WIP : Great Wall Hobby 1/72 F-14D ‘VF-31’ Pt.3 – Construction
It’s time to close up the intakes by pre-painting the interior white. The bottom of the intake lips are also painted at this point in Metal Color Jet Exhaust. After that I joined the nose to the fuselage and thankfully the fit is pretty good! There’s a very very minor step on the join that’s …...
WIP : Great Wall Hobby 1/72 F-14D ‘VF-31’ Pt.2 – Construction
Looking st the rear fuselage I found a problem. The port side is OK with crisp panel lines… However, the formation lights are not molded onto the starboard side. That’s quite an omission. To help the stabilizers fit better I cemented a small section of styrene tube inside the fuselage. The kit provides both swept …...
WIP : Great Wall Hobby 1/72 F-14D ‘VF-31’ Pt.1 – Construction
Time for another Tomcat build and this time it’ll be in the sunset markings with the red tails. This is my first GWH kit but I’ve read that the details on their kits are very nice and this bears out with the crisply molded parts. A quick dryfit with tape indicates that it will be …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-104J Starfighter ‘JASDF’ Pt.2 – Painting & Finishing
I’ll be painting this Starfighter in its initial bare metal finish scheme from the 1970s. Hasegawa’s instruction doesn’t include this scheme so I based the color callouts on the Fine Molds F-104J instructions instead. Painting begins with a base of black. The wings were painted white for the top side with RC222 Real...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-104J Starfighter ‘JASDF’ Pt.1 – Construction
Continuing my JASDF collection, the F-104J is up next. There is now a more modern offering of the F-104J by Fine Molds but I believe this kit from Hasegawa is still up there in the details. Work begins in the cockpit which have raised details for the instruments and oddly, a clear piece for the …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 J7W1 Shinden Pt.2 – Painting & Finishing
Painting begins with a base of Black Surfacer. In the movie, the Shinden was found abandoned in a military warehouse and was repaired and modified to use against Godzilla. If that was the case, I can assume that the mechanics won’t bother with repainting it so it would have a less than pristine paint job. …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 J7W1 Shinden Pt.1 – Construction
I usually don’t build props in 1/72 but this one is hard to resist as it was featured prominently in Godzilla Minus One. The Shinden featured in the film was all CGI with a 1:1 mockup made for the shots which involve the actors. It played an important role in the film as the aircraft …...
WIP : Academy 1/72 T-50I Golden Eagle Pt.4 – Finishing
With the landing gear settled, I went ahead to paint the small details and wingtip lights with a paint brush. A section of the starboard side of the tail is unpainted. I masked this off and (ironically) painted it the same color as the exhaust. During this time, the owner of Cap Jempol Metal (CJM), …...
WIP : Academy 1/72 T-50I Golden Eagle Pt.3 – Painting
I managed to carefully re-attach the main landing gear with CA glue. Painting begins with a base coat of black and a marble coat of white. TNI-AU T-50s are painted in a two-tone scheme of FS36314 (a light gray) and FS34148 (a medium greenish gray). As of 2025, only the MRP line offers FS34148 as …...
WIP : Academy 1/72 T-50I Golden Eagle Pt.2 – Construction
The nose gearbay is made up a small tub piece from Tori Factory and the bottom of the cockpit assembly. I used Epoxy Putty to secure the Tori part. I test fit the main gearbay into the slot and noted that some further trimming is required at the rear of the slot for proper alignment. …...
