WIP : Kinetic 1/48 Alpha Jet Pt. 7 – Finishing
On to the finishing stage! First up are the decals after a gloss coat. The decals are designed by Canuck Models and printed by Cartograph. While generally printed nicely, the red bands that go around the bottom fuselage were slightly out of register. Pity. These went on beautifully and are really easy to use although …...
WIP : Kinetic 1/48 Alpha Jet Pt. 6 – Painting
Painting begins as is usual now with a base color of Tamiya XF-1 Black thinned with lacquer thinner. Reference photos show that the Top Aces Alpha Jets are maintained very well with very smooth paint jobs. I decided to take some artistic license by adding some subtle variation to the colors for visual interest. So …...
WIP : Kinetic 1/48 Alpha Jet Pt. 5 – Main Construction
To address the step between the front canopy and the nose, it was a matter of putty + elbow grease with a sanding sponge. However, the way the front canopy attaches to the nose, the port side joint is only (at most) 0.5mm away from a panel line. Naturally I managed to obliterate part of …...
WIP : Kinetic 1/48 Alpha Jet Pt. 4 – Main Construction
In between sessions of gap fixing, I started on the things under the wings. The kit comes with 4 gas bags but I decided to go with just the 2 outer ones. The wheels all come with the rim and tires being separate but while that makes them easy to paint, they needed trimming and …...
WIP : Kinetic 1/48 Alpha Jet Pt. 3 – Main Construction
With everything requiring multiple dryfits, trimming and adjusting, progress is going slower than I would like. Anyway, onwards we go. First up though, is a picture of the seats by themselves which I forgot to show in my previous WIP post. The Alpha Jet’s flaps remain raised while on the ground so while it’s nice …...
WIP : Kinetic 1/48 Alpha Jet Pt. 2 – Main Construction
Work starts on the main body starting with the intakes. These were painted insignia white on the inside and come with the engine fans at the end which I painted jet exhaust color. If you peered into the intakes, there are obvious lines where the 2 halves join and is really very difficult to fix …...
WIP : Kinetic 1/48 Alpha Jet Pt. 1 – Cockpit
A few years ago, I tried to build the Kinetic F-16 kit. I gave up after only a few steps as the kit ‘requires basic modeling skills’. Since that time, has Kinetic improved? Let’s see with one of their newer (2013) releases, the Alpha Jet. I’m heavily referencing this build on an Alpha Jet build …...
Completed : Tamiya 1/48 Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat
Kit Info Brand and Kit Number: Tamiya 61034 Media: Injection Plastic Markings: Techmod 48018 Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat The Subject The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft in service with the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and British Royal Navy in World War II. It was the only fighter available...
WIP : Tamiya 1/48 Wildcat Pt. 3 – Weathering
I decided to model an ace’s Wildcat. In this case, it will be Marian Eugene Carl’s F4F-4 from September 1942 while stationed in Guadacanal. The decals some from Techmod, a Polish decal maker. The decals went on very easily and reacted well to Mark Softer. Markings are sparse and I was done quite quickly. After …...
WIP : Tamiya 1/48 Wildcat Pt. 2 – Painting
Tamiya lives up to its reputation of having kits that require minimal seamline fixing and I’m onto the painting stage quicker than usual. First up, I did a base coat of Tamiya XF-1 Black thinned with lacquer thinner. This is now I preferred primer since I haven’t been able to figure out acrylic-based primers yet. …...
