Cheetah11 Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 Hi Eric BTW, I would love to do Cheetah conversion one day! When you do, and need reference material, just shout. Keep well Cheetah11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squizzy 78 Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 It's looking amazing, I can't wait to see it at expo, great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted June 6, 2017 Author Share Posted June 6, 2017 So the Mirage is finished. I would have had it finished earlier, but I went flying with Sean as part of his efforts in `Red Thunder', a gathering of Nanchang's and Yak's in simulated combat exercises here in Queensland. I must say that although I have thousands of hours of flying under my belt, this has to be up there as one of the most memorable times I have been in an aircraft. To be involved in the briefing, and also to be an extra set of eyes whilst he flew CAP, basically spotting waves of other aircraft coming through on attacks really got the blood pumping. We pulled a few G's and had a great time. A very welcome diversion from the bench and a great day out with the family! The mass briefing. On the briefing board as Sean's back seater, I wasn't worthy! The young fella, waving goodbye to us. Maybe a dream starts here? My view, that and trying to spot other aircraft. Our wingman coming into formation Sean's Nanchang `Madam Chang' A most memorable day out. Onto the final part of the build. I primed the seat and painted it. The `just finished' shot. I will have some studio photos very soon. It will be packed into a box in the next couple of days to appear at the Australian Model Expo in Melbourne. Sean will be attending the event on Monday, so if you are there come up say hello! F`s are my favs, Marcel111, Anthony in NZ and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor K2 Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Another outstanding build, a work of art. This build, as well as T-Tail's "tales", make this one of the most enjoyable threads on this site. Truly amazing. I look forward to your next epic project ( Bricks turn? ) Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel111 Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Congrats on finishing this incredible build! NavyF4s 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTail Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 That is really stunning Eric !.... cant wait to see in the flesh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Truly a joy to behold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piprm Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Bravo Eric! Your talents are a joy to behold! Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted June 7, 2017 Author Share Posted June 7, 2017 Thanks very much for the nice comments guys. I was going to take some studio photos of it tonight but we cant find my battery charger for my camera! I did however manage to get some photos of my WIP for the supporting base and thought I would share the process here. I do get asked about how I do this quite often and it is very easy and a fun, creative way to fill in a few hours. I had a trophy shop print my own design on a piece of thin metal plate. I have left a small gap under the text for Sean to sign, which will be possible when he attends Model Expo next Monday. He gave me an FCI patch which was always going to be a part of the base. The trophy shop also sells the wooden bases. Next up was to cut a square from a sheet of 3mm MDF board All of the components arranged I marked out where the model was going to sit and drew a center line. I cut up 5 inch squares of 800 grit wet and dry sandpaper and placed them over the MDF I then drew another line offset to the center line, and sprayed the MDF and sandpaper squares with contact adhesive. Once the contact adhesive is almost dry to touch, I positioned each square of sandpaper leaving a very small gap between each one. Once all the sheets are in place, the board is flipped over and the paper is trimmed. Here is the `blank canvas' ready for painting. Victor K2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted June 7, 2017 Author Share Posted June 7, 2017 The board is then primed using Tamiya fine surface primer before given a coat of Tamiya Dark sea grey. Once the base coat was dry, I loaded up my airbrush with water and sprayed a nice even coat over the base. I then sprinkled salt over the base and let that dry. Once the salt was dry, I sprayed a lightened coat of Tamiya deck tan over it, then rubbed off the salt leaving a contrasting grained pattern. I then sprayed the deck tan again, highly thinned, blending in the pattern. A little bit of shading using some grey I then made a heavily diluted mix of brown and black oil paint, thinned with white spirit, and used a thick brush to work the mix over the base. I cleaned off the brush after each application to progressively lighten it, leaving a faintly visible brush pattern Once this was dry, I then sanded each square with some 800 grit, to give it a very unique weathered grain. You can see that I have sanded only one side to show the difference here. I then painted a washed out white line to simulate apron markings. A dark grey paint was then airbrushed in thin lines over each gap. cib2265 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted June 7, 2017 Author Share Posted June 7, 2017 (edited) Once all this was dry, I mixed up a dirty mix of raw umber and black oil paint, and flicked it in areas that would be exposed to leaks and general spillage, using a wide brush loaded up with white spirit. I then flicked clean white spirit over the base to wash out the previous applied splatter. The finished base. Edited June 7, 2017 by ericg F`s are my favs, TaffyMan, Scale32 and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scale32 Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Very convincing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Amazing base, Eric! I look forward to seeing it in person at the weekend. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonH Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 That is stunning. Fantastic job! Now, what's next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyrosjzmichos Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Beautifully executed! What a terrific model! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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