Moments of Zen

[DogfighterZen]

Long time no update here... not much modeling done in the past weeks because of work, family and band... the most recent stuff is RW but i'm going to show you guys what i've done to the Italeri kit so far, it has been a very educative build so far as things haven't been all that bad.










Well, the pics are pretty self-explanatory, i've been using Evergreen styrene and putty for most of these mods, stuff i've seen here and there on the web. I've managed to goof up almost to the point of having to start a new kit, used too much putty in the first layer inside the bottom part of the intake and it melted and shrank the plastic...
Anyway, i kept on going and decided that after it's dry on the inside, the outside would be covered with putty too, sanded back to shape and scribed... won't need weight in the nose, that's for sure...
The AIFF antennas on the last photo were taken out after that pic, built new ones (3rd pic) cause those didn't look right... new ones still have to be sanded/cut to right size and shape, but i've already airbrushed the intake and landing gear and bays... managed to kill my membrane compressor doing that...  
Closed cockpit is the only option so i won't try any fancy stuff there, won't be very visible anyway, a pilot will sit in there forever...
ADF tail is a mix of the kits tail and an extra FBminis conversion set i had that had a few bubbles on the fin so i used the base, it's all that's different anyway...
Up til now, i'm satisfied with these first attempts at upgrading a kit, and i think it will look better than if it was a normal OOB build. I also believe these new experiences will be very useful for future whifs, especially kit bashed...

[NARSES2]

Some nice work going on

[DogfighterZen]

Some nice work going on

Thank you! 

It's been a fun build so far, except for the fact that i now have to buy a new compressor in order to get all the stuff on the bench finished...
I know i've been slacking out on my whifs but, time has been short...
This morning i won an auction with 2 1/72 Hobbyboss kits for 13€ , a Focke-Wulf 190 and a P-38, it's from a UK seller, in about 10 days or so, i'll finally have all i need for the Battle of Britain GB, the Mosquito kit i'm using as donor of the Merlin engines is in Customs right now, 3 or 4 days it'll be here.
Let's just see if i´m able to finish it in time...

[DogfighterZen]

OK, i have been thinking of joining the BoB GB with a different idea of the original one i had, which was to put merlin engines on the P-38, but i don't have donors for merlin engines and i couldn't find cheap kits to donate. 
Let's just say a few pre-production P-38s were rushed to Britain as there was a shortage of combat able aircraft and the Brits would take anything to help counter the Luftwaffe. Those were used as they were received, there was no time to fit merlins and make it work flawlessly. Don't think it would've been the most successful fighter of the battle but it could probably be of good use against bombers and even Bf 110s, don't you think? Anyway, that's my story. 

[DogfighterZen]

Well, after a long wait for the kits i wanted to enter the BoB GB, i lost a bit of the motivation... Too much on the go for my spare time and also, having to hold all work to wait for a new compressor has taken it's toll on the modeling mojo... 
With time quickly running out, i've started yet another F-16 in the Portuguese forum's GB... For this one, i'm using a 1/72 Revell F-16 MLU with markings for the PoAF's 301st FS Jaguars in the 2011 Tigermeet.
Mostly it's just to see how i handle a better kit after the old Italeri is finished. It's an easier build and a better detailed kit so if i can make the Italeri look good, say, at a distance of 5 feet, the Revell should look reasonable from just a couple of feet away...

On the whif front, a few days ago, i managed to glue some small bits on the F-16W and also started sanding down the F-15 for a new paint scheme.
Today, while painting a few parts for the Italeri F-16, i thinned down too much flat aluminum inside the airbrush's cup to use on the nozzle and in order not to waste the excess paint, i thought i'd do some whif work...    Thunderbolt of the Portuguese Army Air Corps 1st FS in WWII, soon to take it's place in my alternative history... I may also go back in the timeline to include a Portuguese Voluntary Squadron in the BoB GB flying Spits and Hurricanes...

[Captain Canada]

Lovely. Great work over there ! Love the details on the F-16, that will really show in the final product.

[DogfighterZen]

Lovely. Great work over there ! Love the details on the F-16, that will really show in the final product.

Thank you, Captain!  Let's see how it's going to end, still a lot of work to do.
It got a coat of Tamiya's spray can primer today and after that, it's first coat of paint on the underside. I'll post a pic or two when it's done. I can't wait to get this one finished cause i've already started work on the Revell kit, which i believe will come out better as it's a higher quality mold. The exhaust nozzle got the same treatment as the one on the Italeri kit and the cool Model Maker Decals are surely going to help in the end, this is the bird i'm building:
https://aminhapaixao.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/f16a-15106.jpg
After this RW saga in the Portuguese Armed Forces GB is finished, i'll be 100% committed to finishing the rest of my stalled builds and they'll all be Whif... all 7 of them!!

[DogfighterZen]

Hey guys, not much to report here, only that i'm still working on my 2 real world F-16s... The Italeri kit has been painted and is now waiting for the decals, the revell kit is still in cockpit stage and not much on the Whif front, only a bit of test painting on the Revell Me-262 and the Airfix Eurofighter.
All i can say is, i'm very happy with my new compressor!! It works great and now i'm really enjoying painting with the airbrush, it's a great tool.
Tomorrow morning, the RW Italeri F-16 is getting final paint licks on the intake, landing gear and bays, navigation lights and antennas. If i don't waste too much time with that, gloss varnish and decals in the afternoon.

The Me-262 will have a whif paint job and decals, will be a captured bird after WWII in USAF markings, scheme will be inspired on this:
http://img.wp.scn.ru/camms/ar/455/pics/2_50.jpg

And the Eurofighter, not sure what markings to use on this one... Maybe PoAF... Or RCAF, HAF... Ideas are welcome...

I know that some of you might say, only gray tones, boring... This has been done with the F-16's leftovers, just to avoid wasting paint, but i have to admit, i like the boring, all gray schemes...

[NARSES2]

Progress 

[zenrat]

I like grey on model cars.
It's under used and looks great with a splash of colour like deep red, powder pink or primrose yellow.

Eurofighter looks good.  Would look even better IMO with emerald green racing stripes over one wing...

[PR19_Kit]

Eurofighter looks good.  Would look even better IMO with emerald green racing stripes over one wing...

....and a large race number on the fin too? 

[zenrat]

No Kit.  That would be silly.

[DogfighterZen]

Eheheh you guys crack me up...
The Eurofighter won't be a racer but Zenrat's idea of the green stripes did bring up the idea for a PoAF commemorative scheme. I can see the green stripes on one wing and red on the other...
Still, i'm leaning more towards HAF markings, i think white and blue roundels would look good on it and, although i do plan to build a Eurofighter in PoAF markings, it will probably be done on a new kit, maybe a Revell or Hasegawa.
Still a lot of stuff to do before i get to that, gloss varnish on the F-16 is being applied in a few minutes and decals after it's dry.

[DogfighterZen]

After a big mess up on my RW GB F-16, i needed to get my mind off that for a while. I did get a coat of Future on it before applying AK's enamel panel liner wash and guess what? The gloss varnish coat was too thin and some of the wash penetrated through to the paint and stained it. The top side was easy to clean off as the layer of varnish was thicker, but the whole underside of the airplane looks like it just went through a ball of fire...
So i put it aside to work on the ordnance and also, my whif builds.
Today i got the canopies of 4 models masked up.
The F-16W, the Harrier GR.9, the F-15CSE and also, the canopy from a Hobbyboss F-18D, which is another one of my stalled builds pile.
So to sum up all of my WIP info, the F-15, Me-262, P-47 and the Eurofighter all have the first/base color on, awaiting 2nd colors and the rest of the works.
The F-16W, F-18 and Harrier are waiting for primer coat... these are the closest to being finished, and then, there's a Bf-109F-4, a FW-190A-8, a Mig-17 and a 19, an SU-27D and an F-86E that i haven't mentioned before, but most of those are/will be parts donors or paint job test birds...

[The Chaos]

Looks good.
Is this the Hasegawa Me ?