WIP : Academy 1/48 F-16A ‘TOPGUN 51’ Pt.3- Construction
Work continues wiith corrections and making my life easier after assembly. The Aggressor F-16A usually flies clean without any pylons and stores. The kit comes with the holes for the pylons already open and will need to be filled. First I closed up the holes from the inside with plastic plates. I then inserted sprues …...
WIP : Hobbyboss 1/72 F-14A Tomcat ‘VF-41’ Pt.4 – Finishing
OK it’s time to finish this kit and I can call another one done. I painted the missiles on the side while everything was going on. Hobbyboss provides black missile bands for some odd reason but I’m now used to simply mask and spray them instead. Wolfpak only includes the markings relevant to the subject …...
WIP : Hobbyboss 1/72 F-14A Tomcat ‘VF-41’ Pt.3 – Painting
My painting process has been quite standard now for a while with minor variations depending on the subject at hand and how ‘beat up’ I want the end result to be. As usual I began with a stealth coat of black. For this buld, I sprayed Mr Surfacer Black thinned with Mr Levelling Thinner outdoors. …...
WIP : Academy 1/48 F-16A ‘TOPGUN 51’ Pt.2 – Construction
More work with plastic plates in this post. Let’s get to it. The gearbays on this kit are all bare. This is especially obvious when comparing them to the ones on the Tamiya kit. The intake when fitted leaves a noticeable step on the port side joint. Luckily it’s only a matter of trimming the …...
WIP : Academy 1/48 F-16A ‘TOPGUN 51’ Pt.1 – Construction
Seeing as how badly I’d done my 414th CTS F-16C and how it has fallen apart, I’ve decided to have another go at an F-16 for this year’s annual Aggressor build. Based on some research, I thought the Academy would be a simplified version of the Hasegawa kit and therefore would be a quick build. …...
WIP : Hobbyboss 1/72 F-14A Tomcat ‘VF-41’ Pt.2 – Construction
An easy detail to add is to drill out the fuel dump pipe on the beaver tail. It didn’t look right at all blanked off. This was drilled and I used an X-Acto blade to widen the hole. Hobbyboss molds the canopy correctly, in that there are prominent detonation cords for each section (if only …...
WIP : Hobbyboss 1/72 F-14A Tomcat ‘VF-41’ Pt.1 – Construction
This kit has been in the backburner for a while now, partially assembled. It’s time to get it off the Shelf of Doom. Having built a Hobbyboss F-14 before, this one went more smoothly. This kit will wear the markings of ‘Fast Eagle 107’, the F-14A from VF-41 Black Aces during the Gulf of Sidra …...
WIP : Trumpeter 1/72 Su-30MK2 TNI-AU Pt. 5 – Finishing
Time to finish this build even though I didn’t make the 17 August deadline. Finishing took more time as usual because of various unforeseen disasters that needed to be addressed. Anyway, the decals I’m using comes from Caracal Models. They were printed by Cartograf so quality looks very good. Over the usual gloss coat, the...
WIP : Trumpeter 1/72 Su-30MK2 TNI-AU Pt. 4 – Painting
To prep for the second gray color, I masked off the pattern with Tamiya Masking Tape for Curves. The TNI-AU uses solid demarcations for their camouflage so the tape would be OK. However, the tape just won’t do sharp curves so I ended up going back to using blutack for these. The second gray color …...
WIP : Trumpeter 1/72 Su-30MK2 TNI-AU Pt. 3 – Painting
Unlike my previous builds, I need to paint the exhaust area around the Su-30 first. As these will be metallic colors, I’ll need a glossy base. I begin with spraying a base layer of Tamiya X-18 Gloss Black. Reference photos show that the exhaust area is a myriad of shades of dark metal colors. I …...
