Freester's First GB - Academy 1/72 F/A-18C

[modelling minion]

This is taking shape very well, these Academy Hornets are nice looking kits.

[Andwil]

Coming along nicely.  It is a nice kit isn’t it.

 

AW

[Freester]

Thanks for the comments encouragement and feedback. I'm no expert but it seems to be going together easily enough. I'm going to keep cracking on today hopefuly get main body wings stabilisers etc with a view to getting a few coats of paint on the main body...

[Freester]

 

Well it's Hornet shaped.

 

I always find a build a rollercoaster of emotions. Felt good yesterday. No so much today. It's gone together well. There are no gaping gaps. But close inspection there's a few bits (you can see the nose) where it could be better, a little more flush. Things aren't quite 100% symmetrical. 

 

I'm going to leave this to dry. I'm going to make some bombs this afternoon. Or as you more politely say on this forum. Attend to the stores / ordnance. Maybe another coat on the undercarriage parts and mask the canopy. Maybe even a first coat on the canopy frame. I'll do that the interior cockpit colour first.

[Freester]

On 08/01/2022 at 18:46, Paul J said:

It's a very nice kit but among the other areas to be careful of are the flap actuators to the bottom of the wings. They are quite tiny and tricky to fit with careful use of tweezers to avoid the parts pinging across the room.

 

On 09/01/2022 at 20:51, Bertie Psmith said:

 

Ha! Amateurs! I haven't pinged a piece since... PING! 

 

Oh.

 

Well I fitted the actuators this afternoon. A bit nerve wracking after these conversations but it was OK. I didn't ping anything but managed to drop one bit from the tweezers. A medium sized actuator ended on the floor, once. No carpet monster here just a floorboard 'gator' with gaps between the boards big enough to swallow pieces of plastic. Got on my hands and knees and found it under the table. Phew.

 

Canopy masked and a coat of cockpit internal colour painted on the frame.

 

Put some black on the tyres. 

 

Productive afternoon... Excuse the mess...

 

[Paul J]

You were lucky with the dropped part. It happened to me.  I lost another. two though on the same kind of floor 😕 

[Wings unlevel]

2 hours ago, Freester said:

No carpet monster here just a floorboard 'gator' with gaps between the boards big enough to swallow pieces of plastic

There's polished concrete under my desk/bench and still tiny parts freed from the tweezers have been known to just completely disappear!

[Freester]

Stores assembled...

 

[Alan P]

13 minutes ago, Freester said:

Stores assembled...

 

That's a useful load, no pylon left unused 😊👍

[Freester]

First coat of grey on the underside. I used Revell Matt #43 this went on like a dream. First coat nice and thin brushed on with a big wide brush really nice hardly any brush marks. Also gave the ordnance first coat as well.

 

[Freester]

4 coats on the underside done. Fixed canopy and masked for the darker top half - Revell #74. First coat on the top.

 

Grey may be a boring colour but oh it hairy brushes on nice. 2 or 3 this coats should be enough...

 

[Tim Moff]

On 1/23/2022 at 9:34 PM, Alan P said:

That's a useful load, no pylon left unused 😊👍

Least the 1/72 has the correct Pod!

[Freester]

31 minutes ago, Tim Moff said:

Least the 1/72 has the correct Pod!

Which pod is the correct one?!

[Alan P]

2 hours ago, Tim Moff said:

Least the 1/72 has the correct Pod!

 

The LST/SCAM/Nite Hawk combo is appropriate for a midlife C model. 

 

[Freester]

Slowly plugging away got a 4th coat of the top dark grey on today. 

 

Bear in mind this is most likely my 3rd completion since I got back into this hobby after a 40 year lay off!!! I've been trying to get the 'pre-shaded' look with handpainting / hairy stick. There are plenty who claim you can't, there are YouTube videos that claim you can. My previous 2 builds I was unsuccessful.

 

However I think this time I got a little success. Paint still wet but you get the general idea...

 

 

Soft wide / blunt pencil over the panel lines, smudge them with a wet cotton bud. Final coat very thinned, probably a 'stronger' wash than a coat if that makes sense.

 

Just noticed that canopy fit is crap. Good job I'm having the canopy up. 

[modelling minion]

Very nice, I think your pre-shading technique has worked well.

[Andwil]

2 hours ago, Freester said:

Just noticed that canopy fit is crap. Good job I'm having the canopy up. 

I found the same with mine.

 

AW

[Freester]

On 28/01/2022 at 17:40, Alan P said:

 

The LST/SCAM/Nite Hawk combo is appropriate for a midlife C model. 

 

Thanks - phew I assembled and painted the right bits, more luck than judgement!!!

[Freester]

Slowly chugging away an hour or two every evening.

 

A few coats of paint to do with some detail on the fuselage.

 

 

Pylons and one of the pods (NightHawk I think) fitted.

 

Noob question - how do I stop the paint wearing when I'm handling it? It's worst just on the edges of the LERX I'm going to have to do a bit of touching up. Is this just a fact of life? Are oily hands helping this along? The underside is looking pretty worn too so I think I'll have to give that a light touch up again.

 

After that I'll be close to slapping a gloss coat on in preparation for decals...

[John Masters]

On 1/23/2022 at 3:59 PM, Freester said:

Or as you more politely say on this forum. Attend to the stores / ordnance.

Whizz-bangs and party favours...Nice looking build Freester.  Your brush painting is excellent.

[Freester]

1 hour ago, John Masters said:

Whizz-bangs and party favours...

🤣👍

 

1 hour ago, John Masters said:

Nice looking build Freester.  Your brush painting is excellent.

Thank you. I was feeling a bit down on this build last night. Comparing my self too much to some of the excellent work on here. 

 

Update with pics later 👍

[John Masters]

9 hours ago, Freester said:

Thank you. I was feeling a bit down on this build last night. Comparing my self too much to some of the excellent work on here. 

 

I know what you mean.  😄  I used to do that.  Now I just see it as a way to improve my own level of skill.  Plus, everyone is very helpful and willing to share their 

'secrets'!

[Freester]

I'm really struggling with brush strokes on the 'top' grey. I don't know if my paint is too thick, too thin. Big wide brush I've had good results with different colours on previous builds but this is crap. I'm tempted to send this one to the shelf of doom.

 

[helios16v]

Try running a thin coat from nose to tail (cross grain from what you have currently).  It may help add to a "weathering effect".  But in general, multiple thin coats are typically better than 1 or 2 heavy coats.

[Freester]

 

16 minutes ago, helios16v said:

Try running a thin coat from nose to tail (cross grain from what you have currently).  It may help add to a "weathering effect".  But in general, multiple thin coats are typically better than 1 or 2 heavy coats.

 

Thankyou - So far 5 or so thin coats. The last one I let dry and inspected last night. It's actually better and looks a little weathered and better than the picture. I think I'm happy enough with it to think about a gloss coat in advance of decals...