Marek Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Geedubelyer! Fantastic atension to detales. Great looking seats and canopy. The rail detaling i stunning. I see you! You are artist modeler, man geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldur Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Great attention to detailing indeed. Cool tip on the rudder pedals too. Those seats look very good. groeten, Ian geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted March 13, 2010 Author Share Posted March 13, 2010 (edited) Thank you both Marek and Ian, Next up, the LANTIRN pod and pylon. A few modifications to the kit part. The targetting head with irridescent confetti for the laser lens Vane added in the air intake. Photo-etch mesh added to the exhaust grilles. Connection cables added. Finished with a lick of colour, some decals and a little weathering with pastels. Edited November 25, 2021 by geedubelyer Updating image links F`s are my favs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted March 13, 2010 Author Share Posted March 13, 2010 (edited) To bring things up to date, the gas bags....... The Tamiya part is a little soft on detail at the rear. Two pack modelling clay and some careful sanding improved the look of this area. I replaced the molded in filler oval with a recessed version in plasticard and added the filler flap detail. I also took the time to amend the remaining oval inspection panels along the flanks of the tanks. The last detail before paint was the front of the pylon trough where there should be a recessed effect to the bulkhead. With a little scribing on the pylon sides I could add some paint. A heavily weathered appearance seems to be the norm for fuel tanks of this late era so I used several shades of grey paint plus plenty of pastel powder to aim for the look I wanted. The red lever on the side of each pylon is the charge arming handle which is open when dis-armed. thanks for stopping by. Cheers. Edited November 27, 2021 by geedubelyer Updating image links A-10LOADER 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Awesome work! Barry geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marek Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Great work Geedubelyer! geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted May 8, 2010 Author Share Posted May 8, 2010 (edited) Hi Barry and Marek, many thanks for your kind words. I'm thrilled that you're enjoying the thread. A little progress to show. First up, the boarding ladder well. Tamiya leave this area pretty bare. There is a resin set available from Wolfpack see here but I opted to scratch the detail myself rather than wait for the resin to be shipped. (Impatience, thy name is GW ) Next up, an insignificant detail but one I wanted to add. The vent beneath the windshield on the forward fuselage houses a heat extracting fan. To recreate this feature I made the fan on a card base then positioned it behind the opened vanes of the grille. The finished item looks ok but is only visible from just the right angle......... So, onto another detail now and this time it's the missing canopy locking hooks. Looking at reference pics shows these to be quite evident/prominent items in the full sized cockpit yet Tamiya neglected to include them. Interestingly, Aires missed all but one of the hooks on their resin set too. From what I can gather, BlackBox include the hooks as do Teknics in their set. Not wanting to spend a tidy sum just for a few tiny hooks, I attempted to make them myself. Ok, so the last item to attack before I can close up the nose section is the front gear bay. Using a beautiful build on ARC as my guide, I removed part of the roof of the plastic bay to give me more room for plumbing and wiring Edited November 25, 2021 by geedubelyer Correcting image links F`s are my favs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted May 8, 2010 Author Share Posted May 8, 2010 (edited) Anyone familiar with the Tamiya Tomcat will know that the nose gear leg should be installed before the bay is completed but this leaves the strut protruding and in danger of getting damaged. In addition, the mounting point for the kit part is innaccurate, more for the reason of ease of construction than anything else I think. Here's how it started out. After some deliberation, I took my courage in both hands and sawed the lower portion of the gear leg off! Not only that but I also modified the mounting point to more closely resemble the full sized article by removing the topmost part The red circle shows where I inserted pins to mount the leg. Breaking it down like this helps with handling the parts. I find it easier to add more detail. Here's how the topmost portion looks after a bit of plumbing..... With that out of the way I could concentrate on the lower gear leg and the various protrusions, rams, actuators etc...... The oleo scissors took the first beating! PrimePortal gave some fantastic close-ups so it was rude not to tweek the plastic a bit. After a fair bit of surgery it ended up looking like this.... With the oleo scissors complete I was free to make one or two adjustments to the bar that locates in the catapult shuttle. This part is molded integrally with the gear leg so I removed it and fabricated a new joint. Before: After: Actually, I FUBARed the kit part so this one is a new scratch-built version. Shhh....I won't tell anyone if you don't! To bring the build up to date, a couple of pics of the drag brace. Basically, more of the same. Removal of the molded in kit part, a new joint and this time, some sanding to remove unwanted excess plastic.... The end result lets more light through and appears a little more delicate. So that's all for now. More when I've done adding the bits 'n' bobs to the remainder of the gear leg. Oops!, I've just realised that I completely forgot to show the arrestor hook earlier Tamiya have done a splendid job on this, replicating the complex design very well. However, that does n't mean that parts of it can't be ~ahem~ amended. Edited November 25, 2021 by geedubelyer Updating image links F`s are my favs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted May 9, 2010 Share Posted May 9, 2010 Geedub, Sitting here open-mouthed again! I'm glad I DONT have your patience, I would be a gibbering wreck by now. You attention to detail is just breathtaking! Can't wait for the next post! (Don't forget yer plobes!) Phil geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted November 22, 2010 Author Share Posted November 22, 2010 (edited) Hi Phil, thanks for the kind words. Wow! Where has the time gone? Over six months since I updated this thread Truth be told, I left the big Turkey alone for a while to build a couple of OOTB kits for group builds both here and elsewhere. The break was good but now I'm endeavouring to pick up the reins again..... The nose gear leg that I'd begun last time is now nearly complete. One or two finishing touches to add later but it'll do for now. This last image shows a comparison between the kit damper and the scratch-built version. I have n't decided on whether to retain the kit wheels and tyres or plump for a set of "Wheeliant" resin items. The kit parts look to be a bit large when compared to reference photos but the photos on te Wheeliant site don't look that different. Has anyone used the Wheeliant parts? If so, any chance of some comparison shots with the kit parts please? I'm off to begin the nose gear bay now. I might be some time........ Edited November 25, 2021 by geedubelyer Correcting image links F`s are my favs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARU Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 I have bene lurking about and I am sure I am having er..deja vu,,I thought I read this thread somehwere else but it must have been here.. okay.it is very nice I think.. geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 Beautiful work, to say the least... Some of you guys are so far out of my league, in terms of surpassing what I manage to do, that it is truly like we have two different hobbies. I don't know if it is superior skill or superior patience to what I possess, probably both. At any rate I am truly in awe of your work..... geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marek Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 Beautyfull job. that gear looks like real Geedubeylier you are an artist geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Good to see you back with this one. If anyone needs a guide to build a Tomcat then this is it. Jawdropping stuff as usual! Phil geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Great job on that gear!!!! Awesome work, really setllar detail. Cheers, Brian geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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