WiP 1 - Hasegawa F-14D IdolM@ster 1/72

  This one has been an "On/off" project for a while now, I started it about a year ago as part of a Single Type Group Build over on Britmodeller.  I have been trying to get her done for the last few months now.  Really lost the urge to finish it tho.  I'll post pictures of where I am with her.

 
  I bloody hate Hasegawa decals, they are horrible.  I have her standing on her own wheels now, I just dont have any pictures of it.  I will/should be updating this as and when.

  PEACE!

  Dazz

Various New Purchases

  Well this is bad, I started this year with a new years resolution not to buy any more models until I had completed at least *SOME* of them... fat chance!  Well below is a list of stuff I have recently bought...

   Well this model was on sale over at Hannants I think it was near the £8 mark, can't remember.  I have got this one on order at LuckyModel, but that has nearly been on order for year and half and they will not refund me the money.  So I thought sod it, I got it there and then.  The kit inside looks good, but I will not be doing it in the box art colour, totally boring.  Might look at Pakistani colours or something... dunno yet.

   Now this one is for two projects I will be doing soon on Britmodeller.  I got one earmarked for the captured Spitfire, the dark green and yellow one.  I have the decals for it somewhere, but typically I can not find it.  The other kit is earmarked for the D-Day GB on Britmodeller, I will be making one of the Spitfires that carried beer across the channel for the pilots and whatnot.  I will need to order the beer barrel kit from Brengun as well as a cockpit, which strangely enough, there isn't one at all in the kit. :\

   Got this one to justify a paint order from Scale Model Shop, I think I only ordered 2 pots of paint that I needed so I added this to make it up.  Only cost me £8, which is cheaper than some 1/72 kits out there!  I want to make it into the M4 that I drive in WoT's with the 105mm cannon on it, got to love that derp gun.  Will actually have to look into the differences first tho.  The turret and hull look a little different from memory.

  I have wanted this kit since I saw Macross Zero and that was going to be made way back in... 2001?  Whenever Zero was released and fansubbed.  Loved playing the Destroid part with the sub on full power, the house shakes :D  I got this model for a lot cheaper than it was being sold on eBay for.  It originally cost £25, but I got an email from Ebay giving me a £10 voucher, and it worked so I got this model for £15 and no shipping either.  Not bad considering from Japan it costs just over £13.

  I got this one straight from Japan, HLJ.  Think I used this to bulk out an order of Sweet models, love the colours of it.  Now it looks like CAG aircraft to me, and normally I do not like CAG aircraft but this one works for me. :)  Really looking forward to building this one.  Maybe I should finish the VF-1S first tho?? 

   Saw a guy on Britmodeller make the F-16 version of the iDOLM@STER, I liked the model alot.  There is a STGB coming up on Britmodeller for the F-14.  I asked if I was allowed to do this (sorta connected to Ace Combat as they are in it) and I am, so I will be doing this.  Thinking of getting some metallic paint for it.  I'm still after the Sakura Tomcat (Zipzang I think it's called) but I do not want to pay £40 for it!.  I will have to get a picture later on of it, but the decals are on two A4 sized pictures.

  This is the other iDOLM@STER model I purchased, still not sure why... I guess I just wanna make a model of the Nighthawk.  Like the F-14 there is a loads of decals on this one... so looking forward to that!  That decal of the girl will test my patience. But I am looking forward to making this one.  Will be something different.

  PEACE!

  Dazz

Completed-ish Revell 1/144 F-14D Super Tomcat

  Right I was going to turn this plane into an Bombcat, I was also going to base it on the F-14's I have seen pictures of that where used in Afghanistan/Iraq, but I am not too sure if the Grim Reapers (VFA-101) where deployed to either theatre.  So for the time being I am leaving the weapons, I have seen pictures only of models mind, of the F-14 with a TILAD pod on the right wing hardpoint and an Phoenix on the other... that just sounds wrong to me tbh.  Why would you need an 100km range Air-to-air missile when you are bombing things.  Just seems weird, unless it's for the weight??  Anyhow on to my thoughts of the plane/model.

   All in all the canopy didn't come out half bad imo.  I have tidied up the various white parts but I am really impressed with the decals, maybe thats my forte? :P  I really suck at painting wheels...

   The other side, I have used an Soviet style parking ramp card, oh yeah these are printed/made by Hoys Minatures, but are available from Hannants, I was going to use it for something else yet to be announced :P  The fuel tanks could've been done better, never mind.  Think I will buy this model again in the future and do the other decal option on it, iirc which is a low-vis one.

  Back half of the Cat, I'm really liking the use of Vallejo's Oily Steel for the engine nozzles.  Need to mix some different shades of it for my other models tho.  Think those ejector handles are too big, but I am still massively impressed with them. 

   Took this picture just because that little Grim Reaper decal is the nuts!  Just noticed that the red band above it hasn't gone on too well.  I will need to MicroSol that bugger down.  I also need to revarnish this model, seems a tad too shiny.

   Too the picture of the nose because I love that sharkmouth.  No other reason really :P I was most impressed with that decal, it settled down really well, unlike that bloody red band one.

   Better shot of the sharkmouth and the canopy.  Think I will put some Sidewinders on her just to make her look like she has some bite.  That black bit was painted on, really easy to do too it was :)

  Finally, no Tomcat article/description or anything to do with it, wouldn't be complete without a picture of it's wings swept back.  Such a good looking plane and it was actually useful as well.  Still trying to understand why this was dropped when the F-18's Air-to-air range is useless compared to this.  Oh yeah, I have not put the undercarrage doors on, as they have been eaten by The Great Carpet Monster.  So until I can find them this will have to be a door-less F-14.  Now to make the F-14A I have :)

  Peace!

  Dazz

WiP- F-18 Super Hornet, Typhoon FGR4 and F-14D Super Tomcat

  Just as the title says, I have been busy the last couple of days getting the decals on all 3 of these planes.  I will post the pictures and write a little about it below.

   The memory card you can see there is an MicroSD card, just so you can get an idea of the size of the plane.  This is my Tornado FGR4, it's still a work in progress as are all the models on this page.  If you look the model's leading edge you will see little decals that say "No Step".  There is bloody loads of them, I now hate those things!  Still I think I have done well with it.  I brush painted this one instead of using an airbrush, you can tell it too.  I wasn't prepared for how quickly the paint dries.  Nevermind, live and learn.

   The other side, I've still got the Storm Shadows, GPU12's and the fuel tanks to put on it.  Not too sure if I wanna put some Meteor missiles on it or not.  Hopefully that'll be soon.

   The F-18 E Super Hornet, in it's 75th anniversary scheme.  I am still not too sure if I will put weapons on this or not.  I might just put on the basic missiles load out and leave the Mk.83's and the JDAM for another model, possibly the A-10.  Loving the Felix logo tho.

   Front view, I think the top grey is a little too dark.  It was the closest match I had to the FS numbers from my Vallejo range.  Also this is the first model I painted with my new airbrush that Nat bought me for my birthday (THANK YOU NAT!!! :) ) need to touch up a few things tho.

   And the other side... dont ask... I think the black spine decal is a little too thick for this model.  So you get one side alligned correctly and the other side is out.  Also it's not long enough.  I started to put the VFA-31 decal on, and it just went tits up.  I had already put Micro-set on it and all the brushing I was doing to sort it out just wasn't working.  In the end I managed to bugger up the VFA-31 decal and the "1935 thru 2010" decal.  At least the other side looks good.  If I was to do this again, I would paint the black spine on by it self.  Also if you look towards the back of the plane, between the two rudders you will see a dark grey box.  There are two decals that are not mentioned in the plans.  I only noticed their shape and put them where I think they go.  Don't look too bad but got no idea what they are tho.

  Just had to get a close up of Felix the Cat. It's printed really well, there is another two logo's like this one on the decal sheet but on their own.  I imagine they are for the people who want to try and paint the red themselfs.  Worth a go I guess.

   Just wanted to get a close up of the decal on the tailplane, I love that decal.  God knows why, also I love the one on the inside of the rudder.  Not too sure what it is tho, think it might be the air group or something.

   This is what the otherside should of looked like.  I really do like these decals.  Altho I keep on saying I am not one for CAG planes this one is kinda cool.  I need to sort out the canopy and it's paint. 

   The F-14D Super Tomcat, right first of all, if you think the canopy looks shite.  It's because I wasn't happy with the paintwork (it really did suck).  I knew I was getting the airbrush too, so I stripped all of the paint of it using the over cleaner method.  It took the canopy and the cockpit decals with it.  The insides of it got flooded with I washed it all off.  I cleaned up as much as I could but it still looks like that.

   The other side, the ejector handles look overscaled to me, but also look cool at the same time.  Not too sure if I am going to turn this into a Bombcat or not now.  I dunno...

   The sharkmouth is cool, it's aggressive but low vis at the same time.  The other decals are good too.  The Canopy needs to be touched up with the paint. I also need to do some little touch ups here and there.

 And the last picture, those Grim Reaper pictures are freaking sweet!!!  HOWEVER, the redbar at the top is a crappy decal, the instructions said you use two on each side however there is only two on the decal sheet!!!  Also they will not settle down at all!  I'm gonna take them off and paint it on.  The decal for the "Grim Reapers" is also a little poor.  You can barely notice it's there, it's even harder to read in real life.  Also the "AD" decal on the inside of the rudder is annoying.  They have both silvered a little.  I can understand one doing it, but not both. Dunno if I am just unlucky??

  Please let me know what you think.  I am open to input, however please bear in mind I am still learning how to make these things again.

  Peace!

  Dazz

Bombcat, Typhoon, Hornet, Harrier, Hawkeye WiP and New Purchases

  Well it's been a while since I posted anything.  But here is a few posts of what I have done the last two weeks.  It's a struggle atm because I am fighting for control of the table with my family.  Well I'll post some pictures up of what I have done thus far... well thats not correct.  I am further along with some models than I am with others.

  The AV-8II+ with it's 3 coats of grey.  I think the grey thats on the side of the body was a little too dark.  Oh well...

  Top side of the Typhoon.  Not too bad.

  Bottom side of the Typhoon, with the harrier in the background.

 Top half of the Harrier, you can see the 3 different greys but I still think the middle tone is too dark.

  Top half of the Bombcat.  Buggered this up totally.  I think the top half is a little too dark.

  Bottom of the Bombcat, the paint has leaked where I didn't mask it up correctly.  Still learning with the airbrush... should that be "Canbrush"??....

  Top half of the Hornet.  I'm gonna strip this model and start again.

  Read above.

  Now the Hawkeye I am actually happy with. :)

  Think the grey on this one is really good.  However I later found a picture of the very model I am doing and it's supposed to be darker than this... bugger.

  see where the radome housing is buggered?

  Those rudders look very cool to me :)

  The fuel tank for the F-18 and the two Storm Shadows for the Typhoon.

  The fuel tank and the Storm Shadows.

  And again?  God knows why I have 3 pictures of the same thing.

  Last but not least the GBU-10's and GBU-12's that I am gonna be using on the various kits. :)

  Now on to the purchases.

  Got this one when I ordered a few paints.  It was only £2 and I love the MiG-29 for some reason.

  Now this purchase was a complete mistake.  I clicked on it by accident and forgot to take it off at the checkout.  Oh well it is a model I wanted, just not now.

  Smaller than I thought it would be.

 
  Well thats it for now.  More to come when I can be arsed.

  Peace! 

  Dazz