Wings unlevel Posted February 7, 2022 Author Share Posted February 7, 2022 18 minutes ago, Freester said: For what it's worth looks OK to me... Thanks Freester! But I did photograph it from its good side! 😂 Mondays are a necessary evil. 😥 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 22 hours ago, Freester said: PS in my timezone the monday at work isn't even half way through but feels very ragged!!!! Mine wasn't bad, just looooong (I actually worked a full 8 hour shift. I know, it's inhuman!) In my defense, my normal days in my seasonal boat-driving job are more like 11-12 hours long, but that doesn't usually feel like "working". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 On 08/02/2022 at 20:38, gingerbob said: my normal days in my seasonal boat-driving job are more like 11-12 hours long Doesn’t leave much time at night for modelling though, by the sound of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 No, I tend not to be in the model-building frame of mind much during the season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 12, 2022 Author Share Posted February 12, 2022 14 hours ago, gingerbob said: No, I tend not to be in the model-building frame of mind much during the season. Sounds fair. It is one of the beauties of modelling that you can put it down and pick it up whenever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 12, 2022 Author Share Posted February 12, 2022 Touch-ups, some detail painting and a gloss coat down means it’s decal time! I’ve got a ways to go but it’s my favourite part of a build, seeing a model take on its identity. I guess for most everyone Hasegawa’s decals are a known quantity- a bit thick and unwieldy compared to say Cartograph’s from my last build. But there’s scant danger of hurting them with too much decal solution! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 13, 2022 Author Share Posted February 13, 2022 (edited) Decaling (slow) progress. Didn’t get much modelling time today as I spent the morning checking out the local modelling club’s annual show, inspecting some beautiful builds and bringing home a few ‘bargains’! Edited February 13, 2022 by Wings unlevel 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfa1983 Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 This is very nice. Super hornets look best with colourful tails and insignia. Can't wait to see the finished product! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 18 hours ago, arfa1983 said: This is very nice. Super hornets look best with colourful tails and insignia. Can't wait to see the finished product! Thanks Arfa, I.m reasonably happy with it, and I do really love the Red Rippers scheme! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 That's a superb scheme, would have been my first choice if they were available... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 17, 2022 Author Share Posted February 17, 2022 1 hour ago, Alan P said: That's a superb scheme It’s a, err, ripper scheme… 🤭 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 19, 2022 Author Share Posted February 19, 2022 (edited) Decaling done! Only two decals were damaged in the making of this model! (That’s progress for me!) Think I said in an earlier post the the Hasegawa decals were unwieldy. Glad I painted the spine and the tails rather than used the kit’s decals - that way insanity would lie… Gloss coat also applied and now ready for some gentle weathering and final assembly. One discovery when checking I had a period correct load-out planned - note the box art says ‘CAG 2013’? Now the carrier the kit has VFA-11 aboard and the decals for is the USS Enterprise. Which retired at the end of 2012. Have worked out that Hasegawa’s box art is of the jet from 2013 when VFA-11 was back ashore at Oceana before the ship name was overpainted and before VFA-11 next went to sea on the Truman. See image here https://www.airfighters.com/photo/117654/M/USA-Navy/Boeing-F-A-18F-Super-Hornet/166628/ In 2012 my jet featured a few minor differences to its scheme plus looks like it hadn’t yet picked up it’s blue centreline tank. Anyway, despite minor inconsistencies I’ll just say I’ve modelled the jet from 2012 when the ‘Big E’ deployed to the Persian Gulf and VFA-11 was flying operational missions in Afghanistan, so a load-out of GBU-38s and AGM-65s would have been realistic. Looking forward to getting this one aboard. Edited February 19, 2022 by Wings unlevel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 23, 2022 Author Share Posted February 23, 2022 Weight on wheels! Snatching an hour here or there to work my way through all the little bits and pieces in the home stretch of a build, most notably tonight the undercarriage and weapons were attached. So now this little Red Ripper is up on its own feet. Still more to do but it’s nearly aboard safely. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Nice scheme, and well on its way to a smart looking model 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 26, 2022 Author Share Posted February 26, 2022 9 hours ago, Hewy said: Nice scheme, and well on its way to a smart looking model 👍 Thanks Hewy, I think it looks ok. I know there are few minor details that could have done with more love, but it’s respectable I think. And so with an AIM-9X loaded and a flat clear coat applied today, we’re pretty much done. Might post some observations and the gallery pics tomorrow, but for now here’s how it’s ended up (with a cameo from an F-4B I built when I was about 12 in the background - the only model I kept from my modelling youth). 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneheadff Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 Niiiiiice!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 27, 2022 Author Share Posted February 27, 2022 22 hours ago, coneheadff said: Niiiiiice!!!! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 27, 2022 Author Share Posted February 27, 2022 This is the end! Pics are in the gallery and the model is safely on the display shelf. Thanks all for the likes, comments and banter, and for letting me watch your builds. The amazing work of everyone else here really pushes me on to keep improving! Glad to have been involved, and see you over in the bomber/strike/GA GB! Gerard 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTninja Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 Great job! Whats your process for laying down the decals? My Hasegawa one's seem to crack and tear apart immediately. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 Really well done, a smart Super Bug with a great scheme 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted March 5, 2022 Author Share Posted March 5, 2022 On 03/03/2022 at 02:48, JTninja said: Great job! Whats your process for laying down the decals? My Hasegawa one's seem to crack and tear apart immediately. Thanks! I found Mr Mark Setter and Mr Mark Softer did the job. Although I learned the hard way it was best to leave at least half an hour between the Setter and applying the decals before using the Softer! If the decal hadn’t really adhered before using the Softer the decal would lift and curl. 😱 But the Softer did a pretty good job of getting the decals to conform, especially the vertical tails and the fuel tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted March 5, 2022 Author Share Posted March 5, 2022 On 03/03/2022 at 18:00, Alan P said: Really well done, a smart Super Bug with a great scheme 👍 Appreciate that Alan! Probably one third the size and one third the quality of one of your masterpieces, but I think it’s respectable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 1 hour ago, Wings unlevel said: Probably one third the size and one third the quality of one of yours And built in one third of the time using a third of the resources and no loss of quality, I assure you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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