StephenCJ Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Mandy reckons you have done a wonderous job. Well in reality I reckon you have done a wonderous job, she only wanted a pat. Stephen 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Ah, that's looking so cool now! The tail fins came out particularly good Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 I shall have to go & dig out my set of these decals, no doubt they'll be the same. That said, it is looking rather good Bill, I'm liking this a lot. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 7 hours ago, StephenCJ said: Mandy reckons you have done a wonderous job. Well in reality I reckon you have done a wonderous job, she only wanted a pat. Thanks. Tell Mandy to consider herself patted. Assuming, of course, that Mandy is one of the dogs in your avatar and not your wife. 6 hours ago, giemme said: Ah, that's looking so cool now! The tail fins came out particularly good Thanks Giorgio. The tail fins look good because I photographed them at an angle so you can't see the goof. It is a very cool scheme, my favourite of all the USN Centennial aircraft. Now I am going to have to build one of the WWII aircraft to match (opens wallet...) 6 hours ago, stevehnz said: I shall have to go & dig out my set of these decals, no doubt they'll be the same. That said, it is looking rather good Bill, I'm liking this a lot. Yeah, I suspect that all copies of the decal sheet were made in one print run, but I could be wrong. It will be interesting to see if you're missing the white letters as well. It was only in the port intake warning. If you choose to build a model with these markings, I'm pretty sure they're designed for the Academy kit. That only affects the tail fin markings, though. The slime lights are a slightly different size than the engraved areas on the Hasegawa plastic, but you don't really notice that. One thing I found out yesterday highlights another difference between Hasegawa and Academy. Remember how I mentioned destroying the windscreen for my Blue Angel kit with a few errant drops of lacquer thinner? I couldn't find a replacement vacuform canopy of the Hasegawa kit, so I bought one from Rob Taurus that is for Academy. The canopy looks very similar but the windscreen does not - the vacuform windscreen is significantly longer than the Hasegawa part. That made me study the photos and drawings, and it definitely looks like the Hasegawa part is wrong. So one more vote for Academy. Cheers, Bill 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 Some thoughts - the tail fin decal was too large for the Hasegawa parts, so I assumed it was designed for Academy. This got me thinking - are the Hasegawa fins too small? Someone earlier in this thread mentioned that the Academy fins are too large according to some internet forum post. I pulled out my 1:72 drawings for the F/A-18, and as far as I can tell the Hasegawa tail fins match exceptionally well. FWIW. So, I added the centreline fuel tank (Aerobonus resin - beautiful work) and the gear doors. Except for the one door I forgot to paint! What a dolt. Next, I wanted to do the flat varnish. This particular aircraft was freshly painted for the USN Centennial - no typical USN weathering on this bird. However, 15042 (Sea Blue) is notorious for weathering and lightening up. I decided to try something that I've never tried before to duplicate some light weathering on the top surfaces of the Hornet. I used two different flat varnishes to try and create a "splotchy" look to the top sides. The effect is very subtle. Can you see it? If not, I am a complete failure. I should hang up my airbrush and switch to knitting and boondoggle. I like this angle better: More lumps, bumps, and antennae to be added. I also finished up the work on the hot end of the bird. You can see how much I had to hack off the exhaust tubes (compare to photos earlier in the thread. These are the resin parts from Aires. The photoetch flame holders seem to be unlike any photos I've seen of the business end of the F/A-18. Additionally, they are too large to fit into the exhaust tube. No problem, my Fiskars scissors trimmed the OD. Hopefully, I've modified these correctly so they will fit into the back end of the model. More to come... Cheers, Bill 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Pretty! Looks like a supersonic Hellcat! Your idea of using different flat clearcoats looks like it worked- to me, at least! Can't wait to see the RFI photos! Mike 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritag Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Looking brill, Bill. Surprised to think of ‘splotchy’ as being part of your modelling lexicon though Can’t quite equate ‘splotchy’ and Navy Bird neatness.... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Fritag said: Can’t quite equate ‘splotchy’ and Navy Bird neatness.... What, you've never heard of neat splotchiness? You know, like a freshly scrubbed up teenage face. Cheers, Bill 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 23 hours ago, 72modeler said: Looks like a supersonic Hellcat! Yes it does! That's a sweet paint job Bill. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share Posted May 26, 2021 Where were we? Ah, trying to finish up the supersonic Hellcat. I added the arresting hook (no stripes according to photos). I then completed the shortened exhausts, and popped those into the aft end of the fuselage - I don't think they look too bad at all, really. And I'm pretty sure no one will poke a depth mike into them to see if I shortened them or not... The electrical greeblies were added behind the cockpit, the ejection seat installed along with the control column and throttle. I removed the masking from the windscreen so the driver guy can see where he/she is going. The remaining antennae, lumps, bumps, and pitot tubes were added. I'm surprised that Hasegawa did not include the pitot tubes with the kit, as they're quite obvious, but luckily I had a supply of True Detail photoetch parts to use. I drilled tiny holes in the fuselage for their attachment, to match the size of the PE stub that I left on the parts. I've used that trick many times, and it makes it more difficult to knock them off. I'm working on the canopy now, and just finished adding the three mirrors. There is a big difference between the canopy actuator that came with the kit, and the Aires resin version. Aires has duplicated it quite nicely, but the part is very thin and fragile. We'll see if it works or not. The navigation lights were painted and the tailplanes posed. All told, we're getting dangerously close to hooking this baby up to the catapult for launch. No, wait - don't give my grandson any ideas!! She certainly doesn't look like your average Bug, but that's why I picked this scheme. I kinda like her. Cheers, Bill 17 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritag Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 4 minutes ago, Navy Bird said: She certainly doesn't look like your average Bug, but that's why I picked this scheme. I kinda like her. If we’re gonna be nonchalant about it then I kinda like her too... 5 minutes ago, Navy Bird said: I removed the masking from the windscreen so the driver guy can see where he/she is going. Do they still need to do that then? Oh - wait F18C - it’s one of the legacy editions in’t it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share Posted May 26, 2021 9 hours ago, Fritag said: Do they still need to do that then? Oh - wait F18C - it’s one of the legacy editions in’t it. Ever since Jimmy Doolittle took off, flew, and landed with a bag over his head, nobody has really needed a windscreen. I was just being polite. Besides, I want people to see that friggin' double-paned HUD I had to build. Cheers, Bill 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 Coming together nicely... Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 On 5/22/2021 at 10:39 PM, Navy Bird said: Hi Bill, I am trying to understand what is it exactly that gives this weird impression that I have about the main LG - that something is wrong with it. Is it the angle that you have placed them? Is it the length on some parts of the legs? Is it the resin wheels? Is it the painting? Or, just the angle of the photograph? I'm curious to read if you have also noticed something or, if it is simply my imagination. Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritag Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 (edited) 10 hours ago, Navy Bird said: Ever since Jimmy Doolittle took off, flew, and landed with a bag over his head, nobody has really needed a windscreen. Interesting point Bill; but I had a birdstrike once that totally cracked and crazed the centre panel on a Jag windscreen. Let’s just say that I found that it was at least highly desirable to have one Edited May 27, 2021 by Fritag 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted May 28, 2021 Author Share Posted May 28, 2021 On 27/05/2021 at 05:59, Fritag said: Interesting point Bill; but I had a birdstrike once that totally cracked and crazed the centre panel on a Jag windscreen. Let’s just say that I found that it was at least highly desirable to have one Good point. What is it with birds anyway? Just because they're descended from dinosaurs they think they rule the place and can fly into anything they want - parlour windows, windmills, Jag windscreens - nothing is sacred. Cheers, Bill PS. Not to mention what they do to my Jeep every day... PPS. RFI should be up today, just putting the canopy on now. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted May 28, 2021 Author Share Posted May 28, 2021 On 27/05/2021 at 05:45, Shalako said: I'm curious to read if you have also noticed something or, if it is simply my imagination. Beats me. May just be the angle of the photo - certainly the Hasegawa parts are not perfect, for example, the cross section of the struts is oval instead of circular and the silver sliding portion is too large. I looked at the white metal replacements, but they are literally just a duplicate of the kit parts. As I've mentioned earlier, the trailing arm should be near to parallel to the ground according to photos, but if I positioned the parts that way, the wheel ends up a bit too far back. So I positioned them to minimize that, even if the trailing arm is not perfectly parallel (which is possible with no fuel/load). The splay angle looks OK when viewed square on from the front or back. So I'm happy with it. Cheers, Bill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted May 28, 2021 Author Share Posted May 28, 2021 RFI is up - on to the next project. Cheers, Bill 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 I've never seen this scheme before Bill, great choice and as per Navy Bird normal, beautifully painted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 Stunning result Bill Stay safe Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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