Build and painting progress

David Thor
After my last projects, I decided to do something modern and simply out of the box. Browsing trough the local hobby store, i found this kit for 10,00€ and decided to give it a try. After some thought, i decided to go for the low vis scheme provided in the kit. Since i had to stop work on my F-51D because of decals falling apart, i was a bit let down by Revell's decals for the cockpit beeing to big and only in black/white/grey. And there is some sanding to do, since the fit isn´t that great and there are gaps on the nose and the wings.

Ekki
Following.

Sarunas D
Following this. How's the fit of fuselage parts?

David Thor
Welcome aboard! Fuselage consists of an upper and lower part and the nose, which consists of three seperate parts. The upper and lower half fit together okayish. There aren´t any gaps except for the underside of the wings. However I needed to apply alot of pressure to the wings to glue them together, because the lower side was kinda warped. The nose is a bit tricky to put together, because you have no pin holes. Most work is the gaps between nose and fuselage. Lots of filling and sanding to do in an area that is not that easy to work on. But i must say I`ve seen worse already. What really annoyed me, is the engineering on the intakes. They could have been done with less parts and with the sink marks on the outside instead of the inside. also the fit is okay, but not great. It´s not like you see much of it on the finished model, but that´s just careless. If they wouldn`t do stuff like that, i would hold their kits in much higher regard. And it would bug me alot, if i had paid the regular price on this.

Sarunas D
I asked this because I built a Revell 72nd F-16B. Your problems sound similar to what I had with the mentioned kit. I had to do a lot of sanding for the LEX, intake and forward-rear fuselage joint. But otherwise, I think, it was a good kit.

David Thor
Yeah, i build alot of Revell Kits as a kit, because they were avaible and mostly cheap. I still have some in my stash, but whenever i build one the small things they could easily do better just annoy me. I still like the kit so far tough. There are alot way worse.😉

Dave Flitton
Watching!!!!

Łukasz Gliński
Hi Dave. Thanks for a comprehensive review (I plan to build it too, at some point in time😉 ). No clue what the spare cockpit is there for 🙂, but your progress looks promising 🙂 Didn't you think of some more colourful camo?

David Thor
Thanks Lukas. The second cockpit is from another project of mine, a F-101 Voodoo in 1:72. I indeed thought about the colorful version provided in the kit, however i then decided to go for the low vis scheme for several reasons: You don´t see it so often and i really think the scheme looks much more aggressive. Plus i build alot of relativly colorful WWII birds lately and the voodoo will also be quite colorful. So i´m in for a change and really want to try out a scheme, that is only 3 colors in different shades overall. Yesterday i did some more sanding and started to mask the canopy. Hope i can provide some more progress and pictures today.

Donald Dickson II
Looking good sir!

I love Revell kits in general. Sometimes there are issues you would think they could avoid. And sometimes they rebox kits that should just remain out of production. BUT they have plenty of good solid kits, and many of the newer kits such as the C-54 and the Tornado (32 and 48 ) are absolutely outstanding. And then add to it I dont have to break the bank to get one...

David Thor
Thank you Donald. I made it a habbit some time ago, to only buy Revell Kits, when they are reduced in price and/or i really want that kit and know it´s one of their good ones. I still have to try out one of their newest kits tough. I heard some good stuff about them so far.

Donald Dickson II
If you like big kits, the 1/32 Tornado is great. They have it in a couple different boxings. The 1/48 seems to be excellent, but I have yet to build it. I have one in the stash, just not got to it yet. The 1/48 Typhoon is good as well from what I have seen, and have one in the wings. And I could go on for a while about that C-54. Plus Caracal came out with a decal set for it which makes me want to get ahold of a couple more of them.

Patrick Hagelstein
Hi David! Considering the troubels you described, you did an outstanding job! I actually like the subdued shading. Navy jets can be really looking scruffy by nature of the anti corrosion the maintenance crew applies. But in a model it can sometimes look exagurated. Regarding the Revell kits and kits in general, before I buy any, even when they are really cheap, I always check the reviews in Scalemates! 🙂
By the way, are you putting the HARMs on the fuselage stations? They can go on any station under the wings but not on the wingtips and under the fuselage. Hope it helps.

Ingmar Stöhr
Looking great so far. Have this kit in my stash so I follow with interest!

Stephan Ryll
Very nice progress 👍

David Thor
Welcome on board and thank you guys for the kind words. And Patrick this helps alot! Because of misreading the manual, i planned on putting the HARM's on the fuselage stations. I will have them switch positions with the Aim-120's and that should be fine according to references i found. Thank you alot for your hint!

Björn Svedberg
That is some really nice paint work. Looking forward to seeing more 🙂

David Thor
Welcome aboard Björn and Stephen and thank you!

David Thor
Now Patricks hint about the HARM not beeing carried on the fuselage stations makes me rethink all the loadout options. Since i already put the rail for the Aim-120 on the outer stations i can´t just switch positions. An option would be skipping the bombs for the HARMs and let the fuselage stations be empty or attach the FLIR. Pondering about such questions and researching is a real time consumer, but also a beautiful part of our hobby. 🙂

Patrick Hagelstein
That's the beauty of this hobby, by delving into references you learn a lot on the side. It always breaks my heart seeing a beautifully made model presented in a way that is totally off...

Alex
Just started with the same kit (not yet decided which loadout and decal option). Nice work so far, the kit seems to have some pitfalls...

Patrick Hagelstein
Well, I kinda halfway started an Academy one. Being multi colored 'snap-tite' kits, these are extremely well detailed and their fit is spot on! I'm sticking to these for any Super Bug! Oh, and they have the newest exhaust stacks on the top hull and the new cockpit configuration.

David Thor
Welcome aboard Alex! It has some pitfalls, but they are manageable. I´m just annoyed by them, because they are avoidable by a big company like Revell on a kit, that probably sells alot and will have competition. It´s not an exotic short run by some enthusiastic garage brand. If they just paid attention to those small details, this kit would be really great, especially for the price. If you can get it for under 20€, i would still recommend it.
@Patrick Love the nose in one single piece Academy did in their kit.

Patrick Hagelstein
It fits like a glove! 🙂

David Thor
Did i mention, that i love my new airbrush? Did the upper side in dark neutral grey and compared to my old brush, it´s a joy to work with, cleaning is way easier and faster and i have the feeling the results are better. It´s like the saying goes... if you buy cheap, you buy at least twice.

David Thor
The build is coming to an end. Now it's time to do all those small parts, i didn't do yet, because they take alot of time compared to their size. I think i should do stuff like wheels in between the fuselage, so i just have to assemble when the main part is done.

David Thor
Finished it this morning. In the end i'm happy with the result and it was a fun build. I will upload pictures of the finished model in a minute in another album of this project. As we say in germany, "Ordnung muss sein!"😉

Spanjaard
excellent result so far, i will check the finished album now. what airbrush are you using?

David Thor
Thank you very much Spanjaard. I got myself a H&S Ultra in 0.2mm when i started the f/a-18. Before i used a nameless 0.3mm one, that came in a set with the compressor i use.

Spanjaard
ha ha ha, i know exactly what you mean 🙂. i also changed from an almost nameless one to H&S Infinity.... what a joy to use it now. I wish i would have done it much earlier.
be very careful with needle and nozzle. not sure if my nameless one was a really tough one, or maybe I was not careful enough with the H&S... but i have already damaged a couple of needle/nozzle combinations..... and I use mostly the 0.4!

David Thor
Yes, the nameless one was perfect for practice. The spray pattern doesn't change much if you damage the needle.😉

Spanjaard
you are probably right on that 🙂

Donald Dickson II
I am thinking I will be getting a better one here soon myself. Looks good sir!

David Thor
Thanks Donald! I didn't believe that a more expansive airbrush would make a big difference. However the cleaning on the ultra is much quicker and easy and after getting used to it, you can paint much finer. At first it felt like there was no difference tough.

Alex
Hi David, a question about the two cockpit tubs: how was the fit? Did you first attached the pilot tub to the fuselage, and then, how did you attach the rear tub? It looks like it's not fitting very well. (btw I just bought a H&S too... nice toy!)

Stephan Ryll
Good lookin F-18 David 👍

David Thor
@Alex the fit was bad and i had to do some sanding. i assembled it just like it was in the manual. @Stephan Ryll Thanks! I've got an album attached to the project with pictures of the completed build.

Alex
Thanks for info!

David Thor
Hope it will help your build Alex!

Konrad -
Very nice David the Hornet looks great! Myself decided to buy the Acadamy one hopefully this one will ends up like yours. Keep up the good work 👍

Patrick Hagelstein
You can't go wrong with the Academy one. Although it may look like a snap-fit toy, it is actually a very detailed kit! Only thing is to get rid of the pegs and slots for the landing gear doors.

David Thor
Thanks alot Konrad! I'm sure you will build a very nice super hornet!