F-22J Arctic Aggressor

[Taiidantomcat]

Nev pulls out all the stops!!  Cant wait for more 

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Great work so far my painting Padwan  !! - S'pose I better get started on mine.....

Ian

"Strong with the Force, this one is...."

[nev]

Painting yes........going to be a challenge this one............. 

[nev]

I've been working almost non-stop on this for the last fortnight, 1-2 hours every night, basically preparing all the bits that will need spraying with white primer.  As the photo below shows, that's a LOT of parts


And that doesn't include the free weapons set that goes straight into the spares box (2 x AIM-9M, 2 x AIM-9X, 6 x AIM-120C, 2 x GBU-32 )


Speaking of weapons, my AAM-5 missile bash has been done.  I've reduced the span of the main fins, cut off the rear ones and replaced them with the rear fins from a 1/72 Meteor courtesy of the Revell Typhoon, as well as cut off a few other nobbly bits.  I didn't bother moving the main fins forward a couple of mm - it would be easier to just build the missile from scratch.  If someone ever releases 1/48 AAM-5s (TwoMikes I'm looking in your direction), then I'll replace them.


I've also got to work on the Wolfpack nozzles - a couple of pics showing kit and WP in comparison (Wolfpack is lighter grey)




They also supply a self-adhesive set of etched parts which vastly improve the bare kit nozzles



The result of The great ARC Raptor nozzle debate seemed to be that the faces are scalloped, but its subtle enough to be virtually flat in scale form.  So I will be attempting to recreate this effect with paint & staining.....


One quick question - what colour are the wingtip lights?  The instructions say red & blue, where I thought it would be red & green?   I've not been able to find a definitive pic.

All comments, advice, criticism etc welcome.

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Ahem...... B U M P ......., Mmmmm, Progress we seek, young Obi-Nev !!

Ian

[Taiidantomcat]

Awesome work Nev Pretty sure its green and red too

[ChernayaAkula]

Here's how I remember it: The light looks green when switched on, because it shines a light from a yellow bulb through a blue cover/filter. When it is switched off it will look blue because there's no yellow light emanating from the bulb. IIRC, it has to do with yellow bulbs having a longer life than white ones.

Some lights on Vipers (pics on PrimePortal.net):
CLICKY #1
CLICKY #2
CLICKY #3

[nev]

Well, this has been stalled for a month since I bought an Xbox360   :whistle:  but I do have some pics to share of work I did before then.

Cockpit is done.  Quite hard to do these modern cockpits with their NVG friendly "how much more black can you get?" finish.  And they are a bit boring too with their lack of knobs & dials, just big MFDs.






I used a base colour of Tamiya NATO black, with a black wash and Panzer Grey highlights.  Quite subtle, and hard to pick up in pics




Also done the main wheels.  One thing I do like is Academys inclusion of the data stencils.  A nice touch I wish more manufacturers would do



Just noticed from the pics that the tyres need another going over 



As usual, all comments, advice (encouragement!) etc welcomed

[Eddie M.]

Exceptional work Nev! Did you do the cloth texture to the seat or was it already there?

[nev]

The Wolfpack seat was already like that.

[NARSES2]

Great work Nev 

[Radish]

Lovely stuff

[Mossie]

Glad to see it picked up again Nev!

[John Howling Mouse]

A lot of fun to watch...looking forward to the next episode.  This is gonna be great! 

[ChernayaAkula]

Just looked at the reference photo of the F-15J again. Will you tape off the original grey camo stencils and apply the black and white over that giving it that intermittent look? That'll look killer!