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F-22 Raptor - 1/48 Hasegawa - Finished!


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Afternoon fellow modellers!

 

Since I've finished my F-15E & F-16, to go along with Tamiya's F-14, I need a new project to fill the 4th shelf:

0InowDO7Q4LGTGhphRWqwkZ9zah14Em51A820PcW

 

Well maths and the US Military would suggest that the next build should be the F-18, but there's are couple of problems here. Firstly there are a lot of F-18 kits on the market and I didn't feel like trawling through all of them on Scalemates to find a good one. And secondly, and more importantly, I don't actually like the F-18....I don't think it's a particularly good looking plane, certainly compared to the other I've built (Sorry to any Hornet fans or pilots reading this :D ).

So if I want something good looking, that fit's numerically as well, the obvious choice is the Raptor! Also, there are really only 2 kits worth mentioning in 1/48 from Hasegawa and Academy. Most reviews agree that aside from the thickness of the surface detail the Hasegawa one is by the better of the two, so my choice was made. Disappointingly. there doesn't seem to be a resin cockpit set for this kit and I didn't want to risk getting the Academy one and having to perform a lot of "surgery", so I chose to scratchbuild a lot the missing details.

I also found a lot of good photos of the ACES II seat courtesy of the USAF: https://www.jble.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/260812/egress-airmen-ensure-last-chance-for-life/

 

MJ2W8TV.jpg

The tub is ok, apart from the ejector pin marks, but it is a bit sparse - if anyone has some good photos of the area flat area behind the seat rails that would be really helpful - I can't seem to find anything showing that area.

 

arW5yEB.jpg

So here is the seat, with a few added details:

- Milliput seat cushions with stippling added by a short stiff brush to replicate the fluffy cushions of the real thing

- Raised ejector seat handle

- Reprofiled lower front section with missing bolts added

- Hollow front "legs" taken from spares from the Tamiya F-16

- More refined/missing handles/loops from the F-16 as well

- PE belts from the F-16

- Additional wiring + oxygen hose scratchbuilt based on the photos above

 

Here's how it looks in the tub:

1IAm9l0.jpg

sKXbqB7.jpg

Not too bad I think, but some clean up required. Lots of details still to be added especially to the back of the seat and the area behind that.

 

Thanks for looking! 

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7 hours ago, theaa2000 said:

Milliput seat cushions with stippling added by a short stiff brush to replicate the fluffy cushions of the real thing

That's a great idea - I think I'll steal that!

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 Very nice, not enough Raptors build anyways ;)

 

 

I think the B/D model Hornets are the best, actually good looking ones...

And they can be a treat at airshows... :)

 

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5 hours ago, Bell209 said:

That's a great idea - I think I'll steal that!

By all means :) I tried squadron putty diluted with Tamiya extra thin first to rough up the texture but it didn't have the desired effect, but it did provide a rough surface for the milliput to stick to so that was at least useful!

27 minutes ago, exdraken said:

 Ery mice, not enough Raptord build anyways ;)

 

 

I think the B/D model Hornets are the best, actually good looking ones...

And they can be a treat at airshows... :)

 

Thanks - I did find the same thing when looking for other builds. I guess it's not a popular aircraft which I guess you can see from the lack of AM stuff for it.

 

I have seen some decent Hornet displays (The Finnish one at RIAT comes to mind), but can't remember what variants they were. I think I eventually will build one to complete the "set".

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42 minutes ago, theaa2000 said:

By all means :) I tried squadron putty diluted with Tamiya extra thin first to rough up the texture but it didn't have the desired effect, but it did provide a rough surface for the milliput to stick to so that was at least useful!

Thanks - I did find the same thing when looking for other builds. I guess it's not a popular aircraft which I guess you can see from the lack of AM stuff for it.

 

I have seen some decent Hornet displays (The Finnish one at RIAT comes to mind), but can't remember what variants they were. I think I eventually will build one to complete the "set".

hmmmm

reasons? I guess the difficulty in getting the paint job right is one reason, the supposed issues with the exagerated Hasegawa surface detail another (apart form being quite expensive). Academy also has a great offering, but had shape issues that supposedly were partly corrected in later releases.... I have never seen any proof for that :(

no need for hardly any aftermarket decals for a lack of schemes.... (actually there is hardly any variety in markings anyways...)

Aires has some resin updates for nozzles and cockpit.

not much more needed

 

Finnish Hornet displays are lately extraordinary, (as are Swiss ones) of a software update with relaxed flight controls.... :)  usually flown with C models by the way ...

(either you go for a Hasegawa or a Kinetic boxing.... both are great)

 

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1 hour ago, exdraken said:

hmmmm

reasons? I guess the difficulty in getting the paint job right is one reason, the supposed issues with the exagerated Hasegawa surface detail another (apart form being quite expensive). Academy also has a great offering, but had shape issues that supposedly were partly corrected in later releases.... I have never seen any proof for that :(

no need for hardly any aftermarket decals for a lack of schemes.... (actually there is hardly any variety in markings anyways...)

Aires has some resin updates for nozzles and cockpit.

not much more needed

 

Finnish Hornet displays are lately extraordinary, (as are Swiss ones) of a software update with relaxed flight controls.... :)  usually flown with C models by the way ...

(either you go for a Hasegawa or a Kinetic boxing.... both are great)

 

That does make sense in terms of markings - they are all pretty much a few shades of grey, and don't have much in the way of markings. I was hoping to find the TwoBobs decals as I've had very good experiences with their products but it seems they are OOP, so I'll try the Hasegawa ones. Aires didn't list the Hasegawa cockpit set on their own site, but it is their on Scalemates, but since I've started this way I'll continue.

 

Thanks for the tip about the Hasegawa or Kinetic Hornets, I'll check them out!

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While I'm not a Raptor fan (sorry, the looks of the airplane don't excite me though it's hard to explain why) I'm looking forward to following this build. What you've done starting the seat build suggests this is going to be a very interesting work in progress.

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probably too late for most, but maybe you or somebody else is still in need of some AM!

 

Hannants is also a quite helpful search engine ;)

https://www.hannants.co.uk/search/index.php?adv=1&product_category_id=&product_division_id=&manufacturer_id=&product_type_id=&code=&scale_id=955&keyword_search=f-22&setPerPage=25&sort=0&search_direction=0&save_search_name=&save_search=

 

 

 

problem, also with Eduard products is that they often do not stick to the planes official name, at least are often not consistent....

 

Aires:

https://www.aires.cz/en/catalog/?search=raptor&searchButton.x=0&searchButton.y=0&category=

 

image.file.php?object=product-photo&id=9

image.file.php?object=product-photo&id=1

image.file.php?object=product-photo&id=3

image.file.php?object=product-photo&id=1

image.file.php?object=product-photo&id=1

image.file.php?object=product-photo&id=1

 

Eduard:

https://www.eduard.com/index.php?stoken=15F2E7FB&lang=1&currency=0&mnid=&anid=&listtype=search&searchparam=f-22&cl=search&tpl=&fnc=executefilter&attrfilter[]=&attrfilter[17]=1%2F48

 

fe1015.jpg

fe1014.jpg

48669.jpg

 

discontinued:

648018_1.jpg

 

and decals:

Caracal declas is set to release some high quality ones "soon"

CD 48166: F-22 Raptor
Markings for USAF/ANG F-22 fifth-generation air superiority fighter. (supposedly to be released this August?)

 

hope this helps!

 

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, exdraken said:

 

probably too late for most, but maybe you or somebody else is still in need of some AM!

 

Hannants is also a quite helpful search engine ;)

https://www.hannants.co.uk/search/index.php?adv=1&product_category_id=&product_division_id=&manufacturer_id=&product_type_id=&code=&scale_id=955&keyword_search=f-22&setPerPage=25&sort=0&search_direction=0&save_search_name=&save_search=

 

 

 

problem, also with Eduard products is that they often do not stick to the planes official name, at least are often not consistent....

 

Aires:

https://www.aires.cz/en/catalog/?search=raptor&searchButton.x=0&searchButton.y=0&category=

 

and decals:

Caracal declas is set to release some high quality ones "soon"

CD 48166: F-22 Raptor
Markings for USAF/ANG F-22 fifth-generation air superiority fighter. (supposedly to be released this August?)

 

hope this helps!

 

 

 

 

Well you've been busy :D Thanks Exdraken - I don't know why I didn't think to look at the Hannants site to begin with. I think that since I've started the cockpit like this, I'll continue and try detailing the wheelbays in a similar manner, but good to know that if I make a mess there are alternatives out there!.

 

I also did see that Caracal were planning a decal sheet but I haven't seen any photos yet (their site didn't have any when I looked) so not sure what markings they're planning - I'm going to guess they'll be grey :P 

3 hours ago, Shalako said:

LOVE IT!!!!

Thanks Shalako!

 

So, only a small update today - got the main IP painted & decaled. It's not perfect by any means, but I think it's ok for 1/48, and given how little will be seen I'm happy with this.

TxLVUk8.jpg

Not a great photo (note to self - get a macro lens!), but I think it clearly shows the details. This was my first attempt using Hasegawa decals and I thought they're ok - as far as kit decals go they're not bad, but not as good as the Cartograf or Microscale ones that Barracuda or TwoBobs sell, but not too bad.

1HVlFq6.jpg

And here's how it will look in place - pretty good, just need to finish the tub details and paint it - that's this weekends job!

 

Cheers

Edited by theaa2000
typo
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On 6/19/2020 at 5:31 PM, SAT69 said:

Instrument panel looks very good. I don't see any errors.

Cheers! - I found this photo of what appears to be an F-22 simulator which I used for the colours, along with Hasegawa's own instructions for the decals.

5790dd6fe54ac18f211f7af5c88f03a6.jpg

(For discussion purposes only)

 

So, using the above photo and the previous ones for the seat, I've completed the tub:

F9mmyAY.jpg

It's mad how many different paints, washes and varnishes go into something so small! All this for something that's barely visible.

kb6xrhq.jpg

aBvG34O.jpg

q81oYRX.jpg

X6JUqWf.jpg

My poor photos aside, I think this looks pretty good! Obviously not as fine as a resin tub, but enough for me in this scale! Next step is to mate this to the top half of the fuselage, fill any gaps, finish of the details and paint it up - stay tuned!

 

Cheers

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Took some better photos, and added the throttle controls and joystick that weren't in the previous photos. Cockpit complete - now to paint the inside of the fuselage!

 

eOjFu6I.jpg

KqV64ly.jpg

BQX7rHh.jpg

eoR1oqk.jpg

 

Cheers

 

 

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On 6/22/2020 at 12:53 AM, Web99 said:

I’ll be watching this one closely! I got to say the Raptor is probably my favourite aircraft by far. The cockpit is looking great too. 

Thanks - the Raptor is great - I love watching the demo team's display because it is unbelievable in the air!

On 6/25/2020 at 7:25 PM, infofrog said:

very nice . If you need good photos on F-22 let me know . I have great pictures on the exterior . 

I built 1 and working on 2nd one . 

Rick 

i made little video on my build 

 

Nice build Rick! Yours looks spot on! I'd love to see your photos as well - can never have too many references! How's the 2nd build going?

 

I have to say the music in your video is quite relaxing which is the exact opposite of what was going on with mu build today - I felt like this guy from Futurama:

85865.png

The fit of the two fuselage halves was....definitely not Tamiya-like!

L2v2zI7.jpg

As you can see, I had clamps, tape, rubber bands....basically everything apart from the Force holding this thing together whilst the glue dried.

TbUzboG.jpg

 

And even after all that, I still had to use a fair bit of filler - for thsi I used Milliput Superfien White because it dries hard, doesn't shrink and cleans up with water whilst still soft. So now we have this:

IiCNxKz.jpg

1Wj07GC.jpg

 

Still a fair bit of sanding and gap filling to go before I get to the exciting part of detailing the exterior!

 

Cheers

Edited by theaa2000
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Looking good Rick. It's definitely a decent kit but tbh I've had some trouble with the fit on mine so I've had to do a fair bit of clean up this weekend.

 

wgpdHYM.jpg

First up is the read exhaust section - the joint between the 2 fuselage halves was quite poor. There was a significant step that I had to sand back and a gap to fill. However, this still wasn't good enough. With the awkward shape I didn't think I could sand it smooth. For comparison, here is an image of the rear from a Prime Portal walkaround:

f-22a_raptor_15_of_81.jpg

(For discussion purposes only - thanks to Michael Block)

As you can see the pointed section is smooth/flat and without a seam down the middle. So I pulled out some calipers and thin plastic sheet and go to work.

18UlnQh.jpg

First one looks pretty good, so on to the rest...

AiJ1AOf.jpg

PIawc7S.jpg

And all done - I think this is a big improvement, and it was definitely easier than trying to sand the area smooth. I've also fixed the nozzles in place.

Other areas required some cleanup as well. There was a noticeable step in the wing halves which resulted in a visible gap when the main flaps were put in place. Again, I got some plastic sheet, cut a strip of roughly the right height and glued it in place. I then sanded it back to match the wing profile and the gap is no more. I also filled in some gaps in the main flaps, and replaced the rather weak moulded plastic locating pins with a couple pieces of brass rod on each flap for a much stronger joint. Finally, I used some Milliput to fill in the tail joints.

G3DrGOu.jpg

Looks a bit messy but it is smooth to the touch - will need to check after a primer coat to see if further sanding/polishing is needed.

 

Now on to the front - there were noticeable gaps at the intake/fuselage joint which needed filling. Again Milliput was used to fill in the gaps and I carefully sanded it back to match the profile of the original part.

V2xrbVO.jpg

And lastly I added some wiring detail to the main wheel bays - again the Prime Portal walkaround provided good photos of the area - I didn't go mad with details here because so little will be visible when the gear & doors are in place.

Uyzi49X.jpg

 

So that's it for tonight - next step will be to use some polishing cloths to sand the whole surface down to clean up any glue marks, then primer!

 

Cheers

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Your build is right up my alley we build the same way. I like your attention to the kits short falls and going to the extra lengths to scratch build parts and add on PE. I think Js works does a F-22 camo mask you should check out. Look forward to seeing the finished Jet.

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12 hours ago, Flaps out said:

Your build is right up my alley we build the same way. I like your attention to the kits short falls and going to the extra lengths to scratch build parts and add on PE. I think Js works does a F-22 camo mask you should check out. Look forward to seeing the finished Jet.

Thanks! Having seen your Mig-29, that is high praise indeed :) As nice as the resin sets are, sometimes it's nice to try and build something yourself, although it probably won't be as good! - still fun though. I'll take a look at the J's work masks - I was going to try and mask the camo with putty but it looks like the F-22s have a hard edged pattern so a mask might work better.

 

Only a small update today though. Once again the Prime Portal walkaround was the reference for this. Looking at the canopy frame, there are very distinctive holes all the way along it. Not sure what they're for, but with the canopy open they would be quite visible. So, after an hour or so drilling away like I'm hoping to find oil, the canopy frame is done!

f-22a_raptor_56_of_81.jpg

And my version....

JgqfdQ7.jpg

Ok so not as holey but maybe I can get a priest to bless it :D 

2wsYc4K.jpg

I also added the 2nd handle - not sure what this is for- coat hook maybe?

 

Cheers

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This is fantastic detail work, I have one of these and the thread will be most helpful when I get to build it. I look forward to how you tackle the paint job!

 

Cheers,

 

David 

Edited by mirageiv
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That looks good just the right amount of detail its hard to say when to stop. You can go poor buying photo etch sets and upgrade kits I did an F-35B I think you'll be interested in had a great time frustrating thing is a mask set came out the next year. Keep up the hard work you gain skills for the next challenge.

 

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On 7/4/2020 at 3:48 PM, infofrog said:

Looking very good so far . Nice detail you are adding . 

I  just added the second color to my F-22 

Rick 

 

IMG-1450.jpg

Looks good Rick - is it a fictional colour scheme?

 

On 7/4/2020 at 3:59 AM, Flaps out said:

That looks good just the right amount of detail its hard to say when to stop. You can go poor buying photo etch sets and upgrade kits I did an F-35B I think you'll be interested in had a great time frustrating thing is a mask set came out the next year. Keep up the hard work you gain skills for the next challenge.

 

Yeah I saw that build after seeing your MiG -It's awesome! I really want to get the Kittyhawk F-35C but I've heard mixed things about the kit - what was your experience like?

 

So, I've made a reasonable amount of progress since the last update. First step was applying a primer coat (UMP Black) to check for flaws. And despite all the clamping and dry fitting, there were still gaps.

e0BHdPs.jpg

Looks good in all black though - Maybe I should do another like this? :D 

BQZWi36.jpg

The tail roots & flaps needed soem filling and sanding....

S6hhpxv.jpg

As did the fuselage half joints.

OtEPDEj.jpg

And the intakes - these were especially hard to get smooth and tbh I'm not happy still but at some point I decided it was good enough - something to improve if ever i build another.

 

So, with the kit sanded and primed, it was time to apply some shading - Looking at various photos of F-22s, they look like patch work quilts!

vD2A80r.jpg

This one looks like it's half built!

KBgXcPE.jpg

So I picked out some panels in a lighter primer shade to give some variation under the first colour - not sure how much will show though, but hopefully enough to give some idea of wear and tear on these planes

RnKzeRG.jpg

First colour on - I used the Medium Mod Grey from MRP - reasonably colour accurate and great to spray

taaUpuu.jpg

With that dry, out came the masking putty - loosely following the Hasegawa instructions and photos I laid out the sections for the darker camo colour

ZPfywjf.jpg

This time, I used the Dark Mod Grey from MRP - the light in the photos make it seem bluer than it is but weathering etc will change the colours somewhat anyway.

aXgtTFY.jpg

The putty came off the plane really easily leaving no residue and it didn't lift any paint whatsoever, definitely recommended!

qwZZEXk.jpg

I picked out a few panels in lighter shades - the contrast here is extreme and will be toned down later (also see what I mean about the blue-ish tinge?)

 

That's it for this weekend! Thanks for all the likes as well!

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