Tamiya F-15C Kicked Up A Notch- Dec 1/17: DONE!

[wardog]

Chuck,

 

Great work as usual; the exhaust area looks very convincing as does the rest of the model. When painting with Alclad, I've never used Black paint as a substrate and I have obtained great results as long as the plastic is super smooth before painting. However, looking at your pics, It does seem that using Black paint does provide more depth and looks better overall.

 

Congrats on another fine build.

 

Elmo

[chuck540z3]

Chuck,

 

Great work as usual; the exhaust area looks very convincing as does the rest of the model. When painting with Alclad, I've never used Black paint as a substrate and I have obtained great results as long as the plastic is super smooth before painting. However, looking at your pics, It does seem that using Black paint does provide more depth and looks better overall.

 

Congrats on another fine build.

 

Elmo

 

 

Thanks Elmo.  I have always been a big fan of your work.  Any WIP's threads going lately?

 

I really like the black base for other situations where I want dark contrasts between various shades of metal.  Here's another example on my F-4E build a few years ago.  Excuse the quality of the pics.

 

 

Gloss Black base coat.

 

 

 

 

Followed by a light coat of Duraluminum.  This was followed by thin strips of masking tape to replicate the ribbed look of weld marks on the titanium panels.

 

 

 

 

The end result, after various shades of darker Alclad paints and soot.  The dark bands that you can still see behind the exhausts are due to the black base coat, rather than just darker Alclad, which I think looks more natural and realistic.

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[dodgem37]

'sticking Tamiya masking tape to your greasy forehead'

I use the back of my hand.

 

'I polished and buffed the Alclad paint with Tamiya Coarse polishing compound to reveal a bit of every layer'

Smart.  I was using a sanding/polishing cloth on my Mustang.  I'll give compound a look-see.

 

'Masking these little guys off in this tight space was a bear!'

'I really like how the purple/blue petals on the nozzles contrast with the blue camo paint.'

You BAD!

 

Great stuff, Chuck.  Love seeing every post.  You, Peter, Bernd, are just over the top.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Starfighter Jock]

Amazing Titanium finish Chuck, I would have never of thought or even dared to use polishing compound on Alclad paints.  You have demonstrated that it is not only possible, but it takes the final finish to a even higher level.

 

Well done!

 

Kirk

[ChuckT]

Fan Tastic!

 

Love your work and that you freely share the how too's even more.

 

Thanks Chuck.

[airscale]

meh....looks ok I guess...

 

 

 

 

...are you for real it's unbelievably good - quite incredible..

 

and thanks for the tips, your WIPs are as much a work of art as your models Chuck

 

Peter

[chuck540z3]

Thanks guys!

 

 

meh....looks ok I guess...

 

Peter

 

 

Touché Peter, Touché! I'm not quite sure what that really means in French, but it seems quite appropriate right now.

 

 

One thing I forgot to mention is that those little panels at the rear of the aircraft that I painted do not exist on the kit parts. Parts of them do, so you have a good start if you want to re-scribe the same. Same goes for all the rivet detail. There is very little to start with.

 

Chuck

Edited August 25, 2017 by chuck540z3

[Squizzy 78]

Amazing work Chuck, I haven't used alclad paints before, I've always used the model masters metal paints, but looking at all of the finishes you've achieved over your last few models, I can't wait to have a go with them. Great work mate, I can't wait to see more, more, more!

[MarioS]

Great update, as always

 

Chuck your model threads… correction tutorials on How-To-Build a model aeroplane would have to be one of the best explained on any forum.

 

If ever I get an opportunity to visit Canada besides the beautiful and majestic landscape that Canada's got to offer, it would also be a good opportunity to coincide it with a model show/competition that you, with any luck would be displaying one of your model planes in.

[Guest Maxim]

Absolutely stunning work and build! You learn something from reading each page of this build. My hats off to you sir, your a craftsman.

Maxim.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Maxim

[A-10LOADER]

Beautiful work bud, it's all starting to come together now. Keep it up.

 

Steve

[dsahling1]

Chuck, I know you did the rivet work on the fuselage, wings, etc a long time ago, but I was just wondering what spacing of the rivets did you use?  If you don't remember would you be able to measure?  1mm, 0.75mm apart?

 

I'm about to start riveting and need an idea of which tools I'm going to use

[chuck540z3]

Chuck, I know you did the rivet work on the fuselage, wings, etc a long time ago, but I was just wondering what spacing of the rivets did you use?  If you don't remember would you be able to measure?  1mm, 0.75mm apart?

 

I'm about to start riveting and need an idea of which tools I'm going to use

 

 

Hi,

 

My go-to rivet ruler is the 1 mm one, which comes as a set of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 mm rulers made by Hasegawa.  It comes as one big template of all 4 rulers, which I cut down into 4 smaller ones like in the pic below.  A sewing needle in a pin vice is the way to go, with the following tips:

 

1)   The taper at the tip of the needle is key, as well as the softness of the plastic.  Sewing needles come in a variety of tapers at the tip, so for some very small rivets you want a shallow taper that is all sharp tip, while on other larger rivet depressions, you want a taper that goes from fat to sharp in a very short distance, which creates a wider depression.  In my recent experience, Trumpeter plastic is much softer than Tamiya, so you have to be careful to not go too deep with each needle punch.  I generally prefer the fat taper that goes from wide to sharp in a short distance, which allows me to make the mark I want based upon needle pressure.   I hope this makes sense.  For really big fastener depressions, you should use the "Mega Tool" (wood handle punch below) with a variety of small sized circular punches.

 

2)  When making needle depressions with the ruler, make really shallow ones at first that you can barely see, which the metal ruler will force you into anyway.  At this stage you just want to know where the rivet mark is supposed to be, rather than the total depression with one punch.

 

3)   Re-do each rivet punch without the ruler in the way.  Again, based upon the depth and softness of the plastic, you can hopefully create the depth and width that you are looking for.

 

4)  With lots of practice, you can free-hand many of the rivet marks you want to make with fairly good precision.  About 50% of my rivet marks are made this way, especially along curves.

 

 

 

 

Good Luck!

Chuck

Edited August 28, 2017 by chuck540z3

[chuck540z3]

Hi Guys,

 

No real update, other than to say I am working on the drop tanks, wing pylons, missile launchers and other tiny bits.  I have made several modifications to all of them and right now I'm extra SLOW!  Part of it has to do with the warmest summer I can ever remember and part of it has to do with savoring every last detail of this build, so I won't be finished any time soon.

 

Thanks for your patience,

Chuck

[Uncarina]

Chuck,

 

It's definitely worth waiting for!

 

Cheers, Tom