Putting on the Ritz - 75 Sqd. RAAF - Finished

[modelling minion]

That is very nice work that is going to make quite a difference to the look of the finished model.

[Andwil]

12 hours ago, Freester said:

Looking very good - really informative for a less experienced person like me to see what's possible with a similar kit. Thanks.

Thanks Freester, most of what I’ve done I’ve shamelessly pinched from others!  That’s one of the great things about this site, there’s so much that you can learn from watching other modellers’ builds.  This is actually the first time I’ve cut up kit parts like this.  It really only takes confidence and the right tools, I certainly couldn’t have done it without my Tamiya scriber. 
 

AW

[Andwil]

Today I attached the LERX fences and cemented the flaps back on to the wings in new, lowered position.

 

 

This meant the actuators needed some modification to fit the new wing geometry.

 

 

A final clean up and it will be ready for primer, after the gear wells and cockpit are masked up.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

 

[Freester]

No idea how you managed to mod those actuators the small one especially is tiny it was all I could do to protect them from the carpet monster let alone risk a 'ping' trying to mod them 🤣

[Andwil]

On 1/28/2022 at 8:02 PM, Freester said:

No idea how you managed to mod those actuators the small one especially is tiny it was all I could do to protect them from the carpet monster let alone risk a 'ping' trying to mod them 🤣

 

I did one wing carefully cutting the actuators, the smallest one pinged of course but was caught by the pocket hem of my cargo shorts.  For the other wing I thought b****r that, and just bent them to shape.
 

Primed and ready for paint.

 

 

Going away for a couple days next week from Tuesday, so I may or may not get much more of this done.
 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

 

[Andwil]

Got back from my mini break, the highlight of which was “Swan Lake”:

 

 

we estimated that there were 500 swans on and around the lake.

 

On return I had a look at the Hornet and decided that I didn’t like a couple of the seams, so these were filled, sanded and re-primed.  Then sanded some more and re-primed again.  Being happier with the result I did a pre-shade:

 

 

Followed by painting the undersides light ghost grey:

 

 

Topside hopefully tomorrow.  My goal is to have this one finished before the MiG-21 STGB starts on the 12th.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Upper surface painted FS35237.  I need to do another thin coat as I think too much of the pre shade is showing.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Looks great AW

[modelling minion]

Looking very good AW.

[Andwil]

Glossed and ready for decals.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Wings unlevel]

Looks great! Nice swan lake pic too!

Edited February 7, 2022 by Wings unlevel

[Andwil]

Started the decals today.  One of the problems I have found is getting all the decals in the exact position, with this model I decided to start with some that have a “fixed” position to use as a datum for the rest, so first ones on were the slime lights.  These were followed by around thirty “No Step” stencils to get them out of the way early.  Hard to see with the naked eye and near invisible in photos.  A couple can just be made out here:

 

 

The long walkways (?) above the LEXs were a bit tricky to get into place without wrinkles but I think I got there.  After all these boring decals I did the fins, seen here with the tailplanes and tanks.

 

 

My goal of finishing this one by the weekend now looks doubtful, real life has served up a double whammy, my Mother has had a fall and is in hospital, luckily nothing broken, and my sister, who would normally share visiting and hospital liaison responsibilities is isolating after contracting Covid.  So I guess my free time is going to be rather limited.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[gingerbob]

Oh dear, my best to all the family members!

[stevehnz]

That is a begger AW, it was ticking along so nicely too. I hope all resolves itself before too long & you can get back to it. Take care.

Steve.

[helios16v]

Bummer.  Hope everyone heals and bounces back soon.

[Andwil]

@gingerbob, @stevehnz & @helios16v, thanks for the kind words mates, both patients coming along well.  Didn’t get any time for modelling yesterday, in addition to the above there was some grand daughter baby sitting to do, which, of course was lovely.  Got a meeting with an Occupational Therapist re Mum this morning then I might find some bench time this afternoon 🤞.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Managed to get an hour and a half this afternoon, which, to be honest, is about enough for decalling.  Got the main fuselage decals on.

 

 

 

I can see from the serial placement that I didn’t get the oval of darker grey on the rear fuselage quite right.  Too late now, I’ll have to live with it.

 

Only the underside, about 30 odd decals to go!

 

I’m using a combination of the Academy, Italeri and Hawkeye decals.  I’ve noticed that there are some differences between the RAAF and USN Hornets with stencils, also that the Italeri instructions are useless as they don’t show all the decals included on their sheet!

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

 

[Andwil]

Finished the decals this afternoon.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Managed to do some more work on my Hornet today, a bit of (probably heavy handed) weathering and then started on final assembly.  Got the undercarriage and tail fins on:

 

 

 

and started on some of the smaller antennae, when I noticed a drop of cement had dropped onto the wing leading edge 🤯.  I was able to use a piece of kitchen towel to carefully wick up most of the glue and have left it to set overnight.

 

 

I’ll have to sand this back and repaint the leading edge.  I’m quite annoyed as a I was working slowly and carefully and literally have no idea how it happened as a I had kept the glue well away from the model.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

Edited February 14, 2022 by Andwil
Typo

[trickyrich]

looking very nice!!!!  

 

Hopefully that spot can be hidden, a little bit of miss-match won't hurt...... 

 

A trick I've found with problematic decals or super thin ones is to use a cotton bud either dry of very slightly damp and either gently press the decals or the better way just roll the cotton bud over it. I have found the decal doesn't move this way and you can apply a wee bit of pressure without the risk of moving/damaging the decal.

[Andwil]

Had a look at the glue spot this morning and I’m confident of being able to make good.  While the glue took the paint off, there is no damage to the underlying plastic so a light sanding and quick respray should fix it.

 

AW

 

[Andwil]

Glue spot fixed.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

 

[Wings unlevel]

Like it was never there!

[Pappy]

On 2/14/2022 at 6:10 PM, Andwil said:

Managed to do some more work on my Hornet today, a bit of (probably heavy handed) weathering and then started on final assembly.  Got the undercarriage and tail fins on:

 

 

 

and started on some of the smaller antennae, when I noticed a drop of cement had dropped onto the wing leading edge 🤯.  I was able to use a piece of kitchen towel to carefully wick up most of the glue and have left it to set overnight.

 

 

I’ll have to sand this back and repaint the leading edge.  I’m quite annoyed as a I was working slowly and carefully and literally have no idea how it happened as a I had kept the glue well away from the model.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

 

G'day AW,

 

Your round cooling vents are incorrectly orientated, the long vertical divider should be aligned to the fuselage axis, i.e. rotated 90 degrees anti-clockwise. These are also the later style vents, RAAF Hornets had the earlier type, otherwise it is looking good

 

Pappy

[Andwil]

1 hour ago, Pappy said:

Your round cooling vents are incorrectly orientated

Well damn, now I’ll never be able to look at the model through magnifiers 😝

 

AW