WIP : Academy 1/72 F/A-18E Super Hornet ‘Top Gun’ Pt.3 – Painting & Finishing
Painting begins with a preshade. Note that I fully painted the canopy frame at this point. The standard color scheme for the F/A-18E/F is a two-tone gray scheme. The topside is listed as FS36320. To slowly build up the opacity I went with very thin (3:7 paint to thinner ratio) coats of Mr Color Aqueous …...
Build : Bandai 1/72 Type-99 Cosmo Falcon
The SubjectThe Type-99 Cosmo Falcon (or Hayabusa in Japanese) is a trans-atmospheric space fighter aircraft used by the United Nations Cosmo Force and United Nations Ground Force in the late twenty second and third centuries. It is heavily armed with six cannons in the main wing fairings, two machine guns on the nose and up to...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-15E Strike Eagle Pt.2 – Construction
Work continues as I attach the nose to the fuselage. There’s a somewhat ugly seamline here which requires getting rid off. Good thing is there’s no rescribing needed as it’s not meant to be a panel line. The gun port is a simple upper and lower join which results in an ugly seamline in a …...
Build : Hasegawa 1/72 Mitsubishi F-2A Viper Zero
The SubjectThe Mitsubishi F-2, nicknamed ‘Viper Zero’, is a multirole fighter manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Lockheed Martin for the Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF). It is based on the F-16 Agile Falcon, General Dynamics’ low-cost alternative for the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) competition....
WIP : Academy 1/72 F/A-18E Super Hornet ‘Top Gun’ Pt.2 – Construction
So far the snapfitting has been good and Academy is commended for minimizing seamlines. There are however some prominent ones that need addressing. The first is the bottom of the LERX. There is also a seamline where the upper and lower halves of the nose join. In the film, whether the inner wing pylons were …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-16C Blk 30 Pt.2 – Painting & Finishing
Time to finish this build. And I lucked out by finding a photo of the exact F-16C that I’d be modeling. The subject of this build will be serial 85-1552, an F-16C Block 30 of the 23rd TFS ‘Fighting Hawks’, 52nd TFW. She deploted to Desert Storm wearing this eye-catching sharkmouth scheme. Interestingly she has …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-16C Blk 30 Pt.1 – Construction
Wait. I thought I had already built a Block 30 F-16C already? Alas, I made a mistake with that one: the exhaust is that of a Block 25 Viper but carries the correct markings of a Block 30. I also really don’t like how I dealt with the walkway markings on that build. I’m now …...
WIP : Bandai 1/72 Cosmo Falcon – Construction & Finishing
Something straightforward next for which a Bandai kit (usually) is. The Cosmo Falcon is a mecha from Yamato 2199, a remake of the classic anime Space Battleship Yamato. Much like the Cosmo Zero, the Cosmo Falcon itself is fully snapfit. The underwing pylons and missiles however, will require cement. There is an option for the …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-2A Pt.2 – Painting & Finishing
Since I’m attaching the pylons from the beginning, I painted them first with the area around the sway braces being handpainted. The pins were all slightly oversized so I had to make the holes larger for the pylons to fit. The F-2 color scheme is an overall FS35109 medium blue with FS35045 dark blue highlights. …...
Build : Hobbyboss 1/72 Dassault Rafale C
The SubjectThe Dassault Rafale (meaning ‘squall’) is a French twin-engine, delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft. Intended to perform air supremacy, interception, reconnaisance and various strike missions, it is referred to as an ‘omnirole aircraft’ by Dassault. Unlike other contemporary European fighters, the...
