Area 88 1/144 - Break the Big Leg (B-1 + F-4E): NEW ACADEMY TOOL

[strobez]

There's a few on eBay right now for only a few bucks.  Should be pretty easy to find.  I will warn you though, it's an old kit, so be prepared for interesting gaps, and raised panel lines.  I can also suggest you don't cut yours in half first like I did mine... that was just asking for trouble. 

In fact, I got some primer on mine and was slightly dismayed by the sanding flaws that still seem to want to rear their ugly heads.  Luckily I've been down this road before and after I got the primer on and inspected it, I just put it down and walked away.  Somehow in the light of the morning, things looked not nearly as bad... or maybe I just cared less. Not sure, but either way..





Anyway, a few putty touch ups, a bit more sanding, and another coat of primer and I'm ready to start laying down some paint... fingers crossed.

[strobez]

Alright. Made it over the finish line!

Here's how it went down... first some grey undershading.  I was too chicken to use black and even spraying grey over that nice white primer was a bit of a challenge.



After the first few coats of white paint, I was feeling a little better. The shading was still a bit too pronounced for my tastes, but it was moving in the right direction.  However, what I wasn't happy with was the texture, it was quite rough. So I decided to try something I've heard about, but never been brave enough to try - sanding the paint! I got out my 3000 grit paper and started gently going over the surface.  Scary at first, but the results were starting to show so I kept going.  In the end there were a couple of spots I got overeager on, but I was planning on doing another coat anyway, so I was able to touch them up.



The second main coat of white went on much smoother than the first, so I was happy. I kept just the tinniest hint of the grey for a subtle shadow.  I think it looks better in real life than in the pictures, but I've seen some that were way overdone, so I wanted to err on the side of caution regardless.



After that it was just a matter of masking off the nose and the engines.  Sounds easy enough, but I managed to get grey metallic paint on the white somehow, so it was another couple of rounds spraying more white.  I hate remasking and repainting...



I also nearly screwed up the coat of Future before the decals.  I have a small glass container with a lock-down lid that I keep my "working" Future in.  It's a good container for dipping canopies and I usually just fill the airbrush from there.  I somehow managed to contaminate my supply though, because I ended up spraying some lint all over the model and had to go over it with tweezers to remove the most prominent bits.  Then I did a light rubdown with a microfibre cloth and reapplied the Future (from a clean source this time).  What a pain!



After that, all that was left to do was the base.  I hummed and hawed over this for a while.  I like the base template I've been using for my Tintin builds... it makes them seem like a set/collection.  So I wanted to replicate that for my Area 88 builds.  I just couldn't find something that would work well... especially since I needed to hide some batteries and install some buttons.  Oh well, variations on the theme are good too I guess...



A tiny bit of soldering to connect the wires to the battery and the button... and what do you know, it all works!



One thing I hadn't really considered with the base that big was the wrestling match I was going to have with the decal.  I'm lucky it was sturdy enough to withstand some movement.  I got it flipped and flopped all over the place.  It's a bit over-rotated from my plan, but I figured it was time to quite while I was ahead... ish.



So the first (main) part of the project is complete.  Next up - part two... featuring Shin's F-4E Phantom II... there's already a spot reserved on the base for it.

[TheChronicOne]

Looks good, man!!!!  Love the elctronics. Well on your way to an awesome duo.

I know what you mean about that sanding on paint stuff... seems such a foreign concept to me, I still can't quite wrap my mind around it. I've been trying it a bit here and there, however, but only before I spray another coat. I haven't done the whole "sand then polish then leave it alone you're done" stuff. 

[zenrat]

I'm really good at sanding...

...through to the primer on corners and raised areas. 

That looks excellent Strobez.  As always I am jealous of your ability to wrangle electricity.

Future can be cleaned off using windex or a similar ammonia based glass cleaner.  This shouldn't harm the paint.

[DogfighterZen]

Looking good indeed, love the tail art.

[NARSES2]

Looking good indeed, love the tail art.

One has to concur 

[Gondor]

Looks great, just one thing, the fore-plains positions don't match between drawing and model, but that's nit picking.

Gondor

[silverwindblade]

This is brilliant! I love the base especially, and the fact it's from a manga/anime as well is always extra bonus points from me. I'm also a huge fan of the B-1 as well.
I'm always impressed with anyone managing to do anything in 1/144 scale; I struggle with anything smaller than 1/48 or 1/35.
I really must read the Area 88 manga sometime; just need to find an English translation of it

[strobez]

Thanks silverwindblade!  Getting your hands on the English Area 88 manga is easy (at least the first part... it's unfortunately never been fully translated). Once I get the second part of this build project done (an F-4E) I'll upload it to my blog... including the   5-6 manga pages that tell the story behind the build.

[Spey_Phantom]

looks great, i have built a Panda 1/144 B-1 a few years ago and im planning to refurbish it.
seeing this build kinda makes me want to make it in Area 88 colors 

[strobez]

I have some spare decals (I usually make more than I need... just in case I need more than I think!) for the tail if you want some...

[strobez]

You know what Dragon are going to announce the moment you finish scribing...

looks great, i have built a Panda 1/144 B-1 a few years ago and im planning to refurbish it.
seeing this build kinda makes me want to make it in Area 88 colors 

Funny you gents should mention that... 

I as mentioned in the "My Stash Just Grew" thread, about a week or so ago my day job took me a bit further afield than it usually does, so on my way home I stopped by an "out of the way" part of Seoul I don't normally visit.  There's a "kidult" shopping floor in the "Int'l Electronics Centre" in Nambu. It's a mix of PlayStation video games, anime "cuteness", Gundam kits and pricey Iron Man statues. There is a hobby shop there, but it's usually only got Gundam kits and overpriced Trumpetor tanks/ships.

Anyway, I was wandering around, minding my own business when low and behold there was a 1/144 Panda B-1 Lancer shivering and cold... languishing in the "unloved models" discount box, unceremoniously sitting on the floor in front of a shop packed to the ceiling with Gundam kits. For a mere $5 I just HAD to rescue it.

When I got it home, I realized that the inside of the box and the plastic sprue bags had a bit of mold (like the "make you sick" kind, not the "new tooling" kind), so after taking a picture of the box, I chucked it.



And then I washed the sprues, just to be sure there was no mold on them... but they were so big that I decided to cut them a bit... y'know... for easier storage... but then I cut them a bit more...



and somehow the cockpit got painted... and well... y'know... 



Then a decal got applied to the instrument panel... just to check how good they are, of course... and a couple of pilots got painted...



So of course I just had to make sure they'll fit...



Oh, and the engines looked pretty neat, so I drilled out some holes for some LED lights...



And then I couldn't just leave them dangling, so I had to wire them up... but you need to assemble the engine interior to make sure they'll fit properly...



Yep they fit nice and snug.



Maybe just a bit of paint on the insides... something suitably dark iron-ish.



And then I just had to check that the lights work.  Might need to do something about the whole "shining through the plastic" bit though.



I'm not quite sure, but I think I'm building a B-1B bomber... 

[strobez]

Of course, if I'm going to re-start the B-1B, I should at least get cracking on the other half of this duo-build... the F-4E Phantom.

I really like these boxes from Platz.  I need several of the kits in this series for my Area 88 projects, but the elegance of the design makes me fight the urge to buy them all.



I think you can tell by looking at the sprues, which ones F-Toys intended to pre-paint and package and which ones were just "for internal use" to be cut away from the parts to be pre-assembled, painted and packaged.



Starting with the cockpit. It's small, will be full of pilot and behind a thick canopy, so I'm not killing myself on the details.



Assembled and a bit of dry brushed black on the instruments... good to go.



After careful inspection of the canopy, I have decided that there is NOT a seam running along the length of it... that will be safer for all involved, so I stand by my decision. 



Time to paint the pilots.  Looking good, Shin and Warren!



Luckily they fit... once you remove their arms.  But who needs arms to fly an F-4E anyway, right? 

[NARSES2]

One word - Amazing 

[TheChronicOne]

Hell yeah, that's some choice stuff right there!!!   Funny how it all goes down sometimes. . . ..