easixpedro Posted March 30, 2021 Author Share Posted March 30, 2021 Alrighty then, Had a spare moment tonight and managed to lay down an initial coat of gray paint. My trusty friend, Model Master paints are no more, so it's time to venture into the bold new world of acrylics. Sprayed easy enough. Clean up is a breeze. Not sure I'm happy with the color though...in the end, it likely won't matter much as I'm about to beat the snot out of this w/ weathering and chipping etc. And lets be honest: any color will be shifted by looking through the gold canopies! So I'm pressing forward. Realized I'd never shown a shot of the individual assemblies. Here they are--you can get an idea of how it all slides together. Center console is attached, and these slide in, then the side consoles slide in from underneath. Of course, I'll have to do some feckling w/ the backsides, as that's somewhat visible through the front canopy. I'll tackle that once I get it built up and can see how much. Personally, I'm floored at how good these look--didn't think I had it in me. But they look pretty darned good under a coat of paint. Hopefully I can pick out details and make 'em really pop. And everything together: If you look to the left of the canopy handles, that's a caution light panel. I was stumped on how to replicate that. Thought it over for a bit and crimped some foil from a Whiskey bottle in a pair of needle nose pliers. It left just enough of an indent to look like the individual rectangular lights. Tough to see here, but I think it looks the part. And the bulkhead. I added the control rods (or representations thereof) that are located behind ECMO-3s seat. No fly by wire in the old girl. All steam gauges and old school bell cranks and pulleys stemming from the control stick! She was a beast to get aboard for a reason... Fun fact: those control rods could be reached by a talented and limber ECMO-3. Just reach behind the seat and push or pull and watch the hilarity ensue as pilot induced oscillations began! Also added the little trapezoid shaped attachment points for the ejection seats. Most kits miss these, especially the pipes attached to 'em. Those were color coded and corresponded to the ejection seats which were also color coded. Each seat was designed to exit at a certain angle to ensure the crew didn't collide on the way out and up. They were installed at some point in the 80s after a crew went flying after major maintenance and the error was realized after they landed. Fortunately nothing happened, but it was a wakeup call, and was an easy way to check on pre-flight. I'll go over the colors when I paint 'em. Enough rambling by me...I'll share more as I get around to painting everything. Also debating taking a burr chucked in my dremel and going after the seats--maybe hollow them out a bit and shave some weight off them. They're pretty hefty and a few grams that far forward would be a bit of insurance. No one will notice if I do it correctly, so stay tuned for that as well. -Peter jeroen_R90S, Lenny320, Greg W and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted March 30, 2021 Author Share Posted March 30, 2021 And, I'm a maroon! Was just picking up after posting this and realized why the color was off--I shot it in Dark Ghost Gray, not Dark Gull Gray (FS36321). Both bottles were sitting side by side and I grabbed the wrong one. I was thinking it was bluer than I remembered...well that's why! Oh well, minor set back. Even though I said I'd press, I'll reshoot this. I'm not happy with it. It'll still get beat up and covered up under gold canopies, but to come this far and shrug it off isn't in my nature. I'm not in a rush, so will take time to do it right. Important tip though, check your colors prior to painting. -Peter Derek B, Anthony in NZ, Panzerwomble and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmel Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 I love this project!! I can't wait to see what's next. Jake easixpedro and A-10LOADER 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted March 30, 2021 Author Share Posted March 30, 2021 4 hours ago, jmel said: I love this project!! I can't wait to see what's next. Jake Thanks Jake! Slow and steady in the cockpits for now. Want to get this section done before moving forward into the front cockpit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 On 3/29/2021 at 5:53 PM, easixpedro said: Both bottles were sitting side by side and I grabbed the wrong one. I've done that too , I guess were both morons easixpedro 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeroen_R90S Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Looking great, somehow I'd always imagined the Prowler cockpits would have looked, well, more advanced, given it's role Nice work though! Regarding the colour, I made a similar mistake on a 1/72 Academy F-4J I'm changing to an F-4S with spare Hasegawa parts (can't leave a model alone, can I...) and found that a thin (oil) filter coat of raw umber or simimal dark brownish paint will pull them together really well. In my case I painted the cockpit parts dark gull, but the sides and bulkheads dark ghost grey. In a much bigger scale I'd be more tempted to repaint it as well, though. My own model is going rather slowly at the moment, I kept having any paint (mr surfacer, mr color, humbrol, whatever I had on hand) flake off the metal gear so was finally able to track down some Tamiya metal primer that I've just brushed on (I'm a morning off due to having to work tomorrow evening). Other than that slowly closing the under fuselage panels... Thanks for the inspiration! Jeroen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted March 31, 2021 Author Share Posted March 31, 2021 11 hours ago, MikeMaben said: I've done that too , I guess were both morons Heh... easy to do I guess, especially if one's not paying attention or distracted like I most certainly was. 8 hours ago, jeroen_R90S said: Looking great, somehow I'd always imagined the Prowler cockpits would have looked, well, more advanced, given it's role Nice work though! Regarding the colour, I made a similar mistake on a 1/72 Academy F-4J I'm changing to an F-4S with spare Hasegawa parts (can't leave a model alone, can I...) and found that a thin (oil) filter coat of raw umber or simimal dark brownish paint will pull them together really well. In my case I painted the cockpit parts dark gull, but the sides and bulkheads dark ghost grey. In a much bigger scale I'd be more tempted to repaint it as well, though. My own model is going rather slowly at the moment, I kept having any paint (mr surfacer, mr color, humbrol, whatever I had on hand) flake off the metal gear so was finally able to track down some Tamiya metal primer that I've just brushed on (I'm a morning off due to having to work tomorrow evening). Other than that slowly closing the under fuselage panels... Thanks for the inspiration! Jeroen That's what always intrigued me about these airframes. First ones were cobbled together from original A-6As before they started making them for real. (think about that level of engineering problem, in an era of slide rules and no CAD?!) The very first flight was in May 1968. Vietnam was raging, Nixon hadn't even entered the picture and LBJ had just vowed not to run again. Crazy to think they flew for almost 50 years. The ICAP II birds I'm doing really came into being in the early 80s, otherwise it was wonderful 60s Tech. The later ICAP III birds went "digital" and those were based off late 90s, early 2000s tech. I can't tell you how happy when we got an electronic attitude gyro--gave us waypoints for the pilot to follow vice a true steering needle. It still boggles my mind that Intruder guys used that technology to fly below 500' at NIGHT. Prowlers practiced it too, but not to the extent they did. Crazy stuff. Was able to spray the 'correct' color last night. While no longer blue, it looks really dark. And brown. And nothing like I remember, or the pics I have. I miss my MM colors! Will get it sorted though! -Peter Greg W, Panzerwomble, jeroen_R90S and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themongoose Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 “My trusty friend, Model Master paints are no more, so it's time to venture into the bold new world of acrylics. “ easixpedro try looking at the enamel line by MCW. They have been expanding to fill the MM void. Limited military colors I think so far but he’s made anything with a standard FS number for me as it’s come up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-10LOADER Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 1 hour ago, themongoose said: “My trusty friend, Model Master paints are no more, so it's time to venture into the bold new world of acrylics. “ easixpedro try looking at the enamel line by MCW. They have been expanding to fill the MM void. Limited military colors I think so far but he’s made anything with a standard FS number for me as it’s come up. Or you can try these, www.lvppaints.com The 2ounce bottles should last a while. I got a 12oz. spray can of FS 35109, for a BDU-33 that I need to repaint and, the color is spot on when I matched it up to my 595a color chip. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeroen_R90S Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 16 hours ago, easixpedro said: Was able to spray the 'correct' color last night. While no longer blue, it looks really dark. And brown. And nothing like I remember, or the pics I have. I miss my MM colors! Will get it sorted though! -Peter bummer :-/ Somehow I've found dark gull grey too dark anyway and usually make it a bit lighter. I was pretty amazed the ghost grey came so close with a brown filter. For my 1/32 A-6 I used Revell Aqua " mouse grey" , which is just a medium grey with a slight hint of brown in it. After weathering, chipping, filters, etc, the original colour is usually gone anyway! Hopefully you'll find something that works out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted April 4, 2021 Author Share Posted April 4, 2021 Thanks for the paint recommendations folks. In the end, I just shot it with Tamiya primer. I think with a bit of weathering, it'll look the part. Here's the slow March. First layers of paint...need to weather it and blend some more. And some washes. -Peter chukw, Greg W, adameliclem and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 (edited) Fun fact, the Prowler still had Kapton wiring in it when she finally retired. The FAA mandated that airliners stop using it in the 70s after several airliners were lost due to arcing. Navy was too cheap to replace it. There was a ton of circuit breakers in the cockpit and there were plenty of warnings saying not to push them in, as lord only knew which ones had kapton and would start an electrical fire... Made troubleshooting in-flight interesting to say the least. Stole a page from Timmy! and Pig to work up some of the wiring looms. Easy enough to do. Used this beading wire and wrapped it a bunch of times. Then used lead foil to make the ties. I 'almost' started to make the cloth ties too, then realized that nothing will be visible. Seriously, with the seats in place only the top 5mm or so will be visible. But dang-nabbit, I know it's in there! I usually don't even paint, let alone detail areas that aren't visible, but OCD got the better of me here. Next up will be the pneumatic lines that go to the piston in the middle of the cockpit. Not sure how crazy I'll go there after seeing how much is visible. Probably TLAR, and definitely not making the fittings. Till then, thanks for following along! -Peter Edited April 6, 2021 by easixpedro Squizzy 78, Greg W, LSP_Kevin and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwrench Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 Thanks for the tip, Peter. I found a link for different colors too! https://www.beadalon.com/cords_and_stringing/wildfire.asp Tim easixpedro 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted April 6, 2021 Author Share Posted April 6, 2021 1 minute ago, Hawkwrench said: Thanks for the tip, Peter. I found a link for different colors too! https://www.beadalon.com/cords_and_stringing/wildfire.asp Tim Sure thing! Saw it when I was looking for wire to simulate the ignition harness on my 1/24 Hellcat, so yes, plenty of different colors. -Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwrench Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 Sounds like another H-60 ceiling wiring detail rabbit hole to go down! Thanks alot Pete!!!! Lol (Now to find some lead foil. I don't drink wine, so that's out) Do they sell lead foil online? Tim Pete Fleischmann and Panzerwomble 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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