chuck540z3

Fantastic model in every way! Love the subtle chipping throughout the paint. Cheers, Chuck

You NAILED the paint finish Miloslav (as usual). Just perfect! What method did you use to chip the paint? Cheers, Chuck

Lots of very skilled modeling going on here. Congrat's on an awesome build! Cheers, Chuck

Good Luck Jay, but nobody is worried you won't pull it off. If anybody can analyze and solve a modeling problem- and clearly explain it, you can! Cheers, Chuck

VERY sweet looking cockpit John! If I might offer an opinion, I have noticed a distinct improvement in your modeling skills over the past 3 years, from very good to currently simply awesome. I now look to your work for inspiration, so thank you for pushing me to improve as well. You have become without a doubt one of the top modelers in these forums, IMHO, and that is saying a lot with the company we have here. Your photography has improved a lot as well, which is a big part of what this WIP forum is all about. Cheers, Chuck

I'm very surprised as well for all the reasons you describe. I finished this kit 9 months ago using a rare Black Box cockpit that is made for the Hasegawa kit and I was sure a new resin 'pit would be ready for this kit by now. Decals were also a challenge and I had to use a mixed bag of OOP decals and paint masks to get something close to the real deal. The kit fought me every step of the way, however, so maybe that's why the aftermarket community is avoiding this particular kit, because it's too hard for the average modeler? In any event, this is how mine turned out... Kitty Hawk F-5E/N Cheers, Chuck

Some models are fairly simple, some go into detail and every so often we get to see a deep, deep dive into fine details like this one. Superlative execution and that engine area is crazy good. Your photography is excellent as well, so thank you for sharing this with us. Cheers, Chuck

Thanks guys! Very interesting. I did not know that there was a Revell version of this same kit, which begs the following questions: 1) Why? If Special Hobby is still selling this kit, why would they let Revell sell it as well- for a cheaper price. Are they getting out of making it completely? 2) Does the Revell kit have all the resin, PE and other stuff found in the SH kit? My guess is that it's the original SH kit with no resin or other improvements, so it should sell for a cheaper price. Anybody know? If it's true, I highly recommend the SH kit instead. I have compared all the resin parts to the original parts on the sprues and they are well worth the extra money. The fabric seat belts, PE, masks and other items are nice to have as well. Cheers, Chuck

I would never weather clear parts either. Too many canopies are fogged up and dirty that you want something that’s unique and hard to do, which is crystal clear. With a closed canopy, this is even more critical. Beautiful model John. Cheers, Chuck

Such a unique paint scheme that showcases your exceptional modeling talent. Like all of your builds John, this model is top notch in every way. Bravo! Cheers, Chuck

So cool. While we play with little plastic airplanes, you continue to fly real ones- and a real jet no less. It must be great to get your baby back. Cheers, Chuck

Thanks for the pic. I am certain that if you identified this problem to Roy again, he would replace the defective part- again. I have used Barracuda products countless times and have always been thrilled with the quality, service and even the price. He could charge 25% more and I'd still buy everything he had for a specific build. Now that I think of it, maybe I got two good noses while you got two bad ones, because one of them was meant for you!? July 21/20 A quick update, but one covering all of Steps 21 to 27. Step 21 is the front radiator parts H9 and H43, while Step 22 is the rear rad parts H10 and H44: Assembly is straight forward, but fitting these parts into the narrowed nose is another matter. The front part H9 on the left needs to be sanded quite a bit to get it to fit, while the rear rad on the right needs some sanding, but less so. Interior parts of the Barracuda nose were ground down as well with many iterative dry fits. Don’t rush this, because you want a tight fit with no gaps later. Step 23 and Step 26 create the central intake ring with 3 different parts. These parts can be eliminated by using the Barracuda one piece resin part, which is much finer and accurate. Make sure you carefully follow the instructions so that you retain at least a mm of the ring at the rear, which fits into Part H43. This takes a bit of trimming of both parts to get them to mesh. Step 24 is very confusing. It looks like you glue together the assemblies in Step 21 and 22 together. Don’t do it! Instead, after trimming and painting the assemblies, you can glue the front radiator parts flush with the back of the intake. And the rear assembly to some tabs within the nose. Everything is only dry fit of course. The air ramp at the rear comes in two parts, E1 and E18 in Step 27. And after a little sanding and trimming, they click into grooves within the nose, resting against the rear rad. These parts do not fit each other at all, so I recommend you trim and dry fit them many times before committing to glue. It turns out all the panel lines and rivet detail are mostly correct, but I added the two small panel lines and rivets on part E1 (front of pic) as per references. After trimming and a little coaxing with masking tape, this assembly fits pretty good now, so once it is painted, I will glue everything together before attaching the nose to the fuselage. The last assembly as found above in Step 26 is the vent created with parts E2 and E3. This will also be glued later after painting. That’s it for a few more weeks boys. Enjoy the summer while it lasts! Cheers, Chuck

I'm not sure where I got the needle tool, but it's for scribing curves like circles and not punching rivets. The needle is super hard and never gets dull, so it must be an alloy of some kind and not ordinary steel. For riveting, I use an ordinary needle in a pin vice. The needle should be a bit wider than most with a taper that allows you to not only punch the hole, but adjust the width at the same time. ie: deeper is wider, if that makes sense. Cheers, Chuck

Thanks. That's why I usually have about 3 new Trumpeter scribers in the stash and as my dullest scriber starts to get a bit too dull, the "sharp" one is likely dull enough by then to take it's place, while I open a new one. By the time I finish this model after my Harvard build, my dull one will be toast. Super sharp scribers on their own are very hard to control, as you've found out. Cheers, Chuck

Thanks again gents. Thanks Brett. I have used every scriber made: Tamiya, Squadron, Hasegawa, UMM, Creos (with exchangeable bits), needle in a pin vice and a few others I forget right now, but I always come back to my Trumpeter Scriber (TS), but not just one of them, because I use 2. Depending on the properties of the plastic or resin, width of panel line and how deep I want the panel line, I like to use a relatively dull TS, followed by a sharp TS. If you use the sharp one right away, it tends to grab stuff and take on a path of it's own, making a mess. A dull TS usually stays within the panel line without a fight, creating a pathway and guide for the sharper one in subsequent strokes. Methodology, whether it's an existing panel line or a new one cut beside a guide like Dymo or other tape, is as follows: Scribe the first pass with a dull TS, barely cutting the plastic. Barely, don't push it. Another pass, just a tiny bit deeper. A light pass with a sharp TS. A bit harder with above. Finish with one pass of the dull TS #1 and #2 show the way. #3 and #4 create most of the groove, while #5 cleans up the inevitable cut material out of the way. This means that most of my panel lines have been scribed at least 3-5 times. If you slip up (and you will!), fill and sand with CA glue, then start again after it dries, but before the glue gets too hard a few hours later. Some Tools of the Trade Cheers, Chuck