WiP 2 - Dragon 1/144 F/A-18 E VFA-105 "Gunslingers"

  I done some decalling work on this one today when I was waiting for the paint on the other ones to dry.  I forgot how much hard work Dragon decals where.  I might arm this one up, still not sure yet.  Still got a little bit more to do on her tho.

   Not many decals on her really, I need to sort that yellow out on the tails... or I could be really lazy and just leave it entirely... hhmm...

   The other, more photogenic side!  God knows what makes it like that... I have coated this in 4 coats of varnish so hopefully I will finally be able to do a decent wash on it.  I doubt it will work like that tho.

  Close up on the "Gunslingers" mascot (it that what it is??), this thing is about 7mm high and look at the detail on it.  Very cool :)

   That is all for the F-18 E thus far...

  PEACE!

  Dazz

Half Completed - Dragon F/A-18 F and E/A-18G Growler

   I can't believe I forgot to post these two before I went away!  Anyhow, I've been back a week now from the holiday I spent with Nat and her family in Gran Carina for 2 weeks.  Was great just sitting there for two weeks doing nothing.  Anyhow back to the models, these two where the only two I could've gotten finished before the dead-line which I did by a few hours iirc.  Nat sat there and watched me decal these two, she must of been bored out of her mind.  Bless...

Here we have both bugs together... is the Growler still considered a bug??  Decided to leave them both clean except for the ECM pods on the Growler.  I can never decide what load-out to put onto the F-18s.  I dunno...

   If I had known that the cockpit was as clear as it was I would of spent a hell of a lot of time on it.  Live and learn I guess, I should of spent so much more time on these than just faffing around. 

 The decals themselves where not that bad actually.  They are the usual Dragon ones printed by Cartograf (spelling?), so you know you have good quality.  Behaved well too.

  The decals from Jasmine models however... what a pain in the arse!  The decals themselves are actually okay, except for the ones on the canopy which are totally unreadable.  The problem is the fact they are all overscaled.  I compared the actual decals to the ones on the painting guide and they are the same size, where as the model is a wee bit smaller.  So I think they should of been for a 1/100 model or something like that instead of my 1/144.  So I had to mix and match with what I could and try to make the best I could.  Came out okay I guess...

As always, I welcome comments.

PEACE!

Dazz

Completed - Dragon E/A-18G Growler and F/A-18F

  Well I have been working on these two since... June.  I've had a few headaches which I have listed on the Britmodeller GB forum.  But onto the pictures.  I'm not happy with the Jasmine Model decals, they seem well overscaled or the Dragon kits are massively underscaled...

  Both of them together.  I started to rush them towards the end so I could get them finished within the GBs deadline.  I managed it by 3 hours I think... gotta rush the Apache now as that finishes this weekend also.

  Best thing I love about Dragon decals?  The lack of stencils, the worst thing I hate about the Dragon decals? the lack of stencils! :P  I have decided to build these two again at some point.  Not sure when tho.

 The other side of the Growler, still not decided if I should do a wash on these two or not.

  The Swordsmen example, colourful little bugger isn't it?  If you look closely at the red triangle warning decals under the canopy you will see what I mean about the decals being oversized.  You can not read the names of the pilot/navigator/ew guy either.  I think they are the right way up... I hope...
 

  I also had no yellow paint to paint the top of the tails either.  I had lots of "No Step" decals in the pack also, but I will save them for a kit I know will use them well.  Overall I am quite happy with the end result.  The Canopies are very thin and very clear.  You can see right into the cockpit also, but they are very brittle.  I dont know how but the one on the Growler has got a massive crack up the middle.

  I am still working on the Gunslingers and Tomcatters versions.  Didn't get them finished for the GB.

  Hope you like, and I apologise for the dodgy camera work.

  PEACE!

  Dazz

New Project Dragon 1/144 F/A-18 E and F plus E/A-18G Growler WiP - 1

  Can't believe I have not posted these here yet... oh well.  Well these 4 models are my entry to the F/A-18 STGB on Britmodeller. 

  The two boxes that I will be getting the kits from, I will be making the Growler in the background.  The other 2 seater will be used to make the aircraft below.

  Love these decals, just a damn shame you can't find many Jasmine Model stuff over here.

  And these are the other two options I will be making, oh and the Gunslingers version on the box.

  All of the bugs before the cockups started.

  Here is the E/A-18G, I've cut off the rails ready for the ECM pods, their proper name escapes me right now.

   And all of the other ones, that wing join is bad... need to sort that out with something, god knows what.  Just gotta attach the tail plane and prime and I should be ready to paint.

  PEACE!

  Dazz

Completed Revell 1/144 CF-188A and F-18D

  I'm going to call these two done.  I took what I learned from the MiG-29 and MiG 1.44 "Flatpack" (what a bloody weird name for a jet!) and applied it here... Still not sure if I have nailed the use of a wash yet or not.  Oh well... Oh I did put a wash on the F-18D, but because of all the issues I have had with varnish, I think all the panel lines have disappeared under all the varnish.  On to the pictures...

  Let me know what you think of these two, finally glad I've finished them now tho. Woohoo! :)

  PEACE!

  Dazz

WiP - 7 - CF-188A Hornet

  Well I have done some more work on the CF-188A (CF-18A)... nearly finished, just gotta sort out the wash, which I just can not do... I think it's the varnish I am using.

   For some reason, Humbrol varnishes do not work well with either Gunze or Vallejo paints, in my experience.  Dunno if I am doing something wrong or not... need to try another varnish next time.  If you look closely at the top view picture, you'll notice that the paint has been "washed" away.  I didn't notice until the decal had gone down.  Typically...

   Was suggest to me, to try using Tamiya smoke in the wheel bays to give it some definition.  What do you guys think?  Not too sure if I like it, or if I have put too much in it?

 
  The two Bugs all ready for their place on my shelf.  I do wanna sort out an airport apron for them to actually sit on.  Will look into that one. :)  These two models are on hold until I can figure out what I have to do with the wash to get it working.  :)

  PEACE!

  Dazz

Revell 1/144 F-18D WiP5

  Well this update is about two weeks old now.  First up, I had the F-18D all decaled and loaded up and thought "result!" then I put a sealing coat of varnish on the bugger.  This is what happened.  Now the "silvering" is where the varnish has reacted with the other varnish, its not where I have screwed up the decals.  I am actually pretty good with decals for some reason... I dunno.  Altho the "reaction" was pretty bad, it melted the glue and paint from the front canopy and the two HARMS fell off too as did the right Sidewinder.

  That little lot just made me cry, well I put the pictures up at Britmodeller as I was putting this build there as an WiP for them to laugh at.  I was given advice by Jessica, tomprobert, and Neal (from Britmodeller) that a light coat of gloss varnish *might* fix this cock up.  Well I gave it a try and here be the results.

  You have no idea how happy I am that this turned out this way, I need to touch up some areas but other than that I am well chuffed that it worked.  All I gotta do now is to tidy the canopy, paint the arrestor hook and the engines and this will be done.  Overall I am massively impressed with the RetroWings cockpit and control services parts.  Will be using their gear again soon. :)

  Constructive comments welcome.

  PEACE!

  Dazz

Revell 1/144 F-18D and CF-188A WiP 4

Learning a lot with these little buggers, I done some more work on the F-18D while round Natti's house.  The CF-188A is on hold until I get my Gunze paints I have ordered, also ordered some blues to maybe make an Aggressor style one, Fighting Omars style   Pictures down below.

  Now if I was to make this model again, I would definitely not put the little stakes on the LERX (is that whats it's called?) until after the walkway decal has gone on.  I have had to cut it up and try to stick it on as best as I could.  Think I will be MicroSol'ing that bastard for a while yet.

  I love the little decals for the pilots names.  However I never noticed the little paint bump when I was putting them on, I might have to take them off and try again.  Good job I have bought this model again then

Oh bloody hell, those tiger stripes needed to be straighter, bugger.  As for that little white bit on the badge, you can't see that with the naked eye, so I am going assume it's some kind of light reflection of some kind.  I love the "Marines" decal, it fitted underneath the flap sweetly. 

See what I mean about the badge?  Must of been some kind of light thing.  Tried to get a picture of the whole plane in focus, my camera wasn't playing today.  I just can't do wheels for some reason...

See what I mean about the walkways?  The rear console looks shocking with that massive gap.  The seats do not look too bad, was surprised there wasn't that many stencil decals as opposed to the F-18E... I dunno...

Not much to say here really, except that I really like the "No Step" decals on the tailplanes

  Now I am not too sure about the decals for the ground mechanic (is that their correct title?), if it is in the right place or not.  The plans didn't have them on the door, however they look too close to the roundel so I am not too sure.  Will have to see if I can find a picture to find out.  However I have seen a picture of this plane on Airliners.net and this plane was on there.  According to Revell it is a two tone grey colour.  To me it looked like one grey all over... bugger.  I am planning on getting the HARM and Maverick on later on this week sometime.

Peace!

Dazz