WIP : Great Wall Hobby 1/72 F-14D ‘VF-31’ Pt.3 – Construction
It’s time to close up the intakes by pre-painting the interior white. The bottom of the intake lips are also painted at this point in Metal Color Jet Exhaust. After that I joined the nose to the fuselage and thankfully the fit is pretty good! There’s a very very minor step on the join that’s …...
WIP : Great Wall Hobby 1/72 F-14D ‘VF-31’ Pt.2 – Construction
Looking st the rear fuselage I found a problem. The port side is OK with crisp panel lines… However, the formation lights are not molded onto the starboard side. That’s quite an omission. To help the stabilizers fit better I cemented a small section of styrene tube inside the fuselage. The kit provides both swept …...
WIP : Great Wall Hobby 1/72 F-14D ‘VF-31’ Pt.1 – Construction
Time for another Tomcat build and this time it’ll be in the sunset markings with the red tails. This is my first GWH kit but I’ve read that the details on their kits are very nice and this bears out with the crisply molded parts. A quick dryfit with tape indicates that it will be …...
WIP : Academy 1/72 T-50I Golden Eagle Pt.4 – Finishing
With the landing gear settled, I went ahead to paint the small details and wingtip lights with a paint brush. A section of the starboard side of the tail is unpainted. I masked this off and (ironically) painted it the same color as the exhaust. During this time, the owner of Cap Jempol Metal (CJM), …...
WIP : Academy 1/72 T-50I Golden Eagle Pt.3 – Painting
I managed to carefully re-attach the main landing gear with CA glue. Painting begins with a base coat of black and a marble coat of white. TNI-AU T-50s are painted in a two-tone scheme of FS36314 (a light gray) and FS34148 (a medium greenish gray). As of 2025, only the MRP line offers FS34148 as …...
WIP : Academy 1/72 T-50I Golden Eagle Pt.2 – Construction
The nose gearbay is made up a small tub piece from Tori Factory and the bottom of the cockpit assembly. I used Epoxy Putty to secure the Tori part. I test fit the main gearbay into the slot and noted that some further trimming is required at the rear of the slot for proper alignment. …...
WIP : Academy 1/72 T-50I Golden Eagle Pt.1 – Construction
Time for my annual Indonesian Air Force build. This time it’s the current jet trainer, the T-50i Golden Eagle. The only kit available is this simplified one from Academy which features snapft parts and no landing gear. Tori Factory from South Korea makes upgrade sets for the kit and I snagged a copy of their …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-35A Lightning II Pt.4 – Finishing
Next we come to the decals and the whole reason for buying this particular release: the special anniversary tail markings. Gone are the days when Hasegawa prints white markings as cream colored ones. The whites here are white and very opaque. So I was happily putting on the decals until I noticed that the painted …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-35A Lightning II Pt.3 – Painting
Despite the relatively low number of parts this kit hasn’t been the smoothest build. But I’m ready to sling paint. F-35s are an overall FS36170 with the RAM panels in FS36231. I used the ones from Real Color RC245 and RC247 for them. I first masked and painted the tailfin and compared the lighter gray …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-35 Lightning II Pt.2 – Construction
There’s a general lack of detail in the wheel wells. The nose gear well is better but not by much. To be honest though, I’m not sure how accurate this is. The 1-piece upper fuselage clamshells over the bottom but leaves some unsightly join lines at the back. I’m not sure why Hasegawa designed it …...
