1/32 Polish F-16D Block 52+ (from the Academy Sufa)

[deafpanzer]

Looking GREAT!!!

[doogsatx]

Nov 25, 2013 1:08:26 GMT -5 venom1 said:

Gotta say though, I am a pretty big fan of this method. I have used it on an F/A-18A and and E in 1/48, and it came out peachy. I however used Model Master Enamel Gloss White, and had no trouble at all. Goes on a bit thinner than the latex stuff, even pouring it into the intake straight from the jar, however extra coats were not a problem.

For my next go I'm planning to investigate other paints. MM enamel is probably ridiculous for 1/32 given the volume, but there are other enamels to be had (exterior house paints and so on). Heck, I bet some craft paint from Michaels or Hobby Lobby would do the trick. Especially cut with some Future.

[venom1]

Yeah, I imagine if you were trying to do 1/32 intakes with MM paint bottles it would probably cost as much as painting the real thing!!

Cheers,

Sam

[Deleted]

Like looking down the throwt of a Manta Ray!

[doogsatx]

Spent most of last night with the 262, but also took a few minutes to start detailing out the Aires gear bay. Thankfully I've got some crazy-excellent reference pics to draw on, but even so, figuring out which of the rat's nest of cables and lines need to be metal, or black, or braided blue is an exercise in frustration. Ultimately it's totally going to be "accuratish".



Eagerly looking forward to drier...it not warmer...conditions.

[Deleted]

If I didn't know better, would say it was the real deal!

[heico]

Looks great indeed!

[doogsatx]

Got some more work done on the Polish Viper today...first I finally got around to sticking some of the kit stencils on the bangseats. It was very strange doing this while on a conference call this morning!





I also put some time in painting up the gear bay and finished it off with a coat of Future ahead of weathering.



Really, really wish Aires or anyone made a late-model Pratt & Whitney for this thing...

[heico]

Your multi-tasking looks nice !

[doogsatx]

Weathering in the gear bay! Started with a quick wash of Vallejo Game Color Wash - Black, then went at it with AK Engine Grime. I've got pics of a Greek Block 52 gear bay that's very dirty, and am going for that general look.

[venom1]

Sweet! Looks awesome Doogs, love that resin detail!!

Cheers,

Sam

[bullardino]

Awesome, Doogs. The dirty look really makes the details stand out

[doogsatx]

Major steps last night! First, I got the entire intake assembly glue in place.



This was a major PITA! The three pieces that surround the intake aren't exactly examples of savvy engineering and a lot of fighting and swearing ensued while I fought them into general alignment. One thing I found that really helped was to make a few holes in the "triangle" in the lower fuselage to more easily weld the upper intake in place. There will still be plenty of sanding and seam-filling to come...

With the intake and gear bay installed, next up is the fuselage. Again, fit here is a PITA. There are like three points of extremely positive location - out aft, at the very back of the wingroots, and then up front. Apart from that, everything is kinda wobbly, so I'm having to proceed slowly. Last night I got the tail-to-wing joins sorted. Tonight I'll be back to hopefully get the rest of the fuselage closed. There are a lot of random forces trying to move plastic in different directions, though, so it literally requires that you hold things an exact way until the glue (I'm using MEK since it's hotter than Tenax or Tamiya Extra Thin) sets.





Hoping things will be a bit of a downhill coast after this, but we'll see!

[Deleted]

Fantastic work Doogs!

[doogsatx]

Got the fuselage fully closed up last night. Geez, what a battle.

Good news is, I was FINALLY able to start test fitting the flying surfaces and see this thing as an airplane.







The wings and tail look to be far easier to deal with than the fuselage halves, so hopefully I'm past the worst with this build. Well, except for all the seam cleanup...

[venom1]

Oh joy, wings are on!! Now she looks like a flying type thingy!!

Cheers,

Sam

[doogsatx]

Not too much to report...spent most of last night swearing at the Me 262 and swearing at my Wolfpack JDAMs, which arrived from Sprue Bros. with some very fragile vanes broken off. The Sniper pod looks awesome, though.

But...I did get a start on the two massive external tanks. These things are probably bigger than some 1/48 prop kits I've built.

[heico]

Wow, that's a biggy indeed! What a contrast between the front wheelbay comparing to the rear wheelbay....

[bullardino]

Fantastic progress, Doogs

[doogsatx]

Thanks! I've decided I'm going to tackle the fuselage seams before I move on to the wings...so things will probably slow just a bit over the next several days...