theaa2000 Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 Evening folks! So, after almost 3 months of messing around, I have finally finished Kinetics 1/48 EA-6B Prowler and.....I am really glad to see the back of this one! I had read that this was a decent kit, but I had a lot of trouble with basically everything. But, anyway, here's the finished project: I used a decent amount of AM stuff on this one: Ares cockpit Quickboost small intakes Eduard pods Eduard wheels Superscale decals The Ares cockpit required a lot of cutting & sanding to fit, and even with all that done it changed the shape of the front fuselage section which led to a lot sanding to fit the front canopy, which was a little nerve-wracking! After a lot of very clean builds, I wanted to build a really dirty, weathered bird, and the Prowler was the perfect choice - so many of my references showed that not only do these things get really dirty (especially where the wings fold), but they also have a lot panel fading & variation, which I tried to replicate here. The decals were interesting.... Even though they were Cartograf printings, they behaved very differently to other decals from the same company. They had a long working time which I was not used to, but after realising this, I left them for ~1 hour and they had settled into the panels really well. Lots of weathering & dirt! The kit lights were undersized (somehow?!) so I replaced them with clear sprue, sanded to shape and polished - much better! Given all the cockpit details, canopies up was the only option Although it's subtle, the orange/gold/metallic tinting is present on the canopies - this was a difficult thing to get right and I kept spraying the canopies and removing the coating as I wasn't happy with it. I eventually settled on a light coat of Tamiya XF-6 Copper. I think I didn't use enough but at this point I didn't want to risk damaging the canopies so I left them as is. Overall, I am happy with how this one turned out, but it was a lot of work, and the kit was a disappointment (not sure I'd build another any time soon). That said, it builds into a decent Prowler so, can't complain too much! Some WIP photos - these were on my phone so not as nice: Here you can see all the tape and rubber bands needed to get the fuselage to conform to the resin cockpit - even still, I needed a lot of filler/superglue to get a decent finish. The kit was just not that good - the lighter grey parts had a weird, rough texture and very soft detail, so not sure what happened there? A lot of filler was also needed between the wing roots and the fuselage. After a lot of work, the kit was ready for paint! I used the black basing method to simulate the uneven fading - this was accentuated with more fading work once the camo colours had been sprayed. I used MRP lacquers for nearly everything on this build - no complaints, and highly recommended! 40 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 Beautiful build and finish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaa2000 Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 28 minutes ago, stevej60 said: Beautiful build and finish! Thanks Steve! I'm happy with the finish, but not sure I'd build this one again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmerboy Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 Wonderful job, really looks the business! Having just built Kinetic’s intruder l share your pain, rubbish fit and vague instructions, glad you stuck with it, good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaa2000 Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 6 minutes ago, Farmerboy said: Wonderful job, really looks the business! Having just built Kinetic’s intruder l share your pain, rubbish fit and vague instructions, glad you stuck with it, good job! Cheers! There are so many flaws with the kit itself, but you're right, the instructions were somehow even worse! They also call for a round intake on both sides, but it's only on one side....found that out too late! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ-WobblyHands Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 That looks great , a lovely weathered example of a classic navy airframe ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaa2000 Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 13 minutes ago, RJ-WobblyHands said: That looks great , a lovely weathered example of a classic navy airframe ! Thanks mate! It was nice to build a really dirty plane and try out some new (to me) techniques. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 wow! what a fantastic Prowler! wonder if I will ever have one on the bench.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaa2000 Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 8 minutes ago, exdraken said: wow! what a fantastic Prowler! wonder if I will ever have one on the bench.... I was wondering how long before you commented - How's it going, Exdraken? Glad you liked it, it was a tough build to get to this point. If you're going to work on one, I'd suggest another couple of bench additions: stressball and a mallet Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMSCHLOM Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 Nice Job, Worked with this Det. in Afghanistan in the summer of 2005. Great Marines! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaa2000 Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 24 minutes ago, CMSCHLOM said: Nice Job, Worked with this Det. in Afghanistan in the summer of 2005. Great Marines! Thanks mate! Did you get any good photos out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyg352 Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 That is VERY very nice. It also shows that you have much more patience than me. Mine wouldv'e been in the bin! Excellent job & well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reggie78usmc Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 Fantastic looking Prowler that. The dirt and weathering looks very realistic. Are Kinetic kits always tough to build? It's strange as they're always expensive but the Kinetic Jaguar is always panned on here too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaa2000 Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 8 minutes ago, jimmyg352 said: That is VERY very nice. It also shows that you have much more patience than me. Mine wouldv'e been in the bin! Excellent job & well done. Thanks Jimmy! There were definitely times I wanted to put this one away, especially when I was trying to get the canopy halves to fit. 5 minutes ago, reggie78usmc said: awesome! Thanks Reggie! 1 minute ago, Lord Riot said: Fantastic looking Prowler that. The dirt and weathering looks very realistic. Are Kinetic kits always tough to build? It's strange as they're always expensive but the Kinetic Jaguar is always panned on here too. Thanks my Lord! This is my first Kinetic build, and since I really wanted to build a Prowler, this was the best available (of two choices I think). The kit has some fundamental problems: Soft fuselage detail Poor wing - fuselage fit & poor fuselage halves fit Lack of locating holes for smaller parts Canopy parts in two halves Ill fitting main landing gear But there are some redeeming parts: Really good, thin stabilisers, especially the trailing edges Excellent drop tanks Plenty of options for wings, flaps etc So I wouldn't say it was unbuildable, but definitely more work than the Hasegawa Raptor or the Tamiya F-16 was, and with some better design work, it could've been a lot better. However the instructions are unforgiveable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMSCHLOM Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 1 hour ago, theaa2000 said: Thanks mate! Did you get any good photos out there? Yes I did. The EA-6Bs were generally well cared for, but looked like used wartime aircraft. The Goldish canopies were hardly noticeable. They also marked the flap max travel limit with flourescent orange paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaa2000 Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 3 minutes ago, CMSCHLOM said: Yes I did. The EA-6Bs were generally well cared for, but looked like used wartime aircraft. The Goldish canopies were hardly noticeable. They also marked the flap max travel limit with flourescent orange paint. They actually look pretty clean - loads of the other photos I have showed some really messy planes - maybe the carrier based ones were worse? That orange paint is a really cool detail - I'll try to remember that if I'm ever feeling brave and want to try another. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Keg Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 Wow!!!!! Your perseverance has paid handsome rewards. I`m certain that this Prowler shines bright in your display cabinet. Exceptional weathering too!! It really sets off the look of the EA-6B. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaa2000 Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 4 minutes ago, Sky Keg said: Wow!!!!! Your perseverance has paid handsome rewards. I`m certain that this Prowler shines bright in your display cabinet. Exceptional weathering too!! It really sets off the look of the EA-6B. Mike Thanks man, much appreciated! Prowlers have so much character, especially when they're dirty so I'm very pleased with it. However, I've actually run out of space in the display cabinet, so a 2nd one is on it's way from Ikea So for now it's living on my desk. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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