hpetiers

Hi Keith, indeed it was from Aires. It was a perfect fit just as it was!

for those who are thinking about building the newly released -F variant: has anyone seen any build reports on that one?

hi Tom! last year I had made the same adventure with a happy ending, see also but the kit has its oddities, especially beware of the 2 mm height the Revell somehow lost between the inner structure and the outide shell. I wish you lots of fun with building this kit! hugo

to all Tomcat fans, here is my take on the F-14D in 1:72, it's a great kit of an epic fighter aircraft. Decals came from Hasegawa, cockpit from Aires, avionics bays from Black Box: That was fun! Now, where is this Hasegawa kit whose decals I robbed, might as well build it in the toned down version!

Hi Chek, thank very much for thinking about me! indeed I saw that the Revell F/A-18F has been delayed AGAIN, not coming out before june or something. It makes you wonder what makes them decide to delay again since the casts have already been produced. At least good to see that they opted for a better box art, in this case the Black knights squadron. I think I will have a go at is once it comes out!

thank you gentlemen for this feedback! And specifically to Starfighter, having seen your wonderful interpretation of the Rhino from Trumpeter, that really means a lot to me. btw still planning to try out Revell's F/A-18F when it comes out in October

Hi all, thanks for that! lsp ray, that would be Nice, Thx for that honor!

indeed Shawn, a beast it was in behaviour and still is in size! thanks for your support Stokey Pete and chrish. In the bombs I put 1 steel wire stubs that can be pushed into holes in the pylons. For that price you cannot expect any Tamiya-like features!

it took me around one year, then could not get enough of it so decided to add a piece of carrier deck, but in the end completed it last week. please find below my interpretation of Revells F/A-18E with the best of my modeling skills and patience. Added aftermarket ejection seat, pilot, cockpit interior, wheels and decals and did quite some adjustments on the inner structure to make all parts fit. the Maverick missile came from Academy. The build thread can be found in the works in progress section. Thank for looking!

hi Derek B, thanks for your compliment, appreciate it! SO now I have finally finished this project. Took nearly a year but it was worth the effort. Can't wait for the -F to come in October! anyway here is the last in progress pic of the carrier deck, everything put together now: more pics will follow, lets see if I can make some photo's from my back garden in the sunlight tomorrow. Thanks for hanging in with me, it was an amazing adventure! Now, where is that Strike Eagle that I only half finished last year?

today the mail man delivered the decal that i had printed. next step is clear coat!

thank you gentlemen for this encouragement, this deck is really a paint drainer. Boy, did I underestimate the amount of work for this large a diorama! Needed to take the side wall off my paint booth to make it fit Luckily I got some things done this weekend, put on a layer of varnish and then dabbed on some very thin, very dark grey artist oil paint with a sponge. Then the result was a bit too dirty, I decided to put on a thin, diluted layer of the original colors. I think the result is realistic enough now:

indeed, the cut that I made gives some room to show the very back end of the ship with some of the netting and other bits. this is what I have worked on: mounted against the back of the ship this willlook something like this:

it took much more paint and tape than I expected, but by now the deck has been painted. I have now a squeaky clean, new-looking aircraft carrier deck: next step: making it filthy!

in the mean time I have made the frame for catching crew members if they get blown off the deck. On this frame I will apply netting by means of some medical gauze. Also did some pre shading on the deck: I dared to put my Rhino on its feet. It is almost a tail sitter!