WIP : Academy 1/72 AH-64E ‘TNI-AD’ Pt.1 – Construction
For this year’s annual TNI aircraft build, I decided to combine it with my annual helicopter build and decided on getting the TNI-AD’s AH-64E Apache Guardian done. What was originally thought to be a straightforward build wasn’t to be. Unsurprisingly really… In any case, this is the base kit… As usual I...
WIP : Hobbyboss 1/72 F-5E Tiger II ‘Area 88’ Pt.2 – Painting & Finishing
The construction phase went quite smoothly but as we shall see, I had a few problems after that… First up is a base coat of black. The engine area was painted in Vallejo Metal Color Pale Burnt Metal and the nozzles with Vallejo Metal Color Exhaust Manifold. These were then masked off with the nozzles …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-4J Phantom II Pt.3 – Finishing
BuNo 155800 NG-100, an F-4J, callsign Showtime 100, from VF-96 Fighting Falcons, was the aircraft flown by Pilot Lt. Randall ‘Duke’ Cunningham and RIO Lt. (jg) William ‘Willy Irish’ Driscoll when they scored their third, fourth and fifth kills to be the Navy’s only two ‘Aces’ of the Vietnam War....
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-4J Phantom II Pt.2 – Painting
Instead of stripping the pebbly paint I decided to simply sand and buff smooth as much as I can. I could only do the best for the hard to reach areas like the inside of the inner pylons though. I also tried to improve the fit of the canopy onto the fuselage. This kit really …...
WIP : Hobbyboss 1/72 F-5E Tiger II ‘Area 88’ Pt.1 – Construction
This is a semi-serious build of an F-5E Tiger II. Semi-serious in that it will be wearing the markings of a fictional F-5E from the manga/anime series Area 88 by Shintani Kaoru. This F-5E was piloted by our hero, Shin Kazama from Chapter 5 to 10. This build however would not be possible without Hasegawa’s …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-4J Phantom II Pt.1 – Construction
One of my oldest Shelf Queens, I started this kit in 2008 and had never finished it beyond the start of painting. I figured I should finally finish it up. My initial cockpit work from 2008. Belts were done with masking tape. The F-4J doesn’t have the arrowhead reinforcement plates on the stabilizers. These were …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-16C Blk 30 Pt.2 – Painting & Finishing
Ok time to put paint onto plastic. For this build I’ve gone back to doing pre-shading: in this case, it’s black preshade over a base primer coat of light gray. In the 1980s, F-16C was still in its original sccheme of three shades of gray. I used AK 3rd Gen Pale Grey for FS36375 (bottoms, …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-16C Blk 30 Pt.1 – Construction
While waiting for a spare canopy for my F-100F build, I decided to start on another SEAD aircraft, this time a 480th TFS Blk 30 F-16C based in Germany and deployed as part of a Hunter-Killer team with F-4Gs in the late 1980s. At this time, the HTS Pod hadn’t been developed yet so the …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/48 Fw 190A-5 Pt.2 – Painting & Finishing
So unlike my previous WWII builds, I’ve decided to keep the cowl separate for ease of painting. My marble coating is usually quite haphazard so I decided to try a finer look to it for this one. I also avoided marble coating most of the panel lines. It’s a lot more work doing it this …...
WIP : Trumpeter 1/72 F-100F Super Sabre Pt.1 – Construction
There has never been an official F-100F Wild Weasel I kitted so the only route is to modify a base 2-seater Super Sabre. Well, how hard can that be right? The base kit will be the Trumpeter F-100F kit from 2010. No photo of the box as I’d thrown the box away to save space …...
