ericg Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) I have a few on the go at the moment and am using this model as a break from my primary model that I am working on, the Boomerang. With the Australian International air show about to start, it will provide me with many photos of our new F-35’s in action. So I will put those into good use here. I started this model when it first came out and quickly put it aside when I realised that there was a bit of work to be done on the exhaust, as it was way too small fitted to the fuselage. After a bit of a think, Here is how I fixed it. Here is the exhaust how Italeri intended, like throwing a sausage roll down a hallway. I decided to fix this two ways. Firstly, I cut a line in between every second exhaust petal, about halfway down the front (where it meets the fuselage) of the part. I then forced lengths of plastic card into the lines, spreading the front of the exhaust apart. This increased the diameter of the exhaust by approx 2 mm but kept the exit of the exhaust the same. There is still a bit of sanding and tidying up to do here but you can see the white plastic card to give you an idea of how I have executed this. Next, I removed a wedge shaped piece from the rear of the fuselage where the exhaust fits into. I removed the centre point and half of each point next to it. Terminating the wedge close to the front of that part. I glued and clamped the part together, shrinking it. I made up a new point with some plastic card. The lost raised detail was masked and built up again using spray primer. fixed! Compared to the first pic, this area is way better. Edited May 27, 2020 by ericg Gazzas, dodgem37, Kagemusha and 19 others 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fvdm Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Nice problemsolving! The fuselage may have a different shape after the surgery but I think nobody will notice. The exhaust looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F`s are my favs Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 That's how you do it! Well Done! Btw I would also sharpen a bit the zig-zag's trailing edges towards the sides of their perimeter (near the fuselage sides). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otis252 Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Great job! I've been saying for months that the exhaust is way undersized. I don't know why one of the AM companies have not fixed this. Chuck Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squizzy 78 Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Looking good Eric, I know that KASL make a lot of really good sets for the 1/48 f-35's, I'm hoping that they come to the party with the 1/32 sets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Looks good, and a great fix to a known issue. 8 hours ago, otis252 said: Great job! I've been saying for months that the exhaust is way undersized. I don't know why one of the AM companies have not fixed this. Chuck They already do: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/tomkit-32001-f-35a-photoetched-exhaust-nozzle--1125985 Not sure about its availability however. Appears the only way is to contact them via email: tomkitmodel@seznam.cz Smokey 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 37 minutes ago, Out2gtcha said: Looks good, and a great fix to a known issue. They already do: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/tomkit-32001-f-35a-photoetched-exhaust-nozzle--1125985 Not sure about its availability however. Appears the only way is to contact them via email: tomkitmodel@seznam.cz Unfortunately that's undersized as well, though the last I heard they were working on making it larger... Nice work, as always, Eric. Smokey and Out2gtcha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Wow, I always thought the PE exhaust was created specifically to remedy the undersized OOB part. Guess not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaker Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Nah, I spoke to Tomkit and it's designed around the kit part, no alterations to the dimensions. Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 On 3/3/2019 at 5:13 AM, Breaker said: Nah, I spoke to Tomkit and it's designed around the kit part, no alterations to the dimensions. I suspected that and wasn’t prepared to take the risk of blowing cash on something wasn’t going to be right either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 The nose cone is quite a nice fit, which is a change for Italeri considering the rather poor effort on their Mirage kits. Close scrutiny of walk around pics reveals that there is no panel line all the way around the nose. There is a panel on the top and bottom though but the rest is the raised areas as per most of the kit. I masked and sprayed the area with spray primer, leaving the panel lines on top depict the panel. Blended in. I noticed a small raised panel aft of the APU exhaust which I thought may be good to incorporate. Here is the bare area of the kit. I cut a small square of plastic card in the rough size required cut to the shape required and glued in place. Pfuf, johncrow, F`s are my favs and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 I plan to paint this model in the newer all over grey scheme with Three Squadron markings. It will make for a reasonably boring jet as I don’t plan on having anything hanging off it yet in the way of ordnance. My good mate Peter sent me some excellent clear photos that he took of an F-35 parked at the Australian International Airshow held recently. This jet had really cool exhaust and intake bungs installed with colourful 3 SQN logos painted on them and they will add a great splash of colour to the jet. Now, I dont usually like putting these things on my models as any good jet modeller will go the hard yards to sort out intakes and exhausts which are usually amongst the hardest part of a jet model. I reckon it is a way of chickening out of that part of the build but in this case I will make an exception. Here are the pics (with permission from Peter, thanks mate!) I am am not aware of the existence of the bungs in this scale so have set about creating my own. Due to my experience gained with the nose art on my Boomerang build, I will be creating spray masks for the logos painted on them. I cut out a circle of thick plastic card that fit into the exhaust pipe. A suitable quantity of Tamiya epoxy putty was mixed to form the area which I would be sculpting The putty was stuck to the plastic circle and shaped to fit it, then smoothed over with Mr thinner painted on with a brush. Not sure why the scissors are making an appearance here. I used various tools to sculpt the ripples in the surface of the bung and scribed a line around its edge as per the pics. Primed, smoothed, primed again...... Should look great painted. I will add the pull handles after this process. BiggTim, Starfighter, patricksparks and 18 others 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonH Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 Nice work on the bung! To my eye, it is a bit too far down the pipe. Should it be level with the faint line I can see running around the exhaust pipe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbo59 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 The sculpting you did on that bung is really impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaninaustria Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 Damn Eric, you’re doing it again!! Some masterclass work happening here!! You should have been a surgeon mate - those corrections are top notch!! Now, I won’t be rattlin your chain about bungin’up exhausts... but that sculpting work is outstanding!! You should be casting those and selling them!! Cheers Alan johncrow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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