Greg W Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 19 minutes ago, Michael931080 said: WOW! The end of this is insight now! Can hardly wait to see the final paint scheme you've chosen! Yes, painting has begun! It's nice to be at this point. There is a photo of the paint job I'm doing at the top of page three. One of the 1980's JASDF air superiority schemes. I still have to fashion wing tip lights but that is about it besides finishing the main landing gear. Greg Michael931080 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 The foundation for the bare metal exhaust area on the tail is Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver (spray can lacquer) decanted and airbrushed. I mixed it 60:40, AS-12 / Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. Sprays like a dream, dries super fast and is the toughest metallic paint I've used. Holds up to masking very well. I have to get some other metallic paints since at the moment, AS-12 is all I have on hand. I have wanted to try Mr. Color Super Metallics so that may be the route I take. dodgem37, Michael931080, Shawn M and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 (edited) On 12/16/2020 at 4:19 AM, mpk said: You must send photos of the completed kit to Hasegawa. Professional photos. This build is the best thing since sliced bread. Thank you! That sounds like fun, just to interact with a company that I have lots of respect for. Hasegawa has provided me with lots of enjoyment over the years with great kits. Lets see how it turns out first. The canopy scares me and it is essential that it looks perfect! Hopefully, all will go well. Edited September 15, 2022 by Greg W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted December 18, 2020 Author Share Posted December 18, 2020 (edited) The kit wing tips have no detail so I have set out to add navigation lights, night formation lights and antenna fairings based on the real thing but eggy style. The pics below are my guide. The exercise has begun by blocking in the shapes with two sizes of styrene rod. The smaller rod is .9mm in diameter, the larger is 1.3mm. I don't have any clear green sprue so I will fashion the starboard nav lights out of clear stretched sprue, painted with Tamiya X-25 clear green. Edited December 19, 2020 by GDW dodgem37, Tnarg and Rockie Yarwood 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Bang up work. Sincerely, Mark Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted December 18, 2020 Author Share Posted December 18, 2020 (edited) My friend Albert came to the rescue with some clear green plastic from one of his Bandai Star Wars figure kits. Thank you Albert! I glued some oversize pieces to the wingtips. After the glue sets, the clear parts will be sanded to shape. The wingtip formation lights will be decals. Edited December 20, 2020 by GDW Rockie Yarwood, Tnarg, dodgem37 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 Clear parts shaped, sanded and polished. Michael931080, Tnarg, dodgem37 and 3 others 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael931080 Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Definitely looking like a Kai now! Amazing work! Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 (edited) 18 minutes ago, Michael931080 said: Definitely looking like a Kai now! Amazing work! Yeah man! Tomorrow, a big step forward... The canopy I got me a brand new bottle of Micro Kristal Klear. Once the canopy is masked and attached, paint will fly! I anticipate a prolonged effort to get the canopy sorted. I am hoping one or two days will be all I need, fingers crossed. Edited December 19, 2020 by GDW Michael931080 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Sure puts a smile on my face. Lovin' this. Sincerely, Mark Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 LOVE it Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 The time has come to tackle the most challenging part of the build and for me, the least fun. The good news is, out of the three canopies I have, the one usable part has the smallest gaps around the edges. I just opened the plastic bag and cut it from the frame. To my surprise, it fits better than the first two. Happy about that for sure. The poor location of the runner attachment (similar to the 1:32 Tamiya F-4 clear canopy parts, but bigger!) is something that requires careful work to erase. Not the end of the world, just need to settle in and get to it. Trak-Tor, Rockie Yarwood and dodgem37 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 (edited) On 12/19/2020 at 4:25 AM, dodgem37 said: Sure puts a smile on my face. Lovin' this. Sincerely, Mark I'm glad Mark, me too! One of the most enjoyable projects I have done at the bench, just playing and testing my skills. I should mention what really is behind this little endeavor, I haven't talked about it in the thread but this whole thing started because I have a 1:32 Tamiya F-4EJ to build. However, I haven't felt that my painting/weathering skills were developed enough to get the end result I wanted. So I thought, why not just get a little eggplane and practice on that, before committing to the big expensive one? Originally, the goal was to use this project to develop and improve upon three aspects of the build: 1) What colors to use for a early 80's JASDF paint scheme and how to weather them 2) Get better at painting jet exhausts 3) Practice painting the heated natural metal areas of the tail Just as I decided to do the Hasegawa egg kit, I saw Jamie Haggos beautifully painted MiG eggplane. This project at that point, took on another dimension. A happy accident. And It is working! I am learning tons about how I want to paint the big one. I will be starting that build with a process already established based on what happens here. What started out as a paint mule has ended up as one of my favorite builds. Edited December 21, 2020 by GDW Michael931080 and Kagemusha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 On 12/19/2020 at 12:21 PM, Shawn M said: LOVE it Thats so great Shawn! Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockie Yarwood Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 This build is too cool. So many of us seem to be enjoying it, I wonder if this could inspire a future group build? Maybe "Pimped-Up (Egg) Planes"? Seriously, I'd be in. Cheers, Rockie mpk, Panzerwomble and Greg W 3 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