Academy Raptor

[plasticjunkie]

Here is a 1/48 Academy Raptor completed as a comission. The kit is very decent and has some nice detailing in the weapons bays along with tons of weapons. The owner wanted to keep the lines clean so he wanted the bays closed up. The pit is very nice too.

The challenge was in getting the metallic sheen on the scheme. I used MM enamels mixed with Floquil Silver for the lighter grey and MM Gunship grey with Testor's Graphite enamel. I tried following a mix I saw on one site but the lighter grey was too silverish so I went by eye and mixed my own brew which yielded a metallic sheen on the paint.

The included decals are from Cartograph and are of excellent quality.

I went with Tyndall AFB markings which has some nice badges and adds more interest. I glossed up the surface with Aqua Gloss and applied the decals without a hitch. I then sprayed Alclad flat to kill the gloss and when dry, lightly polished with an old rag with a tiny bit of Rubb'nBuff to restore a bit more metallic sheen to it. The sheen is more noticiable in person and in sunlight that in the pictures. All feedback is welcomed and thanks for looking.

 

[Leon]

Nice work on the Raptor!

[panzerjager2]

Nice work on the "wingie thingy"

[deafpanzer]

Lovely paint job for sure!

[dupes]

Very nice!

Any idea what percentage of metallic you used in your paint mix to get the "correct" effect?

[plasticjunkie]

Jan 31, 2017 19:33:29 GMT -5 dupes said:

Very nice!

Any idea what percentage of metallic you used in your paint mix to get the "correct" effect?

 Thanks dupes. I think it was 4 parts med grey to 1 part Floquil Old Silver for the light grey and 2 parts graphite to 1 part gunship grey for the dark grey. This was a starting ratio but I added several more drops of graphite and silver till it looked ok to me. The border color is light ghost grey.

[fhvn4d]

thats some kinda great job on the paint and decals!!!!!! might have to start my kit now that this showed up!