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1/32 Kitty Hawk F-5E Kicked Up A Notch. Oct 3/19. Finished!


chuck540z3

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Great work Chuck, especially with those rivets.   I'm pondering using them on the recent KH UH-60 Blackhawk kit since again, KH  opted to use crappy "divots" instead of the what the helo is actually covered in, which are very visible, raised rivets.    In your opinion, would it be necessary to fill all the divots prior to applying the Archer product?   I don't know if I'd be able to find their rivets which match the exact spacing of the KH holes.

 

Is it possible to cover an entire large model in these things or am I asking for trouble?

 

 

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9 minutes ago, John1 said:

Great work Chuck, especially with those rivets.   I'm pondering using them on the recent KH UH-60 Blackhawk kit since again, KH  opted to use crappy "divots" instead of the what the helo is actually covered in, which are very visible, raised rivets.    In your opinion, would it be necessary to fill all the divots prior to applying the Archer product?   I don't know if I'd be able to find their rivets which match the exact spacing of the KH holes.

 

Is it possible to cover an entire large model in these things or am I asking for trouble?

 

 

 

Thank you.  You can do an entire model with these rivets, but I would recommend filling the “divots” first, for two reasons.  First, you want a smooth surface underneath the rivet to adhere to and second, you can place rivets wherever you want without the need to cover the existing ones like I did.  I used them extensively on my A-10C build shown above and they really look the part, but they also take many, many hours to apply then seal to hide the carrier film.  If you want to improve the kit and create something unique, I’d say go for it!

 

Cheers,

Chuck

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Hi, Chuk!

Your outstounding F-15 in a second place? It's hard to believe. I only could imagine the firts prized kit...:rolleyes:

Here in Brazil we talk that from a woman's belly and from a Judge's mind, we never know what's going to come out...

By the way, congratulations in your kit prizes!:bow:

Just when I was happy believing that the issues are ended, you show me some more. Really this are the worst kit that I have in my hands in a long time...

Keep going, my friend! The finish line is visible now...

Cheers, Paulo

Edited by tchwrma
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4 hours ago, tchwrma said:

Hi, Chuk!

Your outstounding F-15 in a second place? It's hard to believe. I only could imagine the firts prized kit...:rolleyes:

Here in Brazil we talk that from a woman's belly and from a Judge's mind, we never know what's going to come out...

By the way, congratulations in your kit prizes!:bow:

Just when I was happy believing that the issues are ended, you show me some more. Really this are the worst kit that I have in my hands in a long time...

Keep going, my friend! The finish line is visible now...

Cheers, Paulo

 

Hi Paulo,

 

My F-15C coincidentally came in second to a very nice F-15I built by a very friendly guy who introduced himself as Yuri, who apparently follows my builds and knows about all of them.  Now THAT was Gold to me!    Congrats again Yuri if you read this post.  As an aside, Fine Scale Modeler will be publishing the F-15C build in a book or special issue this fall, while I think the Spitfire will be in a regular magazine issue about the same time.

 

Back to the current build.  I’m getting really excited because I’m going to be painting soon.  Painting the sub assemblies is re-teaching me how to paint Gloss Black.  Have a super smooth finish to begin with and expect lots of crap to stick to the paint, which is very frustrating no matter what I do to avoid it.  Glossy finishes create static electricity, which attract anything in the air, especially in our dry climate.  I also just painted the landing gear.  For all the pain of this kit, the landing gear is superb, with the usual pin mark and seam issues.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited by chuck540z3
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  • 2 weeks later...

June 18/19

 

 

Finally, I’m really painting.  A first coat of paint reveals flaws and with gloss black, they are amplified at least 3 times over a flat finish.  I always start painting on the bottom, just in case I have airbrush or paint issues, but in this case, Tamiya Gloss Black lacquer (TS-14) sprayed beautifully.  This paint was decanted from the rattle can then thinned with about 40% of Tamiya lacquer thinner.

 

 

FlRPuO.jpg

 

 

I expected a few flaws underneath, because this is where the kit parts do not fit very well, but I did not expect to still see so many seam lines and other flaws.

 

 

hZbAMa.jpg

 

 

The rear, however, came out looking great.  With that shiny coat of X-22 over the Archer rivets, it almost looks like metal already with the smooth reflection.

 

 

zHicfG.jpg

 

 

Back to the drawing board…..

 

 

pEgobb.jpg

 

 

And another coat of paint.  Much better now.

 

 

5uNBok.jpg

 

 

A close up to show that those seams lines are now filled and other flaws repaired.

 

 

L5IeXN.jpg

 

 

There are so many surfaces that from this angle, it almost looks wrinkled.

 

 

IFQX4I.jpg

 

 

In the background, I’ve been busy cleaning up, assembling and painting other parts that will be attached later for ease of handling.

 

 

mgoEOc.jpg

 

 

The landing gear, doors and hardware are ready for final assembly.

 

 

DherVe.jpg

 

 

And here’s my first shot at painting the exhausts, which have gone from this:

 

 

HKLpEO.jpg

 

 

To this, using Alclad Stainless Steel.  For the inside, I used Alclad Steel, followed by a dusting of rust to replicate reference pics.

 

 

6Dkjbh.jpg

 

 

L6U0he.jpg

 

 

Although I’m getting near the end of this build, I still have a lot to do.  Missiles, the main fuel tank and dozens of tiny bits still need to be attended to.  I’m a bit nervous about decaling, because I normally shoot a good sealing coat of X-22 over the decals to seal them in and reduce decal film edges.  On this nice gloss black finish, X-22 might make the finish look too artificial.  I guess time will tell!

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited by chuck540z3
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Thank you everyone!  Looking at my pics above, I still have that big seam line where the two fuselage halves come together.  It's so prominent it looks like a panel line, which is why I missed it!  Back to sanding, filling, re-scribing, re-punching rivets without making a mess, which is really difficult at this late stage. 

 

Later,

Chuck

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