nimrod54 Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I have been following this GB and have been inspired to have a go if it is not to late to join in. It will be my first build as well as a first Group Build. So I would like to submit this as my offering if it is OK with everybody. Using these and these decals It would also be good practice for the F18 GB later in the year and may also be the KUTA I need to help me finish some builds that are dragging on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topgear29 Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Very nice choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Glad youre joining in. Good choice, looking forward to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 OK, I made a start on this today and after cleaning up the RetroKit wings I checked the fit and made some slight adjustments to the fuselage side to accommodate the splitter plate on the engine intake. My original photo shows the Early Wing replacement parts but having checked references it seems that the F6/F60 - apart from some early models - had the dog tooth style wings fitted. Fortunately I had a set of these and so will use those on this project. The fit of the replacement wings was good and any gaps are down to this modellers over zealous clean up and arthritic hands, but that should be OK with a bit of filler and a sand. The intake detail is better than that offered in the kit. Then it was on with the fuselage cut to backdate the rear to that of the F6. The instructions are clear about where the cut needs to be made, but I had to take care not to remove the little bit of spine that was needed to complete the join, which you can just see in the photo below. Cut complete. Next job will be clean up and first fit of cockpit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Nice work John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted March 14, 2013 Author Share Posted March 14, 2013 Nice work John Thanks Mish, its been a while making the decision to post a build but I thought what the heck, have a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antony Robertson Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Very nice, looking forward to seeing this progress. Antony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted March 14, 2013 Author Share Posted March 14, 2013 Here is the progress for today. I decided to tackle the cockpit and seat, as you can see there is quite a bit of flash to clean up. But after a couple of hours with a sharp blade and some files we have this and the fit is OK. Next job will be some primer on the cockpit parts, then out with the hairy stick and an extra strong magnifier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Just a quick update on progress. I primed the Cockpit and Bang Seat a couple of days ago in flat black, then when dry I gave everything a dry brush with a dark grey and added the tan for the seat and the blue seat straps. Today, I have been able to add the kit decal to the instrument panel and made the seat ejection handle from 5A fuse wire. I don't think that it is quite to scale but it should look OK when painted up and gives me plenty of room to improve when I try to add them to future builds. Should hopefully get things buttoned up later this week and then on with some paint. Thanks for taking time to look any tips/advice is welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 John that looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swordfish fairey Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Nice work John, and so tiny too, I take my hat off to you...........Smudge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antony Robertson Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Nice progress, the cockpit looks great. Antony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted April 7, 2013 Author Share Posted April 7, 2013 John that looks great. Nice work John, and so tiny too, I take my hat off to you...........Smudge Nice progress, the cockpit looks great. Antony Thanks for your kind comments guys. Did not get as much done as planned this week but should hopefully make the deadline. Anyway on with progress to date. I managed to get the ejector seat finished to my satisfaction, I have not added the lower handle because I don't plan to open the canopy for this build and figured that it would not be seen in the gloom - lack of bottle Neal, not brave enough to make the cut. Revell include a clear plastic piece to act as a support in the event that the model is a tail sitter, and that is under normal circumstances, so I felt that I needed to try and reduce the weight aft and get as much weight possible forward. So, I decided to hollow out the rear fuselage plug with a drill and then packed as many fishing weights in towards the front as possible. After this I completed the fuselage join. Sorry about the lack of photos of this stage, but I had to charge my camera battery. Here is a photo of the finished seat that I took earlier today. After a clean up, I also added a quick spray of grey primer to the fuselage and checked the joins. They needed further attention around the spine area. I then added the Sabrina s ............... ........... and after further sanding of the spine join I managed to add the wings. I still need to do more work around the nose area and there is some filling required to the wing roots, but there is now light at the end of the tunnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 The seat looks really good. The care and effort your taking tidying up the joins is going to pay dividends later (wish I paid the same attention to the seams) keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 The seat looks really good. The care and effort your taking tidying up the joins is going to pay dividends later (wish I paid the same attention to the seams) keep up the good work. Thanks Neal, it has turned out OK in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 Just a quick update. I was able to tidy up the seams earlier this week and primed the model with Halfords grey plastic primer. Sprayed the Blue on the underside yesterday and then this morning got the first of the top colours on. I should just say thanks to Mark (StephenMG) for advice on colours for this scheme. I will try and mask for the Dark Earth colour later. Have also started to prepare a base to display the finished model on using a bamboo coaster from Wilkinsons (other stores are available) and a piece of Noy's Miniatures 1/144th Tarmac and Taxiway. Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenMG Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I should just say thanks to Mark (StephenMG) for advice on colours for this scheme. You're very welcome. I've got a special interest in this colour scheme so I'm on a mission to get as many people to do it right as I possibly can! You're doing a cracking job so far. It looks a little alarming without the brown, but it'll look fantastic when the brown is on and the blue is unmasked I promise you! Looking forward to seeing it! Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antony Robertson Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Looking great. Antony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted April 24, 2013 Author Share Posted April 24, 2013 You're doing a cracking job so far. It looks a little alarming without the brown, but it'll look fantastic when the brown is on and the blue is unmasked I promise you! Looking forward to seeing it! Mark Thanks Mark. I ended up using the Revell colour you suggested and you're right it does look a little bright at first but it is starting to come together now as you can see below. Looking great. Antony Cheers Antony, another couple of days should see it finished. ............ and here is a brief update. I decided to try a new technique, for me anyway, and masked the entire model and carefully cut out the Dark Earth areas. It wasn't that successful, I had too many sharp corners when I removed the rest of the masking and had to touch up the paint to give a better flow to the edges. As a result the camouflage is not that accurate in future it will be back to drawing the scheme freehand on a scale plan methinks. I Well, that's it for today. Apart from some further touch up and the addition of the canopy framing the painting is finished. Next job is a gloss coat, decals and then add the final details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 It's come alive with the brown on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenMG Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 (edited) Thanks Mark. I ended up using the Revell colour you suggested and you're right it does look a little bright at first but it is starting to come together now as you can see below. It's looking spot on! The colours on these middle-east Hunters can look a bit 'odd' - I suspect because folk are accustomed to seeing the British WWII-style desert camo. It appears Xtradecal fell into the same trap looking at the colour suggestions on their International Hunter sheet. They're completely wrong however so I'm glad to see you're doing the right thing! Good man, this is coming on a treat. Mark Edited April 24, 2013 by StephenMG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted April 27, 2013 Author Share Posted April 27, 2013 Just a quick update. After a long decalling session last night (3:00 am) I am on the final leg and should be finished tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 A close run thing but I managed it in the end, I finished around 1hr ago. I wil post more pics in the gallery. Even after drilling out the rear fuselage to lighten it and packing as much weight in as I could, I still ended up with a tail-sitter. Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 John, that's a brilliant looking hunter you've built. You've managed a really smooth clean fit with the resin as well. Great work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 John, that's a brilliant looking hunter you've built. You've managed a really smooth clean fit with the resin as well. Great work. Thanks a lot Neal. It was a close run thing though, too many relatives popping in and out yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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