Italeri 1/48 F-7F Tigercat

[Ran]

The VAL is done !
Scanning the stash for the next build is either a quick process - in case you have an idea in mind OR a long one - if you don't

I did not - so picking this one took time and I'm not sure why I did or how it connects with the previous builds.

The Covid-19 WFH period is nearing its end - so I hope I can still make progress with this build.

 

It's a big one - I may need to re-order my shelves. 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by Ran

[neil5208]

I have tempted to get one of these but its the wrong scale for me and I always seem to miss the 1/72 ones when they come up on the big E

[Ran]

Work-from-home is almost over (at least until the 2nd wave hit us) so less time on the bench and even less time to update the build log.

 

So here goes:

 

It's a very nice kit in terms of its part break down and the details. The fit sucks though.

 

Started this one with some gluing of ordnance:

 

 

Next came a bunch of parts that simply had to be glues and sanded:

 

Moved on with some black on the tires and heavy pre-shading on many other parts and then moved on with Green Zinc-Chromate (MM 4852) and Yellow Zinc-Chromate (MM 4851)

Heavy black pre-shading left it mark:

 

It can be seen that I neglected a bunch of sink marks. Some was taken care of and some left as a reminder for the next build.

 

I opted to belts made out of plastic covered wire that comes with a lot of electronics device where its used for tying up cables. A nice idea that will not be repeated.

 

Details picked up with some paint before closing up :

 

Closed up the fuselage and had to deal with the evident GAPS here and there:

 

I completely forgot to think about weights in the nose before closing up the fuselage. I ended up having to push a couple of fishing weights, squeezed tightly, through the front wheel bay, soaked in CA and dropped into the nose. I'm almost there - may have to add some to the engines or even another one into the nose. There are 4 1.8g bits there.

 

As I said - lots of gaps:

 

 

 

When closing up the engine pods I notice the front part have no bulk head. I used some plastic yogurt pot for that and cut it using a mark 1 eye ball.

 

 

 

Pods, wings and stabilizers where all glues and seems filled.

 

This is a very slender airplane and the model does capture the size and elegance.

 

It was hard to decide on the paint of the landing gear - white/silver/black/blue. Opted finally for silver with the oleos accentuated later on with a different shade of silver.

 

Rockets were painted white and then dark green points and hanged out to dry:

 

That's it for now.

Next are the engines - I need to decide how much overboard I want to go with that.

And then painting. I'm still not sure it this will be a black or blue bird - any suggestions?

 

Comments are welcomed.

Ran

 

 

 

[Ran]

2nd wave did hit - and swept away most of the time I had - for almost 3 month. Now with a new lock down - I hope to get some more bench time. 

 

Progress was very very slow - here's a couple of images

 

Decided to wire the engines:

 

These will get a wash later on.

 

 

Canopy masked

 

 

And first layer of Blue Angles Blue (MM 4687)

 

 

That's it for tonight

 

Comments are welcomed as always. 

 

Ran

 

[hairystick]

Nice work so far and those engines look lovely.

 

Did they supply an option for folded wings? That would be much easier in the display case.

[Ran]

Nope

I'm not sure but maybe the parts themselves had some internal marking for cutting the wings. 

In any case - if was trying to go for a fast build 😜 

 

Ran

[Ran]

The blue slender beauty is DONE!

 

Finalizing all the small details and decaling took a while, but are done.

 

Landing light - put it some foil and then sanded the transparent part till it fit... sort of

 

 

assembled and painted the bombs. The stabilizing legs had to be squeezed to shape.

 

 

Cannon's were replaced with cut syringe tips

 

Drop tank detailed with some wire and paint

 

Decals put on - worked well. Not too many of them. Soaked with MicroSol for a couple of days till they settled in.

Landing gear installation was a nightmare - lousy engineering. LG doors - even worse.

I added tons of weights to the nose - to no avail. It's still a tail sitter.

Drilled the antenna and put in a small wire - to support its installation.

 

Found out the rocket's instructions is flowed - tails should be in X configuration not '+'/. Was not able to put them all on as their fins collide.

 

Added some wire - and it's done.

 

Some pictures - a more detailed book will be posted in the RFI (some time in the future)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all a nice build

Some firsts:

1. A truly gloss paint scheme. Came out so-so. So parts shine and some look like a very worn-out bird (unintentional)

2. Two-sided wiring for the engines.

3. Using drilling to install parts

4. Black preshading of green interiors.

5. Fake bulkheads in the engine pods.

 

All comments are welcomed as always.

 

Best

Ran