A pair of Hornets -- 1/72

[opus999]

23 minutes ago, Stalker6Recon said:

you left that blank

I did?  Oh... I Did!  I looked it up and must've flubbed up putting it in.  Weird.

 

5000 RPM.  Which still seems high to me, but it's a little hard to count....

[opus999]

25 minutes ago, Stalker6Recon said:

are you referring to resin

oh, yeah.  I am.  Sorry I wasn't too clear about that.

 

28 minutes ago, Stalker6Recon said:

I will have to try drilling with the dremel

Mine goes slow enough on the lowest setting that I feel like I have plenty of control when drilling. I've never used a pin vise for drilling, I should give it a try.

[Stalker6Recon]

3 hours ago, opus999 said:

pin vise for drilling,

A pin vise is really good for drilling tiny holes in wheel wells and such for running wires. It's all about the sharpness of the bit though, and you can go super slow, obviously. This also prevents the bit from getting hot and fragile, avoiding the break/gouge/cuss/bleed/fill/sand scenerio, not always in that order. When using those tiny tiny bits, they can snap while drilling butter!

 

Anthony

[opus999]

5 hours ago, Stalker6Recon said:

A pin vise is really good for drilling tiny holes in wheel wells and such for running wires. It's all about the sharpness of the bit though, and you can go super slow, obviously. This also prevents the bit from getting hot and fragile, avoiding the break/gouge/cuss/bleed/fill/sand scenerio, not always in that order. When using those tiny tiny bits, they can snap while drilling butter!

 

Anthony

Since coming back to the hobby a couple years ago, it seems like I've had a lot of catching up to do on what kind of tools are out there.  Thanks for the info!

[Stalker6Recon]

1 hour ago, opus999 said:

hobby a couple years ago,

Then you still have a head start on me. I last modeled before the internet, so building was a local only phenomenon, especially when you have little money to invest, which I had to spend every penny wisely. The art of model building have absolutely become just that, an art. I want to be a proficient modeler, with as much accuracy as possible, using some aftermarket upgrades, but I doubt I will ever become so detailed like the other guys on here, it is amazing what some do here, and their scratch building is off the charts.

 

I am still gathering the basics, but almost there to really start building again. It will be scary and fun though, I know I am putting too much pressure on myself, but that will ultimately make me better.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

[opus999]

2 hours ago, Stalker6Recon said:

I last modeled before the internet, so building was a local only phenomenon, especially when you have little money to invest, which I had to spend every penny wisely.

Wow, this describes my experience to a "T". Prior to coming back, the last model I'd completed was in 2000! Forums like this taught me a lot, and maybe too much at once because my first model when I came back (1/72 Testors F-14) took about a year because I kept re-doing things as I learned better ways to do them.

 

Well, glad you're back in the hobby. I hope you have as much fun as I have had over the last couple of years!

[opus999]

Well, the day went south today so I didn't get a single thing done despite having the house to myself most of the day. But, I got quite a few of the fiddly details done yesterday.

 

Painted the pylons. Black based with Mr. Surfacer 1500 as a primer:

 

 

Same with the external fuel tanks:

 

 

Painted the insides of the cans with Tamiya Acrylic "Buff" and dirtied them up with Tamiya weathering pastels. The photos I've seen inside the F/A-18 engines show them to be a light tan or buff color with some soot streaks, so this is a pretty fair approximation.  It looks better in real life than all zoomed in.

 

 

I sanded the extra length of "bump" off of the tails, re-primered with Mr. Surfacer black, and re-painted.  They look better than they should because it was hard to sand that raised detail off without wiping out the surrounding detail.

 

 

 

Painted the oleos and landing light silver on the landing gears and glued them together

 

 

Painted the red edges on the landing gear doors, but didn't get to dirtying them up today.

 

 

Painted the Sparrow missiles with decanted Tamiya gloss black, then dusted them with Alclad dark aluminum to give the fins an anodized metal look. I masked the fins, and painted them white, then painted the stripes on, masked again and painted the warheads with 36440 gull gray. Again, the anodized effect is more believable looking in real life and in the picture it looks speckle-y for some reason.

 

 

I did the sidewinders too, except with those it was easier to paint the white first, then the stripes, then mask the seeker heads and paint the gloss black.  I was going to do the dark aluminum today, but...

 

Finally, I masked and painted the canopy. to make sure the color was matched right I had to paint black on them, and then the dark gray. I dry fit the canopy on and... what the #*$&#(#*& is my luck on this project????? The canopy is messed up!!! This time, the canopy is narrower where it meets the fuselage so that it lays flush on one side and the fuselage sticks out on the other side.  Really??? 🤬

 

Here's the good side:

 

 

Here's the bad side:

 

 

Plus on top of it, the canopy seems slightly warped so that if the hinges sit flush, the canopy is a little cockeyed in the front making a gap where it meets the fuselage. I am so frustrated right now. I suppose I could make it with the canopy open, since they provide the parts for it, but I'm not crazy about open canopies. I sure as heck am not going to buy another kit to get a new canopy... been there, done that. So, I will need to mess around and see if I can get it to look decent.  Geez. what are the odds?

 

So, the last four things I can do before putting everything on standby are: dirty up the L.G. doors, "anodize" the sidewinder seeker heads, paint the sidewinder fins, and paint the spotlight on the port side.  Then its a matter of waiting for decals, which the company said could take 2-3 weeks....

[Stalker6Recon]

1 hour ago, opus999 said:

Tamiya weathering pastels

The cans and gear look great, I wanted to ask you, the pastels you mention, are they the pigments in the make-up looking kits? Labeled A, B, C etc? If so, not sure what number if lots you have, or if you are in need of more soon, but if you are, I found the master set on Amazon for $20, 6 sets from A to F. I bought one set, wanted to buy two, but I am broke and shipping to the Philippines is another $10. I have never used them before, so I took the risk and ordered them based on the many positive reviews and videos I watched. They are still in the mail, but I am excited for them to arrive.

 

My next query is the red line around the wheel wells, how did you get the line to stay only on the edge? I ask because I bough a Tamiya red marker specifically for this use (plus a few other colors, black, gold, silver etc) for those tiny bits, where I don't want to spray a tenth of a drop of paint on a couple tiny bits, then having to break the airbrush down and clean it all over again. Maybe they will work as planned, or backfire, time will tell.

 

Sorry to hear about the canopy, that sucks. What are you options to try and reshape it? I figure the only method would be to boil it basically, then try to reshape it back to a tight fit. Not even sure if that works, but it seems logical.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Anthony

[opus999]

On 5/19/2019 at 11:12 PM, Stalker6Recon said:

how did you get the line to stay only on the edge?

I used my smallest brush (which is a 18/0 spotter) and very carefully painted along the edge. I had a couple things working in my favor: 1) the kit had well-defined, wide edges and 2) I was painting enamel over glossy lacquer.  So, where ever I slopped over the edge, I could take a tooth pick and scrape it off the white without any damage. You could probably put a clear acrylic coat on before painting the red to get the same effect (scraping off any slop).

 

On 5/19/2019 at 11:12 PM, Stalker6Recon said:

are they the pigments in the make-up looking kits?

As a matter of fact they are! I only have one.  I don't remember the letter, but it's the set with black, brown and white in it.  I really haven't needed anything else yet.  Thanks for the tip about Amazon -- I may not need pastels right now, but my Dad will likely be buying some soon, so I'll let him know!

[opus999]

Well, this week I took the Canadian Hornet as far as I could without decals (which still haven't arrived yet). I finished painting the sidewinders:

 

 

Painted the tail hook by hand (which was much easier than the Testors kit because there is a raised line between the stripes on the Hasagawa kit)

 

 

and I dirtied up the landing gear doors a tad with a water color wash followed by dull coat, a little bit of black Tamiya weathering pastel, and more dull coat

 

 

and I put it on the shelf to wait for the decals to come. When they do, I'll get right back into it.

 

In the meantime, I started a B-57B Canberra.  Take a look! Hopefully it will go a little faster than this project, which I've been at since March 8th!

[Stalker6Recon]

1 hour ago, opus999 said:

I really haven't needed anything else yet. 

I considered that fact, but I also considered the price and the "you don't know what you might use, if you don't have it". I think that the range of colors in the master set (all six sets for $20 dollars) should have me covered until 2112!

 

Thanks for the tips regarding the edges, that will go into my "tips and tricks" file, which is growing by the day. I will play with the markers I bought, hope they work as imagined, but at least I have a fall back method, which I should also practice just to have a better arsenal.

 

Anthony

[opus999]

43 minutes ago, Stalker6Recon said:

2112

 

43 minutes ago, Stalker6Recon said:

you don't know what you might use, if you don't have it

Yep, the most useful tool in the toolbox is usually the one that isn't there!

 

44 minutes ago, Stalker6Recon said:

Thanks for the tips regarding the edges

You're welcome. I used it again on the B-57 cockpit today -- I haven't posted pictures yet because its late, but probably tomorrow morning...

[opus999]

Still waiting for my decals to come! It's been a month now. So, I haven't gone anywhere.

 

They are coming from Canada, but it seems like it shouldn't take this long.  I have no tracking number, so the best I can do is contact them and see if they sent it at least.

 

If worse comes to worse I can use my incorrect decals. but I hope it doesn't come to that.

[Stalker6Recon]

1 hour ago, opus999 said:

I can use my incorrect decals

Don't do that. After all the work you put into these kits, chucking on the wrong decals will haunt you for a long time. You don't want another Canberra, that you have to redo in twenty years just because you didn't wait for the correct decals.

 

I have started my first build and WIP, but I have a similar problem regarding the decals. The ones from the kit are horribly yellow-brown. Tamiya was nice enough to send me new decals, but because the kit is out of production (probably by 20 years), their only decal options are for the F-15C, my kit is the A. So I either need to buy new cans and wheels, or find aftermarket A decals, which is probably the better, less expensive option. Since it is my first build in more than thirty years, I don't want to throw too much money into it, it will probably be a Frankenstein of good and bad techniques, as I learn on the job and try tools and techniques not available in the 80's.

 

I have been wondering what was happening with your builds, I need to check the Canberra to see if there are updates that I have missed for some reason.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

[opus999]

On 6/5/2019 at 10:01 PM, Stalker6Recon said:

Don't do that.

Good point. I wasn't very clear -- what I was thinking was, if I exhaust all other options, I at least have decals that are close to correct. But what I wrote was very different!

 

But, in the meantime I need to wait a little longer. The Pay Pal account was charged on May 8th, so presumably it was sent on that day or the day after. I guess I'll have to contact them and see what's up.

[opus999]

Yay!  Look what was in the mail yesterday!

 

 

Wow, it was like the 80's all over again: "Allow 4 - 6 weeks for delivery"

 

I'm on the home stretch with my B-57, so as soon as that's done I'll jump right back into this.

 

These are pretty nice and complete decals.  I wish I'd started with these.  Oh well...

[Stalker6Recon]

4 hours ago, opus999 said:

  I wish I'd started with these.

I am just glad you had the patience to wait for the right decals, you will be glad that you did. Look forward to seeing how she looks with all the decals and weathering done.

 

Anthony

[opus999]

Signs of life! My B-57 has taken a lot longer than anticipated because some unforeseen circumstances kept me from the bench, so the Hornet has had to wait accorindingly.  But tonight I was able to start putting decals from the new sheet on and I am really happy to report that they are wonderful decals and are dark enough to be seen on the dark ghost gray!  I only got the port side of the nose done tonight, but I think I will be able to finish them off tomorrow as there isn't a lot left to do on the B-57. 

 

I also painted the spotlight on the side using Mr. Color Super Metallic Stainless steel.  Not completely realistic, but I really am at a loss how to make it look real (without major surgery...)

 

Here's a quickie photo to show the little bit of progress tonight:

 

Edited July 14, 2019 by opus999

[Stalker6Recon]

3 hours ago, opus999 said:

Signs of life! My B-57

Strange, you B-57 has morphed into something that looks a lot more like an F-18, is there some flounder capability in your models, or a lack of proper sleep?

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

[opus999]

8 hours ago, Stalker6Recon said:

Strange, you B-57 has morphed into something that looks a lot more like an F-18, is there some flounder capability in your models, or a lack of proper sleep?

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

Oh, whoops -- that made more sense in my head. I edited the post to make a little more sense. Lack of proper sleep and a potent IPA...

[Stalker6Recon]

4 hours ago, opus999 said:

Lack of proper sleep

I figured as much, gave me a giggle anyway. Looking good I must say, those low vis markings on the nose/fuselage look painted on real nice. I do agree, that silver circle surfer on the side looks a bit out if sorts, but it doesn't sound like you have a lot of options, maybe the zoom in gives it more detail than would be noticed with the naked eye.

 

Now get some sleep, before you pee in the hamper and flush your dirty clothes down the toilet!

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

[opus999]

Didn't get to the bench this week. It's funny why... Our division of labor is in our house is my wife cooks and I do laundry and dishes.  Which means that my weekends are usually busy with chores, but I have a little time after work and before bed. Now that my family is away visiting my in-laws, I find that I have no time after work to do anything fun because I'm cooking, as well as making lunch for the next day, etc. (I only have 3 hours between getting home from work and going to bed). The weekends have been nothing but free time because I'm only doing laundry for one, not five! 

 

Anyway, finished off the decals last night and it started to look like a Canadian Hornet!

 

 

Spent my time at the bench today fiddling with all those little details. Most of the time was spent with doing a pin wash, which was terribly frustrating because the engraved lines ranged from fairly deep to very shallow, so I had a hard time getting it to stay in the shallow parts.  Which I guess is OK, because dirt accumulates randomly, and panel lines are sometimes only visible on some parts of the aircraft. My biggest headache was trying to keep it from getting too dark.  I was using watercolors and for some reason I just could get into a working groove. The wash kept getting too dark, then too light. Ugh. At any rate I got that done, dull coated it, did some weathering and painted some dark steel parts under the nose and just forward of the exhausts. 

 

I really, really wanted to get it finished to day, but I'm getting a little tired of it, so I will do something else for now.  All I have left to do is paint the polished aluminum band just forward of the exhausts, paint the metal plate around the gun, fix some overspray in the cockpit, and do final assembly. I also have to remask the canopy so I can dull coat it, because -- silly me -- I took the masking off after painting, forgetting I would need it later. 

 

Here's how it looks

 

 

Getting close.  I can't wait -- this has sat on the bench way too long and I'm more than ready to get working on my Banshee!!

[Stalker6Recon]

3 hours ago, opus999 said:

Here's how it looks

  

Frustrating or not, the end result can't be ignored, she looks great. When I was reading about the work and troubles, I had not scrolled to the pictures yet. I half expected a so-so looking F-18 with badly done panel lines etc. Instead, I was greeted with a very nicely done wash and that perfect, low-vis finish where the markings are just barely visible at a range of probably 100 meters to scale. I only recently was shown the light regarding scale as relates to looking at a model, changing my thinijng completely.

 

Don't walk away now, the reward for finishing strong, will be the Banshee being placed on the bench with a head full of steam and the confidence to boot.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

[opus999]

8 hours ago, Stalker6Recon said:

Don't walk away now

Oh, Ha Ha! I re-read my post and I guess it was pretty ambiguous.  I was just taking a break for the night to watch a movie.  I'm just getting ready to go down and finish that bad-boy right now!

 

Thanks for the kind words... the results almost always are worth the effort and occasional frustration.  I'm still trying to get a feel for using watercolors as a wash.  They seem to be all or nothing, because they come off completely and almost instantly with a little water (which allows me to start from scratch if something doesn't go right), but I have a very hard time getting them as light as I would like. Well, I'm getting plenty of practice anyway!  

[opus999]

Finally pushed this one over the finish line.  Took a lot longer than I thought it would, partially because I had a fair number of screw-ups. I went over the panel lines on the tail fins with a pencil, since they were too shallow and wouldn't take a wash. I also touched up a couple panel lines here and there using the same method.  I really like the pencil approach.  It seems easier and faster to me.  I may abandon the pin wash. 

 

There were a couple of spots behind the canopy where the gray didn't cover the black undercoat for some reason, so I had to mask and fix them:

 

 

The Hasagawa kit didn't come with pitot tubes like the Testors kit did and they are so prominent that I decided to do something about it. There was only one on my old High school Hornet, so I scavenged it (sorry 15-year-old me!). Then I had to fabricate a second one using 0.5 mm styrene rod and 0.4 mm styrene sheet.

 

 

After that I masked for painting the metal parts with Alclad, which requires a decanted Tamiya rattle-can gloss black first. Note that in these pictures, the masking is not complete yet!!

 

 

 

 

In the above picture, I am using bare metal foil as a mask. It is a tad expensive, but is so easy to find and cut along the panel lines!

 

I had some overspray despite my very careful masking, so I had a few repairs to do.

 

I then painted the navigation lights, darkening the colors by doing a 10:1 color to black mix. I thought I'd save some time by hand painting them, since the panel lines are so deep, it should be really easy to paint them correctly.  And it was, but I slipped anyway and had to mask the light to fix the gray around it.  But it turned out looking nice, so that's OK.

 

I had to mask the canopy a second time for dull coating, and I dull coated a lot of other parts at the same time. Then it was finally time for final assembly. It all went well, except I had to use the dremel to drill the holes in the wings a hair larger to fit the pylons. The only other problem was when a front landing gear door slipped and came to rest on the false canopy decal. I was quick to grab it, but the super glue adhered and pulled a little part of the decal up, creating a bulbble. Not sure how to fix that, so it will have to stay...

 

Despite the canopy being warped, I was able to fit it on so it looks decent. I had considered making it open, but I'm not a fan of that generally, and I'd apparently pitched the excess pieces in the trash a while back so I didn't have the post to prop it up.  It looks OK, though.

 

Glad to have this one off the bench, but at the same time I'm really proud of how it turned out!  Here it is:

 

 

RFI for the Canadian hornet is here and the RFI for the US hornet is here

Edited July 21, 2019 by opus999