Brett M

Felt like bending some metal today-



 
cheers
Pigfyter

Cockpit almost done.
I f'd up some stencils and didn't use them in the end. This is my first time working with them so now know what to do next time. Lesson learned. 
Left to do - some more dry brushing, chipping, scratches, seatbelts, etc. I might even do some wiring. I'll see.
 
Best,
Nikola
 














 

well, seeing as I have some making up to do in regards to this thread, here's a couple of the most recent (as of tonight) of where I am up to.
I'm over half way done on the left hand side but now that I've added some extra plating on this side, I'll have to do the same on the other side and also the top plate. I have to go careful that I don't extend the shelf too far out or all the detail work will be lost which is why I will be installing SMD's on both levels.
 
Up until 2 nights ago it was looking like this:
 
 
 
And now it looks like this:
 
 
 
And a couple of close ups. Bear in mind, the detailing is not yet finished as I need to blend the parts in more which I will do over the course of the next couple of weeks
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hopefully you can see where I'm going with it. Once it's primed etc, it'll look totally different and much more cohesive
Thanks for sticking around!
Si

Happy Friday my friends
 
 
Hey there, thanks for dropping in so to answer your questions - I just use normal, if very tired bits of sandpaper of various grits - I rarely wet sand the metal. The finish is created by polishing after sanding with 0000 wire wool. The rivets are done one by one and on this ship there are probably 3 x a normal aircraft unfortunately as the wings were the radiators so the surface has tens of thousands of them They are done with a awl set. The panel overlaps are deliberate and copy the real airframe - that is pretty much what this update will be about
 
The fuselage is skinned like a Spitfire, from back to front with some overlaps - the fist step was analysing pictures to work out the skinning order - I started at the rear with a tape template, using dymo tape to define borders where needed. I always mark out rivet lines on the tape template so they are right on the model as what can look a straight line rarely is...
 

 
these are those panels after rivetting and making the holes for the circular hatches..the next step is to peel the tape off, wash them with a stiff brush and solvent to get all the tape discs left by the rivetting off, and then finally turn them over and burnish hard with a rod to remove the 'quilting' effect...
 

 
..with that panel down and the others that form the bottom layer, I need to fill the upper edges as with another panel to go on top if I don't a visible ridge will appear when I lay it down...
 

 

 
..then the next panel that wraps across the spine - you can see some rivets done with the panel in place have deformed as the foam/filler skin has given out under pressure.. nothing can be done about that..
 
..the edges are also filled again..
 

 
..with that done, the skins on the tail are marked out....this is an intersting design feature as the tail is actually the oil cooler so the surface air cools it rather than a cooler sticking into the airflow and causing drag..
 

 
..it has a very distinct 'quilted' appearance which is exactly what you get if you don't burnish a rivetted panel, so this will be fun to make..
 

 
..same principle applies - tape templates & dymo tape..just thsi time i only lightly burnish the panels before adding them..
 

 
..with the fuselage skinned another distinctive feature needs doing - there are radiators running the full length of the fuselage each side (again to reduce drag by hanging them off the wing or under the chin)..
 
..like this..
 

 
..I pondered how to do it and eventually tried 3D printing a male mould I could work from - I figured I could burnish the shape in one piece if I was careful..
 
..it had to be in two parts to be printed though..
 

 
..these were then superglued to a bit of perspex.. and the work started..
 

 

 
..millions more damned rivets...
 

 
..and then scored & carefully broken away..
 

 
..I was worried that I would need to fill the 'tubes' but it seemed rigid enough so I bit the bullet, took a deep breath and got ready to stick it in place..
 

 
..quite a bit of work that, so here is a walkaround..
 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
..gonna be a shame to paint it
 
TTFN
Peter

Here is my finished 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1 Corsair "Birdcage" as "Relucant Dragon". Beautiful kit and a joy to behold when complete with all of the detail that Tamiya sticks in it. Of course, I added more! I wasn't able to find any images of the actual aircraft, instead only finding artist interpretations of what it could have looked like. This plane was flown by 1st LT Alonzo Treffer of VMF-213, based in Guadalcanal from what I can find. 
 
https://www.aviationillustration.com/hikashop-menu-for-categories-listing/product/7467-13-f4u-1-corsair-buno-17675-no-1-reluctant-dragon-flown-by-1-lt-alonzo-b-treffer
 
https://vmf-213.com/
The men of VMF-213
 
 
 
1. Vector resin cowling
2. Barracuda resin wheels and tires
3. HGW Fabric and photoetch harness
4. Barracuda cockpit stencils
5. Montex Masks and decals
7. HGW Wet Transfer Stencils
 
Paints are a mix of MRP and AK Real Colors, with Tamiya Acrylics thrown in here and there.
 
The build can be found here:
 
 
The wings are permanently attached, which may prove troublesome later for space and transport. I also wish I had used the closed canopy spine pieces so I could have the canopy closed to prevent dust. 20/20 hindsight! 
 

 
 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 
 

Last I posted, I stated that my next sub-project would be the windshield and its surround.  And in order to do that I needed to complete my forward fuselage jig, load the upper longerons, and use that combo to build up that windshield subassembly. 
 
What the jig lacked at that time was a good stout floor support structure - heavy members to eliminate flex.  That was done successfully with .25 x .75 inch section beams, and now the jig is working to perfection.   Here it is with the longerons loaded, and the largely completed windshield and surround assembled on it:
 
  
 
You are going to see alot of that jig in future posts.  That is going to assure me of a properly integrated vitally important forward fuselage.  
 
So that windshield.  Another task was to try to improve on the transparencies.  Was having lots of troubles with the ones I have printed up already, with Nova3D clear. So I pulled out the wallet and got me some "Resione G217 clear", which a guy on U-tube couldn't say enough good things about.  So did another.  And indeed this stuff is more well-behaved than the Nova3D.  It isn't as sticky, it cures with shorter exposure times, and seems to have less discoloration (darkening).  And, it holds detail better.
 

 
What you do not see there is days and days of failed prints, and flawed parts for one reason or another.  I have a pile of rejected parts!  What you do see there is the result of exhaustive sanding and polishing and clear lacquer paint layers.  There - all the transparencies for the cockpit enclosure, including BTW the aft windows.  Well, minus the Malcolm hood.  I made one with the new resin, and it is much better than the test parts I made a couple months ago.  But it isn't quite ready for prime time yet.  Another post soon.  The front bullet-proof flat glass in that picture has already been installed into the windshield surround assembly.  Can you see it?  It's pretty clear!
 
So as you can surmise, I have declared a limited victory on 3D printed transparencies over a vacu-formed part or parts.  These are not perfect, but they are pretty darned good.  And the accuracy and added detail is much more than a vac-formed part could give me, pretty sure.  Next post, you will see among other things the top and side glass bonded into the windshield frame, to accompany the front glass already there.  My aim is to win over the doubters - hope I can.
 
So here is the windshield surround assembly freed from its jig:
 

 

 
The assembly consists of details you have seen already but unassembled - the cowl, now painted window frame, the shroud (with handholds and defroster nozzles added, and painted), and the painted IP support frame.  Two oxygen system related gages have been added, the decals provided by Peter Castle's (Airscale's) Lope Hope decals, which are second to none.  There is more to come for this frame.  That spindly uber-fragile windshield frame is considerably more robust now.  I like. 
 
So what else - oh, the instrument panel!  It was not very difficult to Rhino model one, and print it up.  Here it is overlaid on top of another of Peter's Lopes Hope decals:
 
   
 
I initially had some doubts the holes and dials would match up - but they do.  Perfectly.  Nice going Airscale.  Painted up:
 

 
If y'all really like it, give Peter the credit - it is the decals that really make it special.  So this is a 3-piece laminate.  The front is my 3D printed part, a middle .005 inch thick clear plastic piece, and a back .02 inch thick white plastic sheet with the decal applied to it.  The challenge is to bond them together without contaminating the dials.  Mission accomplished although with much hand-wringing. 
 
Also, I began the N3B gunsight.  This is a challenge with all the mirrors - here is a shot from the parts catalogue:
 
   
 
So off to the races.  Rhino design took some time for sure.  And the parts are soooo small.  Here:
 

 
In front is the mounting bracket.  On the left is the "head assembly".  On the right is the gunsight body.  And center rear is the lower mirror support fitting. And here is what I have so far:
 

 

 
Parts fit together pretty well.  What you see here is a testament to the latest technology of affordable 3D printers.  It continues to amaze me.  Still to come is the very dinky lower mirror, an electrical wire, and the familiar 45 deg slanted glass.  Next post!
 
In anticipation of the soon coming windshield window installation, I used some of my rejected parts to make another windshield assembly for the purposes of fabricating the .005 inch thick exterior strips:
 
  
 
It consists, of course, of the four glass parts and the spindly window frame, painted with a coat of primer.  Spindly no longer.  I even added globs of CA to the joints on the interior side to make it still more robust.  There will be fairly forceful burnishing and other manhandling things going on during the process of making the exterior strips, so it needs to be strong.  Better done on this mock windshield than the one I will use for the model itself.   Hopefully you can see, BTW, how nicely the individual window panes fit into the frame, providing nice little grooves or valleys for the exterior strips to match up to.  The advantage of digital design and manufacture.  Looking forward to that work, I think.  
 
Next post you should see a completed windshield/surround sub-assembly, perhaps even skinned.  Then it will be on to fuselage side panel assembly - frames and skins and longerons - all done with the new jig.
 
Take care until next time.  Thanks for looking in!
 
 

hey Neo
Sorry mate, nothing really has changed since the last update. I've been busy doing other things as a result of supply issues. which pertained to running out of fiber optic cable. I did buy more but the stuff that came in after a nearly 4 month wait was not the size I needed. I just haven't had it in me to source more.
 
However, as a small consolation for you, I have included some relatively recent pics that hadn't made it to an update yet
 
 
 
The second layer has also been started and nearly finished:
 
 
Test fitting the second layer :
 
 
Those little brass pipes like the one shown just below the written D on the base plate, are for feeding the SMD spotlights through the sidewalls into the internal cavity.
 
 
I am regretting drilling out so many holes that need to be filled. I haven't even started on the side walls or anything else yet 
 
 
Sorry mate, but that's all I have. I do intend to return to this (yeah I know, that sounds sooo familiar. We've all been there - don't judge ). Maybe once I have finished my current project, I'll attempt to bring my mojo levels up enough to go back an try get that base finished. If anyone lives in Melbourne and feels like threading some fiber for me, drop me a line ... I expect to hear from no one  
Regardless, thanks Neo, for the continued interest all the same. I'll try get this done ASAP but I don't want to rush it either. LOL, not that I can be accused of that any time soon
 

Thanks for that.  Very interesting!
 
Here's some more links for the "Ghost" paint scheme on F-16 Aggressors.  There are at least two of them, 84-220 and 86-299, and I was able to see both of them in person at Nellis AFB 14 months ago in November.
 
First F-16 Ghost
 
Second F-16 Ghost
 
Second F-16 Ghost -II
 
First F-16 Ghost Video
 
And of course a pic I took of #1 flying last year...
 

 
 
While #2 was on the ground.
 

 
Cheers,
Chuck
 
 

January 23/24
 
Before I start painting stuff, I thought I’d re-check the fit of the entire intake to engine parts.  I’m glad I did, because the front engine fan part P24 will not fit the resin block that holds the landing gear below.
 

 
As always, I use the kit parts to see how things should have fit, vs what Aires came up with, which usually has no instructions.  Here is the same upper intake part B31 on the kit landing gear part B24, which provides a thin cylinder for the fan to slip onto.
 

 
It slips on easily as shown, but those “ears” on the fan serve no purpose with the resin block in the way, so I cut them off.
 

 
The other problem with the resin block is that it holds up the rear engine part C15, leaving a small gap where the engine assembly is screwed to the bottom fuselage.
 

 
The reason the fit is poor is due to a ledge that remains on the Aires resin, while the kit part B24 on the right has a cutout.
 

 
So it’s clear that I need to do more resin surgery, which I wish I had known about before I glued the landing gear bay to the bottom fuselage.  I glued this block early, because of so many landing gear tolerance issues, so I wanted to fix the position permanently while I still remembered what exactly they all were.  Not a big deal, but it made cutting into the resin block a lot more difficult than it needed to be.
 

 
Using my David Union “Router” as they call it, also purchased from Troy Molitor a few years ago, I carefully dug away at the resin block to allow the engine fan and other parts to fit better.  This surgery isn’t pretty and you have to be very careful to not let the router get away from you and scar adjacent parts, but it’s highly effective and thankfully totally hidden.
 

 
Using the front intake parts as a guide to determine where the rear intake part should fit, the engine fan just slips on now like it should.
 

 
The rear engine parts now clear the landing gear block and can now be screwed down properly.
 

 
With those adjustments out of the way, I can now start painting the landing gear and cockpit parts!
 
Cheers,
Chuck

I'm calling the interior pretty much done.   Mounted the crew chief seats to the brackets on the ceiling, I'll install the legs and support wires once the seats are fully in place.   These fittings are pretty fragile, hope these seats stay secured!   Also repainted the crew helmets in Helo Drab (my original color was off), repainted the pilot's seatbelts as well.  They got repainted in a darker shade; this was pointed out by an Ex-Army Hawk pilot over on FB.   Lastly, I added another helmet to the co-pilot's seat.    Next up will be the most challenging phase of the build, glueing the interior subassembly together and getting it to fit between the fuselage halves.   Some initial dry fitting shows I've got some trimming / sanding to do here.    Wish me luck! 
 

 

 

 
I've also got a decision to make regarding surface detailing.   The kit is covered with recessed "divots", in contrast, the real thing has very pronounced raised rivets.   On FB I saw a guy using tiny "solder balls" to fill in every divot.   The final effect looked awesome.   I'm trying to decide if I'm crazy enough to go this route or just bit the bullet and keep things as they are!  My order of 10,000 .030mm solder balls just arrived from Amazon.... 

Thanks guys.  Been making some progress on the floor.  First off - I added the markings on the BAPS panels using an artist's watercolor pencil.   Nothing fancy (or legible) but once I've weathered the floor and buttoned things up, I think it will look ok.   Also added the pilot's floor armor and started work on the pilot's seats.   

 
Next up, I started weathering the cabin floor.   Iraq was known for the dust, it got everywhere.   This is the first step, using ground up pastels.   I'll continue to tweak this.  I also added some avionics boxes and wiring to the recessed area under the pilot's seats.   This area was mostly open, its purpose was to allow the pilots seats to collapse into it, in the event of a crash.  It was covered with a velcro fabric panel but these panels were easily lost.   I left the pilot's seat "box" exposed, the co-pilot's seat as the fabric cover partially in place.    I also started working on the center control console.    The kit's part was decent, but I opted to use the Quinta decals.   To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about these.  All I can say is that they look better in RL than they do in these following pics.   One thing I noted is that the Lima model has additional control panels at the back of the center console that aren't included in the kit.   They come in many different configurations, evolving over the years.  Here's one.
 

 
I scratch built the two boxes at the aft end, using a slightly different control layout than the picture above.   I used Archer rivets to add a bit of surface detail.   Lastly, I continued working the pilot's seats.  The real thing is a pretty complicated assembly, with a lot of equipment added to the backside, for use by the Crew Chiefs.
Note the two first aid kits and the battery cover on the floor.  These parts are all in the Werner's Wings update set. 

 
Werner's Wings also provides the black stowage pouch and crash axe, as seen below.  

 
For my seats, I used the Eduard PE seatbelt set.   Some of the belts in the pictures are sticking off into space, that's because I will end up draping them over various interior bits after the cabin is assembled.    I also added water bottles (from Live Resin) since these were widely present with US troops in Iraq.  I textured the bottom seat cushions to try to replicate the sheep skin seat covers 

 

 

 
Also added some wiring and details to the pilot's control sticks. 

 
Sorry about the picture quality, once I get a bit further along, I'll put the assembly in a cleaner background and try to take a few detailed shots.
 
Thats it for now, thanks for checking in. 
 

Couldn't agree more. <3
 
And with palm tree #2 complete...

 
The vegetation is done!

 
Next to move on to tidying up the base and getting some texturing and painting done.
 

January 19/24
 
Thank you everyone for your kind comments!  It’s great to be back, but I have to admit, it took me awhile to jump back in.  I don’t know if was like “Writers Block” or lack of modeling Mojo, but I would just stare at some of the kit pieces then put them back in the box for another day.  The only way out of this modeling funk is to force yourself to glue a few pieces of plastic together and see what happens and if you have a few challenges, even better.  Problem solving is the most fun for me and this kit has lots of problems, especially with all the Aires resin.
 
I was going to start painting the landing gear wells and cockpit, but there are a few things that were still bugging me when I left this build a year ago.  One is the gap at the front of the glare shield/coaming, which even the kit parts have for some reason.  Normally a gap like this would be hidden by a windshield, but with the F-16 canopy serving as the windshield as well, any flaws up front stick out like a sore thumb.   There are also gaps along the sides of the Aires glare shield once the kit ridges are removed.  Here’s where I left off.
 

 
The front was partially filled with a strip of styrene, but the sides of the coaming still need attention, because the gap is quite large.
 

 
Strip styrene to the rescue again, filling most of the side gap and the recess in the Aires coaming, which doesn’t exist.  There should be a ridge along the sides that joins the ridges at the front of the coaming and the styrene now sort of replicates the weather strip gasket against the ridge.
 

 
Another angle from the top.  When the cockpit is painted and installed, the small gaps can now be easily be filled, while the side lip of the front and rear will be merged together into one continuous unit.
 

 
Like most fighter jet kits, the intake has a big seam that needs to be filled and eliminated.  For this particular kit, the seam fit is pretty darn good as is, but still very noticeable if you peek inside the intake, which is an automatic deduction at a model contest for sure.  The fix is usually putty with lots of internal sanding, which can be a real pain in such a tight space, or even the dip in white latex paint trick, invented by Pete Fleischman years ago on one of his F-16 projects.  I used latex paint on my last F-16CJ and found that it worked very well, but I wanted to see if I could try something new, and maybe less complicated.
 

 
I rarely use putty to fill anymore, relying mostly on CA glue when I can sand it easily, which isn’t going to work in the tight confines of this intake.  The next best “putty” is ordinary Tamiya Extra Thin Cement (TETC), if the gap is small.  For this intake I used lots of it and let it ooze out, while squeezing the two intake halves together to create a firm bond with as few gaps as possible.  When that dried after a day, I used some more along the seam line, which melts the plastic some more as it flows together into one solid piece.  When that’s good and dry- maybe another 24 hours-, I sanded it down with thin foam “Madworks” sanding blocks I bought from Troy Molitor a few years ago.  These sanding blocks are now my sanding staple for just about everything, because they are so easy to use and do a great job.  To get them inside the intake, I taped them to a putty knife and sanded away, starting with 400 grit and finished with 1500 grit.
 

 
This worked out very well and all seam lines are now gone, or at least all that I can see with a flashlight.  Shadows of the old seam line and connecting joins remain when lit from behind, but to my eye they are now totally gone inside.  This is also one of the few times that the white Thunderbirds plastic will come in handy, because now I don't need to paint it white.
 

 

 

 
That’s it for now and thanks for tagging along, even if this build does take forever.
 
Cheers,
Chuck

January 15, 2024
 
I’m BAAAACK!  Well, sort of.  It has been just over 1 year since my last post and I’m eager to get back into the modeling game, with some limitations. Retirement was supposed to give me more modeling time, but instead I seem to have less.  Major renovations to our house took about 9 months, but packing stuff to move everything out and then back in took another 3 months of chaos, hard work and hassle.  Ugh!  I’m so glad it’s mostly over.
 
Like most home renovations, the vast majority of the changes were what my wife wanted to do, which is fine with me, because I’m fairly useless with home design, color coordination and such, and I also really don’t care all that much.  Where I did have some say, however, was in my modeling room and a new display cabinet, where I can finally display my 1/32 jets without crowding them too much.  Here’s a few pics of the beast in so-so light, which measures roughly 44” wide, 25” deep and 9 feet tall from floor to ceiling in our basement.  Bright LED Lighting strips are integrated into each side, with a dimmer switch if you want to tone things down.
 
This sucker is BIG, in order to fit 2 big jets on each glass shelf.  Glass doors closed
 

 
Glass doors open
 

 
Zoomed in a bit
 

 
This cabinet was made to be integrated into my bar area, with a side window to let in more light.  I’m very happy with the end results, so that my models can now be seen safely by others, while keeping the little hands of my grandchildren out!
 

 
 
Although I haven’t modeled for a long time, I have checked out many of your models, either here in the WIP or the RFI forum.  Standing back and taking it all in, these thoughts come to mind over the past year:
 
·        “Scratch” manufactured models, using 3D printing, is exploding and is clearly a big part of the modeling future
·        The aftermarket is rapidly growing, also using 3D printing, with never seen before detail and quality
·        We have new model manufacturers that weren’t around a few years ago, kicking out some fantastic kits that were not available before.  Kotare and JETMADS comes to mind- and I now have a JETMADS 1:32 AJ37 Viggen kit on the way for a future build.
·        It’s hard to keep up with all that’s going on!
 
One thing that I find a bit frustrating, is that I have been collecting all sorts of aftermarket items for future builds, which are mostly cast resin parts from small cottage industry vendors, that may or may not be around in the future.  I have lots of jet exhausts, missiles and conversion sets that for the most part, are now garbage in my mind with all the cool new offerings that we now have, and continue to be made available.  For instance, everything that ResKit now makes is a lot better than the equivalent item that I have in the stash, so I’ll never use the old stuff anymore.  I’ll probably just donate most of it, so that it doesn’t go to waste.
 
Anyway, enough rambling and back to this build of what I think is a pretty cool looking Viper Aggressor paint scheme.  I am so happy that I took good notes of what I did so far, because I’d be quite lost right now without them.  With the resin landing gear and cockpit now properly fit into the kit parts, it’s now time to get some paint on them.  Stay tuned as I ease my way back into our fascinating hobby.
 
Cheers,
Chuck
 

These panels do not fit very well (one thanks to my own doing). There are three different sets in the kit. The ones without cooling holes fit a lot better. I will use these and drill new cooling holes, and thin the panel so the holes look more to scale. I will drill and thin the ill-fitting ones first as a practice and to see if they can be used as templates.
 


 
The tail wheel well. It looks quite nice OOB.
 

 
The oil cooler / tail wheel well assembly is now finished. No problems here.
 

 
I've drilled the exhausts stacks open, it looks way better. Tedious, but worth it.
 

 
And painted. I had to break them loose again since you need to put te shrouds over the stack before glueing the stack onto the insert, otherwise the schroud will not go over the exhaust. The instruction show it clearly, I was just beeing daft.
 

 
Exhausts painted and fitted.
 

 
The inner intake mouth. One can add the small spar after glueing the two halves together which is easier than te other way around. It slides into either hole upward or downward, and the you push it to te other end.Just be careful since it's small and fragile.
 

 
With everyting inside dry-fited time for another fuselage closing test-fit. No problems except between the oil-cooler exhasut and the tail wheel well. There's an un-closable gap (by force) of about 1mm. Sanding away what you can on the inner parts does not eleviate the problem. I will simlpy shim it and then sand it smooth. Since the transition from exhaust-to-fuseage is otherwise pretty good fit-wise, I dont want to take material away here. A shim is best I think.
 

 

 
The top side is free of such problems.
 

 
Cheers!
 
 

The finishing line approaches!
 

Success!
 
Left hand sculpted successfully!  It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and now I really want to try my hand at more challenging sculpts.  As if I need another skill to build.  Inspiration is a hell of a thing. 
 
In any case, you can now see that Lt. Ray is using his left hand's fingertips to steady himself as he jumps down onto the wing from the cockpit.

 
He fits the scene perfectly now.  While not a perfect match for the reference photo, I think this is pretty darn good.


 
Guys, I gotta admit, I'm really happy with these results and I expected the hand work to be much more difficult.  I know they're not perfect, but as a beginner, I'm about as happy as can be. 
 
Now on to the other palm tree.

Hello, all.  Back with another small update.
 
After watching some tutorials on YouTube and doing a few practice pieces, I was able to sculpt a right hand in the pose I needed.  It looks a little rough in close up photos, but I think with a coat of paint it'll look great.  For a first "production" effort, I'm really happy with it and I've found myself consumed with videos of how to sculpt figures from scratch.  God help me...

 

 

 
As you can see, he's now grasping the canopy rail naturally as you would as you're heaving yourself down to the wing.

 

 
So with that tackled, now it's just a matter of posing the left arm and sculpting another hand.  As the above photos show (at least to some degree) the left arm is now far too bent.  It needs to be straightened out so that the left hand will fall naturally on the fuselage just forward of the canopy.
 
So, I took out a razor saw and cut a small slit in the crook of the left elbow, held the figure under a hair dryer for ~20 seconds, bent the arm to where I needed it, and let it cool.  Much better.

 
A little filling with magic sculpt and it looks quite nice.

 
With the foot on the fuselage canopy rail, the right hand on the canopy itself, I believe the left hand will be open with fingers splayed a bit just to help him guide himself as he drops from the cockpit to the wing.



 
I'm hoping that I can finish up the other hand tomorrow morning, then, once the putty cures, get it mounted and get the figures primed, cleaned up, and ready for paint.  
 

Sharing my latest build here. This is Takom's 1/35 AH-64D Apache Longbow done in the markings of the Republic of Singapore's 120 Squadron "Kestrel". 
 
I used the "D of the World" boxing of the Takom AH-64D and built it straight out of the box. The only exceptions were a couple of homebrew decals to detail up the cockpits. Painted with Mr Color lacquers and weathered with oils and enamels. 
 
Hope you enjoy the photos of the completed model!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Built as an adventure to try adding (artistic license) the scruffy looking paintwork to a navy aircraft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 
As always, striving to mediocrity
Thanks for looking

A few progress;
Painting is terminated except for the cowling. The cowling will be painted later.
 





 
 

So the last few bits have been stuck on (except the turned metal pitot which is apparently still in transit
Fuel tanks ready for loading up

 I went with a different painting method on these new pipes over the first set

 

 

 

And glued on;
 

 
fuel tanks glued on;

 

 
aaannd finished...
I'll add the next few images to RFI

 
A great kit, a lot of enjoyment to build although, I thought it would take longer...
Thanks to all those who stopped by for a look
Extra thanks to those who left a comment and words of encouragement.
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks mates!
Reskit pulled through for the replacement of the (one piece) that was badly formed by sending me a complete replacement set, great service!
work has begun on cutting away the pour lugs...done now I guess and fitting the parts together. I should be able to assemble and paint these this week.
the original pieces in back new ones out front

 

the fun will now continue
Thanks for looking

I'm back....just to show a pic of a fix that was suggested by a fellow LSP'r in private so as not to embarrass me too much (Thank you, you know who you are) I was able to address one of the issues indicated, the others would require substantial sanding repainting or different decals
In my defense (excuse) I had noticed the ECM panels earlier in the build but then noticed other aircraft without or they were painted in such a way as to be impossible for me to distinguish from the rest of the panel then, I completely forgot to add them after the excitement of adding paint and weathering...without further word salad. 

They look significantly more yellow in these images than they are in reality

 

That's all for now
Thanks for the help
Thanks for looking