Troy Molitor Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Just found this. Looking forward to this one John. A change in venue is always welcomed. Kind regards, from Aiken South Carolina. Fishing again soon! lol. Troy Thunnus and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 2 hours ago, Troy Molitor said: Just found this. Looking forward to this one John. A change in venue is always welcomed. Kind regards, from Aiken South Carolina. Fishing again soon! lol. Troy Thanks Troy! Just trying my hand at something new. I've also got a fishing trip lined up for tomorrow. And possibly Sunday, if I have the fortitude to do back-to-back days of fishing. Sounds easy but the normal routine is: Pick buddies up at 4:00 a.m. Get to the lake by 5:00 a.m. Start fishing by sunrise. Leave by 7:00 p.m. That's 12 hours of straight fishing with no breaks. Lake has no amenities or concessions and there is no shade. Uncarina and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 Last update before I go fishing! The Quinta Studios cockpit placards turned out really well and with the cockpit tub just about done, I started painting the Eduard GRU-7 seats in resin. They feature really fine details and I was looking forward to trying to highlight those. The back cushion and seat cushion were painted separately and given a dark brown wash before gluing them onto the seat frame. The seat frame itself is primarily black but I wanted to highlight the details somehow. What I decided to do was to give the seat frame a base coat of gloss black. I then misted a Dark Grey (Tamiya German Grey XF-63) over the seat, keeping the direction of spray from above to give highlight to the raised features. It gave some effect but it was pretty subtle So building on that, I dry-brushed the Dark Grey over more specific details and then picked out further details with a wet brush. I then switched a Medium Grey (Tamiya Neutral Grey XF-53) and picked out some details and finally going to a Light Grey (Tamiya Sky Grey XF-19). The seats are not finished yet. There are harnesses and also some bits for the various pull rings and handles. The Eduard set provides these on a photoetch fret but I've also got the harnesses from the Quinta Studio 3D set that I'm curious to see. Paul in Napier, Starfighter Jock, scvrobeson and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Beautiful job on the seats John, incredibly good! Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 You're off to a stunning start - that cockpit looks terrific! Rich Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Driver Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 So cool! Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenshb Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 That cockpit looks really good! Thunnus and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 Thanks guys! Weekend's over and the fishing can again take a back seat to the modeling! Before I forget, I wanted to show the instrument panel and how I shaved down the thickness of the side shrouds. Still working on the bang seats for the Tomcat as the harnesses and other small bits need to be added. Here's a comparison between the yellow/black pull handles from the Quinta set and the Eduard photoetch. Not a clear winner in my book. The Quinta handles are nice in that they have the rounded profile on the top half (but flat on the bottom) AND the color is printed on both sides. However, I feel that the thickness is a bit overscale. The Eduard handles are finer but they are flat and are comprised of two halves to get the color on both sides of the piece. I went ahead and used the Quinta handles on the seats as well as the Quinta harnesses, which I think look much better than the Eduard photoetch. There were some smaller handles and knobs from the Eduard PE set that were added as well as couple of wiring pieces specified in the Eduard instructions. The cockpit components have been glued together but the seats have not yet been glued in. I need to verify that the canopy clears the seat tops. StefanGebhardt, airea, CODY and 15 others 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share Posted May 26, 2021 The aftermarket additions really increases the detail level on this build . Although everything is much smaller, the level of detail is on par with most of my 1/32 scale builds. The side walls of the cockpit have been added but as you can see, they really aren't going to be visible due to their angle. Now to dry fit the cockpit assembly into the forward fuselage section. The cockpit tub rests upon the nose wheel well box, which is then sandwiched between the forward fuselage halves using multiple attachment points... very positive fit. The clear parts are then test-fitted, primarily to check the clearance of the ejection seats. Looks A-OK at this point. The long canopy, although very clear and well molded, comes with a faint molding ridge along the centerline. This will need to be sanded and polished off when the time comes. Martinnfb, TankBuster, Fanes and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 Will the canopy be closed on this one John? Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share Posted May 26, 2021 6 minutes ago, Troy Molitor said: Will the canopy be closed on this one John? If I understand the instructions correctly, the canopy is meant to be placed into position without glue and can be posed open and closed. Since it's a Tamiya and fit is superb, I am planning on going to go this route. Troy Molitor, Martinnfb, scvrobeson and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncarina Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Looking good John! Thanks for the comparison of pull-rings. The Quinta set is a game-changer for sure. Cheers, Tom Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Awesome update. These 3D decals really do change the cockpit, and look so much better than flat PE would. Matt Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 That's jaw-droppingly good John. Thunnus and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenshb Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 One thing I have noticed on a lot of builds - incuding my own - is that the fit of the windshiels leaves a larger gap if it is fitted after painting and decalling so that it doesn't look as "integrated" as if you were to glue it in place before painting the model. Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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