VFA-81 Sunliners F/A-18C Into the Storm
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I handpainted some placcards on the ejection seat just to notice afterwards that they are provided as decals...
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The fuselage ready for painting.
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Primer applied
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The smaller items are already painted and got a cover of semigloss coat.
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Mottling on the outer wings...
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...and the centerline droptank.
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Mottling left side
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Mottling right side
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Mottling under side
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Mottling with Light Ghost Grey. I adopted this technique from Jos.
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And the final appearance.
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Some little masking before airbrushing the topside.
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And the result after demasking
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Under the artificial light the difference between Light and Dark Ghost Grey is hardly recognizable - just like the real thing.
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Retouching the black cockpit parts.
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Masking the walkways.
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Major paintwork is done and a coat of semigloss applied.
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Kommentit
46 24 September 2020, 14:24
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I started this build last year but as so often it came to a stop shortly before the painting process. Luckily this strange year is different and I´m in the mood to finish WIPS or start new one.
So next in the row is this one. With all the experiences I got from the recently finished F-16C (and the other models before) I feel prepared to take the challange of this one.
The goal is to resemble a rather used A/C in the middle of ODS. Let´s see if im courages enough for a dirty appearance.
24 September 2020, 14:31
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As I got the Blue Angels edition which comes in naked I´m using some stuff out of the "Grabbelkiste", e.g. the leftover GBU-12s from the last build.
24 September 2020, 16:29
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Count me in!!! Off to a great start, and I feel ya on restarting WIPs. I just recently finished a Hasegawa Tomcat that had been put on hold for over a year. It really feels good to finish a project like that!
24 September 2020, 17:59
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Welcome Michael! Nice to have you on board here, too!
Same same for me - too many unfinished projects lying around. It feels good to reduce the amount. But I also experienced that sometimes it´s not too bad to let you time with certain painting tasks. Especially when you put more heart and soul into the model and you think you´re not experienced enough. This year I´m very productive and tested out some painting techniques on the other planes so that I´m confident to get a proper result here.
25 September 2020, 06:14
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Hey, I´m not missing this after the shorts project!😉 I had a kinetic Hornet and Aires cockpit & Gearwells, it was a fitting nightmare... The deal on the table looks good,watching 👍
25 September 2020, 07:55
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Hey Slavo, I´ve wathced your Agressor build with interest! I´ve used an Aires cockpit for a Super Hornet long time ago - I know what a struggle it can be fitting it in.
The Kinetic cockpit comes in very nicely so I just painted it as it is. According to my references it is very accurately done and detailed and for me absolutely enough. If I´m in the mood maybe the landing gear will get some Tie Downs fron Infini Models if I find a proper carrier deck...
This time I´m building Mr. Spock according to Bullseys Model Aviation research.
25 September 2020, 08:23
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The last three months I was thwarted because the fronts of my living place needed some reconstrution after suffering damage from a hail storm. So I couldn´t properly vent my room and I avoided airbrushing.
But now the outside work is done and I´m back on the workbench and back on this build, too!
27 December 2020, 10:59
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Wlcome on board Ingmar!
Today I applied the mottling and painted the underside in Light Ghost Grey FS36375.
29 December 2020, 18:27
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Today´s work: I painted the radom tip with Radom Tan FS33613 and the the upper side with FS36320 Dark Ghost Grey.
30 December 2020, 16:29
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Thank you Daniel! I´m mostly using AK Interactive. I used the black acrylic primer and then Real Colours.
31 December 2020, 08:07
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Don't forget the bare metal tip on the nose cone 😉
Looking great so far!
31 December 2020, 12:07
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@ Daniel: AK RC work best 🙂
@ Ingmar: the fun is about to begin! After some detail painting like the nose tip or walkways I will try to resemble the touch up works around several hatches not to mention the dirt accumulations... But not this year anymore.
31 December 2020, 14:21
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Lovely work with the pre-shading... I always say for myself that this step is over-rated, I am more of the "all on top" layering techniques, but I imagin this looks truly great in natural light, especially the lower back part! 👍
1 January 2021, 14:52
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Thank you Slavo! Many ways lead to Rome. Normally I overdo the top layers and all mottling and preshading is gone or at least killed by matt varnish. This time I hopefully stopped at the exact moment. Anyway, a lot of "on top" layering techniques will follow later as well.
1 January 2021, 15:32
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Today saw the last part of the major paintwork. First retouching the cockpit in black slightly highlighted and after that the same process with the walkways. I painted them according the the reference of the decal sheet in FS36081 which I made a little lighter with FS36375.
Then a coat caot of semigloss varnish to seal everything. Now I let it dry over night and hope to start decalling tomorrow.
12 January 2021, 16:10
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Truly already a great model...and yes you did the right thing of the mottling technique! When done right, and what I see you're doing well, with the right not overdone weathering and the matt/satin coat it looks great...so to say, subtle!
12 January 2021, 18:17
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Looks like I missed the start of this while I was inactive here... paintwork and shading look fantastic so far. Can't wait to see how this one evolves!
12 January 2021, 23:35
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Welcome aboard Maciej and Eric!
The decals are applied. They do not stick as well as others do so they got some more treatment with softerner and I let it dry until tomorrow before sealing them with another layer of satin varnish.
I haven´t dryfitted the canopy and I had to discover that the fit isn´t good at all. The forward part will need a lot of adjustment and polishing afterwards.
16 January 2021, 17:01
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Time to finish this shelf queen!
Grinding and polishing the front glas wasn´t that time consuming anymore as I thought. The rest of the plane was ready for washing. So I did this during the last week and applied a good coat of matt varnish and started highlighting some panels.
21 April 2023, 16:21
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Thank you Ingmar!
Some footprints added to the top side. In real they look much better and more intense.
23 April 2023, 11:40
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A really beautiful light weathering job you're doing here over all - makes me want to try a light-grey based jet and do 'all kinds of things' to it 🙂 This looks really well planned and executed - top 👍🏻
23 April 2023, 16:23
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Thank you Ingmar and Slavo!
@ Slavo: In real it all looks much more pronounced. I feared to have it overdone but in the end everything turned out as I wanted it to do. As soon as it it is finished I´ll take some daylight pictures to catch the colours better.
And yes, I´m also thinking of another Low-Viz jet to start next...
23 April 2023, 17:25