A pair of F-35I Adir's from IDF/AF; one in Stealth mode and one in Beast mode - Meng 1/48

[Wings unlevel]

That’s getting serious! Good luck. 

[Marlin]

Hi.  

I've managed to clean my airbrush with my new ultrasonic wash.
I tried it with just water and a few drops of washing uo liquid, but that didn't work. 
064 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

So I got me a camping mug in stainless steel. 
I didn't want to put mineral spirits directly in the machine. 
The rim is too wide to drain in without making a mess in the kitchen. 
So water in the machine and mineral spirits in the mug.
And that did the trick.
I let it run 2 x 10 minutes and I think my airbrush looked better than when it was new.   
065 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

I also bought a stainless steel funnel. 
Just put a suitable coffee filter in it and then I could filter out some very tiny paint particles and pour the mineral spirits back in the bottle for future use.
url=https://www.flickr.com/gp/156426495@N05/T3NNZ2x5Nd][/url]066 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

I've also tested AK's metallic markers, some old bronze on the optoelectronics.
Looks great I think. 
067 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

So with a working airbrush I think I'll be busy with painting lots of parts. 
To be continued.....
/Bosse

[Wings unlevel]

16 hours ago, Marlin said:

let it run 2 x 10 minutes and I think my airbrush looked better than when it was new.   

Nice, hopefully it will spray like new too, as it’s about to get a lot of use no doubt!

[Marlin]

Thanks Gerard. 

It sprays like a dream now. 

I did some white on the inside of all covers yesterday. 

And if I get my new load of Olive Drab delivered today I'll use that on the ordnance for the Beast. 

And perhaps I'll have some more progress pictures tomorrow. 

 

/Bosse

 

[Marlin]

Hi.  

I almost came to an involuntary stop in my Adir build. 
I was getting close to running out of paint. 
But yesterday I took delivery of my order from Super hobby in Poland.
068 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

But the new Real Color 17ml bottles doesn't fit in my paint rack for the old 10ml jars.  
They do fit in the rack for normal 17ml bottles
069 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

But I'm not in the position to start replacing my 10ml racks just yet.
I bought the complete set of Real Color last year and I've not used very much of them. 
So during the time until most of them have been replaced I'll re-number them according to the old numbers.
And I made a neck for the new bottle with a couple of strips from an old kitchen roll innertube and some tape. 
070 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

And with the neck on the bottle it fits the 10ml rack and sits in it's "old" place.  
071 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

And with some fresh Olive Drab I sprayed the ordnance for Adir Beast.
I've also repainted the pylon for the Beast in Light Ghost Grey as suggested by @Pappy. 
072 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

To be continued.....
/Bosse 

[Wings unlevel]

6 hours ago, Marlin said:

So during the time until most of them have been replaced I'll re-number them according to the old numbers.

I knew AK was moving to new bottles, but I didn't realise there was a new numbering system as well. I wonder why...

 

Nice start on painting all those stores Bosse. Think I am going to cheat and build mine clean!

[Marlin]

Thanks Gerard.

Remember, I'm doing one in Stealth and one i Beast....

 

/Bosse

[Marlin]

Hi.  

When working with two F-35's there is always something that can be worked on each evening. 
I've sprayed the ordnance for the Beast Olive Drab. 
And I've masked them, took more than one evening to do these.
073 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

I'm testing with Maskol on some areas to see if that will do the work a little faster. 
I'm planning an F-15I Ra'am with 7 of these GBU-31's and I don't want to spend a week masking them. 
074 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

And I've sprayed them all with some Light Ghost Grey.
075 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

I've also tested to see if AK's new marker pens can be used for painting all cables in the wheel and bomb bays.
Well not really, the tip on the pens is a bit large for this. 
076 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

So I went back to my trusty 0/20 micro brushes.
077 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

And I've been looking at the suggested colour for all RAM Panels. Isradecal that they're RAL7005 and states Mr Paint MRP-094. 
But I think that's not quite right. 
The painted area doesn't match the printed decal right. 
I think the paint is a bit light. 
So I'll spray up some plastic spoons with some other greys and see if I can find a slightly better match.
078 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr
079 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr
080 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

I've also purchased a mask set since my initial Meng box doesn't include any.
I'm also planning an IDF/AF Kfir in the future so I purchased a set for that too.
081 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

And I also picked up a Reskit resin ejection seat for the Beast, and what a difference on Meng's plastic.
082 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

Reskit is light years ahead from Meng, so I think I'll pick up another one for the Adir Stealth 
083 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr
084 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr
085 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

The Resit version even include some stencils for the seat.
086 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

To be continued.....
/Bosse

[Wings unlevel]

More good progress Bosse. And wow, that Reskit seat is a work of art.

 

Interested to see where you land with matching the decal RAM tape colour. I’ve just bought the new Tamiya LP  paints for the F-35 to try, LP-85 for the lighter grey, LP-84 for the main grey.

[Marlin]

Thanks Gerard. @Wings unlevel.

Reskit products are just fantastic, and I can see myself ordering more and more of their products to my larger than I can manage stash of unbuilt kits. 

Tamiya LP 84 & LP 85 you say, I might get me those if I can't find a decent match in my Real Colors.

 

/Bosse

[Marlin]

Hi.  

Another weekend has passed and I got a very nice weekend in the cottage. 
The trafic situation was much better this Friday than the last one. 
So we arrived in time to enjoy a glass of wine on the patio in the last evening sunrays. 
087 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr
088 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

But autumn is coming, the leaves on the trees have started to change colour and we had to use the wood stove both Friday and Saturday evenings. 
No BBQ this weekend since we had some frozen fish in the freezer that we had to take care of. 
So a piece of cod and salmon together with some shrimps in a saffron sauce with some dill and homegrown boiled potatoes. 
I added some smoked mussels to my service, my wife thinks I'm a heathen to eat such things. 
But I like them. 
089 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

We had a really sunny Saturday and I could finally spray the last of the modules to my paint rack and now it's complete. 
I have some capacity to add more of Mr Paint colours. 
I've not put the Mr Paint bottles in order this time, I'll have them in segments for each nation/paint types. 
So there will be a Swedish, German, US and FS colours, Ukraine, Russian/Soviet section. 
That way I can easy see if I have to order a particular colour before I start a project. 
I still have to take care of the mess on the table, and clean up bookcase beside the table.
And next spring I'll get the painting area in order with a proper spray booth. 
090 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

I've not worked so much on my Adir's, but I got some new decals for the Beast. 
I don't like the decals Meng provides, so my Beast will be in the livery of 117 "First Jet" Squadron. 
And who knows I might even do a third one in the livery of IDF Test & Evaluation Squadron "Manat" just to get some more colour on a F-35.
091 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr
092 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr
093 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

And I've cut the Reskit ejection seat free from it's cage.
I did want to see what I bought. 
094 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

And it only took me a second to realize that I cant use the kit ejection seat after seeing this. 
So I'll be ordering a second seat shortly.
095 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr
096 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

I think I'll have some fun days painting up this seat.
To be continued.....
/Bosse 

[Wings unlevel]

15 hours ago, Marlin said:

my paint rack and now it's complete. 
I have some capacity to add more of Mr Paint colours. 
I've not put the Mr Paint bottles in order this time, I'll have them in segments for each nation/paint types. 
So there will be a Swedish, German, US and FS colours, Ukraine, Russian/Soviet section. 
That way I can easy see if I have to order a particular colour before I start a project. 

Gosh that’s impressive. I use the Paint Rack app which is a good way of keeping track of what paints I own, but finding which one I need from my unorganised shelf of paint jars takes much longer than it should!

 

15 hours ago, Marlin said:

we arrived in time to enjoy a glass of wine on the patio in the last evening sunrays.

What a beautiful space. 👏

[Marlin]

Thanks Gerard. @Wings unlevel 

The cottage is a God send to be able to have. 

I live in Upplands Väsby north of Stockholm  and it's really noise polluted. 

Our block of flats are right under the approach to Arlanda Airport and during peak hours I got 2 planes a minute flying right over us. 

And then we have the railway to the North of Sweden going on onside of my little town and then we have the E4 motorway cutting right through Upplands Väsby and actually splitting the little town in two. 

So there is traffic noise almost around the clock. 

I actually don't notice it, until I come to the cottage where the noise is really the opposite of it. 

The only thing you'll be hearing there is bird song and the wind.

So quite a peaceful contrast to where I normally live. 

026 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

 

We've got the most beautiful sunsets there.

381 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

 

And there is a lake where you can go swimming from mid May until early September.

382 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

381 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

 

We try to use the cottage as much as we can, so every second weekend from say late February until mid October we're there. 

And it's only 110 km from home so it doesn't take us more than around 90 minutes to get there.

And some full weeks during summer.  🌞 😎

 

/Bosse

 

[Wings unlevel]

Just looking at those photos is relaxing, Bosse. There is beauty in the simplicity of your little cottage. Seems the perfect antidote to a busy city life.

 

Meanwhile it is spring in my corner of the planet. I’ll have to share a few photos, the blooms are in full flight at the moment.

[Marlin]

18 hours ago, Wings unlevel said:

Meanwhile it is spring in my corner of the planet. I’ll have to share a few photos, the blooms are in full flight at the moment.

 

Thanks Gerard,  

Please do, I can sure use some spring pictures to carry me the coming months. 

I like Spring, and I'm not so fond of snow and winter.

/Bosse

 

[Marlin]

Hi.  

I was looking at Reskit's resin ejection seat yesterday and discovered that it sits too high in the cockpit.
097 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

Meng's plastic version sits alright and at the correct height. 
098 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

And it's how Meng has done the cockpit that is the problem.
The plastic seat sits around a box structure in the cockpit, and the resin seat don't fit that box.
099 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

So I cut off the box. 
My grindingpen was very handy to remove the last bits of it.  
100 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

And now Reskit's resin seat fits like a glove, and at the correct height thanks to the little peg on the bottom of it.  
101 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

I don't know how much bench time I'll have this weekend, got some other things I need to fix around the flat, and on Saturday the Hockey season starts here in Sweden, so I guess I'll spend some time looking on TV.  

To be continued.....
/Bosse

[Wings unlevel]

You know you’re a serious modeller when you’re using power tools! 🤣

 

That seat sure is a work of art. 🤔

[Marlin]

Thanks Gerard. @Wings unlevel 

You know the old proverb; "He who dies with the most tool/toys wins".  

Reskit really did deliver on this one, I think I'll take delivery on the second one during next week. 

Let's see how that compares to the one I already got.  

And Yes you guessed right, they the second one isn't the same one. 

 

/Bosse

[Wings unlevel]

19 hours ago, Marlin said:

Reskit really did deliver on this one, I think I'll take delivery on the second one during next week. 

Let's see how that compares to the one I already got.  

I think I may well find myself ordering one, too! 

[Marlin]

Hi.  

I've been working a bit on my two Adir's during the weekend.
And all covers for the Stealth version have been painted white on the inside and I've given them a semi matt varnish.
I'll gloss coat the outside this evening and then the Marathon work of placing all the RAM panel decals can start.
102 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

I've also gloss coated all the ordnance for them both, and this week I'll start putting all the stencils to them.
103 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

So this week I think I'll be busy with scissors and decal solutions.
To be continued.....
/Bosse

[Wings unlevel]

That’s an overwhelming amount of doors and stores to keep track of! 🤣 

[Marlin]

Yes, and my palettes of alligator clips are completely covering my work table. 

I can't start on the doors for the Beast before I get something off the table. 

The situation will be a lot better once I get my Romanian F-16 & MiG-21 out of the way.

 

/Bosse

[exdraken]

Really great and inspiring work Bosse!!

Resin nozzles you say.... 

I have the seat already, looks great, and I will watch out for the fin seams in mine!

 

 

[Marlin]

Hii, and thanks @exdraken Werner.

Yesterday I could pick up my second seat for the Beast. 
This one I paid with the points I've accumulated so far at Super-Hobby so it didn't cost me that much.
And I thought it would be nice to have a pilot in the cockpit.

Borrowed picture since I in my eager to see what I'd got forgot to take a picture of the box. 

And this second one is as lovely as the first one if not even better.
It took quite some time to cut it free from all the printing supports.
104 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr
105 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr
106 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr
107 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

It took so long time that I didn't have time to cut his head and arms etc free. 
That'll be something to do when I get home from work.
108 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr

To be continued.....
/Bosse

[Wings unlevel]

Wow, that could be a sculpture in a museum. Amazing!