1/32 F-15I Ra'am (Tamiya+Isracast)

[Guest Peterpools]

Terrific work on the burner cans.

Keep 'em coming

Peter

[spyrosjzmichos]

Here's a Pratt-229 Nozzle on an F-16D

 

Hi Mike! Thanks for the pic! It's a bit difficult to distinguish the carbon fibre effect plus I'm not sure how to best depict this.

Regarding the F-220 based Isracast cans I think I will stick with these for now. I checked the Wolfpack Design set which seems to give more accurate ones but I already spent a bit on this kit and getting one more set just for the exhausts is a bit too much now.

I based my painting on the below pic:

 

 

What I can do is try to replicate some of the streaks I can see on the petals. Lets see! 

Appreciate your feedback as always! 

[Babs]

Simply paint in black and make shades of gray on the feathers.

Certainly no metallic paint.

[Viper Enforcer]

Actually the photo does show the -229 CF feathers contrast the standard Titanium turkey feathers of the -220. The -229 CF feathers differ in shape slightly and do not have the "dual bolt tabs" on the trialing edge as the -220s do. They Pratt-299 also has a totally different flame holder. Here's a side profile that shows the Pratt-229:

 

Here's a close up showing the stark difference of the CF weave; significantly different to the standard titanium -220 feathers.

 

Are you referring to the 'vertical streaks" on the -220 feathers? If so, those aren't streaks; those are "ripples" on the Pratt-220 turkey feathers. Why would want to add the "ripple effect" as all you will be doing is making them look more like Pratt-220s, which they already look like without CF paint or decaling??  But hey; it's your project. If you want to make the Nozzles look more like Pratt-220s with the ripple effect then you may want to try my method. I traced a turkey feather outline on thin card stock, then marked and cut thin strips out of the template. I shot a thinned down dark gray mix through the template mask, just slightly holding the template over each feather. I suggest multiple test runs as it takes a few trials before you get the desired results.

 

Forgot to add this CF turkey feather thread on Zone 5. Daniel sources the CF decal; which will be a hell of a lot easier than trying to replicate those "ripples", lol.

 

BTW, the WP Pratt Nozzles aren't much better or accurate.

 

Mike V

Edited September 4, 2016 by Viper Enforcer

[spyrosjzmichos]

Actually the photo does show the -229 CF feathers contrast the standard Titanium turkey feathers of the -220. The -229 CF feathers differ in shape slightly and do not have the "dual bolt tabs" on the trialing edge as the -220s do. They Pratt-299 also has a totally different flame holder. Here's a side profile that shows the Pratt-229:

 

Here's a close up showing the stark difference of the CF weave; significantly different to the standard titanium -220 feathers.

 

Are you referring to the 'vertical streaks" on the -220 feathers? If so, those aren't streaks; those are "ripples" on the Pratt-220 turkey feathers. Why would want to add the "ripple effect" as all you will be doing is making them look more like Pratt-220s, which they already look like without CF paint or decaling??  But hey; it's your project. If you want to make the Nozzles look more like Pratt-220s with the ripple effect then you may want to try my method. I traced a turkey feather outline on thin card stock, then marked and cut thin strips out of the template. I shot a thinned down dark gray mix through the template mask, just slightly holding the template over each feather. I suggest multiple test runs as it takes a few trials before you get the desired results.

 

Forgot to add this CF turkey feather thread on Zone 5. Daniel sources the CF decal; which will be a hell of a lot easier than trying to replicate those "ripples", lol.

 

BTW, the WP Pratt Nozzles aren't much better or accurate.

 

Mike V

 

Mike, thanks again! 

I read the thread you suggested and saw the comment about using ladies' nylons to replicate the effect.

Do you think I can do the same by spraying smoke over the current metallic paint?

Or should I spray a darker base first?

 

 

As far as accuracy is concerned, I will have to make do with the Isracast cans for now. 

Thanks again!

 

Spyros

[spyrosjzmichos]

While still on the topic of burner cans I reworked the inside of the exhausts following F's feedback.

 

I initially applied a thin black wash to emphasise the separation between each petal.

One think I noticed missing from my exhausts was the white and light buff variation in the ceramic coating between petals. So I masked the insides at intervals and applied Mig Ammo airfield dust fixed with pigment fixer.

 

Removing the masking here's the end result.I think it looks ok.

 

And both exhausts done!

[F`s are my favs]

That's better now but from the inner side only - the turkey feathers. Buddy I was thinking about the outer sides - the heat shields, or I'm not sure if they are called turkey feathers too. They look like one whole round "piece" like now and the postshading is not enough to make look like they are separate moving pieces. Of course all that is only according to me.

[spyrosjzmichos]

Oh lol! Completely misunderstood that! But hey! On the bright side I managed to make the insides looks better. More work needed then! 😀

[spyrosjzmichos]

Continuing my deviation from the main airframe I moved on to the payload.

This include four GBU-38s, one GBU-10, one GBU-31, two AIM-120As, two Python 5 missiles and one centre fuel tank.

I wasn't able to post all my step-by-step pics on the bombs but below is the process I followed:

 

Step 1: Starting with the bombs, each one was assembled and cleaned up. After a grey primer the first colour to be sprayed was olive drab.

Step 2: Highlights were done with light olive drab and spot spraying with pure white.

Step 3: The olive drab areas were masked off and they grey areas painted. Some touch ups were required where the masking was off.

Step 4: gloss coat, decalling, wash with black weathering wash and final coat of matt varnish.

Step 5: Some additional weathering was done with dust pigments.

 

And done! The AIM-120As, LANTIRN pods (mounting rail needs colour correction) and a heavily weathered fuel tank are also ready!

 

More updates to follow! 

[F`s are my favs]

Dirty, dirty - nice. Only the pods look too clean... But that should give a very nice contrast to the overall look too.

[Starfighter]

Looking great - just one remark: if all weapons are live, it won't make a lot of sense to load inert GBUs onto the same aircraft.

[Viper Enforcer]

Good point

[spyrosjzmichos]

Looking great - just one remark: if all weapons are live, it won't make a lot of sense to load inert GBUs onto the same aircraft.

 

Assume you're referring to the GBU-10, right? 

Good point indeed and I shall be fixing this in due course! 

 

I also ordered a set of carbon fiber decals for the exhaust cans!  

[spyrosjzmichos]

While waiting for some paints and decals to arrive to correct a few accuracy issues I decided to move on with the rear part of the engines (not sure what to call these  ). These consist of one lower and one upper part. I found the seam impossible to eliminate without loosing some serious detail so decided to leave with it for now.
The process I followed was this:

1. After joining both parts together I sprayed everything matt white.


2. I then highlighted the detail with a black wash. Unfortunately, this also made the seam more obvious but decided to go with it.   


3. Added some exhaust streaks with smoke.


4. Rear engine faces done (here without metal parts).


5. And all put together (sorry, photo sucks, I know....  )

Edited September 14, 2016 by spyrosjzmichos

[spyrosjzmichos]

Having finished most of the interior, I then moved on with assembling the main frame. A note to add here is that I did't bother too much with the engine intakes as I plan to use FOD covers.

So, all interior parts were securely glued on the lower frame half. I didn't use the kit-provided screws as these caused some parts to move out of position.


Upper half was then glued in place.


What a beast!!!!


Some joint seams where taken care of with super glue and copious sanding and polishing.



Smaller gaps were first covered with liquid putty and wiped clean with rubbing alcohol.

Edited September 14, 2016 by spyrosjzmichos