E-2C Bug's Build

Cleaning 50/50 Rubbing Alchohol (70%) and Windex (W Ammonia) 

Messing w seatbelts, this was a fail. 

Nose weights 

Trying different fillers 

Trying for that burnt iron look, considering how deeply buried it is - I could have painted it Orange. 

Original landing gear 

Rebuild of broken/lost forward nose gear strut. 

1st pass w gold 

2nd pass w gold, note that I was experimenting with different approaches to the masking and the nose at this point 

3rd pass w gold 

Some of the first pass at pre-shadng, I removed it later. Also switched from my custom masks to pre-made Eduard maks, and should have stayed with mine. 

Paint mule - learning about pre-shading. LOVE MULES 

Recalling and painting the props (i.e. coloring where the decals didn't) took about five hours. 

Trying to show the wing folds by carving them out, of course I slipped so some repair was needed. Should have done it PRE assembly but the new owner asked about the wing folds so I had to try. He did say the wings fit VERY SNUG. 

Building up color 

Preshading 

The long horizontal Seahawks decal was applied a bit low. There are other white decals (on gull grey - I know!) that are slightly off too. It wasn't too hard getting these on with hot water, and plenty of decal solution before/after. Oh and BREATHE! 

Decaling before final assembly, but after I had spritzed paint that I didn't see until I took the picture. Looks like dirt, right? 

More "dirt". Good decals, I really liked these.