Lenny320

A little more progress. Mostly bits and bots left ...
 

 

 

 
Thanks guys...

Thanks Guy!  I ordered some decal material that might work for those “No Push” stencils instead.  I prefer decals to painting them, because if I don’t like them or screw up, I can just remove them.  With paint, I’d have to repaint them all over again and I’m not doing that again!
 
April 4/24
 
One of the interesting features of these PW100 engines is the color of the shroud around the engine just back of the nozzle, which I’ll just call the engine collar.  The Pratt and Whitney collar is quite different than the GE110 collar, which is shallow and always dull titanium grey.  The PW100 collar is fairly wide, irregularly shaped, shiny and is often blue, presumably due to heat.  I say “often”, because it’s not always blue and the intensity of the blue color is all over the place.  After looking at dozens of PW100 collars, here are some examples of what I'm talking about:
 
Intense Blue and evenly colored, which is fairly rare.  I think if I painted my model like this, it would look unrealistic, despite the fact it can be real.
 

 
No blue at all.  Again, sort of rare, but they exist.
 

 
And a few examples of what I think is more common, which is more interesting to my eye.  The blue is there, but it’s mottled due to weathering and other factors, like type of engine and maintenance.
 
Note that some of the bands are not blue. 
 

 
Blue almost everywhere, but blotchy.
 

 
I decided to paint the model engine collar right now for a bunch of reasons:
 
-        Since it’s metallic, I want a super smooth surface with no other paint underneath, like a regular primer or paint from adjacent areas.
-        This collar is situated in an area between the speed brakes that will be difficult to paint later
-        I just want to!
 
The first step like I always do with Alclad metallic paint, is to start with a primer coat of Tamiya Gloss Black Lacquer from a rattle can decanted into a bottle.  I’ve tried the relatively new LP line of Tamiya lacquers in a bottle like LP-1, but I don’t find it as glossy as good 'ol TS-14.
 

 
The collar is predominantly a relatively shiny metallic color, so I started with Alclad Stainless Steel.  Unlike the “High Shine” Alclad colors like Chrome, this one is tough and can be masked without lifting.
 

 
To create a mottled look, I applied liquid mask with a sponge.  Salt would work just as well, but it’s messy.
 

 
I then sprayed Alclad Hotmetal Blue followed by more liquid mask and Alclad White Aluminum in an iterative sequence of light mist coats.  2 of the rings were masked off so that they would not pick up as much of the blue.  Everything was then sealed with clear coat of Tamiya Semi-Gloss lacquer to knock down the shine a bit.
 

 
The results.  This is tough to photograph to see the real colors and relative shine.
 

 
Parked on the model fuselage with the nozzle attached, it starts to look more natural and you can see that it's much shinier than the exhaust, as it should be.  I used a screw at the top through the alignment holes to hold things in place, since this assembly isn’t glued in yet.
 

 
The small gap between nozzle and collar will be much tighter with glue.

 
Of course I had to show off the exhaust staining again.      I’m pretty happy with how things turned out, because now I have the “blue look” of the collar, without it looking too pristine and unrealistic.
 

 

 
With the engine collar now painted and sealed, I can then mask it off and assemble the entire engine as described earlier.
 

 
It now just slides into place
 

 
And is now securely glued to the fuselage.
 

 
Last peek at the afterburner face before I fill this engine cavity with foam and mask it off.
 

That’s it for now and thanks for your continued interest and “like” responses, which I appreciate very much.
 
Cheers,
Chuck

…I got tired of asking my family to get me one of these as a gift for my birthday, Christmas..So I just got it myself-

 
yay for me!
 
P

Thank you very much!!!, today I finished the flaps, in the end I put them in the full flaps position, I have glued the nozzles, but I have to sand a part because the loctite left me "lumps" when it dried, and again I have to retouch, I also touched up the radar cone, I leave you some small progress.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Trumpeter 1/32 model,
Kagero decals,
Reskin wheels set,
Phoenix cockpit, 
All colors MRP
 



 








 
 












 
 

PF — I got my bird back home!  1982 Nanchang CJ-6A.  100% made in China!
 

Hi guys, thank you very much, sorry for the late reply, as for you. @ALF18 
You have been an F18 pilot, you know that I admire you a lot, without disparaging other users, let it be clear, I served in the Spanish air force, I was a combat parachute operator, and my dream has always been to be a fighter pilot, but ...unfortunately I did not have the studies to enter the officer academy, but I feel proud to have served, I just wanted to convey my admiration for having managed to be a fighter pilot, as I have said it has always been my dream but I never achieved it With modeling, lithographs, books and people like you and all the users of the forum I enjoy military aviation, as for the kit I combined the Redfox panels with those from Quinta Studio, I didn't want to do it in cool and dark, I'm going to do it on, with N1 and N2 running obviously haha
As for DCS, I'm waiting to renew my PC to be able to play again, my PC is already old and I don't enjoy the simulator as I should
As for asking him... of course I will ask him any questions, as an anecdote I have a good friend who is a Eurofighter pilot in the Spanish air force, and I also feel proud of him.
I leave a little progress, although it seems that it is the same it is not, these two days I have been finishing the details and varnishing to leave it sealed and protected
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Thanks Guys!
 
March 3/24
 
Well, I’m back already, mostly because I didn’t really go anywhere.  To make a very long and painful story short, I experienced an intestinal blockage almost a month ago and spent 4 days in the hospital.  When we left for our big trip I was feeling OK, but on the first leg of our flight all of the symptoms of a blockage came back, so we had to cancel the 16 hour flight to New Zealand and the 6 week cruise we had planned for 2 years to celebrate my new retirement.  Huge bummer, but there are much worse things that could have happened I know, so my wife and I have re-booked a similar trip in a year and we soldier on.
 
After a week of feeling sorry for myself and moping around, I finally picked up this model and got after the Aires main landing gear bay.  Modeling is great therapy when you want to forget about things and I soon became totally engrossed in painting all the tiny details.  This was fairly difficult to do, because I suck at brush painting and with all the tiny details hard to get at, it took a long time with lots of mistakes.  After fixing most of them, here is where I am today.
 

 
With the gear bay already cemented into the lower fuselage, I found it easier to handle than it might be otherwise.  I tried to replicate many reference pics I found on the ‘net, and some great detailed pics in Jake’s Modern Viper Guide.  The Aires resin is super detailed already, but I did add a few hoses and pipes here and there into holes I had pre-drilled earlier before paint.  The 3 holes on either side at the top will be used for the hydraulic lines that will go into the gear doors when they are attached.
 

 
The battery frame isn’t accurate for modern Vipers, but it looks so nicely detailed I retained it, partly because the kit has the perfect yellow decals that fit perfectly around the frame.  I also added some decals to that silver Halon bottle to match a few pics, although the red band should be a bit darker. The central wall looks a bit rough because I had to sand it down, but it will eventually be covered by Part C27.
 

 
Some of the hoses are only dry fit for now, because they will be in the way when I install the main landing gear.
 

 

 
I can’t vouch for the accuracy of some of my plumbing, but I think it looks pretty close and makes the gear bay look a bit more busy.  As always with these close-up pics, you can see a lot more mistakes than you can with your bare eyes!
 

 
With the Aires cockpit and main gear bay now painted and detailed, the most difficult part of this build is now complete.  Next steps will be to detail the front gear bay and landing gear.  Thanks for looking in.

 
Cheers,
Chuck

While I was doing the F 16, today I received this, but I still have things left to follow F 18, guys sorry for Guys, I apologize for having it "stopped" but until I have everything I can't continue with the kit.
 

 

Hi
Further to the F-4 aircrew for the 1969-late 70s era, Reedoak provides now versions with visor up, and with or without boom mic, in 1/32 and 1/48 scale
 

 
Cheers
Norbert

And primer finally on. Better in some respects than I had hoped, in other ways, not so much.
 

Try as I might, I cannot remember what blue I used on my Revell kit (now long gone), but think I've selected a Tamiya lacquer that'll be very, very close to this.
 

Nose art installed. 
 

Hello LSP ers..
I like to share my work with you all from the last serveal years by building the F8c Crusader, by using the conversion kit from Paul Fischer and the decalset from Zotz decals.
At last I have sort out how to post pictures in this forum, so that makes a whole difference !
Greetings from The Netherlands, Pieter

Proof of life-
Thanks to Timmy!’s brilliant work, I have a newer, betterer front fuselage that is perfect in shape, profile and cross section. Took some courage to saw off the old front end !

 
cockpits from previous forward fuselage separated relatively cleanly 


cheers
P

For those of you who haven't come across Laser-Created World videos on YouTube , they are masterclasses in Diorama building , normally in 1/35th.
 
However to-day's one involves a subject that might be of interest to some of us, a S-64 Erricson Skycrane from the ICM CH-54. I have no idea if the work he did to change the kit to a 64 is accurate or not, but I think the end result is a beautiful build - 
Warning , it's 47 mins long so make yourself comfortable  - it's worth it 
 
PS Mods if this is in the wrong place - please feel free to move it to somewhere more appropriate 
 
 
 

Due to an unanticipated move, this is the only build started and finished in 2023 for me. But it was a lot of fun. The Tamiya kit is magnificent. I added HGW harnesses and wet transfers, barracudacast resin wheels, and a little magic with a small DC motor. Paints are Mission Models primarily.  This is just after takeoff from the crushed coral runway at Henderson Field. 
 



 

 

 

 

 
 

I am both happy and sad this is finally done.
 
Happy because it's done and I can finally think of something else
Sad because this has been insdide my head for the last 14 months putting all my other hobbies to a stop.
And although it was a complicated project I enjoyed every moment of it. 
 
The complete build log is on the WIP forum. 
 
1/32 Trumpeter A-10A
(not quite straight from the box)
+ Cutting edge A-10A cockpit + AMS A-10C parts + Cutting edge A-10 exterior + SH Engines + Masters gun nozzle/pitot + squadon Vac canopy + Eduard PE +  Cutting Edge wheels + Lots of rivets (Quinta & Archer) + Brassins GBU-12 & TGP pod + VideoAviation GBU-38 + Reskit GBU-54 + Flying Leatherneck/Phase Hangar APKWS rocket pod + Reskit LAU-105 + TwoBobs & Eagle Strike decals for stencils + Magic scale modeling phosphorescent formation lights + Homemade decals + ReedOak pilot.

And none of this would have been possible without two books I abused a lot in the process:
- The Modern Hog Guide from Reid Air
- Duke Hawkins A-10C
 
Enough with words, here are the pictures:
 

 

 

 

 

 
The display stand allows the A-10 to be angled from -10 to +20°C in pitch . The model also rotate on its support giving unrestricted rotation in roll.
 

In addition to building a model of a Swiss Bf-109 (a topic elsewhere on this forum), I started work on a 1/32 model of an F-104C. For some reason, I decided to build two kits at once. Hopefully, that goes well!
 
First up is the ejection seat. I started with Eduard Brassin C2 ejection seat kit, which is composed of resin and photoetch parts. The quality is excellent. I cleaned up the parts and airbrushed Tamiya Gray Primer followed by Alclad II Airframe Aluminum, AK Worn Effects, and AK Zinc Chromate. Once dried, I sprayed on a coat of Vallejo Dark Gull Gray. A water-based scrubbing then took place to add wear and tear. I’ve not done multi-layer distressing effects before, and I’m satisfied with the results. A gloss coat was applied (Tamiya X-22), then decals, another gloss coat, and a final bit with Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color (black). Finally, everything was sealed with XF-86 matte.
 
With the ejection seat completed, the cockpit tub is next and so far this is coming along pretty well. I’m using Eduard’s photoetch fret to populate some of the details on the floor and walls, and will use Red Fox Studio’s 3D printed controls (these look nicely printed, BTW).  
 

 

 

 

 

 

Next one up
i wont use a lot of aftermarket, i just have the Aires exhaust (for the Hasegawa kit, i hope it fits) and some videoaviation 750s
the kit decals are printed by catograf, so i will use them
bought some AIM 9Bs from Reskit, only to find out they never used the under fuselage tray operationaly 
 

Too cool not to share-
 
1/16 SUU-20 and blue death BDU-33’s for the centerline pylon


Timmy! Strikes again!
 
P

Rudy, two 32nd birds would be very cool! With blanks I meant the six mirrors, but a shield can also be done. It really isn't a lot of work to make masks. I used two-component silicone mould stuff, and yes, in a shaving cream lid. I had nothing else at hand. It works I will pour an extra TISEO for you (is one enough?)
 
Today I prepared a lot of masks for this one, and airbrushed the star-and-bars on using some of the masks. They still need touch-ups and there are slight ridges I need to take care of. This was the last time I used Oramask 810 for this, they just do not cut it for a lot of some situations. Masks cut from Tamiya sheets are harder to position, but no paint ever creeps under it, it never lifts by itself, Oramask does.
 
Oh, and the boarding ladder did not survive my attempts to finish it, so no ladder for now but I will contact Revell and test their customer service. The yellow sure does add a colorful note to the kit. Chocks...would you shut up now? More work..... The Academy did come with a whole bunch of RBF ribbons..... No, no. A clean Phantom with a ladder, and then I stop.
 
On the topic of customer service: did I mention already that they promptly sent replacement parts free of charge? They already arrived.
 
 
 
BTW the 'CR' and '054' look a little less white than the white star in the national insignia, but also less grey than the already very light underside grey. Is it a kind of off-white? As you already pointed out Dutch Decal's grey rendition on the decal sheet is totally off.
 

 
 

Hi, all.  I'm trying to clear my shelf of doom as much as possible before the end of the year and this was my 2nd candidate - an A6M2 Zero being my first.  This represents a VMSB-233 SBD-3 Dauntless at Guadalcanal.  Beat up, tired, but holding the line against the Imperial Japanese fleet.  
 
Paints are MRP, weathering is a combination of oils, enamels, airbrushing, and sponge chipping.
 
Hope you enjoy!
 
 

 

 


















































 
 

Nope, I haven't given up on this one - just was focused on wrapping up my last fast jet build.  I should never start two kits at once because I can't seem to shift focus - I stay locked on one til it's done.  That said, the singular focus is NOW getting this GB project done while I ponder what comes next.  I've finished assembling and painting the interior structure.  Photos follow.  Note that I have not gone to great lengths to clean up parts of this owing to how little of it will be visible once the fuselage is closed up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Here's how it sits into the fuselage...

 
And what you'll see once the build is done...
 

 

 
According to the instructions, next up is building the engine.  But I think I'm going to take a break from tiny pieces and attack the exterior.  All the movable flying surfaces and empennage need additional pins to hold them securely, plus I'm going to need to fabricate anchors for all of the rigging, as the PE ones provided with the kit are just too small to fit the 0.2 mm rigging line I want to use.