1/48 Meng F/A-18F VFA-103 first combat cruise...Update 14 March

[coneheadff]

So, off to a new GB try...and hopefully finish a kit.

 

I want to build a line jet from VFA-103s first combat cruise. 

Haven't checked the kit yet, but I might trow in some resin seats or maybe use some parts of an Aires pit. We'll see.

 

The kit should have all the required parts, but I'm not sure which weapons are inside and which ones I'll need. But it will take a while till I have to decide that.

 

 

[modelling minion]

Nice choice Alex.

The F and the Meng kit are proving to be popular and it looks like you have some nice decals for it as well a good reference source.

I look forward to seeing what you can do with this one mate.

[DaveJL]

Nice one Alex! I'm jealous you have that book though

 

Ordnance wise you're probably looking at a mixture of GBU-12 and GBU-38. Two tanks were quite common early on too.

 

[Anatol Pigwa]

Oh nice, a line bird from the Jolly Rogers this is a welcome surprise. Keep them coming. 

[coneheadff]

3 hours ago, DaveJL said:

Nice one Alex! I'm jealous you have that book though

 

Ordnance wise you're probably looking at a mixture of GBU-12 and GBU-38. Two tanks were quite common early on too.

 

Let me know if you need any info and I will scan the required page. Jake's books are WONDERFUL!!! Never seen so many good detail shots and explanations on every part of the aircraft. I think I have all his books. The Phantom book was a great help, too.

 

That's probably the loadout I was going for and that's what Fightertown is also saying on their instructions. 

 

[DaveJL]

16 minutes ago, coneheadff said:

 

Let me know if you need any info and I will scan the required page. Jake's books are WONDERFUL!!! Never seen so many good detail shots and explanations on every part of the aircraft. I think I have all his books. The Phantom book was a great help, too.

 

That's probably the loadout I was going for and that's what Fightertown is also saying on their instructions. 

 

 

Cheers Alex! The Detail and Scale book is good but not on par with those range of books. I have his updated F-15 publication and it's superb.

[coneheadff]

Didn't have much time lately, but at least managed to glue some parts, painted the intakes, primed the cockpit and the wheel wells.

 

 

 

Tried something on one of the LGBs to get the thermal protection. I'm pretty happy how it turned out. Maybe a bit overdone, but I'm gonna wait how it looks with paint.

 

 

That's it for now

 

Alex

[DaveJL]

Nice work Alex! What did you use on the GBU?

[modelling minion]

Off to a nice start Alex.

I like the look of the GBU with the anti-slip, if it looks too rough with some paint on it you could always sand it back a bit but I think it will look pretty good as it is.

[coneheadff]

20 minutes ago, DaveJL said:

Nice work Alex! What did you use on the GBU?

Thanks Dave!

 

It's Anti Slip paste (fine) from Ammo Mig. The LGB is leaning on the tube. 

I applied it with a piece of a sponge the Aires pits are packed in. Covered the tail and the head with tape and dabed the paste on the surface. Easy 😁

[DaveJL]

1 minute ago, coneheadff said:

Thanks Dave!

 

It's Anti Slip paste (fine) from Ammo Mig. The LGB is leaning on the tube. 

I applied it with a piece of a sponge the Aires pits are packed in. Covered the tail and the head with tape and dabed the paste on the surface. Easy 😁

Nice one mate, I might try that myself!

[coneheadff]

9 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Off to a nice start Alex.

I like the look of the GBU with the anti-slip, if it looks too rough with some paint on it you could always sand it back a bit but I think it will look pretty good as it is.

Thanks Craig! That's exactly what I think...or what I hope

[modelling minion]

8 minutes ago, coneheadff said:

I applied it with a piece of a sponge the Aires pits are packed in

Good to know that there is at least one useful thing in Aries packets!😄

[coneheadff]

3 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Good to know that there is at least one useful thing in Aries packets!😄

I really considered using the Aires pit...the one for the Hase kit...but fortunately my brain was back online quickly 😅 

[Wings unlevel]

15 minutes ago, coneheadff said:

It's Anti Slip paste (fine) from Ammo Mig.

That’s really clever/effective.

[coneheadff]

Finally an update...

 

The aircraft were pretty new at the first detachment so I kept the weathering to a minimum.

 

The wheel wells have lot of details and even though it's absolutely fictional it brings some live to the wells.

I painted some in steel to simulate hydraulic pipes and added black attachments. Thought about adding the typical yellow/blue hydraulic labels, but honestly it doesn't even made sense paining the pipes...I'm never gonna turn the model on his back. Oh well...I know it's there. 

 

 

 

Next up was the cockpit. I decided to build the kit with the pilots sitting in the powered cockpit. So I didn't go overboard with the side panels and IPs. The sticks and throttles are not installed as I want to adjust them to the figures at the end.

For the IPs I painted the instruments and dials, cut out the "screenshots" and glued the decals to the kit parts. At the end I gave each screen a drop of Future. 

The idea was good, but the final result is "ok". As we all know you should never, ever touch a decal as soon as decal softener is applied. Oh well...I couldn't resist at the pilots IP. Fortunately it won't be seen as it's at the lower right corner.

And the second issue is that the screens look to glossy. Modern screens are actually flat, but I will leave it as it is. 

 

 

 

 

 

Will now remove the first seamlines and glue the main fuselage parts together.

Looks to be an easy step. The dry fitting showed almost perfect fit.

 

Alex

[modelling minion]

Lovely work Alex, absolutely superb.

[trickyrich]

On 1/19/2022 at 7:58 AM, coneheadff said:

I really considered using the Aires pit...the one for the Hase kit...but fortunately my brain was back online quickly 😅 

A very wise decision!!! 

 

Gee that does look to be a nice model and lots to build well as well. I have the E in the stash and will now have to add the F as well.

 

The underside section looks a bit flimsy between the main gear wells!

 

I like the coating on the bombs, I tried doing something before, using thinned tamiya filler and a cotton bud, this looks much simpler.

 

Great work on the build so far! 

[Sam]

On 1/18/2022 at 9:11 PM, coneheadff said:

Tried something on one of the LGBs to get the thermal protection.

Looks like a success to me!

[coneheadff]

2 hours ago, Sam said:

Looks like a success to me!

Was really easy and quick

[coneheadff]

@trickyrich Remember I told you that the Meng kit has the same issue with the aft fuselage?

 

Well, here we go.

 

While Hasegawa's Super Hornet has it's tail...we're talking about each side... build up of two parts, the Meng model has three. I was really careful and did dry fit it several times, but I still ended up having some ugly seam lines and a step.

 

 

And that's what I have to fix...the red lines are seam lines, that have to be removed/filled, the green lines are panel lines and have to be saved/restored and finally the blue line is a mold line that has to be removed. 

 

 

 

 

As you can see the seam lines are not wisely placed. They could have chosen to use panel lines to separate the parts and could save us a looooot of work.

Right now I'm working on the left hand side and will post an update as soon as it looks "usable".

 

Alex

[trickyrich]

Oooo nasty!

 

They need to go back to school and attend the Tamiya "Hide joins in panel lines" class.

 

To be honest this is a problem area on most models, though some companies seem to address it better than others.

[modelling minion]

Coming on nicely Alex, it would have made a lot more sense for panel lines to be used as joins but unfortunately this is something that most manufacturers seem to struggle with.

[coneheadff]

Just a small update...but it wasn't an easy one.

Managed to finish the l/h side, but now I need some time to recover 😁

There are still some imperfections, but I will attack them after the primer. At least there are no gaps, seamlines... and the panel lines are restored.

 

 

[modelling minion]

Very nice Alex, you have sorted those seams out really well.