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Airfix 1/48 Hunter F.6A


Rich F

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17 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Lovely work. How did you do the rivets if you don’t mind me asking?

 

Johnny.

 

Thanks Jonny, the rivets were made using a trumpeter riveting tool, like this Maybe not the best riveting tool out there but its cheap and works pretty well, if you want to them to pop out more, i tend to go over them again with a 0.3mm drill bit.

 

15 hours ago, TeaWeasel said:

Wow that's looking pretty great. Are the extra rivets a 3D-printed strip of some kind? I just tonight read about something like that in the new Airfix mag, couldn't quite make out the concept then. 

 

Much appreciated Teaweasel, the rivets are resin 'dots' mounted on decal strips which i think work well for that raised rivet look, these are from Archer which i believe is a US company but I'm pretty sure you can buy them over here.

Another option is microscale, I've not used these so can't comment on them but a quick search and low and behold there's a thread on BM about them!

 

HTH

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Little bit more progress made, maybe I will get this finished before the year closes, my Christmas nights out have been cancelled so should be able to get a bit more bench time!

 

Mr Surfacer 1500 black primer looks good on the Hunter, maybe I should slap some roundels on it and make it a black arrow.

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Did a spot of mottling with some Tamiya flat white on the underside before the LAG goes on, I will have to be careful not to let it show through to much.

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Cheers

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  • 3 weeks later...

Happy new year folks!

Well, my plan to have this off the workbench by the end of the year obviously didn’t happen, best laid plans and all that!

Looking on the WIP forum I noticed there is a splurge of Hunter builds, the more the merrier I say 😊

As you can see I’m still plodding on with this one, over the past few days I’ve managed to get the LAG on the lower fuselage, I didn’t let the mottling show through too much me thinks…

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Next up masking, not my favourite job!

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Followed by some more mottling on the upper fuselage and wings, this time I used Tamiya sky grey and then a well thinned coat of Gunze DSG, I think I got the effect I was hoping for.

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Once the DSG was on I went over the ‘green areas’ with 2 different greens, namely Tamiya’s JA Green and Olive drab, hopefully if I thin the final DG coat enough it will show through just a tiny bit to give a very subtle change in hue, that the plan anyway.

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I couldn’t resist a giving it try on the wing, not too bad, although I may need to tighten up the feathering a wee bit, what do you think. Since my compressor was getting hot and my right hand was starting cramp to up I decided to call it a day on the DG coat, hopefully I can get a bit more done tomorrow.

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I’ve had a look at the nose undercarriage leg and yes, you’ve guessed it, Airfix decided not to add any of the details of the real thing. Its not much just a few bolts and a quick swipe with the razor saw to add the demarcation between the forks and the nosewheel leg. 

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Another thing that Airfix have got wrong is only providing 1 rear door strut, when there is clearly 2!  (photo from the Hunter Linewrights book) Looks like I’m going to have the fashion a couple of these myself!

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Incidentally if your modelling a late hunter you may need to paint the nosewheel leg in light aircraft grey not silver, best to check your references 😉

 

Cheers

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41 minutes ago, Rich F said:

I noticed there is a splurge of Hunter builds

 

Hmm, "a splurge of Hunters" - got a nice ring to it.

 

Seems almost a shame to paint over that mottling- it had a pleasing "German night-fighter" look.  Although I also thought that without my glasses you could say it was that warbird with type all over it, and I'd have believed you!

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On 1/2/2022 at 7:30 PM, gingerbob said:

 

Hmm, "a splurge of Hunters" - got a nice ring to it.

 

Seems almost a shame to paint over that mottling- it had a pleasing "German night-fighter" look.  Although I also thought that without my glasses you could say it was that warbird with type all over it, and I'd have believed you!

Ha, cheers gingerbob, i like plethora too, but splurge was what came to mind. Funny i was thinking the same about the 'German night fighter' look. Maybe i should get myself a uhu to add to the collection...🤔

 

On 1/2/2022 at 8:48 PM, Graham T said:

That seat & cockpit are STUNNING!

Why thank you kind sir! it's a shame most of it is hidden!

 

Camo is on 😊 I must say I’m quite happy with the result. I used GSI H330 dark green and H331 dark sea grey heavily thinned with Mr Color thinner.

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Silver bits done with Alclad Aluminium. Gun troughs were given a coat of Jet Exhaust as these look almost black in the pics I've seen.

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Next up is a bit of detail painting, a tad of weathering although i may need to restrain myself here as from the pics I've seen of XF382 she looks fairly clean. Then I'll move onto a gloss coat ready for decaling. Dare I say the end is in sight!

Cheers

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not as much I bench time as I would have liked this last week due to work.

 

I have managed to sort a few bits and pieces out that were niggling me. I remembered after painting that I was going to move the outboard pylon attachments in approx. 2-3mm so this happened…looks like the light aircraft grey is making another appearance!

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Whilst I was on sorting out the pylons, I noticed that there were 2 vertical long blade antenna’s located under the fuselage centreline like this.

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I drilled a couple of holes in the approximate position as I can’t find any clear photo’s of there exact position. I then punched a couple of small discs for the blades to locate in. The blades were just a couple of pieces of scap brass p.e. They are just dry fitted at the moment, not risking them breaking off at this early stage!

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Next, I decided the fill the gaps rear of the wings where they join the fuselage. It wasn’t huge just looked off to my eye, hopefully this should do the trick after a quick shot of dark sea grey.

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I’ve also been playing with the underwing stores, big tanks all finished and ready for a gloss coat.

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Rocket pods were painted in aluminium then I applied a coat of mig chipping fluid followed by a custom mix of NATO green and dark green. I then chipped the green off randomly with a tooth pick.

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Ladder painted just needs a bit weathering to give it that well used look.

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Wheel were given a thin coat of buff and light grey on the treads, looks better.

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Managed to fashion another nosewheel rear door strut out of bits from the spare box, not a million miles away methinks.

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Cheers

 

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11 hours ago, hendie said:

Really nice job so far. I like the attention to detail.

Did you find that the wheel hubs were (a lot) wider than the tires?  Mine were about a millimeter wider 

 

Thanks hendie, sorry i didnt use the kit wheels, i decided to splash out and went for the cmk set.

 

Looking at the kit main wheel hubs i noticed they looked a bit agricultural and the tyres had no tread either.

 

BTW whats happening with your offering, it's been a bit quiet on the hendie's hunter front!?

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6 hours ago, Rich F said:

BTW whats happening with your offering, it's been a bit quiet on the hendie's hunter front!?

 

Mojo has been waning a bit recently. It's a decent kit, but it's very much "take this bit, add glue, press it on here..." which is fine but not really something that gets my juices flowing. I also tried Stynylrez primer for the first AND THE LAST time. Horrible stuff - it's going straight in the bin. (More on that when I next update the thread).

Life has also been getting in the way as I'm in the process of adding two bedrooms and a shower in the basement.  Going well for the most part but taking a lot of my attention recently.

I hope to have an update on the Hunter in the next few days.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 1/17/2022 at 4:25 PM, hendie said:

 

Mojo has been waning a bit recently. It's a decent kit, but it's very much "take this bit, add glue, press it on here..." which is fine but not really something that gets my juices flowing. I also tried Stynylrez primer for the first AND THE LAST time. Horrible stuff - it's going straight in the bin. (More on that when I next update the thread).

Life has also been getting in the way as I'm in the process of adding two bedrooms and a shower in the basement.  Going well for the most part but taking a lot of my attention recently.

I hope to have an update on the Hunter in the next few days.

I sympathise with you on the loss of interest with this kit hendie. Shame about the primer, I've never used it myself but if you're experience is anything to go by i think I'll steer clear.Good luck with renovations! 👍

 

My mojo is starting to wane with this one too! Although that's nothing new for me as once I'm nearing the end of most of my projects my mind starts wondering about which kit I'm going to pull off the shelf next 🤔 

 

Anyhow progress has been made, although only a gloss coat and decal application, I used xtradecals for the sqn markings and the kit decals for the stencilling and flightpath roundels as i felt the xtradecal roundels were a bit bright for my liking. I had no problems with any of the decals and used Mr mark setter and Softer and they all settled down nicely. 

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I used the black kit stencilling intended for the Dutch offering, these work well for later RAF Hunters as they tended to have black instead of the yellow stencils for early RAF Hunters. Although i did accidently lay a yellow stencil down accidently which has been scrapped off along with the paint! I will need to fix this.

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I had some early style wheel chocks from PP aeroparts that I've had for donkey's years, thought I might as well use them.

 

I may shoot a very thin coat of the respective camo colours over top of the stencils to reduce the contrast, especially over the yellow hoist markings, then another gloss coat and then I'll move onto the weathering.

 

Cheers

 

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That's looking lovely Rich, beautifully rendered paint work fella, Nice ! 

 

Just a recap please mate, what paints did you use for the Green and Grey? I've picked up my Buccaneer again after 18 years 

and the tone with your paintwork is bang on for what i'm after.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Dads203 said:

That's looking lovely Rich, beautifully rendered paint work fella, Nice ! 

 

Just a recap please mate, what paints did you use for the Green and Grey? I've picked up my Buccaneer again after 18 years 

and the tone with your paintwork is bang on for what i'm after.

 

 

Cheers Dan :)

 

I used Gunze aqueous H330 dark green and H331 dark sea grey. Always lays beautifully and as you said the colour is spot on, can't fault it mate.

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9 minutes ago, Rich F said:

Cheers Dan :)

 

I used Gunze aqueous H330 dark green and H331 dark sea grey. Always lays beautifully and as you said the colour is spot on, can't fault it mate.

 

Spot on fella, that's exactly what i have :thumbsup:

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17 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Looking great. Those AM wheels look spot on. Did you free hand the camo? Impressive.

 

 Johnny

Thanks Johnny, yep camo was done free hand with my trusty Badger 150, it's quite old but still does the job!

 

9 hours ago, ColinChipmunkfan said:

Really enjoying this great build.  It started with a brilliant interpretation of a cockpit and has just got better as it has gone on- a master class.

Colin

Thanks Colin, I'm glad you're liking my efforts, I'm afraid there's no progress for a while as work has rudely interrupted by time at the bench  :(  

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  • 3 weeks later...

The end is in sight now, which is a good thing as although I like the Hunter as an aircraft, this kit has not excited me in the least. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I have found this build to be a bit of a chore.

 

Anyhow onto my progress, I’ve managed to get most of the weathering bit out of the way, first off was a coat of dirt Flory wash which hasn’t really shown up all that well on the green, not sure why anyhow this was followed by some oil staining on the belly, I think this is to do with the AVPIN starter being located down there, but I may be wrong.

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Next up was a matt coat of W&N Galleria which I may not have been very thorough with my shaking up routine as I have noticed white spots which I think are solid bits of clear coat, once it was dry I used a wooden tooth pick to remove these without damaging the paint, it sort of worked although I may have missed a few spots.

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After this tedious task I applied some black pastel with a stubby brush to the upper fuselage and wings to give it a general grubbiness that you normally see on well used hunters. I also used a silver pencil replicate paint wear.

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That’s where I’m at now folks just a bit of tidying up of the thing I’ve inevitably missed and then the dangly bits to add and that should be it.

Cheers

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15 hours ago, Rich F said:

this kit has not excited me in the least. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I have found this build to be a bit of a chore.

 

exactly how I feel with mine.  I just can't get excited about it at all for some reason.

 

I'm so envious - that paint job is without doubt one of the best I have witnessed.   I love that mismatched grey panel on the spine.  It's such a small touch but really adds to the overall effect. 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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