nice ! The black finish looks very convincing to my eyes with some realistic changes in sheen on the different panels Thanks Giorgio. the overall coat is straight from a Halfords rattle can. Close ups of the panels are hard to come by so i went for a bit of artistic licence when painting individual ones. I'm quite happy with it.
Jabba Posted February 25, 2012 Posted February 25, 2012 That is looking mighty fine especially with the "Playboy" bunny. Made a VX-9 1/72nd model when they went all PC and did not have the bunny tail markings
DaveJL Posted February 25, 2012 Author Posted February 25, 2012 That is looking mighty fine especially with the "Playboy" bunny. Made a VX-9 1/72nd model when they went all PC and did not have the bunny tail markings Thanks Mark. The bunny makes the jet what it is in my opinion!
DaveJL Posted February 25, 2012 Author Posted February 25, 2012 wow....very impressive and inspirational Thanks mate. Nearly done now!
Jabba Posted February 25, 2012 Posted February 25, 2012 Thanks Mark. The bunny makes the jet what it is in my opinion! Totally agree.
Dermo245 Posted February 25, 2012 Posted February 25, 2012 Gets better and better with each post Dave. That bunny is the dogs b*ll*cks, btw! Cheers, Shamrock
VFA-103guy Posted February 26, 2012 Posted February 26, 2012 Nice work Dave!! Great attention to Vandy 1's details!!
DaveJL Posted February 26, 2012 Author Posted February 26, 2012 Thanks guys. Should be finished and RFI this afternoon.
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