GazB Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 Hi all, back again with another fighter build I've been after an F-22 kit for some time, having previously owned an Italeri from back in the early 2000s. Needless to say, the outcome on it wasn't stupendous, lol So, having seen some decent reviews about the Academy entry, I managed to snag one for a birthday. After much research into how to paint the thing, and an attempt to get the scheme as real as possible, I finally took the dive into building and painting it. The build itself wasn't too bad, although there were some very minor fit issues. Primarily in the weapon bays, which frustrated me enough that I just decided to close them up. That of course resulted in a bit of a fitting problem with making the bay doors flush with the fuselage, and a significant amount of sanding. Unfortunately, it wasn't flawless, but worked well enough. Painting instructions were mostly straight forward but the intakes and the sizing of the Light Ghost Grey around them was left ambiguous, resulting in a little bit of a cramped decal placement on the port side. Overall, I'm pleased with how the paint scheme came out. The Raptor seems to be notoriously difficult to match up with the real thing in colours and finish. My research led to me applying a combo of Aggressor Grey and Mod Eagle grey, mixed with Aluminium, for the camo. Initially, this didn't look correct. The aggressor looked too warm a colour, and the mod eagle was barely discernible. So I made an adjusted top mix of Mod Eagle + Aluminium + 2 drops of Gun Metal + 2 drops of Flat Blue. Initially I thought it would come out a little too blue, but by gently applying it over the mod eagle camo patches, it worked out better than expected. It even had some metallic sheen, although the varnish layers knocked this down a little. Strangely, a small amount of crazing appeared around the edges of the intakes after the Light Ghost Grey was applied over some Ultimate Primer that had dried. Bit confused about that. Overall, happy with the result, even if the upper roundel silvered a little (not entirely sure how it happened on the gloss surface on only one half of it). The panel wash of medium grey worked out nicely in giving it a bit of a brownish tint, which shows up on the real planes when they look a little worse for wear. Biggest annoyance was realising I'd left out the ejection handle after installing the canopy, despite having put a piece of tape next to the handle on the sprue to remind myself. Anyway, enough muttering, time for pics Thanks for looking Gaz 33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 SUPERB build Gaz. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 Very convincing Raptor finish! Will be pinching your ideas! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansReggelsen Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 Great model with a great finish of a difficult paintscheme! I'm taking notes! Thank you for sharing! Cheers Hans J 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 Your Raptor looks very good to me, a model you can be proud of. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazB Posted September 19, 2021 Author Share Posted September 19, 2021 5 hours ago, HOUSTON said: SUPERB build Gaz. 3 hours ago, Ralph said: Very convincing Raptor finish! Will be pinching your ideas! 3 hours ago, HansReggelsen said: Great model with a great finish of a difficult paintscheme! I'm taking notes! Thank you for sharing! Cheers Hans J 2 hours ago, SAT69 said: Your Raptor looks very good to me, a model you can be proud of. Thank you Houston, Ralph, Hans and SAT69, that means a lot ^-^ Oh, for additional reference, the paint colours were: Light Ghost Grey FS36375 (RC252) - For the trim Aggressor Grey FS 36251 (RC248) + Aluminium Tamiya XF-16 - For the lighter main colour F-15 Dark Grey Mod Eagle FS 36176 (RC246) - For the camo colour ^ Same mix + 2 drops of Metallic Grey Tamiya XF-56 + 2-3 drops of Flat Blue Tamiya XF-08 - To enrich the camo colour with a gradual build up Rough 50/50 ratios on the colour + aluminium, although I think I did a few more drops of the latter to try to enhance the metallic sheen. All of the paint was thinned out with 50/50 Real Color thinner, with a few more drops in the camo enriching colour. Panel line washes were Mig Ammo PLW Medium Grey for the Ghost Grey, and PLW Deep Grey for the main scheme Gaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 That's a great result Gaz, I've a Revell one to do sometime & I'll be referring back to here for ideas & inspiration. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazB Posted September 19, 2021 Author Share Posted September 19, 2021 23 minutes ago, stevehnz said: That's a great result Gaz, I've a Revell one to do sometime & I'll be referring back to here for ideas & inspiration. Steve. Thank you, Steve. Best of luck with your build 😊 Gaz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Awesome work, nice to see one with tanks on 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Excellent Raptor Gaz, and I really like how you have achieved the difficult finish - top job! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazB Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 4 hours ago, F-32 said: Awesome work, nice to see one with tanks on 16 minutes ago, Vultures1 said: Excellent Raptor Gaz, and I really like how you have achieved the difficult finish - top job! Thank you, F-32, Vultures1 😊 Didn't think the paintjob would work out, hah Gaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Excellent paint, that looks superb. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazB Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 57 minutes ago, Parabat said: Excellent paint, that looks superb. Thank you very much, Parabat ^-^/ Gaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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