Moments of Zen

[NARSES2]

Greys can look quite attractive IMHO, providing they are depicted fairly fresh. Again, in my view, grey wears very badly, but then that's how some people like to display their models and the key word there is THEIR, so fair do's 

[DogfighterZen]

Greys can look quite attractive IMHO, providing they are depicted fairly fresh. Again, in my view, grey wears very badly, but then that's how some people like to display their models and the key word there is THEIR, so fair do's 

Yup, that's how i see it too, Chris. It should be a matter of personal taste. I've always preferred darker, flat colors instead of colorful and shiny but there's a place for everything and some things just don't look right, IMHO. But again, it's up to the modeller to decide what he/she wants it to look like.

Well, i'm glad i decided to bring the Skyray out of the box again as i'm having a lot of fun with it. Still, i wanna get the Cobra finished soon...
Painted the Aim-9 missiles last night so today i have to get the decals sorted for all the weapons and put them on.
I'll probably spray a coat of matte varnish on the airframe and main rotor before hanging the weapons on the pylons to make it easier to get to all the surfaces.
Besides that, the Skyray is almost to a point where i can close up the fuselage halves as i've also sprayed the cockpit's sidewalls with some XF-80 royal light grey and the cockpit is ready so, that's good progress on both projects, compared to these last weeks of almost no modelling done.

[DogfighterZen]

Right, the Cobra's finished!!   



I'll be going back to work tomorrow so, proper pics will be taken during the weekend and when those are done, i'll post them up on the finished projects thread along with the backstory.
Meanwhile, the Skyray has been progressing really well so i may end up doing some more work on it tonight... And i also have to shift my mindset back to the F-16W. Still, i might start another build soon... 

[TheChronicOne]

That's badass, dude.....   salutations and congratulations as well, that was a lot of work you put into this to get it into its final form. It totally looks like it should be a current gen frontline fighter.  All the mods make it so much more sexy than the base model.

[DogfighterZen]

That's badass, dude.....   salutations and congratulations as well, that was a lot of work you put into this to get it into its final form. It totally looks like it should be a current gen frontline fighter.  All the mods make it so much more sexy than the base model.

Thanks, brotha! 
Glad you like the outcome, i'm really chuffed with it cause even with all the accidents, i've managed to finish it. There were days when i thought i should just throw it into the pile of shame.
It makes me want to buy the new 1/72 AH-1Z that Dream Models is going to release sometime soon, and also their chinese Z-19 to do this like i first had imagined... and i think i will!
I'm also going to be getting the Kittyhawk 1/48 AH-1Z in the next couple of weeks so i may be tempted to choose that one for the convesrsion instead and keep the 1/72 kit to build like it really is, seeing that i already have this build in 1/72... 
Anyway, i will be building one AH-1Z with a Fenestron, that's for sure.

Well, 7 a.m. over here and i have to go to work...

[zenrat]

[NARSES2]

Does look very neat my friend 

[DogfighterZen]

Glad you like it, guys, Thanks! 
Will take better pics tomorrow. Tonight i was just too exhausted from work that all i did was light work on the Skyray's Sidewinder pylons...



Cut off the launcher rails from the Airfix kit's inboard pylons and tomorrow i'll separate the launchers of the Hasegawa's twin launchers to glue on the other ones. The kit's pylons were bad, one was taller than the other and they were simply too short so, i had the Hasegawa twin lancher rails in the spare parts box so those will be used to upgrade the kit's original pylons but now, i'm off to bed.

[DogfighterZen]

Finally finished writing the backstory and posting up the pics of the Cobra... 



You can check it out here: https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=47618.0

So, i'm free to move on with the F4D-3F and the F-16W...

[DogfighterZen]

Well, well... been a while since i updated this thread... actually, i don't have much to add but i have been doing some modelling in between tree felling duties...

After the F4D-3 was finished, i took a week of the bench and then i got back at it with the F-16W. Haven't progressed much but there's some stuff done.
So, pilot got a JHMCS helmet and the pit was finished with decals. Closed up the fuselage and glued the intake's lump in place...











After this, time to work on the exhaust nozzle...





I'm on my last strip of evergreen styrene so i have to use every last bit of it...



That's where it's at, i have to cut and shape the nozzle's surrounding area to be able to proceed.

Regarding other projects, i'll be making a start on another PoAF whif build soon but i'm still choosing from 3 or 4 options that i've been thinking of for some time but i'll have to do some more research to choose one.

[ChernayaAkula]

Niiiiice! 

[DogfighterZen]

Niiiiice! 

So, i've made a decision after spending most of the afternoon reading...   The kit was already out of the storage box and it will be the PJ Mirage IIIE kit but it will not be built as a III.
Seeing that the diferences between the Mirage III and 5 are very few and the kit has all i need to make the 5 so, what if Portugal bought the Mirage 5 before the 1974 revolution? 

[PR19_Kit]

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't even know there WAS a revolution in Portugal 1974 

But as you mentioned it I read up on it a bit and sounds like it was a VERY good thing for everyone. 

[DogfighterZen]

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't even know there WAS a revolution in Portugal 1974 

But as you mentioned it I read up on it a bit and sounds like it was a VERY good thing for everyone. 

  No need to feel ashamed, Kit. Although most of us know the 25th of April, 1974 was when it happened, there are too many Portuguese that don't have a clue of why and how it happened.
Still, a lot of the older population say that the old regime should come back, and they say they miss Salazar's way of ruling the country. I can't really take a side cause i've heard and read a lot of bad things from those days but i've also read and heard people saying it was better under Salazar's dictatorship... I have little knowledge about it other than what i've heard or read because i was born 5 years after the revolution happened.

Going back to modelling related affairs, nothing important but i have to correct myself regarding the designation of the Mirage i'm going to build and keep it a Mirage III instead of the 5. Although the 5 was considered, the IIIE was preferred by the PoAF's generals so i'll only have to write the backstory following a different route. In fact, it will make the story easier to write. Anyway, it's not a big deal and won't matter to most so, on with the build! I'm going to create a thread for the F-16W and this Mirage in the current projects section.

[TheChronicOne]

That's so cool!! Vector-Viper.   Good work putting them spare Raptor nozzels to work.....      Maybe I'll copy your homework some day now that I know a good way to use them.