Wings unlevel Posted December 5, 2021 Author Share Posted December 5, 2021 10 hours ago, Dermo245 said: Nice progress on this one Gerard 👍 Thanks! Chipping away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted December 12, 2021 Author Share Posted December 12, 2021 (edited) This is a hard time of year to snatch any time to get any modelling done! So making the deadline is looking questionable, but at least my model is starting to look like the finished product. This afternoon I applied the light gull grey basecoat. I've mentioned this already but I'm using the AK Interactive Real for the LGG and it sprayed beautifully. I'm really happy with the finish over the black primer. Panel line detail is showing through nicely/subtle-ly without any preshading. Have also been plugging away on the weapons, undercarriage, the landing gear wheel wells, the aluminium wing leading edges etc, all the fiddly bits. Oh and lots of fiddling with masking tape and cleaning the airbrush!! Overall I'm really happy with how it is looking, but there is plenty of opportunity to muck it up yet! (Vertical tails are temporarily attached with BluTack here because I thought it would look cool!) Busy week ahead so I may miss trapping the third wire trying to land this thing before hitting bingo - we'll see! Gerard Edited December 12, 2021 by Wings unlevel 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Nice work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Some good work gone on to get this on to the stage where you are at. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 That color went down real nice. Hoping the same for mine. Unfortunately, mine will be hitting bingo!😆 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 Coming together nicely Gerard Hopefully the extended deadline will work in your favour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Col. said: Coming together nicely Gerard Hopefully the extended deadline will work in your favour. Will make all the difference thanks @Col.! Thanks for wangling it, much appreciated. 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 9 hours ago, Wings unlevel said: Will make all the difference thanks @Col.! Thanks for wangling it, much appreciated. 👍 @Enzo Matrix deserves the thanks for allowing us the extension 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 2 hours ago, Col. said: @Enzo Matrix deserves the thanks for allowing us the extension Thanks @Enzo Matrix! I’m not normally an extension kind of guy but it’s nice to have that little bit of pressure off at the end of a crazy year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted December 19, 2021 Author Share Posted December 19, 2021 Today's update: It's been slow going this week, due to family and work commitments. Progress has been limited to a second coat of light gull grey, painting the black (anti glare?) on the nose, the aluminium leading edges of the vertical tails, minor touch ups, and fitting the fuel tanks. I posed the jet for this photo as a bit of a morale fillip more than anything. It's not quite as complete as it looks! Am very grateful for the deadline extension. Fun fact - I discovered the kit comes with two variants of Sidewinder - but I only realised when I went to paint the missile noses black (the AIM-9Hs were all-white). So for future reference, the kit actually comes with two AIM-9Hs and two AIM-9L/Ms. I just cut two Sidewinders off the sprues without realising they didn't match (really should wear my glasses more!). My plan was always to have a load-out of 1 x AIM-9, 1 x AIM-7 and 2 x AIM-54s, I was prepping the extra missiles for redundancy, and so will use the -9L/M. Oh and if you are particularly eagle-eyed, you'll notice the decal instructions don't show the black nose, but it's definitely on my reference photos - see here. Hope your week was more productive than mine! Gerard 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted December 26, 2021 Author Share Posted December 26, 2021 Don't feel like I have much to show for the last two weeks. The jet looks much the same in this image as it has in the last few updates. Have done lots of touch ups/tidy ups, more than I thought would be needed, such as to the undercarriage bays, which I had to re-mask and respray. The black nose also took a couple of goes to get right. It's still not perfect, but as good as my eyesight is going to get me to I think! Also discovered that my second coat of light gull grey had dried a little rough In patches - mustn't have quite thinned it enough. Thanks to my bro for the pro tip to polish the areas with an old t-shirt, that was quite effective! Undercarriage and armaments are taking shape, and the wing bags and engine exhausts/afterburner cans are now attached. Should - should! - finally be able to apply a gloss coat tomorrow and then begin decaling. Really appreciating the deadline extension - wouldn't have finished the GB without it, and the extra two weeks has given me the opportunity to take a bit more care knowing there's still a little bit of time yet. Finally, anyone know what these little bumps are that I didn't remove? Just noticed this step in the instructions - too late now! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 All those little touches equals good progress and you're still moving forward On 12/26/2021 at 11:45 AM, Wings unlevel said: Finally, anyone know what these little bumps are that I didn't remove? Just noticed this step in the instructions - too late now! Those are covers for later ECM kit but not a noticeable aspect of the machine if we're not looking for them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted December 28, 2021 Author Share Posted December 28, 2021 9 hours ago, Col. said: All those little touches equals good progress and you're still moving forward Those are covers for later ECM kit but not a noticeable aspect of the machine if we're not looking for them. Looks like my jet received a premature EW upgrade then! 🙈 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted December 28, 2021 Author Share Posted December 28, 2021 Ooof my three month old compressor has just packed it in just as I was finishing off the gloss coat. Off to Australia’s favourite big box hardware store for a warranty replacement hopefully. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 Decaling goes better with a Mexican lager I have determined. The more I have the better my job of applying them looks! Oh, and my compressor has been replaced, phew! Thank you big box hardware store. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 Sounds as if it's all going well for you Gerard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted December 30, 2021 Author Share Posted December 30, 2021 2 hours ago, Col. said: Sounds as if it's all going well for you Gerard Apart from a few mangled decals…. And I ran out of beer. 😱😥🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 Descaling took a lot longer than I thought, including all day Thursday, but it’s done. Mangled a few but overall pretty happy with it. Finally got the hang of using Mr Mark Setter and Softer. Learn by doing! Also spent a lot of time cross referencing the decal instructions from the kit (where I mainly used the stencils from), the Milspec decal instructions and pictures of VF-51 jets. Found a few inconsistencies, but did my best zooming in on low res internet images of 40 year old photos! Second gloss coat went on tonight (didn’t you too spend New Year’s Eve modelling?!). Some final assembly, a smidge of weathering, a final clear coat and this cat is headed for the gallery! 🤞🤞 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 On 12/30/2021 at 10:54 PM, Wings unlevel said: ..And I ran out of beer. 😱😥🤣 No! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 Today was a bit painful, both figuratively and literally, but we’re close now. Have attached the horizontal and vertical stabs/tails, the landing gear inc bay doors, and the weapons. Was a bit fiddle in places - who knew carrier aircraft had such complicated landing gear arrangements! 🤦♂️ Managed to knick my thumb with my hobby knife in the process too. Nothing major but just annoying when you need all the dexterity you can get when wrangling tiny undercarriage components! 😱 Touch ups tomorrow, but we’re in the groove, we’ve got the ball, and we’re ready to trap. 🤞 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 2 hours ago, Col. said: No! Things are pretty dire now, there’s been no beer in the house all year! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Looking very good with the decals on. I know what you mean with the cross refs between different decal instructions. I have just done this with the stencilling of a Japanese Phantom. Oh such fun. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 3 hours ago, Jabba said: Looking very good with the decals on. I know what you mean with the cross refs between different decal instructions. I have just done this with the stencilling of a Japanese Phantom. Oh such fun. Thanks Jabba! Yes it does your head in! I’d like to build a Fine Molds F-4EJ this year but I do find all those stencils intimidating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 Right, I'm done! To be honest the last few days have been a case of two steps forward, one and a half steps back - in finishing off all the detail assemblies, touch ups and decals I made more than a few mistakes and had more than a few frustrations! I uncovered a bit of a clanger of a mistake I'd made in assembling the weapon pylons - I'd put the lower sections on back to front, something that wasn't obvious until I went to mount the Sparrow missile (although if you didn't know it's not really obvious). And I might have had a slight accident with Tamiya tape and the red stripe decals on the insides of the vertical tails, so they're gone now! (Again you wouldn't know they were missing if I hadn't pointed them out, but that was more than a little frustrating at the time.) But while my inclination is to focus on the mistakes and flaws, if I take a bigger picture view this is still by far the best model I have completed (to be fair it's only my fourth since taking up modelling again after a near 30 year gap!). I am really pleased with it, and will be even moreso as the frustrations of the last two days fades. And I learnt a lot too - I used a drill, tried drybrushing and removed a canopy seam for the first time, used proper decal setting and softening solutions for the first time (to the detriment of a a few of the decals, but I got a handle on it in the end!), and more generally felt I developed my basic modelling skills and continued to refine my airbrushing. But most importantly I learnt the joy of participating in a Britmodeller group build! I very much enjoyed the banter and mutual support, and being on the forum definitely pushed me to finish the model to as high a standard as I could, given the amazing standard everyone else is at here! Will post more images to the gallery shortly, plus some thoughts on the kit, decals, paints used and the build itself. But in the meantime thanks all for the encouragement and support, and a particular thanks to our fearless leader @Col. - I'll see you in the Bomber/Strike/GA GB! Gerard 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Great work, it looks really good 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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