Big batch of WiP photos!

SebastianP · May 07, 2009, 07:19:51 AM

There was a breakthrough in peacetalks between me and my camera, so to celebrate I took a bunch of pics of my current stack of builds I'm working on... :-)

This is my 1/72-scale Italeri Super Hornet, which I'm building as the E1 aircraft seeing as it's actually halfway accurate for that bird... :-) In a fit of insanity, I cut the control surfaces off and I'm installing them in their "at rest" positions, starting with the flaperons (shown). The kit may not have a patch on the Hasegawa or Revell toolings, and it requires a bunch of filler, but given some TLC it should come out pretty nicely.

The mytical Vigilante is up next, showing off its TPS paint scheme. About the only thing I've done to it besides the new paint scheme so far is to leave off the camera gondola. I may end up replacing it with a centerline tank if there's space enough when the main wheels are installed.

Next up is a pair of single-seat Typhoons, one of which is going to be in German colors and the other in RAF Barley gray. They're fairly blotchy at the moment since I've been using a lot of thinner when painting recently, and these have only one or two coats of paint. These are some really really nice kits, but you all knew that already... :-)

Raptor rapture. Really proud of this one, it only took stripping it three times before I figured out a proper way to do the camo base color. I've used a mix of plain old Humbrol 56 (aluminium) and 140 (flat gull gray), with a bit of 130 (satin white) to lighten it some. It's really shiny, it's flat with subtle sparkles, which is exactly what I wanted out of it... Hopefully the darker camo color will turn out as well.

SebastianP · May 07, 2009, 07:35:56 AM

Continued:

An A-6E Intruder, Italeri by way of Revell. Haven't gotten the light ghost gray on this one yet. I had to do a major nosejob on this one since I stepped on the nosecone and part of it went missing; so the radome outer surface is about one quarter putty. Not too big a problem, the aircraft needed some noseweight anyway.. :-). Getting it blended in properly was a little painful though. The cockpit is still under construction, luckily it can be added in afterwards. Not too many aircraft you can do that with...

Revell's F-16C-50, a bit the worse for wear, which I've chopped off the flaps on. I've only put one back on, I recenly found the other so that'll be installed soonish. The yellow tape is a permanent addition, it's supposed to represent the RAM that goes there on the real thing.

Another Whiff, the HH-47H built from Revell's MH-47E. Needs more paint, the gunship gray is mighty thin...

Final two, an NH-90 and a Tiger UHT in German army colors, both from Revell. I've also got another Revell Tiger kit, on which I've fitted the gun nose, but I haven't gotten much further than that with it (no wheels or wings, etc), so it's not worth showing...

Enjoy,. and do tell me what you think.... :-)

SP

tigercat2 · May 07, 2009, 07:42:58 AM

Very impressive; really looking forward to seeing them in full What If glory!!

Wes W.

SebastianP · May 07, 2009, 08:20:48 AM

So far only the Chinook and the Vigilante are going to be what-ifs, the rest are mostly meant to be stock builds... I'm too hung up on plausibility right now. Also, I want to at least try to get some of these done up in real-world colors and loadouts to have something to compare my whiff's to. :-)

SP

tigercat2 · May 07, 2009, 10:03:00 AM

What will your Vigi be in the What If world?

Wes W.

Zeke · May 07, 2009, 10:22:11 AM

Cripes!...all these things on the go at once!...

...I can barely concentrate on one thing at a time!"...

SebastianP · May 07, 2009, 11:35:08 AM

This is nothing, I tell you! Nothing!

I've got, and I kid you not, fifty kits in various states of building right now. Just in 1/72, there are about ten armored vehicles, five helicopters, four five fast jets, and two big turboprops, in addition to what's already been shown. Then in 1/48 there's a further eight or so kits (two fast jets, five attack helicopters, and an MV-22); I've got two helicopters and two vehicles in 1/32-1/35; and thirteen ship kits in 1/700-1/720. Most of the time I take a couple of minutes to dig out a sprue from the big pile of bits, find the matching model and sometimes the construction diagram, and add a few bits here and there until I'm called away by something (phone, e-mail, MSN, boredom, etc). Next time I sit down, I grab another sprue at random.

Painting is done in job lots, dig out all the kits and sprues that need a certain color and make sure they all get some of it while I'm at it. I'm almost exclusively a brush painter, with the odd rattlecan thrown in when I need lots of bright white. I'm trying to figure out airbrushing right now, using a really cheap Humbrol external-mix unit that uses propane gas in a can. Having a problem with the interface between the can and the hose, though - probably because I'm using a propellant can from Revell rather than Humbrol. (le sigh). To combat brush strokes, I use the biggest model brush I've found (a No.5 Tamiya flat brush) and some naphta to thin my Humbrols....

As for the Vigilante, the plan is to build it as a prospective "A-5E", to go with the A-6E and an eventual A-7E. I'll be using leftovers from the A-6 and a few other bits and pieces to decal it (lots of leftover decal sheets in the pile), and I'm kind of thinking about what to load it with at the moment. I've got some Harpoons, which wouldn't require any extra sensors or anything to use. I've also got bomb racks from the Intruder that I could use (I'm planning on using the GBU-10s from the F-16 kit on that beast), some HARMs, and for real evilness, some European-made cruise missiles from the Typhoon kits. :-)

(I really need to go get some new weapons sets...)

SP

tigercat2 · May 07, 2009, 05:38:44 PM

I have done four USAF Viggies; ADC Grey/orange test bird, SEA Cammo, All Black and NMF interceptor. The Viggie would have made a terrific Air Force bird, especially since the large size would not have imposed the same limitations as on a carrier deck. In my What If world, the USAF purchased RA-5Ds or Es instead of the RF-4C. Somewhat more expensive, but a far greater range and much more room for other cameras, IIRC. If the USAF had bought 500 or so, the unit price would have come way down, perhaps opening the door for use by other nations.

Wes W.

SebastianP · May 07, 2009, 06:33:27 PM

If I manage to catch another of these kits at the price I paid for this one, I'll do it up as a "modern" USAF strike aircraft in Gunship gray with F-15E decals, as a replacement for the F-111. The problem is, that shop went under a couple of weeks ago...

What kits did you use for your Vigilantes? Mine is the Revell kit, with recessed panel lines and poor fit. At the time, I was choosing between this one and the similarly priced and aged Hasegawa, which I think had raised panel lines but may have had better fit... The Trumpeter kit cost the same as the other two put together, and I didn't have enough money for one at the time.

I know one thing at least- the Vigilante is the biggest fast jet I've ever built in 1/72, and aside from supersonic bombers like the Hustler and various Russians, there aren't all that many aircraft around to trump it. I'm pretty certain it's the longest aircraft to ever serve regularly on carriers, at the very least...

Cheers,

SP