E-2C Hawkeye (WIP)
Preparing the cockpit for paint, some scratch on the seats according to reference photos
Decals settle well but they are not a bit aligned with the plastic relief and they have the most terribly simplified drawings I have ever seen! The yellow was painted by brush with Vallejo, based on pictures of the real cockpit.
Covering ejection holes and imperfections with Evergreen strips
Started adding lead weight - everyone tells me this is a notorious tail sitter
Tail assembled
Fuselage closed, puttied and sanded
All clear part have annoying lines running right through the middle!!! ?
Starting to erase the lines: first sanding and then polishing from Tamiya; a real pain! ?
Work so far
Painting the gold tint with a thin mist of Gunze MMC 217.
Clear parts glued in place; fit is… poor.
Engine nacelles parts pre-painted and ready to assemble
Typical older Kinetic molds fit
Some squeeze needed here
Wings assembled; fit is not great
This is now a huge mess of putty and sanding and it's taking its time...............
Putty, sand paper, putty, sand paper, putty... I believe it is ready now... I think...
Started to apply Gunze H315 (FS16440)
Started to apply Gunze H315 (FS16440)
Lost one of the propeller bases; due to awful support from Kinetic, I had a friend make me a resin copy of the piece
Lost one of the propeller bases; due to awful support from Kinetic, I had a friend make me a resin copy of the piece; filling the bottom with Mr Surfacer to level it
Lost one of the propeller bases; due to awful support from Kinetic, I had a friend make me a resin copy of the piece; filling the bottom with Mr Surfacer to level it
Both propeller are ready
Plane painted with Gunze H315, with some marbling effect
Red going down, Tamiya X-7
Black applied, using MRP-005 and metallic parts of the engine painted using brush Vallejo Gungrey 71.072 (front) and airbrush AK Xtreme Dark Alluminium AK 480 (rear); varnished gloss with Tamiya X-22
Discovered the front decal is too large. so had to mask and paint; in fact, I believe most of the decals for this plane are oversized...............
Moving forward with (oversized) decals
Oversized numbers in the propeller blades
Numbers removed
Moving forward with the numerous stencils; decal quality is very good, but relative sizes and placement instructions are awful
Some brute force needed here
Bits and bobs
Progress so far
Correcting the red stripe decal to be back on topo of the green and yellow stripes
Done... but there's the inevitable overspray 🙁
Overpsray corrected, all ready here
Wheels glued in place, fit seems solid
Everything is glued in the bottom, except for a transparent part; everything varnished with Hataka Satin Lacquer Clear Coat (XP08)
Applying Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color (Dark Gray)
Glueing antennas, pitots, etc; from now on, the plane is almost impossible to handle, due to the combination of huge size and weight and number of tiny antennas everywhere
Started rigging; using Ushi’s 0.03 string, because the aerials are very visible on the real plane
Finished!
Comentarios
75 23 October 2023, 19:02
James C
Looking fantastic 👍
Oversized decals in 1/48 appears to be a common problem with Italeri aircraft kits in 1/48. Despite the printing quality (Cartograph) it appears that Italeri are incapable of accurately measuring them for fit before sending off to Cartograph for printing. I have encountered similar decal fit issues with their 1/48 F-14A, Mirage III, Mig 21, S-3 Viking etc. Given that most (if not all) of their kits released these days are reboxings of older tooled kits; having to replace the decals as well is just a no go for me and so I now avoid the brand completely.
Looking fantastic 👍
Oversized decals in 1/48 appears to be a common problem with Italeri aircraft kits in 1/48. Despite the printing quality (Cartograph) it appears that Italeri are incapable of accurately measuring them for fit before sending off to Cartograph for printing. I have encountered similar decal fit issues with their 1/48 F-14A, Mirage III, Mig 21, S-3 Viking etc. Given that most (if not all) of their kits released these days are reboxings of older tooled kits; having to replace the decals as well is just a no go for me and so I now avoid the brand completely.
19 July, 18:45
bughunter
As you may know I love wooden propellers by I must admit that your propellers looks fantastic 👍
As you may know I love wooden propellers by I must admit that your propellers looks fantastic 👍
19 July, 19:34
Ricardo Reis
@James, I was not aware of this issue; I only started noticing when I started to apply the first decals and looking at the reference photos - there are 2 or 3 photos of this specific aircraft; now it's to late to go back, but I am alert for the future; @bughunter, I love this typo or propeller, like the ones we can see in the A400M, they are very beautiful and elegant and powerful at the same time!
@James, I was not aware of this issue; I only started noticing when I started to apply the first decals and looking at the reference photos - there are 2 or 3 photos of this specific aircraft; now it's to late to go back, but I am alert for the future; @bughunter, I love this typo or propeller, like the ones we can see in the A400M, they are very beautiful and elegant and powerful at the same time!
20 July, 12:02
Ben M
I agree with the propeller lust. This kit is just the way I like it, nothing fits.
I agree with the propeller lust. This kit is just the way I like it, nothing fits.
11 September, 01:09
Ricardo Reis
It will go to my basement when ready... to join the other finished models in storage! 🙂
It will go to my basement when ready... to join the other finished models in storage! 🙂
27 September, 18:41
Ricardo Reis
And that's a wrap! Terrible modelling experience, very glad it's over; final photos can be found here: E-2C Hawkeye | Album by RReis (1:48)
And that's a wrap! Terrible modelling experience, very glad it's over; final photos can be found here: E-2C Hawkeye | Album by RReis (1:48)
1 October, 22:47