A visit to HQ Hobbies
I’m currently in Milford, Connecticut accompanying my daughter to a competition and I found a hobby shop! HQ Hobbies is a 21 year old shop run by Randy and his assistant Pumpkin. As usual with an American shop there are a lot of AMT/Monogram car kits. But the shop also carries some reasonably priced Eduard …...
2023 is (pretty much) kaput
Since March this year, my work on model kits have slowed to a trickle as I’ve been dealing with problems on my right eye. My problem started way back in early 2020 with a strange jump in my myopia in my right eye. Due to both Covid and procrastination, I only got my eye checked …...
WIP : Fujimi 1/72 F-14A Tomcat ‘Top Gun’ Pt. 3 : Finishing
The edges of the gear doors were handpainted with red. This takes a bit of concentration and a steady hand of which I didn’t really have. I began with a panel wash using AK Abteilung Starship Filth. I really like the way Fujimi has done their panel lines. They are just fine enough to be …...
WIP : Fujimi 1/72 F-14A Tomcat ‘Top Gun’ Pt. 2 : Painting
Painting begins with making sure the canopy frame is in black. I then base coated the whole kit with black primer, which in this case is Mr Surfacer Black thinned with Mr Levelling Thinner, which results in a smooth and slightly glossy finish. I wanted to build up the weathered finish layer by layer so …...
Completed : AFV Club 1/48 Northrop F-5N Tiger II ‘VMFT-401 Snipers’
Kit InfoBrand: AFV Club 48101Scale: 1/48Media: StyreneMarkings: TwoBobs 48-124 F-5E VMFT-401 Snipers The SubjectThe F-5E Tiger II is an upgrade of the F-5A Tiger. Introduced in 1970, it has more powerful engines, a lengthened and enlarged fuselage, larger fuel capacity, better avionics, better aerodynamics and more crucially, a radar....
Completed : Hasegawa 1/72 Lockheed Martin F-16A Fighting Falcon ‘Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Udara (TNI-AU)’
Kit InfoBrand: 1/72 Hasegawa 00188Media: StyreneMarkings: Kit and Zotz Decals 72-016 ‘Vivacious Vipers #2’ The SubjectThe Lockheed Martin (originally General Dynamics) F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter. With over 4,400 aircraft built, it currently serves in 25 nations. Commonly known as the ‘Viper’, it...
WIP : Fujimi 1/72 F-14A Tomcat ‘Top Gun’ Pt. 1 : Construction
I’ve always wanted to model Maverick’s F-14A from the first Top Gun movie but I never had access to the markings. That was until I got my hands on the DEF Models JD72004 F-14A Tomcat Decal set – Movie Collection No.1 sheet. I’ve had this Fujimi kit for a long while now and had taken …...
Completed : Hobbyboss 1/48 Douglas A-4E Skyhawk ‘Navy Fighter Weapons School – TOPGUN 55’
Kit InfoBrand: Hobbyboss 81764Scale: 1/48Media: StyreneMarkings: Fightertown Decals 48-092 ExtremelyAdversarial – A-4/TA-4, F-5, F-16 The SubjectThe Douglas (later McDonnell Douglas) A-4 Skyhawk is a single seat subsonic carrier-capable attack aircraft originally developed for the US Navy and US Marine Corps. While relatively...
WIP : AFV Club 1/48 F-5N Tiger II Pt. 2 – Painting and Finishing
I went back to my tried and true method of starting with a base of black. Then a marble coat with white. Note that I avoided painting over the panel lines as much as I could and that I’d left the nosecone in gloss black. This was then masked off. For markings for this kit …...
WIP : Hobbyboss 1/48 A-4E Skyhawk Pt.2 – Painting & Finishing
Time to sling paint on this thing by beginning with something different this time: I primered in gray and didn’t bother with mottling or preshading. The markings came from TwoBobs 48-018 Top Gun TInker Toys!! sheet and the color callouts were FS20400 (light brown), FS30117 (medium brown) and FS34079 (medium green). Going from...
