Revell's E-2C Hawkeye kit in 1:144 scale
Molds could have been a little better, but good enough I think. I added sprue goo, to add more plastic inside the holes before drilling out the new hole.
I sanded the edges on the wings and foils, thinner to make them look more realistic.
The dome isn't glued on, so a little wobbly here. I should remove the antenna, re-shape it, and re-attach it. Edit: I later added more bits of black card inside the hollow engine housing, to make it look pitch black in the openings into the engine housing area.
Adding custom clear parts. Fun and fairly easy.
So I used Tamiya's white masking tape for the nose, which worked nicely. I had to thin the width of masking tape though. And.. still not done. More masking required for the black or anthracite areas on the tail. Well as I sit here, I probably ought to add more masking tape elsewhere too to avoid overspray issues.
Oh, joy. I am fairly happy with this result. I will make sure to add a gloss coat over the black parts so that I don't tarnish the paint by bumping into things or get somehow get dusty. A little bit of clean up is required with a tiny brush, but that work will be fairly quick and easy. I cut new edges on the bits of masking tape to make sure I had the best start before airbrushing on the Nato black.
I decided to airbrush on the red first and then mask the red with a single strip of masking tape to get the uniform width, and then airbrush on the white, masking off the black.
I think I can see I subtle cracking in the gloss coat, I wonder why. The black glossy primer had been drying for maybe 12-18 hours iirc. I will ofc add white to this, leaving a red stripe in the middle.
I made sure to re-cut the masking tape to get clean edges and I am happy with this. Looing at this close up, I should maybe consider fixing the black. I probably shouldn't have tried to airbrush the entire groove of the panel line, because there is this highlight that shows up on one side it seems.
Sry, just testing new image processing software.
This felt like it took forever, and by the time I finished adding all the decals, the sun had gone down. :| I am mostly happy with this. Next up, some fixes and more paint on details and a gloss coat. Propellers and landing gear has to be done as well. I am very happy I have a bottle of Micro-Sol in my stash. I also have Solvaset, but that stuff is stronger and might bite into things iirc.
I think I will re-paint the propellers. The arrestor hook I can fix with a small brush.
A simple pin wash. I mixed Mig Enamel neutral and dark gray, to get a lighter gray. I should perhaps mix this into a larger amount in a separate bottle so that I don't have to mix this every time. I guess it doesn't matter if the enamel dries for a day before I start cleaning this up. Hm, I just noticed, weird, one of the smaller rudders on the tail, doesn't seem to have any panel lines on it.
Again, great fun using Mig enamel wash. I started using a cotton bud on the sensor dome, but quickly realized that was a mistake. I then switched to bits of paper towel which doesn't dig into the grooves of the panel line. I also didn't dare use any white spirit for clean up. I tried to mix a lighter panel wash, but I think the color is a little dark still.
Although I am happy with the big tyres, at the front anyway, I thought it looked better before I took a photo of this in macro mode up close. 😄 Some dust, no gloss coat. Will clean this up with a small brush, especially on the backside which wasn't easy to paint, even with a crisp circular mask. The white was too thin in my airbrush cup, but I added some drops of Vallejo Color (not Vallejo Air) and thickened it. I made sure to let the first layer of didn't-really-cover-the-black-base paint, before adding another layer. I think this ended up with 4-5 layers of white, on top of black.
Todo: Finish painting the propellers, and maybe clean up the paint around the windows. Hm, plane looks like it has a tilt, I think I can just press the starboard landing gear further into the socket, I never glued on the starboard gear into the socket, but the port one, as that part was too loose anyway.
I decided to airbrush the props again, but being more careful this time. I used a pointy cotton bud to press the masking tape firmly to the surface. I also focused on only one side here, to simplify the masking process.
I am very happy with this result, but perhaps the white is more off white than pure white. Good enough I think. I have finally learned to lower the psi when airbrushing smaller stuff. 🙂 So I will add some red stripes tomorrow. Should end up looking a lot better than my first attempt at this.
Nearly got it right. I airbrushed on a heavy quick sweeping spray a couple of times, but I suspect the paint started to pool at the edges of the masking tape, and is why the red lines here aren't 100%.I had difficulty making the masking tape stick to the far tip, that was unexpected. :|
Edit: I think I used the wrong masking tape for the job. I relied on Tamiya's masking tape, but it is less sticky and a little thicker I think, than the other tape I have. I should have used only this other brand masking tape I can say in hindsight.
Edit: I think I used the wrong masking tape for the job. I relied on Tamiya's masking tape, but it is less sticky and a little thicker I think, than the other tape I have. I should have used only this other brand masking tape I can say in hindsight.
Here are some photos, but they aren't the best this late in the evening with less light, so I may take some more photos out in the sun one day. I may also, see if I can add some small touches here and there.
I am happy having been able to hide the ugly gaps that existed on top of the wing, after gluing on the struts for the rotating radar dish. 🙂 I managed to make the cavities flush with the rest of the wing.
Commenti
11 10 March 2020, 11:40
TreehuggerBtw, there seems to be one error in the build guide, which shows in the paint guide. There is this part 39, a small air intake on the side of the fuselage, which points the wrong way in the paint guide. As I think I've pointed out earlier, the base for the arrestor hook is such a weird part, I was lucky I could even make it fit on the model. I had fun building this model.
I made some custom things to the model:
- I added a custom clear part on both wing tips.
- I placed some black card board inside the empty engine shapes to make it look dark when looking in through the air intakes. I also used sprue good to fill the holes and then drilled it out again to make a more distinct shape on the insides.
- I thinned the wing edges I think, I could probably have thinned them more.
4 July 2020, 14:31
TreehuggerYou are too kind. I am happy with the overall result, but there is no weathering on this model. It is a nice kit and it was fun to build, which imo is a surprise given that this is a Revell kit.
9 September 2020, 17:42
Gary DahlströmHey a well-executed clean build is a thing to behold, which is why every once in a while I do a showroom auto build, if only to remember that some things in this world get washed. Anything involving the word clean around here is not an easy task with all the cat hair flying around my 'shop.
You got that radome mounted perfectly(!), and the dihedral of the stabilizers looks great. Those mods you made illustrate ur attention to detail.
I'm looking forward to my B9 project because that will be a clean build - nice n' shiny! I can't remember the last Revell kit I dove into, but I made many when I was a teen. Do you happen to know if this was an original Revell mold, or one they picked up from a defunct manufacturer?
Nice work, man.
9 September 2020, 17:58
TreehuggerThis kit is apparently based off a Revell new tool kit from 2004 if Scalemates kit history is correct. I like giving things a gloss coat and a satin varnish, which makes it new, but this time I mixed matte and satin varnish which made it look a little more dull, and I suspect the varnish wasn't mixed good enough before I put the mixture into my airbrush cup.
11 September 2020, 15:27
TreehuggerThank you. 🙂 It has been a fun build.
I regained some confidence in my own masking skills after a few mishaps recently. Though, I decided against trying to fix the minor flaws with the painted props. Nobody will notice it unless they really take a loong good look. I am actually fairly happy with the result even with the minor clitch, where the outer masking tape didn't want to lie as I wanted to (not enough surface area for the adhesive I think).
I wish I would bother buying a chrome paint pen, but I just don't think I can justify such an expense if the pen maybe doesn't work 100% all the time. :| Though, I don't know for sure how well they work. I suspect they go bad after a while.
15 September 2020, 19:49
