dodgem37 Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Sure puts a smile on my face. That is as nice a bit of modeling as I have ever seen. Great Chuck. Just great. Sincerely, Mark chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 Thank you all very much for your very kind comments. You make me blush! A few more comments now that I look at the pics above again. Due to lighting and the limits of photography, some things look a bit different in real life. For instance, the main color of the nozzles is darker and the blue is not as intense, so they look more like the reference pics than what I have posted. I also used some subtle "Burnt Exhaust" pastels within the nozzles to dirty them up a bit, but when I take the pic, the white washes out the darker colors. Did this thing just come out of the wash? Not that I know anything about anything, but I'm surprised it's so clean. Sincerely, Mark I'm no Eagle expert either Mark, but I have found that the outside of the exhaust nozzles are almost always very clean like the pics posted above. Maybe a ground crew expert can chime in, but I suspect that with all the moving parts on the nozzle, they need to be kept clean so that they are easier to inspect after every flight. Cheers, Chuck F`s are my favs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarioS Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 They do look amazing chuck it's as though you just miniaturised the real thing somehow. You used your magic paintbrush and shrunk them down to 32 scale. chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleAviation Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Superb finish on the nozzles! chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel111 Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Looks sooooo good! Great tutorial on the Tamiya pastels. I used the blue on my EF-2000 nozzles but didn't know about thinning them with water, very useful trick. Cheers, Marcel chuck540z3 and A-10LOADER 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Cheers, Chuck that is quite simply the best WIP image I have ever seen on any forum, anywhere.. ever... you can get lost in the detail & realism - literally takes the breath away truly a master at work and a priviledge to watch it unfold... Peter A-10LOADER, NavyF4s, chuck540z3 and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 fantastic result chuck, each model you make is seemingly better than the last! chuck540z3 and A-10LOADER 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kike_gt Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Your nozzles look way above awesome Chuck! one of your best performances so far IMHO! I really respect the fact that you are always improving! every model is better than the last one! and that, in my book, is something to admire! A little known fact about the Tamiya pastels is that they are not oil based like most pastels, but water based, which means they can be dissolved in water to form a wash. Here I have scraped off some of the Burnt Blue pastels into a cup and added a drop or two of water. I don't know about tamiya pastels, but regular pastels work the same way, you just have to add a drop of soap to break water tension, and it helps to stick better. chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckT Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Wow! Just amazing Chuck. chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 (edited) Thanks Guys! You are all too kind. Here's one more shot trying to photograph the interior of the flame holder. Not great, but you can sort of get the idea of what it looks like in real life. that is quite simply the best WIP image I have ever seen on any forum, anywhere.. ever... you can get lost in the detail & realism - literally takes the breath away truly a master at work and a privilege to watch it unfold... Peter Aw man Peter, now I can't get my head through the door! Thanks for the very nice compliment, especially when I consider the source. Your nozzles look way above awesome Chuck! one of your best performances so far IMHO! I really respect the fact that you are always improving! every model is better than the last one! and that, in my book, is something to admire! Thank you sir- and you have hit on my primary goal with each new build: Make it better than the last model. Based upon what I see so far, this one has a good chance. March 6/17 Now a real quick update. The horizontal stabilizers- or stabilators as they are most often called- have a very fine pin to attach them to the fuselage. The pin is flimsy, it bends and it doesn't stay in position, so you are likely forced to glue it unless you make some modifications. I see that "F's are my favs" has used thick round sprue to bolster his F-15E, while I used drill bits again to make the stabilators both strong and movable, without any flex to allow them to sag. First the problem. Left as is, the join is flimsy and unstable. Using drill bits as a new pivot point, I cut off the kit spindle and drilled a hole in its place. Drill bits were then cut to length using a Dremel tool and a cut-off wheel. As large as this pivot spindle is, the real deal is even larger according to Jake's book on page 127, so if it shows a bit, it should still look reasonably accurate. When inserted into the stabilator, the drill bit has no choice but to center itself within the stabilator as it thins on the inside, making it perfectly straight. Using a drill bit the same size, widen the hole within the fuselage, trying to keep everything perfectly straight. Voila, the stabilator is now strong, straight and can pivot at will- and you don't need to glue anything now or later. If the pin is a bit loose (one of mine was), coat the drill bit with a thin coat of CA glue to widen it very slightly. Using both glue and specific sanding, you can achieve a perfectly snug fit. Although it doesn't show very well on this pic, the stabilators were sanded down at the trailing edge to make them very thin, just like the real deal. I've read that the seams on the stabilators are not accurate and they should be sanded off. This is not necessarily true. According to Jake's book, they are the more modern version of stabilator found on all F-15E's and as the fleet of F-15A-D's age, these same stabilators are finding their way onto older jets. Since the stabilators are quite featureless as it is, I'm keeping them. That's about it for now Gents. My next task is many hours of re-scribing the wings and adding a zillion rivets to a LOT of new panels. Cheers, Chuck Edited March 7, 2017 by chuck540z3 F`s are my favs, Rdrunner, TorbenD and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaka HI Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Drill bits? Kinda pricey for that role, no? chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Great stuff chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 (edited) Drill bits? Kinda pricey for that role, no? Not at all. Ever see one of those drill bit sets with a hundred or more bits for $20 or so? They're $20 because they are crap and will wear out after only one or two uses. I got one of these sets a few years ago for Xmas from my well-meaning wife, only my set has at least 250 bits in it of all sizes that you can think of, so I have almost an endless supply. If I want to drill real holes in wood or metal, I use the good bits that are likely $4-5 each. Those I do not cut up! Cheers, Chuck Edited March 7, 2017 by chuck540z3 F`s are my favs, Shaka HI, A-10LOADER and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F`s are my favs Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Very nice! Something on the stabilators - are you sure that they will stay perfectly straight to each other, and parallel according to the wings? Maybe a better idea is first to glue/adjust the wings and then the correct angle of the stabilators... That`s what i came across while doing mines - first the stabilators were added and they looked perfect. But after adding the wings - i had to re-adjust one of the stabilators slightly, which somehow went not exactly well, and so i ended up by gluing it permanently in the correct neutral pose. Of course, even a slightly bigger imperfection is not visible when the stabilators are moved at certain angle, but when are straight in neutral angle... And, very good looking nozzle flaps as well! Shaka HI 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbetty Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Chuck, your modeling is so over the top i just enjoy watching it and learning something. i like it because i am not even jealous anymore that i wont ever be able to ever do something as stellar. chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now