MarioS

The bunker Buster without the loadout for clearer view. It's finally weathered. In in-flight mode:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Bunker Buster, bro!
 

 

 
This F-15E is finally ready for pics! The build was a real blast and i`m so happy that i shared it with all of you guys! Thank you for all the commenting, liking, advising, critiquing, guiding, etc.! This model probably wouldn`t be the same if i didn`t join the forum.    So, a brief overview: 
 
My 1st LSP model, my 3rd model with moveable parts, definitely the most complex and beautiful one. It is still unweathered, so sometimes i should weather it and probably it will look like a completely different model, cause i plan to weather it... sufficiently. Until then, enjoy some more overviews. In-flight mode with a loadout of 2 Bunker Busters:
 

 

 

 

 
Here is the list with the aftermarket and the other additional parts:   - GT Resin sets - antennas, a pod, vents, missile rails, shimmy dampener; - Custom-made masks from DN models; - Eduard`s etched masks for the stencils; - A myriad of leftover PE pieces from other builds; - Almost every single door is packed with wires and cables - i used mostly 2 sizes of wires; - Paper tape for reupholstering the seats and for the pilots` suits; - Indefinite amount and type of plastic and wood parts, magnets, metal rods and other components for the moving parts;   And a list with the moveable parts from front to rear:   * Openable nose cone; * The radar dish rotates and turns; * Openable canopy; * Retractable nose landing gear with a tire that rotates and openable doors; * 5 openable avionics nose bays; * Moveable intake ramps - all of them, including the diffuser ramps; * Openable bleed air exhaust ramps behind the intake ramps; * Openable gun bay door; * Moveable speedbrake; * Interchangeable weapons for the underwing pylons; * Retractable MLGs with tires that rotate and openable doors; * Moveable ailerons;   Now the other pics...

Yes I do agree that is Just Beautiful!
 
I just skim through it at the moment I will enjoy reading it in detail later when I get back home tonight 

Hey Jim great Paint Job!!
 
Your preparation in the masking and has paid off, looks awesome.
 
 
If you plan on showing it off anywhere in Sydney I wouldn't mind going for a drive to look at it

Having scampered out to my workbench at every opportunity to finish the light blue, I was constantly fighting my impatience ... I worked from home yesterday and was itching the whole time to ditch the dopey conference calls and get out to the shed! Eventually after getting the girls to bed, I made it out at around 8:30 for the big unmasking.
 
The problem I was most worried about was lifting paint along with the masks. The red had been on there for three weeks, and lacquer dries pretty hard; I was concerned it would come up, leaving jagged edges.
 
So I figured I'd try something new. I cleaned out the airbrush first, to ensure there was no colour contamination; then I sprayed pure Mr Levelling Thinner on the mask edges. Not a lot, just enough to give off a sheen when held at the right angle (misting, misting). Then, with immense trepidation, I peeled the first set of masks off the inner flaps (I figured these would be easiest to touch up if I messed them up).
 
The result ...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
IT WORKED!!!
 

 
This exceeded even my wildest dreams ... my obsessive masking paid off, with no overspray, no fuzzy edges, and no lifting. I'm calling this a win!
 
Here are all the flaps unmasked. There are a few spots that need touching up, but I reckon it's four or five hours work, not the month I'd been expecting.
 

 
Here's a comparison to the equivalent decal. Not unhappy with the colour matching.
 

 
Then it was time for even more trepidation and the unmasking of the whole beast. I was sure there would be fuzzy edges, lifted paint, and half a lifetime of touch ups, so I was thrilled to get this ...
 

 
A few more pics ... in these you can still see paint ridges around the edge of the masks. I think these vindicate my policy of spraying thinner over the mask edges before lifting them, as they indicate that there was some paint buildup ... the good news is, they are hardly noticeable after a rub down with a microfibre cloth.
 

 
And check this out - I was certain the intake masks would be a disaster, as that compound curve is a bear to mask. But, again, hours of obsessive masking paid off - perfect!
 

 
And the rest ... I'm particularly pleased with how the excellent surface detail on the academy hornet shows through.
 

 

 

 
Few more in a sec ...

All right y'all ... finally got something to share after a month away from posting. You'll recall that last time we were here, with the masks down and ready for paint.
 

 
All ready to go, of course, and then I realised that I didn't have the nav lights done. So, out with the clear red and green for the lenses, and some alclad chrome underneath.
 

 

 
Then finally masked that off, and it was my moment of truth ... plan was to lay down the red first, then mask that off, do the grey, then the blues.
 
As with any gloss coat, I approached it carefully with lots of very thin coats, over a couple of days. Here we are at the end of coat one:
 

 
After a couple more coats of red, it was on to the grey. Much to my annoyance, it's not possible to find that shade of grey in gloss, in either a water based acrylic or a lacquer (I have no experience with enamels so didn't want to go there). On the flip side, you get better coverage with matte paints, so I did one coat with about 25% clear gloss added, then another with 50%. Here's the result ...
 

 
Then I masked off all the red and grey, with a wrapper of paper towel to keep the grey safe from scratches and overspray. Here it is:
 

 

 
Then it was time for the Oxford blue. This happened over about three nights, constantly fighting my impatience and desire to lay down a big wet coat. Misting, misting, misting ... a single coat took about 45 minutes, and I did five.
 

 

 
I didn't get any shots of the light blue going down, but I managed that in the first half of the week. It's a custom mix, with a base of Gunze light blue, darkened with character blue and a little Gunze gundam light blue until it matched the Leading Edge decals.
 
Coming in a second: the big reveal!

Now some pics of plastic.  This kit gives you only one fuel tank for the center line pylon, which I'm not using, so Gary at GT Resin was kind enough to send me a spare kit tank for the wing pylons when I purchased some of the resin parts that you have seen earlier.  This setup poses a few problems, not the least of which is that the sway braces are for an F-15E, which are attached to a BRU-47 bomb release unit necessary to drop precision-guided munitions, which F-15C's don't have as shown above (assuming I understand Jake's book correctly).  Also, the pylon detail is quite minimal and vague.  I cut off the rear ball fittings and modified them, as you will see later.
 
 

 
 
For the LAU-128 missile rails and ADU-52 adapters in 1/32 scale, you have 3 choices that I know of, including a Cutting Edge missile set that comes with the updated parts.  I have all three with the GT Resin and Wolfpack sets shown below.  In this first pic, you can see that the 2 sets are fairly similar, although the Wolfpack set has those front clips while the GT version does not.  The GT set also looks like it was cast from a 3D printer with its layered look.  If you deepen the surface detail and sand them, you can make them look almost as smooth as the Wolfpack rails.  The surface detail on the Wolfpack is there, but also a bit vague.
 
 

 
 
On edge, the GT parts are much more accurate for scale, while the Wolfpack ones are too skinny.
 
 

 
 
So overall the two sets are sort of tied in terms of quality, depending on what you want.  You need to sand smooth and add the front clips to the GT rails, while the detail on the Wolfpack rails needs to be enhanced if you are willing to live with the narrow profile from the side.  Since I will have an inert AIM-9X missile on outside port side and an ACMI pod on the outside starboard side, this narrow profile will never show, so I went with the Wolfpack rails instead.  If I was going to leave the outside rails empty, I would have gone with the GT version.
 
 
The first thing I did was to cut off the tab and sway bars off the tanks, followed by careful filling and sanding to remove any seam marks.
 
 

 
 
For the “old school†sway braces, I found that spares from my Trumpeter A-10 kit were just about perfect for size, albeit crude like most of the parts in this crappy kit.  After removing seam and pin marks, I removed the poorly shaped pins and replaced them with smoother styrene rod.  Since you'll never see the bottom of the pins, you can drill right through them.
 
 

 
 
After many modifications of panel lines and added rivet detail of the pylon and missile rails according to references, I glued the parts together, while adding 3 pins made of drill bits that I cut down to size.  As I indicated much earlier in this build, I use cheap drill bits all the time to hold stuff together, often without the need for glue.
 
 

 
 
After sanding the seams of the tanks, I added Archer resin decal rivets to the raised fastener detail on the bottom that is now missing and the area surrounding where the sway braces attach.  The gloss around the new rivets is Future/Pledge, to seal them in after the application of MIcrosol.  Holes were drilled for the pylon pins and I added a small pin at the rear to center the tank where it attaches to the pylon.
 
 

 
 
This pic shows why I removed the rear ball fitting, which I also drilled out and added styrene rod, and why I didn't glue the sway braces to the pylon.  Left as is, I can paint them in a steel color and add them later without masking.  The grooves for the sway braces in the pylon need to be deepened about double from where they started to accommodate the new parts.
 
 

 
 
Using pins and styrene rod, none of the parts need to be glued.  The friction of the pylon to tank is strong enough to hold the sway braces in place, while the styrene rod of the rear ball fitting is nice and tight.
 
 

 
 
A close-up of the rear.  Note that the anchor pins are where they should be and barely visible, just like the real deal.  You can also see the rear hole for the kit missile rail adapter has been filled with CA glue.
 
 

 
 
My next update will be after I have painted all of the above parts and added some surface detail, like steel colored fasteners.  Thanks for your continued interest in this very long project.
 
 
Cheers,
Chuck

Wow great update Milan
 
I bought myself a set of those Eduard PE masks some time ago, it's nice to see them in actual use

Slowly slowly... So the situation with the DN models` masks - apply, paint, remove, repeat....
 

 

 

 
 
...While the Eduard`s PE masks - something way more different....
 
I cut the needed plate, then i rounded/sanded its edges to avoid scratching the surfaces:
 

 

 
Then the attachment is very tricky, the proper alignment more exactly:
 

 

 

 

 
After using 1 plate for the two intakes (6 application in total), the paint really started building up on the pe plate. So some cleaning is mandatory as well. The paint dissolves very easily.
 

 

 
And the same plate is ready for further applications. 

That Aussie birds looking great Jim... Plus also looking forward to your colour episode

Well work has been continuing in a guerilla build fashion.  Hit and run as time has been scarce.  I have off over the next couple weeks and intend to do as much building as possible in between winter prep.
 
Its been all the little fiddly bits that have been going on and a fair amount of body work was needed for the nose gear section.  Some painting in the interior bays.  Although, I had to do a couple of coats of white I had to make a new batch that tried real hard to mess up some of the early coats. 
 
The refueling panel on the nose wasn't wanting to sit and fit very well.  I had contemplated rebuilding using some scratch items but decided this wasn't the kit...The rear cockpit deck and formation lights went on with out note.

 
 
The nose gear section would not sit flush on the sides for all the effort put forth.  So in the end it required a fair amount of work to fill the gaps and match the panels.  It ended up sitting pretty good after a couple of fill and sand episodes.  The white paint around the landing gear bay was caused by my going from the Aircraft grey internal color of the A-10A to the white of the A-10C and forgetting about it until it was installed.  The paint went on great for the first coat.  On the second coat I had to make a new batch of paint causing some of the spattering you see.  Some light super fine sanding will take care of that. The first batch of white was great, but required at least two coats.  I left the second batch too thick and had to add more thinner after the spatter scenario.  Both sides had the scoops, rather vents, installed and all antenna's were installed.

 
The rear formation light needs a little work as the super glue got a little crazy...get it...crazy...the glue got crazy...Oh how I crack myself up.  The engines went on fine but did require a little more seam fill than I would have hoped.  Still haven't decided if she is going to have both engine panels open or just one.  I am contemplating a re-fit scene on a good sized wood base to, hopefully, protect the model over time.  And truthfully if this aircraft is to test my model making ability it might as well be part of my first diorama.

 
 
A closer look at the engine bay, side and wing panels.  The wing flaps and ailerons are working and will probably be left extended for the finish.

 
And center rear...The aft of the plane went together very well.  The engine nacelle section to the body required a little work on all sides.  Lucky Mr Dissolved Putty was all that was needed.

 
One last shot of the port front. Showing some pretty decent seem lines and fiddly bits.  Once again the glue on the formation light got a little out of wack.  I put this one on with out problem until I tried to re position it 1:1,000,000,000 on a inch.  Some attention should make it unnoticeable. 

 
As I look to putting on the Ghost Grey camouflage, I am strongly considering the black base technique. 
 
Off to make more modeling fun.....

Looking good Milan! looking forward to seeing your salt weathering technique

The attachments: 
 

 

 

 

 

 
And now i`m very doubting about whether to salt weather it first (+polishing) or i should apply (paint) the decals first and then the salt weathering. ... interesting... i`m just about at 60% for the decals first. 
 
PS: For the salt weathering i plan to apply the salt particles with water in very few places, then spray a very thin black filter only over these places.

Great update, as always
 
Chuck your model threads… correction tutorials on How-To-Build a model aeroplane would have to be one of the best explained on any forum.
 
If ever I get an opportunity to visit Canada besides the beautiful and majestic landscape that Canada's got to offer, it would also be a good opportunity to coincide it with a model show/competition that you, with any luck would be displaying one of your model planes in.

Great update, as always
 
Chuck your model threads… correction tutorials on How-To-Build a model aeroplane would have to be one of the best explained on any forum.
 
If ever I get an opportunity to visit Canada besides the beautiful and majestic landscape that Canada's got to offer, it would also be a good opportunity to coincide it with a model show/competition that you, with any luck would be displaying one of your model planes in.

Great update, as always
 
Chuck your model threads… correction tutorials on How-To-Build a model aeroplane would have to be one of the best explained on any forum.
 
If ever I get an opportunity to visit Canada besides the beautiful and majestic landscape that Canada's got to offer, it would also be a good opportunity to coincide it with a model show/competition that you, with any luck would be displaying one of your model planes in.

Great update, as always
 
Chuck your model threads… correction tutorials on How-To-Build a model aeroplane would have to be one of the best explained on any forum.
 
If ever I get an opportunity to visit Canada besides the beautiful and majestic landscape that Canada's got to offer, it would also be a good opportunity to coincide it with a model show/competition that you, with any luck would be displaying one of your model planes in.

Now the fun, but a bit nerve racking part.  How do I create a metallic finish that is shiny in some areas, dull in others and has a multitude of metallic colors like the first few pics above?  The rest of what you will see below was a pure experiment, which I think worked quite effectively in the end.
 
 
First, I applied a thin misting coat of Alclad Stainless Steel, which is really shiny and bright.
 
 

 
 
Next, I applied a lighter color of Alclad Duraluminum, the darkest of the aluminum colors.
 
 

 
 
Next, I applied some Alclad Steel and then did the unthinkable after the paint dried for 24 hours:  I polished and buffed the Alclad paint with Tamiya Coarse polishing compound to reveal a bit of every layer, including a hint of the black primer underneath.  This way the finish is smoother than before after 3 coats of paint and the finish is quite complex with different shine and colors, just like the real deal.
 
 

 
 
The results with a caveat:  Photographing a metallic finish under strong light doesn't reveal the true color and sheen, so I will show several angles and you'll just have to believe me that the finish looks almost bang on to the real deal overall.
 
 

 
 
After Alclad, the various panels were painted according to the reference pics above.
 
 

 
 
Another angle, to show how shiny the finish is that still looks natural.  BTW, never paint a gloss coat over Alclad if you can help it, because it always dulls the finish- always.
 
 

 
 
The top…..
 
 

 
 
Another angle showing more painted panels.  Masking these little guys off in this tight space was a bear!
 
 

 
 
And finally the “Money Shotâ€, because I just HAD to see how my nozzles looked attached to the engines.       I really like how the purple/blue petals on the nozzles contrast with the blue camo paint.
 
Note:  I will not be applying any true "weathering" to this model.  I will be added some exhaust, oil and rust stains here and there, but no dark washes overall to make every panel line and rivet detail "pop".  That would look cool, but these jets were always kept pretty clean and lots of grime would look out of place.
 
 

 
 
That's it for now guys.  I still have a ton of work to do, including a lot of decals.  This will take awhile….
 
 
Cheers,
Chuck

That paintwork is looking good Milan... Plus your display case is very interesting and unique.

Display case:

 

 
And on the stand:
 

 

10x Steve and yes, i did the entire display case - it was quite a journey - a lot of cutting and sanding, and it`s still far away from complete. This is just the bulk of the display case - to have where to store and keep the plane out of dust, etc. At some point i`ll have to paint the base with something (i don`t have an idea about that) and to implement a long LED band all along the front vertical edge. And maybe will embed 5 small lights nearby the 5 conrners of the base, at a small angle and pointing diagonally... with cables and batteries hidden on the bottom side of the base... but at least the overall shape is done.

Lttle bit of this,
 

 
and that:
 

 

 

yep, very good idea.
 
It took me days to mask my 1/32 scale F-35 model all those panellines and edges on doors. Over 30 feet of tape!
 
Progress has been slow on my model but coming week I will continue with decalling.
 
Look here:
https://designer.home.xs4all.nl/models/f35-32/f35-32-1.htm
 
Meindert
 

The Mk82s I'll be using are from VideoAviation.
They were released not so long ago and looking at the type of weapons in the kit and in my stash, I knew I had to buy them.
First they have the typical fire retardant coating but the Hi drag tail are much more detailled than the usual kit's weapon.
 

Resin is videoaviation, Light grey is trumpeter and dark grey is academy (F/A-18)
Both academy and trumpeter are too skinny. The tail is different, the Trumpeter and academy sport the Mk15 tails while video aviation has the BSU-86 tail
Still, even the Mk-15 tails are underdetailled
 

They come in three pieces: BSU-86 tail unit, bomb body and fuze (not pictured)
Attaching the body to the tail requires precision and careful sanding of the resin support to ensure a well aligned bomb unit.
 

The difference of detail when looking from behind is quite important. Eventhough the tail units are not the same, the trumpeter and academy Mk15 lack details
 
The only negative point about the resin bombs is the fact that the attachment point are already predrilled. Since they could be installed on many different pylons, the predrilled holes will hardly match anything and will need to be filled and redrilled at the relevant location according to the used pylon.
For the rest they are gorgeous and I'm sure the fire retardant coating will greatly help giving depth to the weathering of the weapons.