Starfighter Jock

Hey Adam, last time I was there was in the 80's. Marines were flying the F-4S, Navy the F-14A, and MI ANG the A-7D. Cheers, Kirk

Yep, it is back, impressive demonstration too.

Absolutely stunning Flaker!

A few photos I had taken during the airshow at Selfridge ANG base, Michigan. July 9th, 2022. KJ

Looking forward to this one

Another fantastic build Marcel!

Thanks, there are times I keeping asking myself why did I do this, but hoping the end results produce what I am aiming for, I keep telling myself that anyway. KJ

The age old dilemma - Start a new model build project, work gets busy - has certainly applied to this project. Just have not had much time available to be at my workbench of late. So just a small update. I wanted to get some paint on the intakes before attaching them to the airframe as trying to get in behind and around them once on the model would be difficult. So, I laid down a few very thin coats of Black MS 1500 primer, everything looked very good, no plugging up of the venting perforations, etc. Then, I started applying a few thin coats of my Gunze light ghost gray mix. That is when the trouble appeared, one intake came out good, the other not so good. With the light ghost gray on, imperfections came to light, the vent perforations on the top and bottom of the intake ramp were plugged up. Thinking I had covered with to much paint, I quickly removed it with clean thinner. Nope, didn't work, the more I messed with it, the uglier it got. So I set everything aside, and came back to it a few days later. What I realized was, the ultra thin super glue I used around all the edges, did in fact get pulled into the vent perforations on the one intake, other one, this did not happen to the extent of the second, the little bit of blockage on this one (Top of photo) I can live with. Only thing I could see to do was to remove the PE piece, clean it up and re-install it. As I started to remove the PE from the resin intake, I also discovered that the Ultra Glue from AMMO that I used, created a much stronger bond than I believed it would, it was on there and how. Took quite a bit of time just gently working a old round scalpel blade underneath it and slowly working it up without bending or distorting the very thin PE. Fortunately it is made with steel so it had some strength and resilience to it. Once off I cleaned it up by first soaking in some Tamiya thinner to remove the paint, then some super glue debonder to remove the super glue. I now have it reinstalled using again the Ultra Glue, then sealing the edges in with a medium thickness super glue this time around. Headed back to the paint booth, shall see how it turns out. Apology for my photo quality, I am still messing around and experimenting with a new 60mm Marco lens I bought for my Nikon D3200. Just can't seem to get the exposure and aperture settings dialed in right. More experimenting. KJ

I would like to add a Super Hornet to my build list, but neither the Revell or Trumpeter kits are that appealing to me. Kind of waiting to see if another manufacturer jumps on a 32 scale E or F. Not holding my breath on it though. KJ

If there is a legal dispute taking place, how did Border acquire the molds for the kit, purchased from WnW, or pirated from the manufacturing company producing the kit in China? This is getting interesting. KJ

Pete, is that Tamiya TS-71 Smoke Gray or the PS-31 Smoke Lexan? Your results are outstanding! KJ

Thanks! I am about ready to laydown some primer and paint on the resin intakes and AUMR intake ramps before permanently installing them. Planning on keeping the paint as thin as possible and building it up slowly just so all the fine detail does not get obliterated. Will be posting photos of those painted up soon. KJ

Another Sunday afternoon at the workbench, I will just call this one some progress. Lower fuselage sides are now permanently attached with plenty of gap filling super glue used on the backside of the joints for reinforcement as there was quite a bit of stress on these getting it all to fit. Also I have the upper fuselage and resin intakes dryfitted, and overall, I am satisfied with the fit but there are numerous joints and seams to sand and fill to get it all blended in. Some is just the nature of the how the kit was designed, and some are building errors made by yours truly. I also have the Aires F/A-1C cockpit cleaned up and dryfitted into the nose section. As the set comes with the correct instrument panel details for either the A or C, I decided to go with it as I liked the detail in this set much better than the Avionix’s set. Moving on, breaking out the Tamiya putty, MS 500 and the sanding sticks! KJ

Sure, I will describe the process I used on these. First, I lightly sanded the back of the PE piece and also the resin intake contact surface just to rough it up and provide a better surface for the glue to adhere to. I then brushed on good coat of the MIG Ammo Ultra Glue (fantastic stuff) as it allows you to slide the piece around for a bit to get everything aligned just right without drying to quickly. Once I was satisfied with the position, I clamped the PE piece at the top of the intake ramp, worked the PE piece down on the resin intake, then clamped the lower edge. After letting it dry for a couple of hours, I removed the clamps and went around all the edges with super thin cyanoacrylate glue, just letting the joint draw it in. Did this about three or four times until the joint would not take any additional glue. Once dried, I lightly sanded all the edges, this smooths everything out and blends the two parts into one solid surface. So far it appears to be holding up well, I have handled the intakes several times, even dropped one onto the workbench and the bonding surfaces held up and did not split. Note: I did not apply the ultra glue to the perforated vent areas on the intake as I did not want the risk of any glue plugging up those beautiful tiny venting holes. The purpose of the Ultra Glue is just to get the PE piece firmly attached to the resin part, I am relying on the cyanoacrylate to make the strong bond. KJ