shortCummins Posted September 14, 2022 Author Share Posted September 14, 2022 XF-24 dark grey was dry-brushed over MRP-077 NATO black. Seat cushions were given a coat of vallejo 70.924 Russian uniform. The PE harness were bent to shape and given a coat of vallejo 70.983 flat earth and glued to the seat… …buckles were picked out with mig steel. Kit decals were added to the seat sides. Copper wire was painted yellow and black stripes, twisted together, then bent to represent the ejector pull and glued to the seat. Next I’ll be finishing the detail painting for the cockpit. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 Very nice John. I must remember that trick for the ejector seat handles James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted September 14, 2022 Author Share Posted September 14, 2022 3 minutes ago, 81-er said: Very nice John. I must remember that trick for the ejector seat handles James thanks James I saw it on-line somewhere, quite a long time ago so unfortunately I can't remember who or where but its really neat and easy trick. rgds John(shortCummins) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted September 14, 2022 Author Share Posted September 14, 2022 I think Mike posted this photo… …of the C cockpit that I’ve used as a guide. Switch’s and buttons have been picked out with yellow and black. I’m not going to use the kit supplied IP decals, I don’t want to portray the video screens as being turned on so I painted a black base coat on the screens. Tamiya X-25 clear green was over painted to give the illusion of a computer screen? A Dixon Tru/Color film marker black 2225 pencil was used to add “edging” to the boxes on the radio deck, these and the foot pedals were added to the cockpit tub. The seat and IP added. Sidewalls added. Radio deck completed. Next I’ll be starting on the wheel wells. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins) 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 Great start John , the pit is looking good. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomjw Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 Excellent progress John. Mind if I tag along for the ride? Cheers, Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 15, 2022 Share Posted September 15, 2022 Nice cockpit, if a little bland ( not a criticism of your work but modern cockpits ). I got the coloured wire/thread tip for ejection seat handles from an edition of SAM many years ago John. 🇺🇦 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted September 15, 2022 Share Posted September 15, 2022 Nicely done, John. As the other John said, modern cockpits are fairly bland (and I'm sure the screens don't help with that). At least this one isn't all black like a lot of them James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web99 Posted September 15, 2022 Share Posted September 15, 2022 The cockpit’s looking good! Can’t wait to see how this pans out because I have the same kit. 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 On 15/09/2022 at 08:29, Biggles87 said: Nice cockpit, if a little bland ( not a criticism of your work but modern cockpits ). I got the coloured wire/thread tip for ejection seat handles from an edition of SAM many years ago John. 🇺🇦 thanks John I agree about the cockpit, with a Spitfire there are so many bits'n'pieces that can be shown and "weathered" to make the subject a wee bit more interesting On 15/09/2022 at 08:37, 81-er said: Nicely done, John. As the other John said, modern cockpits are fairly bland (and I'm sure the screens don't help with that). At least this one isn't all black like a lot of them James thanks James I've a Hunter sitting in the stash, getting closer to the top, a she'll have a all black cockpit, it'll be an interesting exercise getting that to look other than a black hole! On 15/09/2022 at 16:45, Web99 said: The cockpit’s looking good! Can’t wait to see how this pans out because I have the same kit. 😁 thanks Web99 so far the build has been OK, the seat wasn't as straight forward as it could/should have been and the wheel wells, I've just built them, had one or two "issues", nothing major just unnecessary messing about! rgds John(shortCummins) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 Kitty Hawk would have you find the landing gear to the wheel wells at this stage, I’m not going to do that as I know that I'll damage them! I built the wheel well and landing gear sub-assemblies and gave them a coat of Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 black. The front wheel well sides were sightly warped, the “fix” was easy, glue the “rear” side, let it dry and then hold the “front” in place and glue. For the rear wheel wells, parts B29/B33 & B7/B8 have “location pegs” that are meant to fit in some slots along the rear wall… …no chance, the pegs were too large so I cut them flush and glued the pieces in place. The sub-assemblies were then given a coat of MRP-365 Boeing grey, almost certainly not the correct colour but closer than white as Kitty Hawk suggest they should be? Next I’ll be looking at the exhaust pipe and nozzle. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Very tidy work there, John! Funnily enough, I've got a 1/48th Hunter in the stash as well. Tempted to do what I did on the Vampire when I get to that, paint the walls very dark grey and the details black, just to give them a chance of standing out a little. James 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 22 minutes ago, 81-er said: Very tidy work there, John! Funnily enough, I've got a 1/48th Hunter in the stash as well. Tempted to do what I did on the Vampire when I get to that, paint the walls very dark grey and the details black, just to give them a chance of standing out a little. James sounds like a good idea, having "black" as a starting point would mean that you can only go lighter however a very dark grey gives you options 👍 rgds John(shortCummins) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted September 21, 2022 Author Share Posted September 21, 2022 The exhaust tube PE was given a coat of Mr Surfacer however this happened… … with very little handling so as this piece needs to be both painted and bent to shape I wasn’t overly confident of the finish staying attached so… …the primer was sanded and some metal primer… … added The PE was then given another coat of Mr Surfacer… …followed by MRP-258 clear doped linen, this was the closest colour that I have to the inner tube colour… …which was also added to the inner exhaust nozzle. Tamiya panel liner dark brown was used to pick out the detail. The fan blades and burner ring were given a coat of Xtreme Metal AK484 burnt metal Next I’ll be assembling the exhaust pipe, not looking forward to rolling the PE. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins) 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomjw Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 This is coming along very nicely. Kitty Hawk certainly don't make shake and bake kits Cheers, Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted September 21, 2022 Author Share Posted September 21, 2022 2 minutes ago, Tomjw said: This is coming along very nicely. Kitty Hawk certainly don't make shake and bake kits Cheers, Tom ha ha Tamiya it ain't some of the detail is really nice but the "fit" leaves a little to be desired, not helped by the "over-engineering" of what should/could have been simple and straight forward, I've got to admit that its beginning to sap my mojo, if I didn't really like the Gripen I could be tempted to get another kit out of the stash, luckily I want to get this one finished especially with the splinter camo' as I think she'll look quite striking? rgds John(shortCummins) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 Regarding shaping the PE, a bit late now you've painted it, but annealing the brass first helps considerably. James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted September 21, 2022 Author Share Posted September 21, 2022 50 minutes ago, 81-er said: Regarding shaping the PE, a bit late now you've painted it, but annealing the brass first helps considerably. James thanks James I did anneal the PE before paint, so "in theory" it should bend without too much of a problem? I'll find out tomorrow rgds John(shortCummins) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 Bon courage as they say in these parts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted September 22, 2022 Author Share Posted September 22, 2022 Before I could start assembling the exhaust nozzle I needed to remove these huge ejector pins. Kitty Hawk’s instructions show part E32 with a location pin… …this was missing from my kit? Anyhow the burner ring… …and intake fans… …were cemented to one half of the tube and the rolled PE squeezed in place. looking into the tube the join in the PE isn't too visible and thankfully looks an almost perfect fit! The other half of the tube was fixed and here’s what you get… …not much can be seen down the tube… …even less with the exhaust petals balanced “in place”. Next I’ll be adding the remaining bits’n’bobs to the fuselage halves before cementing them together. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins) 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 We know it's there though, John 😉 Nice work too James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted September 24, 2022 Author Share Posted September 24, 2022 Before joining the fuselage halves there are a few “boxes” that need to be fitted from the inside. Before that, there are some more huge ejector pins that need dealing with… Kitty Hawk would have you paint these “boxes” copper, that didn’t sound quite right, I recon that would be far too bright?, so I’ve painted them with Xtreme Metal AK485 pale burnt metal. I’ve decided to deviate from the instructions, they suggest that you join the front (cockpit) halves, then the rear fuselage halves and then join the front and back. I realise they’ve done this so that they can use the rear half for the two seater, but I’m not comfortable with this idea. So I’ve joined the front and rear fuselage together and then joined both halves, I think this is a more conventional way of doing it? There’s an issue with the secondary pitot tube… …as I’ve got the Master replacement (brass) pitot tubes luckily this isn’t too much of a problem but I don’r understand how they could have got the alignment wrong? The cockpit and front wheel well were glued in place, the exhaust tube was placed in its location, I didn’t glue it in place in case the nozzle petals need aligning later in the build? Fuselage halves joined… …and combing fixed in place, the IP needed “shortening” to allow the combing to sit flush. Next I’ll be assembling the wings. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serkan Sen Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 All parts coming along nicely John. I have many of them as single and two seater both in 1:48 and 1:72 scales unboxed. I really liked the splintered camo (I used recently very often in my Flanker, Eagle and Viper builds). Following with great interest. Serkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 The gripen is going on very well John !! Congratulations !! CC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted September 25, 2022 Author Share Posted September 25, 2022 12 hours ago, Serkan Sen said: All parts coming along nicely John. I have many of them as single and two seater both in 1:48 and 1:72 scales unboxed. I really liked the splintered camo (I used recently very often in my Flanker, Eagle and Viper builds). Following with great interest. Serkan thanks Serkan I think the Gripen is one of the nicest looking "modern" jets, they look like something from 1960's SciFi and I'm hoping that the splinter camo will enhance that look. 10 hours ago, corsaircorp said: The gripen is going on very well John !! Congratulations !! CC thanks CC to be honest the kits isn't as bad as some reports I've read, not as "easy" as a Tamiya build but with a little forethought and lots of dry-fitting, so far she's go together OK, fingers crossed I can say the same after I nail on the wings!? rgds John(shortCummins) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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