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Building a HAS


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She has her id tonight - D-8062.

 

  I started painting the cockpit frames and then got the main decals on.  Stencils still to be done & I am tempted to reproduce the frame in the cockpit to open it

 

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You can see the canopy frame & opening mechanism in the shot

 

800px-Lockheed_F-104G_Starfighter_D-8114

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Decalling all done on the Starfighter.  I know I wanted German but the Dutch Starfighter has really grown on me.  Still needs a flat coat to seal the decals & then maybe some chalk highlight & tone down

 

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And with her replacement

 

vp9XgJt.jpg

 

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I put up an RFI for the Starfighter today.  I would still like to put on some chalks and fade it down a bit & pick out some detail, but I don’t know when I will get to that.

 

 

Now that big old Blackbird is calling loudly, but the Buccaneer has been waiting patiently, as has the Spangdahlem F-16C and the Wild Weasel.  But I wanted to do the Shackelton this summer. Decisions decisions....

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dug out my silver F-104C from the loft.  I am sure it was an ESCI kit.  I wanted a G model back then but this was all I could find at a good price.  Between that & the Super Sabre I was going to do the Century Series jets.  But apart from the F-100 (mine is a Wethersfield jet) and the single seat Voodoos at Bentwaters the rest didn’t feature much in the UK.  So I stuck with the UK / Europe theme instead

 

v2FCt2C.jpg

 

She may get a new role as chase plane for the Blackbird.  Which keeps looking at me from the shelf.  Well, let’s face it, it is as big as the shelf!

Edited by bar side
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The more I think about it the more I think I should finish off the F-16 group that I started a while back.  There is one left to go & I feel sure that if I don’t I will start loosing bits!  So an F-16C from Spangdahlem is in order.  Something a bit like this

 

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Not a Weasel, no targeting pod on the intake.  This batch was mainly transferred to Bentwaters to for the aggressor squadron there.

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So dug out the F-16 and I think I have everything I need.  The whole body needs rescribing but otherwise it should come together pretty quickly

 

VL21eR1.jpg

 

The cockpit is all done so any extra wheel well details, cut off the rear stabilisers, cut slots to fit the new ones (was thinking a nice jaunty tilt upwards at the front) tail & fuselage back plate to go on.  Then she will be well on the way

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6 minutes ago, Badder said:

Congrats on reaching 60K

 

Rearguards,

Badder

Cheers Badder - I don’t notice!  Typical as that comes up while I am spending time getting the garden sorted & not building much!  Need to get that F-16 moving along

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13 minutes ago, bar side said:

Cheers Badder - I don’t notice!  Typical as that comes up while I am spending time getting the garden sorted & not building much!  Need to get that F-16 moving along

The only model I've ever built that had wings is the Space Shuttle.............. oh hang on............. and Schumacher's 2001 ferrari. lol. But I do occasionally pop in to see your work and noticed the 60k mark coming up. I think it's worthy of a mention, if not a certificate/medal beside your avatar. lol.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

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Visits are always appreciated @Badder!  I ventured in to F1 cars for a bit, even Tamiya ships, not to mention model railways.  But this thread has become my generally area for cogitation and deliberation with a few plastic things with wheels or wings that end up gathering dust while sitting around the house.  I guess there are worse habits to have.

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10 minutes ago, bar side said:

hat end up gathering dust while sitting around the house.  I guess there are worse habits to have.

Joking aside, dust is a huge issue with my dio since it's been sitting around for a few years..... er... gathering dust. It's absolutely covered in it. Unfortunately the 'seafoam' trees/bushes are going to have to be replaced as trying to clean them up will have to involve a high pressure jet spray lol. The static grass isn't looking too good either, but that's easier to sort out. Everything else is fine though and once I've got my indestructible/vacuumable/washable tree done I'll get around to finishing the dio. And then I'll have to make the AFVs to go on it! lol

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Yep, that sounds about right @Badder!  My struggle is that everything has to come apart to store it so nothing is permanently fixed & the garage is not a great place for cardboard to sit for 6 months at a time.  My Type C hangar so so big it can only be set up outside so any concept of detail looses out to rubustness (if that is a word) and without a permanent place to set these up that is the way it will be.  So every time I set things up I need time for running repairs before a winged thing goes near it.  And those big builds - I wanted to start my Shackelton soon - just get pushed back.  The joys

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Thinking about moving the next F-16 build on to its own thread.  Keep getting ideas to do some more bits on it.  I will post the link once I have set a thread up

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I liked the ESCI F-104 so much I got another one!  Different box but the same kit

 

kskHFSH.jpg
 

Sadly the guy who sold it can’t find the decals or instructions.  I still don’t have good German decals so it’s tempting to use the left over Italian decals from the last kit.  Not all stencils were common so between those and the spares box I might be able to cobble another Starfighter together.  And Video Aviation do a nice Italian start cart too.

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The Spang Viper is slowly progressing but I thought I would get together my three Kelly Johnson jets.  Once I get on to the Blackbird that will be 4.  And the TR-1 needs a proper dust!

 

vi8eE3L.jpg

 

You can just about see that they both started from the same basic body.  I had forgotten quite how big the wings on the Dragon Lady are

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think I am going to have to have a round up of ground equipment soon.  I have a Skunkworks Harlan tug to build, the rest of an ESCI ground crew set, and now another one of these

 

WSiuLN2.jpg
 

I am tempted to build the ESCI trolley as a one of these covered box trolleys

 

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I wouldn’t mind a little LOX cart like this one too.  But an RAF nitrogen one like this would be on list too

 

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSE2BxMM2ReJEflP6WIXYR
 

Now I know they are made by Flightpath, but were is the fun in that?
 

 

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I do sometimes see a picture & think ‘that would make a great shed for my diorama’.  Happened this morning

 

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The RAF Leuchars QRA shed.  Now I did start making a frame for a QRA shed years ago, but without the concertina doors this just looks to be a nice simple 2 bay shed, home to Lightnings & Phantoms.  I am sure other types would feel at home too.  Not too deep either. Oh well, another long term plan

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  • 2 weeks later...

The F-16 build has just about finished, so next step is FOD cover & rbf tags and set up the HAS


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Think I just won a Mirage IV on eBay, so add that to the 2 F-4s, Starfighter, Buccaneer, F-15 etc.  And really must do some more ground equipment.  Also found a lovely 70s shot of an articulated Mack refueler truck.  So tempted to get a tanker trailer & repaint my other Mack truck cab

 

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I do sometimes think that Ian a dinosaur looking back at the 80s and building models of past memories. It’s easy to think all of that is gone and aviation today is all 5th generation and changed beyond all recognition.  So I went out to visit some local bases in the sunshine yesterday.  Saw this little beauty flying at Lakenheath

 

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Looked and sounded great.  But hang on a second, what is her tail number?  F-15D 84 046?  A 1984 built jet?  Two years older than my Spang Viper!  Surely an exception to prove the rule.

 

The E models are a bit newer

 

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But they all live in the HAS complex

 

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Must have seen 10 launch yesterday.  Loved it!

 

And don’t mention the Hercs and KC-135s at Mildenhall


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Yes the Osprey is a bit newer, but it’s tempting to make one of these & a Strike Eagle too

 

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So maybe I am not quite as out of touch as I thought. Great to see HASes in use & the jets of my youth still doing their thing

 

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I think the time has come for some more ground equipment.  Although there are plenty of kits waiting, I have most of an ESCI and all of a Hasegawa ground crew sets but I don’t want to just duplicate things I already have.  My first thought was to use the ESCI flat bed trolley and turn it in to a box trolley like the one at Bentwaters

 

JyEzi0l.jpg

 

The basic trolley looks wrong, so this might be an improvement.  A nice little oxygen cart would be good too.  I fancy a new RAF Houchin from Videoaviation, and maybe an Italian F-104 start cart.   But I also fancy an RAF Nitgrogen trolley.  Now Flightpath do one that looks like this

 

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcROWUSE-S0f2_Nupi-TCYJ

 

But getting reference pics is not proving easy. 
 

The main stumbling block with scratch building trolleys are the wheels.  Tricky to reproduce them.  So as I have the unbuilt Hasegawa set available I thought I might try to resin cast some wheels. Never tried it before so here goes.

I got some two part resin a long time ago to try this so hopefully it’s still good.  And I had wondered about using blutac as a mould.

 

So press the kit wheels ( both sides) in to the blutac.

 

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Mix the two parts 50/50 & stir.  Also spray the blutac with a light oil to help release the cast resin.  I mixed batch one for one minute and put it down while I sprayed the moulds.  When I picked it up it was hot & setting, so the resin is still good!  But I missed the point to pour it & it set.  Batch two worked better (batch one can be seen as the lump at the top

 

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So how would they turn out?  Not bad actually


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I trimmed them up and superglued the halves together and fitted an axel stub to help with the clean up.  Filed the edges down, primed & painted them.  So here are the same wheels from Hasegawa kit 1 and my cast ones next to them

 

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Definitely usable.  Next time I might just do one side & make the mould deeper but with a flat back.Anyway, I now have wheels to build from.  Quite a success I think

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, darthspud said:

Wheels are always hard to source for gse. Really must try and get some.

Yes you can s teach build a frame or a body but wheels are tricky.  And 1/72  or 1/76 wheels for diecast would be about the right diameter but may be too shallow.  I tried another cast, this time a bit deeper but with no back

 

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Not the worst results and again usable

 

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Finally found my sheet plasticard (it slid down the back of the stash!) today so I can get started.  But when looking at the stash these were looking back at me

 

uCt7SKY.jpg
 

Tempted to start the Eagle after watching them again last week, but the Weasel, or the German F model Toom.  And the Buccaneer.  And I didn’t even include the Blackbird or Shackelton.  And I have a A-26 that I would like to light up & fit motors to.

Oh well start some ground equipment & see how I feel

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