RQ-1A PREDATOR WIP

Off we go! A simple kit but with a good level of detail. From the 8 paint options only 4 can be made as the other 4 require other upper fuselage parts which are not in the kit, which is actually strange.. 

Cut out the main components today, assembled the FLIR/Optics module and filled the wing cutouts for the RQ-1 model wit Pattex Gel sos glue. Minor flash on the parts but test fitting shows a good fit overall. 

 

Attached an antenae to the lower fuselage and put some weight to the front in order to awoid tail sitting. 

Glued the wings to the upper fuselage. The main parts have inconsistent texture so had to sand them from 1200 to 2000 grit in order to smooth them down. 

Lower fuselage attached, no filler required. Now its time for cleanup. 

Cleaned up and primed the small parts. 

The kit is ready for priming. Did clean it with Modelers World Degreaser, I can only recomend this product. 

First layer applied. Just minor corrections needed. 

Second layer added. Went on without any blemishes. 

Made some preshading and painted the wheel wells with tamiya black using my airbrush. 

 

Painted and ready for a glosscoat and decals. 

Left and upper side decals on. It's Cartograph so no surprises here. 

Right side decals on. Now for some minor detail paintig. Lost the pitot tube so gonna use the kit one instead of wire. 

Working on the panel lines with a Tamiya panel liner. Needed to rescribe the kit after painting as the lines were too shalow. Some paint corrections on the fuselage await due to some sanding errors. 

Home stretch: last coat of flat varnish, now on to the landing gear! 

Landing gear painted and ready for a matt coat. 

Sitting on it's legs now. The main undercarriage does not convince in regards of sturdiness, I think I will add the missing retraction mechanism to add some stability - just have to cut them fron a bit of plastic card as the parts are easily to replicate due to their simple construction. 

Added the missing retraction mechanisms on each main undercarriage leg - I cut some 0.5 sheet plastic to match the shapes seen on reference photos. 

Finished. Overall a good model - the only thing is that if you want to higlight the panel lines they need to be deepened a bit. I found this out after painting the kit which complicated the build somewhat - needed to do several corrections of the paintwork. 

Finished. Overall a good model - the only thing is that if you want to higlight the panel lines they need to be deepened a bit. I found this out after painting the kit which complicated the build somewhat - needed to do several corrections of the paintwork. 

Finished. Overall a good model - the only thing is that if you want to higlight the panel lines they need to be deepened a bit. I found this out after painting the kit which complicated the build somewhat - needed to do several corrections of the paintwork. 

Another one to add to the collection.