WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 P-51K Mustang Pt.3 – Painting & Finishing
Next I tackled the topside black areas on the wings and the nose. Thankfully this part of the painting process was trouble-free. I then went in and painted the exhausts by handpainting with Game Color Gunmetal. Prop planes are great in that there are relatively few fiddly bits to deal with although the invasion stripes …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 P-51K Mustang Pt.2 – Painting & Finishing
For a bare metal finish, painting begins with a base color of black. Normally, they say it should be a gloss black base, but I’ve found that it doesn’t make that much of a difference. In this case I used Aqueous Black Surfacer which went thinned with IPA, dries to a satin finish. After the …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 P-51K Mustang Pt.1 – Construction
Continuing my Top Gun builds, this will be made into Maverick’s own P-51K Mustang that appeared at the end of Top Gun: Maverick. This P-51K, registration N51EW, is actually Tom Cruise’s own aircraft in real life. This kit includes some of the parts for the K variant even though it’s only sold as a P-51D. …...
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 …...
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 : Academy 1/72 F/A-18E Super Hornet ‘Top Gun’ Pt.1 – Construction
Like any self-professed aviation geek, I was a massive fan of Top Gun: Maverick and upon seeing that DEF Model has issued decals for the aircraft in that movie including of course, Maverick’s F/A-18E Super Hornet, I just had to build one. The kit will be the newish Academy offering that is (somewhat) snapfit. I …...
Completed : Fujimi 1/72 Grumman F-14A Tomcat ‘Top Gun’
Kit InfoBrand: Fujimi 28010Scale: 1/72Media: StyreneMarkings: DEF Models 72004F-14 Decal set Movie collection No.1 The SubjectThe 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 : 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 …...
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 …...
