Brett M

Lol, no not quite. I have the Korbanth Superstar destroyer in the stash but after this, I'll need s serious break from StarWars. My next build will either be the 1/350 Scharnhorst or the airbrush spaceship.

A while ago i started my Su-30 MKM project. This model had been on my list for quite some time. For the base i use the Su-30 MKK. 
With the set of Naza model art i am transfer this one in to a MKM. And off course some extra aftermarket stuff. 

First i started with the cockpit and the pilots. I had an Aires cockpit set for the Flanker and i used this one as a base. 
The Malaysian airforce pilots use the France MSA helmets. So i bought the pilots from Reedoak to putt them in the Flanker. And these fit very well.
The pilots and the ejection seats are ready

afternoon all
 
 
Hi OBG, thanks for dropping by - the tape is just decorators masking tape and the litho is 0.2mm so i guess there is a tenth of a mm in it - it is pretty close largely because it's slightly textured.. The litho is sheet aluminium used in the litho printing process - it's called Jade Long Runs and I got 100 sheets from Printing Supplies Direct I have no idea how to navigate their website or what their minimum order is, but Geoff (Ironwing here) put me onto them years ago and I just emailed a chap called Brian
 
You can probably get it elsewhere & I have got it on ebay before, but that is after it has been used and I found when I abraded it with wire wool I was getting coloured hues in the metal (reds, greens, blues etc) so went straight to source
 
recent work on the P40 has focussed on getting the cockpit 'pod' completed and onto the fuselage as this was holding up many other things. I got as far as skinning the tail feathers before I had to move on..
 

 

 
..the filler fairings were slightly cut into so the skin will sit under the litho fairings that cover this union - I need to refill over the join or it will show through when burnishing down the fillets..
 

 
..To get the cockpit pod oriented, I mocked up where it sat and added braces so I could assemble the instrument panel mounts and all the final components..
 

 
..once that was fixed, I built out the IP mount and installed it..
 

 
..now I knew the area I had to fit the guns into so made up the mounts and ammo bins into one assembly. The guns were little PE kits and the cocking levers (I assume) were ground with my dremel from sheet aluminium - at 6mm tall this was pretty hard
 

 

 
..the guns were then added to the assembly as were the throttle control rods and any final bobbins before the whole thing would be fixed in place on the fuselage..
 

 

 
..the floor and control column also added - I can add the seat later..
 
..I also removed the panels under the rear canopy glass as these are different for the early version I am doing and I had incorrectly added fuel & oil fillers...
 

 
..I actually installed the cockpit pod and filled it to blend it in before I realised I had it slightly out of position - very frustrating as I had to carefully remove it without damaging anything which took hours of concentration..
 
..with it safely removed I also realised I should have got the windscreen area right before I mounted the pod, so it was a useful quirk of fate I got it wrong. I got the few drawings there are of the early windscreen and built up a 3D structure of templates - filled the bulk with balsa and then P38 filler...
 

 
..this was refined and a plastic card blank pulled to help set out the area where the windshield meets the fuselage skin. I will cast the blank in resin so I can polish it to a smooth finish before vacforming the windshield..
 

 
..the card blank was used to add two structural 'ears' that appear on the forward cowling where there are two hatches on the upper surface..  by carefully positioning the blank I could CA where the contact was needed for the ears and know the windshield part will match with these..
 
..the cotton is used to assure a true centreline through all components.. you can also see the damage on the forward fuselage where I had to chop out the poorly positioned cockpit pod..
 

 

 
 
..the cockpit pod was finally fitted and faired in with the surrounding fuselage structure..
 

 

 
..starting to look like a P40 now..
 

 
TTFN
 
Peter
 

Definitely not bored here either! That’s going to be quite the display when done. Randy Cooper SD next, super detailed?

When you replied last, I didn't recognize that you were suggesting to not use the self-etching primer at all.  Didn't catch that.
 
When I began to skin this model a few months ago, I started out first on a 1/24 FW190 "mule".  In addition to practicing the skinning technique, I tried out some painting on the bare aluminum surfaces i bonded to it.  I found that Tamiya gray or white primer, from a rattle can, was subject to lifting from masking tape.  I did not test Tamiya topcoat colors of any kind, but I suspect the same would happen (although your experience seems to indicate no problems).  Was scary - the last thing I need is to do an excellent paint job only to have paint peel off while masking for the insignias.  When I reported this result on my build thread, several of my cohorts stated that it was absolutely imperative to use a self-etching primer to prevent paint lifting.  I believe it, so I am going with the self-etching primer.  I'd rather do that than risk paint lifting.
 
Tamiya does not have a YZC spray can.  They have a "chrome yellow" which seems to come the closest, and I have some, but I don't like it.  Now, Tamiya XF-4 "yellow green" in a bottle is just about perfect.  And I have thinned it and applied with an airbrush with good results.  There are great YZC's out there from the various airbrush-only paint makes, as well.  I intend to make that thinned XF-4 the next coat over the self-etching primer.  I am going to practice on the mule, or a piece of aluminum sheet, and see if I can get a convincing looking wear area where both YZC and bare alum get exposed.  I am hoping that it can be done in such a way where the greenish self-etch primer doesn't show up much.  Fingers crossed.

LOL - thanks Highlander
 Quick couple of extra shots showing how high the SD sits above the base:
 
 
 
 
 

bored? bored?  You don'tknow the meaning of bored when we can look at all that detail.

hey again
Got one building done and primed and have started on the second one. I'm hoping to have the first one painted by the weekend. I have already drilled out the holes where the fibers will be going. I lost count after 50 and 8 drill bits later
The good news is it won't require a lot big lengths of fiber. I am contemplating sticking in just little bits of fiber and flood lighting the entire inside but I am not sure I can get much light through the top sections. They'd require longer lengths I think. Also, there would not be enough room to angle an LED bright enough to fill the space... unless I used SMD strip?
Enough pondering, here are the pics. I used my phone and not my proper camera coz I can't be faffed getting it all set up
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In black primer with a very light white primer highlight coat brings it all together nicely
 
 
 
 
And together with the new building. I drilled out some vents on the side of the tower and I'll stick in some strips of clear sanded styrene to cover the openings from the inside. With a red LED shining up from the bottom it'll look pretty cool with the sanded styrene diffusing the light nicely. At least - that's the plan
 
 
 
 
 
and lastly, the new position of both on the surface:
 
 
Well, I think I have bored you all enough, but as always, please feel free to critique or suggest anything that could be improved. Like, share, subscribe...? LOL
I watch way too much Youtube
Thanks for looking

Hi Jay,
 
I use Tamiya Polishing Compounds, starting with Coarse, then Fine, then Finish, using small rags and Q-tips.  90% of what you want, will be accomplished with the Coarse "grit", with Fine and Finish cleaning things up further.  The last thing I use is Plexus, which is made for real aircraft clear plastic.
 
Make sure you don't bend/flex the clear plastic too much, or it could result in a shattered canopy.  Don't ask me how I know! 
 
Cheers,
Chuck

Something that was bugging me for quite a while now is the cockpit.  Last I posted something on the cockpit was late February - this:
 

 
That was when the center wing and fuselage were joined, and a bunch of stuff was finished in the cockpit that required that join to occur - control cables, foot troughs, a few unterminated hydraulic lines.  What remained, it was stated, were the control stick, the last two fluorescent lamps that shine on the instrument panel, and of course the seat.  
 
Finally, I got around to revisiting (a way of stalling - I am apprehensive of the cowl flap work....  ).  A while back, part of a 3D print order I received were the control stick handle, and the relief tube funnel:
 

 
Relief tube funnel.  Ha!!  In the spirit of full reporting, here is the engineering drawing of the relief tube installation:
 

 
Note it is fixed to the control stick with a clamp and a cup-shaped bracket.
 
One of the very first parts I made for this Corsair, after the engine was completed - it's been a couple years now - was the control stick, for some reason.  It was now revisited:
 
 
 
The handle and relief tube are installed - it's ready for installation into the cockpit.
 
And here you go, plus the last two (of four) fluorescent lamps:
 

 

 

 
That's a pretty complete cockpit - indeed 100% complete except the pilot seat, which must wait until the aft fuselage is done I believe.  I am pleased to show it.  
 
Well there is nowhere else to hide.  The cowl flaps are waiting.  Take care.

As mentioned above, the starboard loadout was 2 x AIM-9B's and a QRC-160 ECM pod.   A pretty uncommon configuration (as was the green camo'd EMC pod).   The early ECM pods went through multiple, rapid changes, with regard to number / size of antennas, overall shape of the pod, their designations (for example, some versions of the QRC-160 were simply re-labeled as ALQ-71's), etc.      The earliest pods contained a nose-mounted generator, driven by a small set of propeller blades.  Later pods were able to take advantage of upgrades to the parent aircraft and receive power from the jet, freeing up space for more electronics in the pod.   At first, these pods could only be mounted on the outer starboard wing pylon, which took up valuable real estate.  Within a year, the starboard inner pylon had been wired.   Later in the war, these pods were able to be installed (via an adapter) into one of the forward Sparrow wells.    Here's the best illustration I could find of these early pods.  This doesn't cover all the various "QRC" variants but gives you some idea of the various configurations out there.   The pod on my model, based on the one picture I have of the real thing, appears to be somewhere between the QRC in the picture below and the ALQ-71-1.
 

In the very beginning, these pods were just crude "noise" jammers but they were rapidly upgraded to use more and more sophisticated jamming techniques.   While this was happening, the NVA SAM-2's were also being upgraded to counter the US countermeasures.  It was pretty much a never-ending cycle throughout the war.  Ultimately, these pods helped but never provided 100% protection against SAM's.   The history of the early days of EW in the Vietnam War is an amazing one.   If anyone is interested, the best book I've seen on the subject is:
Iron Hand: Smashing the Enemy's Air Defences: Thornborough, A.: 9781852606053: Amazon.com: Books   A very well-done book that details this subject from early Vietnam through Kosovo.
 
Anyway, enough rambling.  Here are some pictures of my progress.   The pod is from GT Resin.  Decals are some scraps from the Fundekals set.   AIM-9's are the very nice Brassin ones and I modified their launch rails to the early "narrow" configuration without the spacers used later in the conflict.    

 

 

 

 

 

 
That'll do it for now, thanks for passing through. 

Kev's explanation of it is exactly what it is - a starship in the shape of an airbrush (and one that I use to -HP-C+). I personally really like a subject that is off center. Im thinking of grey, blue and metallics for a scheme. 

It's quite literally a sci-fi spaceship rendering of an airbrush. I believe it was even co-designed by Iwata:
 
https://www.mapleairbrushsupplies.com/products/arkhitect-advanced-research-colonizer
 
Kev

Really nice looking, great work. And, I just grabbed the same kit from the LHS two days ago….will be referencing back here 

I sure do have a calloused middle finger, and maybe the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome on my right hand, after creating THOUSANDS of little rivet and bolt marks on wing panels.  But huzzah - I am done skinning for quite a while!  Here is the fully skinned VS-10225 "Unit Assembly - Body Group - Fuselage Front Section & C. S."
 
 
 
Yes - once again I busted loose a landing gear door. 
 
A couple more shots:
 
  
 

 
I love how these fixed TE hinged doors came out (not hard to do):
 

 
 
There is now nothing standing in the way of painting this assembly, at least partly.  A giant milestone for me.  Some would wait until the aft fuselage was finished and joined.  I will have to wait until then to paint the two blue's, for sure, to avoid a mismatch at the join, and also to stencil the stars & bars insignias which span the joint.  The aft fuselage - LOL.  I haven't even started it!  Alot there.  Months worth.
 
At least I will prime it and apply the insignia white to the underside and fade it out along the sides.  Thanks to OBG, I found some self-etching primer that appears to be yellow ZC colored, if the color of the top is any indication.  It arrives next week sometime.  I already had some other self-etch that I bought locally, but it is dark olive green in color, and if I am to weather this thing like we all would like, I need to have a layer of yellow ZC, on top of the bare aluminum that can be exposed here and there, without any dark green showing up.  This stuff:  
 

 
Stay tuned for that.
 
As I wait, I will very likely go back to the engine and cowling assembly and start work on the cowl flaps and mechanisms.  Going to be micro-surgery.
 
And speaking of the aft fuselage, a sneak preview - I got some more 3D print parts in the mail from Tim Perry (tim@tjpgraphics.com):
 

 

 
The customary comparison shot with the toy part:
 

 
Big improvement.  A while back we all had a spirited discussion about tail wheel tires and wheels.  I ordered up both the fine tread and the coarse tread tires for print, and the Hayes wheels.  I thought I would be disappointed with the bulge detail on the fine-tread tire, and I am.  Modeler error - looks awful.  The bulge on the coarse tread tire is perfect.  So I will probably do a bit of putty work on the fine tread tire and see if I can improve the bulge.  If it works, I will use it.  If not, the coarse tread tire is a good back-up.
 
The tail wheel bay is going to be a hoot, I can tell ya.  But it's a little ways off.  Take care and I will update soon I hope.     

thanks guys
A distraction the likes you probably haven't seen arrived on my door step today:
 
Must resist the urge to start this one now.

Decal work is 95% complete.   The Fundekals decals went on perfectly, they are thin, no overlap of film and tighten down nicely with Micro Sol/Set.    A bit disappointed with this set though, for some reason they neglected to provide the ejection seat warning triangles, so I was forced to go with the pretty crappy Tamiya decals.   Also noted that the "P" in the tail code was painted on via a stencil, with the gaps not being touched up, as such I had to cut the solid "P" decal apart to replicate the real thing.   Also noted a few errors in the instructions.  Not the end of the world but not what I've come to expect from Fundekals either.   
 
Anyway, the good news is that unlike the bottom that probably had a few hundred maintenance and warning markings, the folks who hastily repainted the upper surfaces in the SEA camouflage scheme (most of the painting was done by subcontractors at Clark AFB in the Philippines) had very few markings.   The only one's present were the aircraft data info and the ejection seat and rescue markings on the forward nose.    Works for me, after spending a multiple days on the bottom, I'm fine with only a few decals topsides.    After the decals had dried, I used some Flory wash on a few of the access panels.   I still need to hit the model with some Dullcoate but I'm pretty happy with my progress.    
 

 

 

 
Note the mix of very light grey and white codes.   This aircraft was transferred from the "Triple Nickel" 555th TFS (FY) to the 497th TFS (FP).   Apparently by the time of the transfer, the USAF had standardized on white codes  The reason for the mix of grey and white "last three" serial numbers is anyone's guess! 

 
Still need to add the hydraulic pressure gauge in that rectangular recess above the jet nozzle.   I plan on toning down some of the panel lines a bit.  That's the great thing about Flory's stuff, you can remove it quite easily. 

 
Note the stencil-style "P".   Surprised that Fundekals missed this but a very easy fix.   Note also that the vertical stabilizer is just resting in place.   It will be glued on at the very end of the build, so I can continue to easily turn the model over to access the bottom. 

 
I guess that's it for now, thanks for checking in! 
 
 
 

Courtesy of Jari's link above.   Great shot of an early F-4C.   From what I've been able to find, it appears that by '67-68 that under-nose fiberglass panel was painted over.    One other cool thing about this picture is that it clearly shows the painted over large-sized underwing national insignia just visible under a coating of white paint.  The picture also shows nice examples of sloppily painted underwing drop tanks.    

 
Thanks so much for all the great pictures Jari, they are greatly appreciated. 

Plugging away on the cockpit.  Added additional Quinta decals for the pilot's and WSO's instrument panel.   Also touched up the paintwork (I decided the colors on the side soundproofing blankets were too green) and added some weathering.   For scratch-built additions, not much (yet).   Just a couple of wires added and the small "gates" that were on the pilot's throttles.  These were moved upwards to allow the throttles to go into afterburner.    Lastly, I added some weathering.   A bit of grime on some of the side consoles to tone down their brightness, plus additional scratches on the sides and floorboards. 
 

 

 
I need to touch up the metal "snaps" on the fabric side panels.  

 

 
And a few shots with the seats in place.

 

 

 
So that's it for now.   The weathering is still very much a work in progress.   Some effects need to be toned down a bit.   Thanks very much for looking!
 
 
 
 

Alain is on the right track. 2-3 smaller buildings will help tie it together.
 
Looks good!

I found this tower like structure last night in the box of spares and immediately thought this would be a cool addition:
 
 
Also found in amongst stuff I fully forgot I had, was this little gem (the big bit in the center). 
 
 
I layed out a few parts just to get some kind of structure going. Obviously, its just a base, but what do you think? Should I use it as well or just stick to the one building? Is it a bit too 'Old factory" in it's appearance or would it pass in the world of SW? 
One thing that I've noticed or thought about is the rest of the tile details. Is it too much with another building? Are these buildings out of scale with the rest of it? I don't think so, but I am doubting my scaling abilities lately, so I thought 'd see if I can get some honest, constructive feedback.

I think it’s an artistic question. Scale with the base and other structure is ok, also this new structure will fit if it is dressed with some additional mini details.
Will two tall structures look ok on the base? Maybe you should add a few smaller intermediate ones on the surface to create more balance.
Just a thought!
 
Alain

Actually, that's exactly what I have in mind - I just need to find something small enough to fit on the pads but still be in scale with the destroyer.

Pretty cool to me. And, it will help to make the base more unique. Now, small ship on the platform? 

A little more-
this is the one-piece hot metal section on the belly that wraps around each fuselage corner. A tricky one-



All of this yet to be weathered-
 
cheers
Pete