spaddad Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 looking mighty fine, what did you end up using for the bomb fuses in the end? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 Thanks, after trying few different things that didn't work I 'borrowed' some spinners from the Revell Tornado 1000lb bomb. They are a little agricultural but its the best I could do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaddad Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 (edited) they look ok, look forward to seeing these finished, the F-5 and Skyraider are my favourite a/c, wish I could find some Esci 5s Edited December 6, 2015 by spaddad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 gosh they both look fantastic, they have a very natural "patchy" finish, well done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 There is some extremely good work gone into what must be a roughly 30 year old kit. Keep it up and look forward to more updates. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 Thanks for the encouragement guys . I know only its barely worth an update but I probably won't get any time to do much until christmas now so might as well show the olive green applied. I had intended to use a pot of Xtracolor Gelboliv only to find it had gone off so I mixed some greens accordingly. The colours are not coming through too right in the photo but you get the general idea. Love the simple lines of this jet! I have a question though if anyone can lend a hand. What colour should the Aim-9 rails be? I cannot find a photo where I can tell but I assume (well I painted them) Basaltgrau on top with the white aluminium below. Cheers, David. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Great job on the paint David, looks fantastic. Can't help with the AIM-9 rail colour I'm afraid, almost all the photo's I've seen show drop tanks fitted or are of a later scheme and have a missile in the way! Craig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 That is a really nice paint job, she looks naturally weathered and patchy, well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr B Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 That is some nice weathering.......and the paint job on both of them look great....considering that they are 1/72 ....great work Rgds Mr b 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skids Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Wow they look incredible, top work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Sorry, I haven't popped in for a while, I guess. I just want to echo the others- the external paint is remarkably smooth, and the pilots look great- I'd be happy with that in 1/48! bob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted December 10, 2015 Author Share Posted December 10, 2015 Glad you are enjoying the thread guys, probably some of the most fun models I have built in a while . I ploughed on as I might actually try and get them done for the close of the week, there is not too much left to do now (optimistic as always). I painted the underside of the NF-5A, the difficult white aluminium colour that fades/weathers to a light metallic grey. I decided to try and paint in this way starting with Revell 91 which gives a good metallic white silver base. Then I mixed some with Silbergrau and went around randomly to fade the paint into the grey, further toning and shades added. I could only find one picture from the period of the undersides to work with, here; https://www.flickr.com/photos/gerrit_kok_collection/7685758130/. Further weathering will be done after decals. I am happy with the result as it looks grey, yet metallic-ish in various lighting, adding a matter coat in the end should blend it better. Then a gloss coat was added for decals. It has already toned down the shading a lot. This picture shows the intake, I am happy with the tricky masking here, You know when you decide to build a model, you have an image of how it will look in the end. Well the RF-5A was not living up to what I wanted so I re-painted it, yet again . Ideally I am going for a very freshly applied paint, maybe even a near new delivery aircraft, just love the sleek looking silver jet! So I sprayed a much more uniform top coat, it will be weathered after the decals but not much. I guess something like this photo; http://www.airliners.net/photo/Norway---Air/Northrop-F-5B-Freedom/1896439/L/&sid=c442233cac6de9c4bfdd50caa523e64a. The photo below is exaggerating the shine but it looks like this now with the black anti glare areas too, Overall, The BL755s are in the paint shop too and should be ready for the next update. I hit a snag with trying to make a new exhaust, in that I have not been able to make a decent one , so for the time being only one pair of engines will be painted and interchanged on the jets until I get another kit, or maybe pic up a cheap Airfix kit and pinch those . Cheers, David. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
59North Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Incredible paint work, David. Both are very pleasing to look at. Looks like you're coming into home-plate. I'm certain your next update will be equally interesting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Wow David, that's some lovely paint work there! The finishes on both models are amazing, well done on the hard work and effort, they look a treat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 That is very nice work David. The gloss coat on your NF-5A is one of the shiniest I have ever seen, did you use Klear or something else? I like the finish on the RF-5A as well, really like the finish I have seen on a lot of the Norwegian jets. Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 59North, Rich-Thank you , I'll hopefully have them decalled by tomorrow evening, just sitting down now for a marathon! The old model decals for the RF-5 are blooming thick and I guess will require all the decal film cutting away...I love doing that on metal finishes Craig- For the gloss I initially sprayed Mr.Hobby Clear, which seemed really 'grainy' so I sprayed over it with Tamiya clear then with pure thinner, Mr.Color Leveling thinner, hoping it would 'melt' it all away into a smooth coat and it kinda worked! I think I got lucky but will use it again now, it is not a perfect shine but it is good for decals. I agree on the Norwegian stuff, most of the time they seem to be really crisp, clean and quite classy in my opinion. Even an F-16 in the most 'boring' grey to me looks good, http://www.f-16.net/g3/f-16-photos/album37/album09/adr. Which I might build next Cheers, David. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 Hi folks, another update! Here are the weapons for the NF-5A. I was hoping to use some decals for the BL-755s but they were too old and past it (from old Airfix Nato weapon set) so painted them fro masking off, Then the various colours of the bomb were painted and masks removed and some random weapon stencils applied after looking at photos, Overall with the AIM-9's, still need some washes yet, The decals are now done. Special thank you to Giorgio here for kindly supplying some important markings for me to do the NF-5, thanks Giorgio ! I added extra stencils from the spares after going around the airframe from the various online walkarounds to give it some more detail. The old Modeldecals for the RF-5 worked very well in the end, almost no carrier film (i cut off most of it though!) was visible on the aluminium which is a rare thing from my experience. Only one slight problem that the roundels on the intakes are too small, but I cannot find any aftermarket decals atm so will have to do until I can replace them, but I can live with them for now. The jet is from the early seventies, just after they removed the codes from the nose. I still need to paint the main fuel tanks olive green. I have applied another clear coat ready for weathering. Trying to finish them this weekend is looking way too optimistic now however . Cheers, David. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Wow David, there is some really lovely work there both of them look awesome!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 What Rich said! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 They look great David. I really like the larger full colour markings, they stand out a treat against both the camouflage and the aluminium finishes. Love the work you have done on those BL-755's as well, hard to believe they are in 1/72 scale. Craig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Splendid work there, David. Your F-5 weapons are a model in their own style. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmashedGlass Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Top work, sir! Where did your pilot figures come from, I don't remember there being any in the Esci/Italeri F-5 kits? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Thanks for the kind words folks, much appreciated Smashedglass- The pilots were borrowed from a Hasegawa F-16B. They are ok but much better are available though! I have weathered them and given final matt/satin coats. Basically only final assembly is left and taking care of a few details such as gun barrels, ariels etc...Should be finished in the next few days. cheers, David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 (edited) Hello, Here is the last WIP update. All main constructions are completed, painted and weathered, just final details left to do, the dreaded tiny bits! The underside of the NF-5 was made pretty dirty after looking at some photos, like wise for the tanks. The NF-5 awaiting its little bits. The exhausts are painted and canopy seals added. An overall satin coat was applied, depending on the aircraft they ranged from glossy to semi gloss. Given this is more weathered I went for the latter. The RF-5 likewise. I made the main wing tanks green for contrast, seemed to be a standard thing in the early seventies. Also the candy stick pitot probe. It got an overall very thin matt coat just to reduce the shine a little. The weathering consisted of a light grey panel wash and then various panels shaded with super thinned grey paint to just slightly dirty the aluminium, it is really subtle and probably is not showing on the photo but it is what I wanted to see in real life. Will get them done tonight probably and then photos next few days . Cheers, David. Edited December 14, 2015 by mirageiv 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 You've certainly done a fine job of the weathering on the first one...just looks so realistic, well done! Look forward to seeing them in the gallery. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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