RAAF 6 Sqn EA-18G Growler - The Exciting Usual Grey Scheme - 1/48 Hasegawa ***FINISHED***

[Wings unlevel]

Some really elegant modelling here.

[Ray_W]

Putting in some solid time at the bench with the hope of getting this one in the gallery come Sunday. I want some paint to be going on Wednesday so need to get a hurry along with the assembly. 

 

I really like the way the wing control surfaces turn out. Nice one Hasegawa.

 

 

 

 

Ray

 

[modelling minion]

Looking forward to seeing some paint go on Ray.

 

🇺🇦

[Ray_W]

Ready for some paint

 

 

Masked the canopy with Tamiya tape and Mr Masking Sol. The front section is glued in place with Tamiya Extra Thin and the rear is a temporary glued PVA job as I will pose the canopy open.

 

 

I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the front windscreen component trying to get an acceptable gold tint using the usual Tamiya Smoke and clear yellow and Future. Hated every attempt. Even tried thinned Gunze Mr Metal Color Gold. Sort of got there and still did not like it. Removed each attempt and in the end just went for clear ...... again. 

 

I have no idea how you would successfully achieve the "soap bubble" look of the crew section. I'll save tints for another build - A Prowler would look good. 

 

Painted what I could with a base coat of MRP Black Fine Surface Primer. I do prefer Black Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 (old habits die hard). The Mr Finishing Surfacer gives a nice satin finish that I really like. Also, possibly, a finer pigment. The MRP is still good stuff and the pre-mix does make life easy. Tends to be a more flat coat. Here it is airbrushed straight out of the bottle.

 

 

All ready to start building some colour variation into the top coats.

 

 

 

I think I will struggle to make the gallery deadline for two reasons:

 

(1) I could not resist and ordered some resin ordnance from Eduard that may arrive in time tomorrow or most probably Monday, and;

(2) Parts preparation is taking time. For example, each gear door has a minimum of 2, usually 3, and sometimes 5 ejector pin marks to fill and sand. I finished these this evening ready for some paint.

 

 

 

I'll keep at it no matter what, even if it runs a couple of days late. It is building into an impressive model.

 

Ray 

 

 

[Ray_W]

Sprayed the wheel wells with AK Real Colors FS17875 Insignia White and then masked with foam, tissue paper, tape and Mr Masking Sol. The latter more as a glue. 

 

 

Touched up the white with the black undercoat. All ready for the underside colour.

 

 

Sprayed the underside with MRP-038 FS36375 Light Ghost Grey. I did lay down a mottle coat and largely covered it. I want some subtle variation in the colours without going full US Navy. I'll accentuate with some more variation with oils at a later step. Subtle is the word. The MRP was again shot straight out of the bottle. I did thin it a little more with Mr Color Leveling Thinner for the blend coat. No compatibility issues. 

 

 

Top side was MRP-097 US Dark Ghost Gray FS36320.

 

 

Same process as the underside with the mottle and colour variation. The RAAF Growlers are relatively clean with most of the weathering "fun" on the underside. 

 

 

I like these MRP colours. I also painted the radome a lighter colour typical of the RAAF Growlers. I added a little of the AK Real Colors white to the MRP Light Ghost Grey. Again no compatibility issues. 

 

 

 

Also been spraying all the other bits and pieces. Yes, I did break off the shaft on the starboard stabilator. A little repair work to be done.

 

 

I'll let all this dry this evening and get ready for some detail painting all going well tomorrow.

 

Ray

[modelling minion]

Lovely smooth paint work Ray and nice subtle variation in the tones.

I am glad that you're not going to rush this for the deadline, you have done too good a job on it to rush and not be happy with the end result.

 

🇺🇦

[Ray_W]

On 4/9/2022 at 9:21 PM, modelling minion said:

going to rush this for the deadline,

 

I tried but just too much still to do. A few more days this week will see it done.

 

Finished some detail painting today:

• Repaired a couple of minor defects in the paintwork.
• Masked and painted the leading and trailing edges, and;
• did the nose cone again, this time with a little less white.

 

Here we are having finally achieved one of my favourite milestones in a build. A nice coat of GX-112 and all is ready for decals. You'll note that the GX-112 thinned with Mr Color Leveling Thinner goes over the MRP with no issue. Just don't flood coat. 

 

 

 

The Ronin Graphics decals look excellent on the sheet. Their instructions recommend no decal setting or softening agents to be applied. Scary! 

 

Ray

[modelling minion]

Lovely glossy coat Ray, the decals have got to like that.

 

🇺🇦

[PattheCat]

You overcome each and every build issue with an ease I deeply envy and add subtle painting on top of it.

 

Looking great 

[Ray_W]

On 4/11/2022 at 11:17 AM, PattheCat said:

Looking great 

 

Well it was.

 

I got up early this morning to start a few decals. Picked the model up and promptly dropped it!  Doing its best rendition of Anatoly Kvochur's famous MiG-29 ejection at the 1989 Paris Show, it slammed into the timber floor. My immediate (i.e publishable) comment was "You gotta love this hobby".

 

 

I was so happy with the finish as of last night. Now, what to do?  What I was amazed at was what did not break and no major structural damage! Phew! Tough little bird these Hornets. Hunting around the floor I found the bits with the exception of a small piece of the port wing tip. Decided to go to the office then this afternoon returned to get the repairs underway.

 

I replaced the broken wing tip, as highlighted, with a little PS card and shaped CA/talc. Also had to similarly replace the tip of the slat.  Not perfect but it will do. All 4 fins broke off the ALQ-218 pod. Found them all and then played around until I had glued all back in place in their original positions.

 

 

Repaired the main flaps. Relatively simple glue and then worked on the part I was dreading. Gluing and fairing the front canopy back in place.

 

 

This was the most time consuming part. In the end though the result was good.  

 

 

Seeing I was in repair mode, I drilled out the broken stub axle on the stabilator and refixed it with some inserted brass rod. Also decided to do the other side seeing this seems a weak point. Here it is ready to trim.

 

 

Repaint and all is good, let's try again.

 

 

In the mean time this little group of goodies arrived (the Atoll's for my MiG-21 build).

 

 

One thing I did notice (besides all the gates on the Eduard product) is the rear end of the Low Band pod is the type with the T-section. The RAAF Growlers seem to have the oval section. Hasegawa provide both options. A little bit of research and reshaping may be needed.

 

 

More fun to come.

 

Ray

[modelling minion]

Oh No!

What a time for your Growler to take a nose dive Ray (no tittering at the back please), but you have done a great job on turning it around already. Very well done for not giving up on her and sorting the breakages out and getting her back to where she was before the kamikaze dive.

 

🇺🇦

[Ray_W]

17 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

What a time for your Growler to take a nose dive

 

Thank goodness it was not with undercarriage and ordnance fixed. I was very lucky - limited damage.  

[exdraken]

Great repairs!

 

Those eager to fly models are a bit of a problem in this hobby

 

I did not know of the different jamming pod shapes though....

 

[coneheadff]

Great safe!!

[Ray_W]

On 4/13/2022 at 4:51 PM, exdraken said:

I did not know of the different jamming pod shapes though....

 

Only realised myself because Hasegawa provides the two options then I had to scurry to any RAAF Growlers to see what was fitted.

 

3 hours ago, coneheadff said:

Great safe!!

 

My policy these days is bin it of fix it. This gives you great incentive to recover your work. As mentioned, thankfully, this one was an easy repair.

 

Decals going on now so we should see some new pics soon.

 

Ray 

[Ray_W]

Decals have been a pleasure, using a mix of Ronin (mostly) and the Hasegawa kit supply. 

 

 

I have been using the Ronin method (no decal solutions) without issue, using the water a little bit hotter than warm. There has been zero silvering. Like Tamiya - robust yet flexible with plenty of adhesive. 

 

A46-309 has the boomerang around the correct way to throw a returning boomerang. Some RAAF 6 Sqn Growlers have the boomerang around the other way. Check your references. Ronin gives you both options.  

 

 

 

Ronin provide two options for the decals representing the fuselage spline GPS and IFF covers, One option represents an upgrade to these systems, I note this is fitted to the RAAF Growlers. So, out with the filler and remove what Hasegawa provide, It is a good excuse to remove the Hasegawa trench like representation of these panels 

 

 

Yes, better. The double line is a reflection off the side of the decal carrier film. I expect it will disappear under the flat coat.

 

 

I am in two minds with regard to the stencilling. At this stage I am doing some. I have not decided whether I want to put on all the ""DO NOT PAINT", "NO STEP" and "NO PUSH" stencils. I am not convinced the carrier film will disappear completely under a flat coat.

 

 

I like how Ronin gives you a variety of Chaff and Flare options: Red = Magnesium Teflon Viton, Yellow = Pyrophoric Solid, and Blue = Training/Drill. Hasegawa provide the empty option. There is an image of a 6 Sqn aircraft with a mix so I replicated it:

 

 

I decided on  a loadout of two 480 gallon drop tanks, the Low Band ALQ-99, two high/medium band ALQ-99, one practice AIM-120C and one practice AGM-88. My plan was to also fit the ASQ-228, that Hasegawa provide, in the usual port fuselage location. The housing/fuselage fit is quite poor, and as not all reference images show this, it was an easy option to leave off. If building this again, I would flush this into the fuselage before painting. The AIM-120 will go in the starboard slot and I will leave the port slot empty. I also scratch-built myself a ballasted P5-CTS-TCTS Pod for the outer starboard wing station. The AGM-88 will go on the outer port wing station. There is a reference image of this set-up. 

 

 

Into the detail painting. More decals tomorrow.

 

Ray

 

[trickyrich]

she's looking awesome Ray, well done!!!  

 

That was a good save from the crash dive.

 

One thing I know of the RAAF birds is that they have the targeting pod fitted, I know for sure 306 does.  Gosh I forgot about the flare/chaff pods, good thing it's on the underside!!! 

[modelling minion]

The decals really have gone down very nicely indeed Ray, no sign of any carrier film at all. 

 

🇺🇦

[Ray_W]

6 minutes ago, trickyrich said:

One thing I know of the RAAF birds is that they have the targeting pod fitted, I know for sure 306 does.

 

I based the load out on an image in Jetphotos of 305 which actually does not have it fitted. This gave me a convenient excuse to leave it off. But, you're right, usually they are  fitted and besides worth doing for the additional visual interest.  I had hit Growler fatigue and now with all the ordnance ready for decals, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I have had another bout of enthusiasm so I will play with the targeting pod. Hopefully I can adjust it for a good fit without damaging the finished paintwork. 

 

I chose 309 because I love this image https://www.airforce.gov.au/technology/aircraft/strike/ea-18g-growler .  

 

A couple of pics I had not posted. I reshaped the rear end of the Eduard Low Band ALG-99 to the tapered rather than T-Section and lengthened the rear opening (vent?). Darn, missed re-scribing that access panel . Oh well, the benefit, or is it frustration, of photographing your work.

 

 

I really like the look of the Eduard generator prop. Thankfully Eduard do give you a couple of spare blades. They're needed. Probably more sensible to fit the prop assembly at the very end.

 

 

4 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

no sign of any carrier film at all. 

 

An angled view across the gloss coat does show it. Hence my nervousness. We will see. I'll finish the decals, protect them under another gloss coat and take a good look and if need be sand the edges back lightly, another gloss coat and and then start some work with oils. Big news is with a few hours before I get back into and complete the decals and nothing much else to do (or more correctly nothing else I want to do) I have broken my one kit at a time rule and started my MiG-21 for the other GB.  Time is running out ... again. 

 

Ray

[Ray_W]

Goodness me, jet models take some time.  I have been mostly applying decals to ordnance, undercarriage and doors. A small sample follows. Eduard do provide the markings for the practice AIM-120. I had to do a little research for the AGM-88 and mix and match from Hasegawa and Eduard to get the practice markings. 

 

 

My scratched P5 pod looked a little naked so besides the centre stripe I decided to cut up some of the Hasegawa crew names and make "RAAF". What I have done is not strictly correct. The actual markings are "RAAF" and a number.  I didn't have anything lying around to give me the full suite of characters so went with what I had and kept the visual interest excuse.

 

 

Hopefully, I'll get some solid bench time this evening to apply more decals. Next up ALQ-99 pods.

 

I am looking forward to some targeted wash and oils. That will really indicate that I am getting close to the end.

 

Ray

[Alan P]

Those are very neatly done, Ray 👏👏👏

[Ray_W]

Finally, I can say I have applied all the decals that I want to apply. The ordnance came up nicely. Ready for a little wash and weathering.

 

 

I am working on the ATFLIR pod. Improving the fit of the fairing by shaping a little added CA/Talc mix where needed. Like extending the fairing end as you can see.

 

 

It's good to see the detail stuff get done. Ready for a gloss coat and some wash. The wheels are ready to. I'll have to find them. No doubt they are somewhere safe. 

 

 

Ready for some fun tomorrow.

 

 

Ray

[modelling minion]

Very nice Ray, the ordnance is looking great.

I hope your wheels turn up, many times I have put things in a safe place to then completely forget where that safe place actually is.

 

🇺🇦

[Ray_W]

On 4/21/2022 at 6:07 AM, modelling minion said:

I hope your wheels turn up, many times I have put things in a safe place to then completely forget where that safe place actually is.

Hi Craig,

 

Found them. 

 

Currently into some weathering with oils. Jumping around a bit section by section but having fun. It's like playing a computer game saying "just one more round". I could easily stay up all night doing this. 

 

 

 

 

 

Ray

[modelling minion]

The weathering is looking good Ray, very effective.

 

🇺🇦