Seamus Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 Evening all, I'll be throwing another Growler into the mix for this GB, using the 1/72 Hasegawa Kit. I found an Eduard Zoom set in the stash which should jazz up the cockpit, while I have some Two Bobs decals on their way from Hannants to build this jet, a scheme which appeals to my love of fast jets and Star Wars! You'll also note the addition of an Air Graphics dropped flaps wing set. I'm very keen to display this model with the flaps down as it would naturally look when on the ground. On a past F/A-18F build many years ago I did this manually, but without a great deal of finesse, so this time I thought I'd save myself the bother with a drop-in replacement. I've had a hard time tracking down the Wolfpack set, which I understand to be very good, but did find the Air Graphics set- it's for a Super Hornet, but the additional Growler parts are in the kit, so there's no issue adding them onto the wings. The bigger issue for me is the quality of the resin... Hopefully it's clear from the image that where the resin is thin, especially on the flap covers, it has cracked. There's is also quite a lot of warpage on most parts, and many, many air bubbles. I'm very much a shake and bake, OOB type of modeller and rarely use resin beyond seats, weapons etc, so the thought of fixing this and making it look respectable is a little daunting. I shall give it a go, but TBH I'm quite likely to knock it on the head and stick with the kit parts, flaps raised, which will probably be the lesser of two evils. We shall see... I have to clear a build before I can properly start on this, but updates will hopefully come thick and fast once I get stuck into it Cheers for now, Shaun 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 G'day Sean, It does not look like the section with the air bubbles is profiled? Could you not just cut out this section and replacec with a strip of thin (0.10) plastic sheet? Pappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted January 11, 2022 Author Share Posted January 11, 2022 Hi Pappy, That was my thinking. There is a slight profiling to the covers, but I could probably get away with replacing them with plasticard. I'd be a bit worried about gluing them securely with such a thin mating surface though.... Lots to ponder while I crack on with a P-38! Cheers, Shaun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, Seamus said: Hi Pappy, That was my thinking. There is a slight profiling to the covers, but I could probably get away with replacing them with plasticard. I'd be a bit worried about gluing them securely with such a thin mating surface though.... Lots to ponder while I crack on with a P-38! Cheers, Shaun Well they do say great minds think alike (and idiots never differ) I would just use a couple of spots of CA to hold the replacement section in place after ensuring the engle is correct, the part is straight etc. When happy , then run a bead of CA along the inside of the join where it is less likely to be seen) using some very thin stretched sprue as an applicator, cheers, Pappy Edited January 12, 2022 by Pappy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 Thanks for the tip, definitely something I'll consider, just maybe not on this Growler as I've now sourced a set of the Wolfpack wings, which should hopefully be on their way to me as we speak. They're the Growler wings too, so no need for modifications, which means I can save the Air Graphics wings for another day when I'm more confident of working with them 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 The Wolfpack wings and Two Bobs decals have both arrived, so once I've cleared a build off the bench I'll be good to go with this one. The wings are beautifully cast and will go together far easier than the Air Graphics ones, very glad I managed to source some. Annoyingly though, the decals seem to have a registration issue, with an inconsistent green shadow on some of them... It's irritating, but given neither side will be viewable at the same time I can probably live with it.... Hopefully I can make a start on this sometime next week. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 It's a b*gger when the kit starts fighting back even BEFORE you start building it! Just bumps in the road for a modeller of your calibre 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 That green shadow looks too specific to be a registration issue- why would it be out on some , but not others? Is it possible that the decal subject was actually done like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 On 1/11/2022 at 2:09 PM, Seamus said: I've had a hard time tracking down the Wolfpack set, which I understand to be very good, Hello Seamus … Happy to see you found your flap set. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted January 20, 2022 Author Share Posted January 20, 2022 2 hours ago, gingerbob said: That green shadow looks too specific to be a registration issue- why would it be out on some , but not others? Is it possible that the decal subject was actually done like that? I did wonder that too, but looking at images of both sides of the jet here and here it does seem they are the same both sides, which frankly you'd expect! If it really bothers me then I may do one of the other options on the sheet.... Vader is still present in the squadron markings at least 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted February 2, 2022 Author Share Posted February 2, 2022 OK, at last we have some, if not especially meaningful progress. I've started in my usual way of removing and cleaning the major airframe components, internals, undercarriage etc, but couldn't resist a quick look at how the Wolfpack wings will fit. Still some clean up required but generally things are looking pretty good. Always impressive to see just how much of the massive wing is flap! More soon.... 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted February 3, 2022 Share Posted February 3, 2022 10 hours ago, Seamus said: couldn't resist a quick look at how the Wolfpack wings will fit They look great, don’t they? I think I have drooped control surfaces envy!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted February 3, 2022 Share Posted February 3, 2022 They do look very nice, look like a good fit too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted February 10, 2022 Author Share Posted February 10, 2022 (edited) Some more unexciting progress to report. The wings have had the pylon mounting holes drilled out- I shall clean them up properly when it comes to fitting them lest I remove too much material too soon... The stores have been largely assembled and cleaned up, just a bit of filling required here and there. And most of the remaining parts have been cleaned up and prepped for priming, I'm just holding off this as I'm trying (and apparently failing!) to scratch some FOD guards for the famously poor intakes... The swiftness of progress will depend very much on the success of said FOD guards! More soon, hopefully.... Edited February 10, 2022 by Seamus 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 Evening all, Long time no update.... progress has very much been slow with this one, due to life getting in the way and dedicating what modelling time I do get to finishing off a long term MiG-31 project. I've been chipping away at the Growler, but now that the MiG is done (in two minds whether to post it....) I can focus more on it, to the point where the interior is done. The Eduard etch busies it up nicely, although as ever the colour doesn't quite match up properly.... I also found a couple of Pavla seats in the stash to replace the woeful kit ones, so it all looks reasonable for the scale. I plan to close the canopy anyway as long as it fits nicely so this is more than passable. I've also painted and weathered the undercarriage legs and bays. I think the IPs will need trimming a touch to fit under the coamings, but it's all pretty much ready for the fuselage to be buttoned up. Hopefully things will speed along quicker from now on Cheers Shaun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted April 23, 2022 Author Share Posted April 23, 2022 Well I completely missed the deadline for this one.... Perhaps a mod can move this to the WIP section? y modelling enthusiasm has taken a bit of a hit over the past couple of months, but having been pretty prolific for the previous couple of years that was probably overdue! Slowly but surely I've been regaining a bit of mojo and have been working away on this one alongside something far simpler to reignite the spark. In fact, I've reached a point where the bulk of the construction is complete. The Wolfpack wings fitted very well indeed, with just a bit of filler required to blend them in, although I got a little excited when removing them from their casting blocks and as such had to add a shim to the inboard edge of the port leading edge flap... A bit of filler has been required on a lot of the joins, such is the way with Hornets and their multitude of seams. There's still a bit of tidying up to do plus I need to glue various aerials etc in place and get the cockpit sorted, but hopefully she's not too far from being ready for primer... Thanks for looking Shaun 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 Those wings look pretty good Shaun & will give the finished item far more interest. Keep plugging away at it mate, you'll run out of stuff to do before you know it. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted May 6, 2022 Author Share Posted May 6, 2022 Cheers Steve With the Heinkel finished and some mojo restored, I've been able to get back to this one. She's now ready for priming More soon... Shaun 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted May 18, 2022 Author Share Posted May 18, 2022 More progress and she's painted. Reluctantly I decided against the CAG scheme as I just couldn't live with the green being out of registers, so it'll end up as one of the alternative jets. Vader will still appears on the fins though, just not so spectacularly. Mr Hobby was used for the main colours, with the details picked out using Hataka and Alclad. Most pictures I've seen of VAQ-209 jets show them to be pretty clean, especially compared to embarked jets, but I wanted to add some interest with some post shading, so there's a bit of artistic license at play here. Not that you can really see it in the pics! It's been a bit of a slog at times but I've really broken the back of this build now, shouldn't take too long to finish from here on in. Cheers, Shaun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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