1/32nd F/A 18D Hornet - 2/7/15 - Sidewinders painted

[Guest Peterpools]

Terrific work and cleaning up all the horrendous fit problems and gaps. As the Hornet sits now, she is looking great

Keep 'em coming

[crobinsonh]

Thanks for your comments.

 

Jake the seat issue is a real bummer as I made the mistake of "presuming" they where right as they came with the Blackbox cockpit for the F-18D. I have to be honest with the slow rate of my modelling and the fact that these are wrong I moved away from doing a super detailed Hornet (save that for the Buccaneers and Lightnings in my stash) and justing doing more of a OOB.

 

I have made some more progress today with jet exhausts which I did my best to copy from the DACO book - in particular page 47 top RH photo. This included the heat stain markings you can see on each of the external petals. They are still not final as they need some oil spot blending on the external petals to provide some additional hues. These where not the easiest of items to photograph (at least now with my limited skill set).

 

 

 

This if from the other side!

 

 

 

I need to get better shots as I actually do not think these do justice to the exhausts.

 

Next is the U/C and main U/C bay etc.

Edited January 21, 2013 by crobinsonh

[crobinsonh]

Ok. Here are a couple of hopefully better shots of the exhausts.

 

 

 

[crobinsonh]

A few more updates for today. As I had decided not to super detail the model after getting the ejection seats wrong I did not go with the Aires resin for the main U/C bays but just used the Eduard set for detailing the kit supplied bays.

 

 

I decided not to use the resin Contact Resin wheels I bought years ago as they are flattened to a very unrealistic fashion - in fact most of the shots in the DACO book show very little flattening. The tyres are not weathered and there is still a few details to be picked out.

 

 

I then started the nose and main U/C. Again I did not add any extra detail but just went with the kit supplied parts. There is still assembly still to do and a round of weathering looking again at the DACO book. For the main shocks I used BareMetal foil (my first time ever) and whilst it worked ok I did find the material a bit of a pig to get used to. That said it did get better as I understood more about the properties of the material.

 

Here is everything together

 

 

And last but not least the U/C doors etc.

 

 

Spot the mistake - yeah I painted too much red. I realised this when checking the DACO book. Back to the spray booth for some touch ups tomorrow (if it is warm enough to spray)

 

 

Hopefully more updates tomorrow.

[crobinsonh]

If any one has a link to the aires wheel bay instructions that would be a huge help as I would like to use the PE hinges etc but I have lost the instructions at some point over the years

[ColinR]

You're doing a superb job on this kit , but I wish I'd foiund this build earlier , so I could have passed on one or two tricks to building this model, (I've worked my way throu 4 of them since they were released !), so this has all been learned the HARD way !

 

The main tweak is one I suspect you may have already worked out , The intakes.. fit them before the upper and lower fusalage halves go together , its a LOT easier to position the intake O rings, (the bits that require most filler), before the fusalage gets assembled.. and remove the ends of the intake trunking again it makes lining up the whole intake are a lot simplier

 

secondly , that dammed rear fusalage join, it really needs a fair chunk of re-enforcement on the inside of the join , that way its a lot easier to re-scribe , without fear of the seam giving way..

 

Thirdly - watch the gear mount points , after a little time , they will start to settle , and give way .. re-enforce th joint it you can , best cure is a set metal U/C ..

 

Best of luck with the rest of the build, its a great kit , but I'm not sure I'll ever finish the other 2 I have in store!

[AnthonyWan]

That looks excellent!

Out of curiosity, what brands/shades of metalizer and other paints did you use on your exhausts? I really like the finish...

[Stokey Pete]

If any one has a link to the aires wheel bay instructions that would be a huge help as I would like to use the PE hinges etc but I have lost the instructions at some point over the years

I can scan you a set of instructions and email them to you if that helps.

[dodgem37]

Mighty nice.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[crobinsonh]

Thanks to everyone for your comments and advice.

 

Scotsman thanks for your comments and advice. The gear is the SAC metal gear as I had read on so many build reviews about the relative weakness of the U/C over time. With regard to the intakes I took the hard way whereas I would encourage anyone else to get hold of some seamless intakes for a much easier ride. I have noticed that one of the gear mounts has started to give and crack after one test fitting - certainly a job for 5 minute epoxy.

 

AnthonyWan I used Gunze paints for the exhausts - Dark iron and Iron for the outside and sail colour for the interior. The best paints IMHO.

 

Stocky Pete That would be a huge help. I will PM you.

[crobinsonh]

Updates from the last couple of days.

 

Here is the nose U/C with the eduard F-18 Placards set. A little thick but still nice.

 

 

I then used MIG pastels - as I said earlier I am a Pastel virgin until this build. I have seen many comments on the use but could never quite work out how to use them. Have now amassed around 20 or so of the MIG pigments and used them on the jet exhausts and U/C I now have a much better understanding of the value in weathering and finishing models.

 

 

 

I then moved onto the main U/C

 

 

 

and then the gear doors - still some work to tidy up.

 

 

I then moved onto the windscreen and main canopy - I have to admit I have had a nightmare time with these parts. The Future finish has "waves" (first time this has happened to me) and had to be stripped and then the glueing the etch was an absolute nightmare. I certainly needs 6 pairs of hands!

 

 

I also have the Eduard external weapons etch which as far as the main pylons goes is pretty much useless as most of the etch does not fit.

Edited January 27, 2013 by crobinsonh

[LSP_Kevin]

Wow, that undercarriage looks amazing! So lifelike. A shame about your canopy issues, but I'm sure you'll triumph in the end.

 

Kev

[AnthonyWan]

Thanks to everyone for your comments and advice.

 

Scotsman thanks for your comments and advice. The gear is the SAC metal gear as I had read on so many build reviews about the relative weakness of the U/C over time. With regard to the intakes I took the hard way whereas I would encourage anyone else to get hold of some seamless intakes for a much easier ride. I have noticed that one of the gear mounts has started to give and crack after one test fitting - certainly a job for 5 minute epoxy.

 

AnthonyWan I used Gunze paints for the exhausts - Dark iron and Iron for the outside and sail colour for the interior. The best paints IMHO.

 

Stocky Pete That would be a huge help. I will PM you.

You have the paint #'s for those?

I can't seem to locate a "dark" iron, only burnt. Are you using the lacquers or acrylics?

Found sail color though! Thanks

[Guest Peterpools]

Fantastic work on the gear ... the weathering is spot on and looks terrific.

Keep 'em coming

[crobinsonh]

AnthonyWan - Apologies for the delay it is Mr Color 214 (lacquer) Dark Iron and Mr Color 212 (lacquer)

 

I have a some update on work from the last 2 weeks.