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