Preview : 1/72 F-4 Phantom II kit comparison (Fine Molds, Fujimi and Hasegawa)
The fine folks at Fine Molds have a reputation of superbly done kits and the latest kit in their quiver is the F-4 Phantom II, the first versions (the Japanese EJ and EJ Kai) of which were released in December 2019. With this new kit in my hands, I now have F-4 kits from four …...
Completed : Fujimi 1/72 Douglas A-4F Skyhawk
Kit Info Brand: Fujimi F-24 Scale: 1/72 Media: Styrene Markings: Superscale 72-828 The Subject The 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 lightweight, it was nimble, had a top speed of more than...
WIP : Fujimi 1/72 A-4F Skyhawk Pt. 2 – Construction, Painting & Finishing
Work continues with the smaller details that need to be addressed. First up is the mis-molded tailhook which eventually broke during my handling during construction. I cut off the tailhook bar and replaced it with 0.5mm plastic rod instead. I drilled a hole into the actuator side and inserted the rod to get a more …...
WIP : Fujimi 1/72 A-4F Skyhawk Pt. 1 – Construction
I’ve been wanting to build an A-4 Skyhawk armed for an Iron Hand (air defense suppression) mission for a while now and have heard good things about the Fujimi kit. Let’s see how it goes together shall we? The ejection seat has very fine belts molded on but I replaced them with 0.7mm masking tape …...
Completed : Hobbyboss 1/72 Grumman F-14A Tomcat ‘VF-41 Black Aces’
Kit Info Brand: Hobbyboss 80276 Scale: 1/72 Media: Styrene Markings: Wolfpak Decals 72-048 ‘TAC-Air’ The Subject The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft developed for the United States Navy’s Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after...
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 : 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 …...
Completed : Trumpeter 1/72 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 Flanker-G ‘TNI-AU’
Kit Info Brand: Trumpeter 01659 Scale: 1/72 Media: Styrene Markings: Caracal Models CD72041 The Subject The Sukhoi Su-30MKK (Russian: Сухой Су-30; NATO reporting name: Flanker-G) is a variant of the Su-30 (NATO reporting name: Flanker-C). The Su-30 is a twin-engine, two-seat fighter aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by...
