An Ancient Viper

[Cheetah11]

18 hours ago, themongoose said:

Out of curiosity I went and checked Aeromasks. They have alot of these aggressor schemes done up. They have the one you did so maybe check them out if you do another Viper. On my Aggressor I bought the masks, then scanned them and printed on my Silhouette so I could have a positive and negative mask to use.

Hi Mongoose

Thanks for the compliment. I was not aware of Aeromask so I will definitely look into what they have to offer. I initially thought I could upscale some of the decal profiles but soon realized the folly of my ways. Not one of the aircraft with the three grays had the same pattern. Some are similar but not identical , so I went with 54 which is the one I could find the most photos of, and then the hard slog of drawing the pattern on plans and cutting it. It is a great idea to use the Sillouette to cut or at least draw the masks.

 

 

18 hours ago, themongoose said:

Beautifully executed! Camo looking great. How far are you going with all the touch up stuff, any ideas yet?

 

Aha, the question of touch ups. I managed to get a photos of the subject just after it was painted and then one at the end of its service, as well as in between. Both the factory finish and the extreme weathering are a bit extreme,  so I will try and do one in between.

 

One of the last things to do before the model is complete, is to replace the overscale static dischargers. I used 0.4mm plastic rod. (I think 0.3 mm would have been better but I could not source any in time) Sorry for the poor phone picture.  The riveting should also have been a bit deeper but something to learn for the next build.

 

 

Cheers

Nick

Edited November 16, 2021 by Cheetah11

[jeroen_R90S]

Looking great! Really hard to tell that's the old Hasegawa model

I'm currently slowly re-scribing an old Hasegawa A-4E/F, so I can see the effort required to get it to look so tidy!

[alain11]

1 hour ago, jeroen_R90S said:

Looking great! Really hard to tell that's the old Hasegawa model

I'm currently slowly re-scribing an old Hasegawa A-4E/F, so I can see the effort required to get it to look so tidy!

 

indeed !!!!!! it takes us back a few years, when we had to make things from nothing , no AM stuffs , only your imagination , here is a good example 

Alain

Edited November 16, 2021 by alain11

[James Rademaker]

 Nick, terrific job on your Viper. I recently finished the exact model and did some of the same work you are doing. I must say not at the same caliber of your modeling skills. I wish you started this thread about two months ago and I would have “borrowed” some of your ideas. Again, nice work.

Jim

[Cheetah11]

19 hours ago, James Rademaker said:

 Nick, terrific job on your Viper. I recently finished the exact model and did some of the same work you are doing. I must say not at the same caliber of your modeling skills. I wish you started this thread about two months ago and I would have “borrowed” some of your ideas. Again, nice work.

Jim

 

Hi Jim

Thanks for the interest and compliments. Glad you also did the Navy Aggressor . They are IMO the most interesting schemes on one of my favorite aircraft. A pity the decals for them are getting scarce. Did you use the Two Bobs decals ?

I am finished with the model at last, just waiting for some better weather to take photos.

Cheers

Nick

 

[James Rademaker]

  Nick, terrific job on your Viper. I recently finished the exact model and did some of the same work you are doing. I must say not at the same caliber of your modeling skills. I wish you started this thread about two months ago and I would have “borrowed” some of your ideas. Again, nice work.

Jim

[James Rademaker]

Nick, I did use the Two Bobs decals but not the Navy Aggressor version. My paint scheme was more of the normal USAF Viper seen on most F-16’s.  I’ll take a look and let you know the exact decals I used.

 

Jim