Eduard (Hasegawa) Superbug 1/48 WIP

[Gidge]

That's the underside, all pylons and all missiles in light ghost grey done. As per the reference photos the real aircraft (and whole squadron for that matter) look pretty well looked after by and large, but they do live on a carrier and get used so only fairly minor fading, wear and tear by the looks of things. I'm going for a subtle "less is more" approach with the weathering and that's turning out nicely.

 

https://www.seaforces.org/usnair/VFA/Strike-Fighter-Squadron-81.htm?fbclid=IwAR1k1qqn0Lpg1AW8brO4fT64ONRUsSWE0-ef7pRV4rh1NQByHAPgLLzOfTI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

I'm quite happy with how that masking job turned out. Just needs some minor touch ups to round out the jagged bits and it's magic.

 

 

[Gidge]

Cutting out the reverse mask for the camo blob proved to be a delicate and fiddley process. I went through a lot of "templates". Only after I printed myself a full sheet's worth to get the last one I nail it first go. Inverting the colours made it easier. This process of printing on masking sheets and cutting out the pattern is a cost effective workaround but it's no substitute for a pre cut mask or a vinyl cutter. With strait edges it's easy enough to use a ruler and a cutting board but anything with curves is challenging to get smooth precise lines, particularly if you need repeatability to do something that matches on both sides of the model.

 

Masking the arrestor hook's stripes is stressful. I didn't remove the seem along the back because I thought "Why bother? it'll be completely obscured and I don't risk braking a delicate part" but that's making the masking process harder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

That took a while. Finally ready for paint

 

 

 

[Gidge]

Coming together.

 

Some of the masking tape on the arrestor hook came loose on me while I was spraying. I THINK I saved it. time will tell. Worst case I'll just paint over it and re do it.

 

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

Not a bad result. Some touch ups required. If I were to do it again without a vinyl cutter or pre-cut masks I'd simplify the procedure and rather than doing a positive and negative mask just paint the whole lower Light Ghost Grey  then mask out and paint over the top with dark ghost grey

 

 

 

[Torbjörn Hanö]

It really looks great, man!

Top job.

 

/Torbjörn 

[Gidge]

So onto masking the black section. In hindsight it would have been smarter to leave the rudders/airbrakes separate, undercoat and mask them before attaching them to the vertical stabilisers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

 

 

 

[Gidge]

So I don't have any good measurements or reference points to work with for the pointy tail section so I'm just guestimating to try match this reference photo

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

Finally got the spine masked!!!!

 

Masking around and over the ECS pipes was a real pain, bit that's on me because they're aftermarket parts I added. Masking in the little "pointy tail" on the spine was just some guesswork as the marking guide didn't even have it and this is the best reference photo I could find. But it's too cool a detail not to attempt and I'd hate myself for not trying now that I know it's there.

 

Masking the curved sections on the orange drop tank highlights was also some guesswork with a circle cutter and some masking sheets. The marking guide just has strait lines. . Some pre cut masks or decals would be really handy here. Given that the orange in all the other sections is a decal it would have saved trying to blend a colour that matches the decals. The kit came with a lot of drop tanks so if it doesn't work out I've got a few more attempts to redo it before having to simplify it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

 

 

[darthspud]

Liking the masking solution for the Drop-tanks.

 

[Gidge]

So masks are off and I'm pretty happy with that.  Some minor touch up work is required where I got a bit lazy with the masking but that's easily fixable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

3 hours ago, darthspud said:

Liking the masking solution for the Drop-tanks.

 

 

Thanks mate. In hindsight going with a slightly better cutter would have made things easier. I just went with what was cheap and could be delivered fairly quickly (in Lockdown no 6 here so shopping can be a pain)

[darthspud]

Jeez, bad enough 18 months here but only 3 official lockdowns. 

[Gidge]

1 hour ago, darthspud said:

Jeez, bad enough 18 months here but only 3 official lockdowns. 

Most of Australia isn't this bad. But Victoria has stuffed it up far worse and far more often than any other state. Lockdown 2 lasted 8 months and we've had 87% of the countries deaths, many of which were very preventable.

[Gidge]

A little detail work and some touch ups

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

Fixed up that slight overspray and base coated the wheels while I was at it

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

A run of white on the front gear bay and inside of the bay doors

 

 

[Gidge]

[Gidge]

Last parts removed from the sprue and prepped for paint. It'g good to see light at the end of the tunnel

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

So I managed to damage the paint while trying to mask the gun which slowed things down fixing it up. Once that's cured I'll mask off the black and fix the light ghost grey sections. I've also aged the tyres a little, primed the gear bay door actuators and redone the stripes on the arresting hook.

Previously I didn't do a great job of masking it and there was very little contrast between the light and dark ghost grey. So I've repainted it and the stripes are now a mix of 80% Dark Ghost Grey 20% Medium Gunship Grey to just darken them up a fraction and make them pop more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

Finally got these tiny things painted up. This acrylic white I'm working with is such a pain. Such a fine margin between too thick and no opacity.

 

 

 

 

 

[Gidge]

Successfully masked the gun port without maiming the paint this time (I hope). I've used Ammo Mig primer and acrylics, working with something lacquer based would THEORETICALLY be more durable and easier to work with.