geedubelyer

Hi Rich, This will potentially garner as many options as there are posters so I hope you can glean some worthwhile information from it eventually. I have been puzzled by the lack of a Dassault Rafale in 1/32nd scale. I know it is only used by the French but they have painted some stunning schemes on their aircraft over the years and it is quite a pretty aircraft in my eyes. Perhaps exact detail and dimensions are hard to come by or perhaps Dassault charge alot for a license? Additionally, I'd expect a new tool Saab Gripen to sell well. More operators for that one, it would be a reasonable sized model in 1/32nd scale and a few memorable special schemes to satisfy those of us with a colour craving. For the props, I'd go with a glass nosed Mosquito and another deHavilland aeroplane, the dH88 Comet. I'd love an IM Comet in 1/32nd scale. New tool Tiger Moth? Yes please. Good luck with your research. I hope it leads to even more 1/32nd scale plastic. Cheers

Gah! My pet peeve. Drives me nuts

"Maybe later down the road, I'll come back. Chris" Let's hope so Chris. Life's too short. Take a little time away, get your mojo back and regain your enjoyment of the hobby. Maybe I could suggest popping in from time to time just to let us know you are ok? Cheers.

Lol! This subject always sparks a spirited debate does n't it? Myriad different perspectives and not one right or wrong. As has already been mentioned here the weathering of a model is subjective and a personal taste. Personally I agree with the OP that pre-shading is over done. I'm not saying it's wrong, just that I prefer an alternative. As another member stated, the real aircraft don't get pre-shaded before the paint is applied and so to my mind weathering ought to built up in layers just like the real thing. With that said, I have seen a couple of occasions on modern jets where pre-shading would look perfectly natural. Next time you can be bothered, study photos of an A-10's fuselage or RAF Typhoon fighter undersides. A subtle pre-shade will work wonders on those airframes. However, I can appreciate a model that looks good and as so many folk like to say, artistic license and interpretation can lead to some stunning eye-candy, accurate or not. I agree. I guess the bottom line is build what you like and enjoy it. There'll be some who share your enthusiasm and others who don't. "You can't please all of the people all of the time......." Cheers.

You are welcome. The best thing about modelling is doing your own thing. Go with what you like best since you'll be the one who sees the finished article most. Cheers.

Hello Zero77, If you can find it, Tamiya's AS-10, Ocean grey makes a good match. See here: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?s=1d5c32fc79466223edd4fce94fb0f82d&showtopic=151345&st=31 HTH

Hi Jax. A built up F-15 in 32nd scale is a big piece of kit. 2 feet long, 18" or so across and it weighs quite a bit straight out of the box. It's do-able but it'll take some planning.. If you're going to mount the aircraft on a pole from beneath I'd recommend square section to help keep the airframe stable and not spin. Clear acrylic rod can be used as a mount and I've seen builds where two are bent into curves then used in the jet pipes. This also helps keep the airframe stable. Perching an expensive and large model like the F-15 on a pole is a bold and ambitious adventure as a first time project. Have you considered cutting your teeth on something more manageable to get a feel of what's involved? (You could build up a 1/72nd scale version and try it out then pose it beneath the 1/32nd scale offering to give a forced perspective.) I've never built a model in flight so I can't offer specific advice on constructing your display, sorry. I would be most interested to see how you tackle the task if you feel like sharing your progress. Good luck.

From what I remember, Kinetic made an attempt at the "oil canning" effect on their Sabre I believe. I too agree that much of the surface detail is provided more for aesthetics than accuracy or realism. Would n't it be a bold and daring adventure for a mainstream manufacturer to create an accurate finish? Hardly visible panel lines, almost invisible rivet detail, gently undulating metal surfaces and areas of mastic or other fillers (on modern jets). It's something I'd pay good money for but I know I'm in the minority. Perhaps smaller and more specialised companies like HpH, Paul Fisher or Silver Wings are our best hope of re-creating that actual scale appearance of an aircraft.

Yowch! Sorry to hear of your spill Frank but I'm glad to hear that you got off quite lightly all things considered. I'm sure it's painful but it could have been a whole lot worse I guess. Here's hoping that you heal quickly and the pain subsides even more quickly. Cheers.

Any progress is good and she's looking great. Keep at it. Cheers.

Nice start Peter. I could n't agree more with your plan. When I needed a pick-me-up project in the past I built one of these and I had a barrel full of fun. It looks as though you'll double your pleasure by adding all of the aftermarket bits too. Super idea. Keep us all up to speed on progress but don't sweat the small stuff. Build for yourself and have a ball. Cheers,

Nice work RD, those walkways look very good. Chuck Sawyer is a big fan of this technique. You will? Where would one use it on an F-15E

Quite an achievement Peter, well done. The finish is superb and bodes well for the Sea Fury.

Remarkable! You make this all look so easy Vaughn. Good job.

The face turned out well Peter. Getting the eyes right has to be the toughtest challenge when modelling figures and you must be pleased with how your little dude is turning out? I have to say, I like his hairstyle! God only made so many perfect heads, the rest he covered with hair.....

Oooh,..........purty Wonder if they'll be bringing it to Telford? It would be great to see it in the flesh and get a feel for the size of it in 1/32nd scale. More images here: http://www.hphmodels.cz/kat163.html

Hello John, I hope you enjoy your Tomcat and consider sharing your progress here. What era are you depicting? If you decide on a later low-viz scheme you might find that many stencils are omitted from the airframe due to overpainting on routine maintenance. As Showtime suggests, reference photos will give you the best clue. "Airliners" is a place to start....http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?cx=partner-pub-8297169501225184%3Aa05n2n-tzky&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=F-14A+Tomcat&sa=Submit&search_active=1&search=&sheadline=&search_field=datedesc&submit=&siteurl=www.airliners.net%2F&ref=&ss=2657j1656609j8 Then there's "PrimePortal".......http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/f-14_home.htm Hope that helps and good luck. Cheers.

Congratulations on conquering your nemisis Peter. The paintwork thus far looks flawless. Of course practice makes perfect but you're off to a promising start. You've probably already discovered this but many light coats give a better result than one thick one. Your patience will be a virtue in this regard and I'm confident that the finish will be just as exemplary as the construction. I am floored by the look of the gear legs. Absolute precision. What a joy to behold. Keep up the magnificent work and continuing thanks for sharing every step with us. Cheers.

Hi Paul, check the placement of the JFS chimney. I see you have Jake's book and it shows that there is more than one position for it. As far as I can tell, the JFS exhaust on the kit is the one used on "-A" models so no need to modify it. I'm not sure the early eagles had the chaff and flare dispensers under the forward intakes. Just a thought. It looks as though Wolfpack have mimicked the look of Tamiyas "doughnut" engine parts with a stepped appearance. If you have a close look at photos of the real item you'll see the surface is smooth, not stepped. Cheers.

Hi Paul, good to see you start this project. I wish you luck and hope you see it through to completion. I'll be taking notes along the way as I'd love to build an Air Superiority blue machine at some point in the future. If you try the fit of the F-16 cans could you let us know how things go (ideally with pictures) as I think that will be the best option. Personally I would not bother with the Flightpath nozzles for this build. They take alot of time to construct, are a mite too long for complete accuracy and pretty much all of the detail will be hidden by the turkey feathers. Perhaps you could build a newer Eagle and use them on that one? Enjoy your big F-15 and please keep us up to speed on your progress, Cheers.

Beautiful work Frank. The paintwork is exemplary and the weathering sublime. I love the thought that's gone into your weathering. The black streak along the right side fuselage looks perfect and also the little bit of wear to the red warning paint on the port wingroot. Marvellous stuff. Glad you finally got your BMF bird and thanks for sharing her. Cheers.

Hi Showtime, Always good to see someone planning an F-15E build. I've built two so far and enjoyed both. The first was the original boxing, the second was the "Bunker Buster" edition. I used the kit cockpits and seats but scratch built some details to enhance the kit parts. I used the CE additional resin supplementary intakes on the sides of the CFT's but had to modify them significantly as they were the wrong shape. I used the kit tyres and they look fine. I used the Flightpath nozzles on both builds. For the first one I used the kit as it came but I modified the second version as it looks too "2D" out of the packet. For more on each build see here: #1 http://www.arcair.com/Fea1/901-1000/Fea976_F-15_Wilson/00.shtm #2 http://www.arcair.com/Gal8/7601-7700/gal7626-F-15E-Wilson/00.shtm I'd go with the AIM-9 Zactomodel missiles, they are superb. I found the Flightpath AIM-120's to be pretty good too. HTH If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to offer my experience. Enjoy your build.

Hi Murph, I can't comment on how realistic your bird is as I know very little about Corsairs but, FWIW, you've turned out a beautiful looking model no matter how realistic it is. Bravo!!

Amen brother

Nearly......... The three tone lizard cammo paint scheme was applied to 71-291, the McDD technology demonstrator. That airframe was used to demonstrate the Strike Eagle concept. Production F-15E's have always been Gunship grey. It was also used on C-5's, C-141's plus early A-10's though. HTH