I spent some time fiddling with the canopy to get it to fit flush with the fuselage but it seems like the tolerance is very tight and the Future coat actually made the canopy thicker. I ended up resorting to some sanding and leaving out the back section of the canopy. And then it was …...

I decided to give Lifecolor UA035 Flat Light Gull Gray a go and it turned out to be a more ‘correct’ shade of FS36440. Layering over the previous warmer shade of gray probably changed the color somewhat but it’s OK as long it looks more ‘right’ to my eyeball 1.0. Since the Crusader marking I’m …...

After another round of fixing the seams and rescribing, I called it done and did a final primer coat to prep for painting. For this kit I used Vallejo White Primer instead of the usual Tamiya rattle can primer. It required multiple thin coats but at least it doesn’t smell as bad. As is the …...

Work continues on this kit with fixing seamlines. This kit has a lot of panel lines and rivets that get obliterated due to sanding. I rescribed with a needle + pin vise combo using a strip of dymo tape as a guide. I choose to not redo the rivets just because :). It was also …...

Now it’s time to put the two halves of the fuselage together. First up, the myriad parts I needed to assemble before hand. Incidentally, all were sprayed white. Academy provides a long trunking so you can see into the nose intake. Nice. From left to right: the MLG bay, the belly flap bay and the …...

Like all aircraft kits, I started with the cockpit. The details are basic but acceptable for 1/72. Control panels are recessed but Academy conveniently includes decals. The ejection seat is made up of 4 parts. It doesn’t have any seatbelt details. This is handbrushed, washed and drybrushed to bring out the details. I decided to...