Triple Nickel Growler in progress
1July 5, 2024The new Quickboost ECS pipes were installed. I also used the Eduard PE set of my F/A-18E to add the circular vents correcting the kit. The circular PE (part # 55 for the AoA area) was added with one of the unused mesh parts.
2July 5, 2024Here, trying to add more detail to the instrument panel coaming. More to be added.
3July 5, 2024A general view of the major components and the built-up wings with the new aftermarket set from Flight Line Resin.
4July 5, 2024The "missile fin area" has been filled using a styrene sheet on both sides. I am not sure how Trumpeter decided this was an actual part of the aircraft.
5July 5, 2024Added weight inside the radar housing and placed on the kit forward fuselage. I also added the Master AoA probe. The kit wants you to have the refueling probe and electronics bays open. When closing these up, a bit of work is to get it flush.
6July 5, 2024The underside of the forward fuselage has no gun vents. Those need to be filled/sanded. Also added some more PE from the Eduard set to the forward landing gear bay. The Flight Line Resin gear is highly detailed and fits like a glove on the front.
7July 5, 2024
8July 5, 2024The cockpit tub was cleared of the raised detail for the Quinta Studio set.
9July 5, 2024GT Resin, I hope this goes well trying to use this set. I am not sure what is harder, using the kit-provided parts or this.
10July 5, 2024The engine faces from GT Resin. So abysmal. I will have to open the intake where it meets the engine to get the kit parts to fit.
11July 5, 2024This is the kit-provided exhaust cans and exhaust. The engine is a cool add-on but of course, will not be seen.
12July 5, 2024We can see the ResKit exhaust is much superior.
13July 5, 2024
14July 5, 2024Because I got the Quinta Studio light set (not the full), I will have to add the side wall panels once in the kit. But first the priming and painting stage.
15July 5, 2024The kit provided HARM missile, not too bad.
16July 5, 2024The ALQ99 does not have the correct shape. My skills are not good enough to shape it correctly. Hopefully, soon, someone can come out with a good 3d printed set.
17July 5, 2024
18July 5, 2024
19July 8, 2024Modified the JHMCS sensors. Trumpeter decided that the pilot would have two, one on each canopy rail. Looking at the Eduard interior set instructions, I added the detail for the lower part of the aft canopy as well.
20July 8, 2024Here I added the aft bulkhead using thin styrene.
21July 8, 2024The back seat instrument panel needed sidewalls.
22July 8, 2024
23July 8, 2024Added additional reinforcement plates for the WSO's glare shield.
24July 8, 2024
25July 8, 2024Added vanes to the bypass pressure vents which the kit was devoid of. The openings were sanded down a bit more to give the vents a thinner look.
26July 8, 2024More detail was added to the canopy actuator area. Hopefully, I can source the interior Eduard set to add more to this area.
27July 8, 2024
28July 9, 2024Looking through my stash, I found this aftermarket HUD for the Academy legacy bug and I wondered, "Can I make this fit?" Not too shabby...
29July 9, 2024Looking through the forums over at Large Scale Planes, one of the members did this and I must admit, the WSO's rear instrument canopy looks much better now with the added handles.
30July 9, 2024Added a bit more detail in the canopy actuator area which resides above the turtleneck on the most aft canopy section.
31July 9, 2024
32July 9, 2024Jack Melampy's book has been invaluable in this Growler build. I love it yet it makes me add more work to this kit.
33July 11, 2024Comparison of the kit and the ResKit exhaust set. The detail is so much more refined on the ResKit set.
34July 11, 2024S
35July 11, 2024Test fitting. The inside housing that holds the exhaust cans may need to be trimmed to fit the larger diameter of the ResKit parts. More on that later when the fuselage halves are placed together.
36July 11, 2024I decided to use the seamless intakes from GT Resin. I had used previous parts from this company and was not impressed. Here, it is not too bad. Hopefully, I can get them to fit when I place all the parts together.
37July 11, 2024Test fit.
38July 26, 2024More test fitting. Overall, not too bad.
39July 26, 2024Placed supports for the horizontal stabs and inserted a pin to better support the parts. Note the housing for the engine cans. I trimmed the parts to better fit the whole Reskit exhaust assembly.
40July 26, 2024Here is what I used for the steel pins, an old molex hard drive connector.
41July 26, 2024Here, I had to remove the raised formation light detail on the inside of the vertical stabs.
42July 26, 2024Here is what it looked like before removing the inside of the formation lights. I will have to lower the raised panel on the outer parts of the vertical stabs.
43July 26, 2024Here are the results from how they come out of the box (above).
44July 26, 2024The GT Resin intake has a top lip that needs to be cut.
45July 26, 2024
46July 26, 2024Parts are now glued in place. This took some effort to minimize cleanup.
47July 26, 2024The gaps here need to be dealt with regardless.
48July 26, 2024Test fitting the bottom front fuselage.
49July 26, 2024There are more gaps to contend with.
50July 26, 2024Note the block I added inside the middle fuselage to allow the fairing to contact the top of the intakes.
51July 26, 2024More test fitting.
52July 26, 2024And more cleanup is needed.
53July 26, 2024I was able to source the Eduard internal PE set for the Growler to add detail to the turtleneck. Looks better already. Too bad it is out of production.
54July 26, 2024A combination of Tamiya putty was used for the back. In the front intake area, I used CA with talcum powder mix.
55July 26, 2024PE was added for the main wheel wells.
56July 26, 2024More of the Eduard 32735 set was added.
57July 29, 2024Added additional detail in the aft cockpit bulkhead.
58July 29, 2024Fitting with the aftermarket seats. I still have more cleanup to do on the seats after the removal of the 3D printer supports.
59July 30, 2024And finally, I got the Quinta decals on. It sure beats having to paint all that detail.
60July 30, 2024
61July 30, 2024Cleaned up the Resin2Detail seats and painted them. I first used MrSurfacer1500 black as a base and detailed with Vallejo paints.
62July 30, 2024
63July 30, 2024Decals from the kit were placed on the seats and then glued the PE back on.
64July 30, 2024
65August 3, 2024FlightLineResin Landing Gear. Top notch stuff from Richard VanZandt.
66August 3, 2024A quick comparison of the resin compared to the kit. No contest.
67August 3, 2024PE added to the gear doors. Also added a bit wee detail to the front gear bay door.
68August 3, 2024Here is the missing antenna added to the outside of the door. I figured it would be easier to add a thin styrene sheet rather than scribe it on the contoured door.
69August 3, 2024Trumpeter and their very basic approach to a model kit at this scale. The arrestor hook assembly is just awful.
70August 3, 2024Here is an example of what it should look like.
71August 3, 2024And the hook itself.
72August 3, 2024Some modifications, although not completely accurate.
73August 3, 2024But I must say this looks much better already.
74August 3, 2024Note that I removed the antenna-looking boomerang device forward of the arrestor hook. That is a guide for a cable-towed decoy (AN/ALE-50). The Growler does not utilize one.
75August 3, 2024Nose cone on with an added weight, just in case.
76August 3, 2024It's getting there. This kit has been a workload, albeit a nice challenge.
77August 3, 2024Added PE to the top where a grill exists on the real aircraft. Trumpeter just made a depression there to simulate the look of the vent.
78August 5, 2024The wings are finally on after cleaning up all the seams on the main fuselage. Now to clean up the wing roots.
79August 16, 2024Here I decided to take off the aileron shrouds and add a small styrene sheet to complete the gap where they meet the main fuselage.
80August 16, 2024The leading edge flaps from FlightLine were longer than expected. When dry fitting now that the main wing assembly is on, it turns out that a small modification will be needed to make it fit.
81August 16, 2024Here y
82August 16, 2024After cutting and sanding roughly 2mm off, now I have a good fit, although I did kill the sleek edge that is closest to the main LEX fuselage.
83August 16, 2024The ALQ-218 antennas are on.
84August 16, 2024There was a gap on the leading edge flap so I decided to put a thin (2mm) to simulate the upper fairing of the leading edge flap.
85August 16, 2024This is what it looks like when I add the LEF.
86August 16, 2024The aileron shrouds attached with the minor modification. The ALQ-218 antennas are also now attached to the rear of the bottom fuselage without much trouble. Note the top antenna fairing is also on.
87August 16, 2024The LEFs are glued. The main ailerons are being test fitted to see how they all align in place.
88August 16, 2024Looking pretty good now, although it has been a struggle to get to this point. The work is paying off.
89September 3, 2024I decided to get the pylon set from Phase Hanger Resin (also designed by Flight Line Resin). A bit of work goes into making them clean and attach correctly but overall, it's better than working on the existing kit pylon set and adding detail that was not there.
90September 3, 2024New holes have to go onto the adapter for the Harm missile.
91September 3, 2024
92September 3, 2024A sample of what it should look like.
93September 3, 2024Rather than getting more material, here I simply use a toothpick to get the pylons to fit onto the wings.
94September 3, 2024I had to improvise here to get the correct adapter to fit into the LAU-127. The 3d parts only come with the bomb racks that attach to the pylons. Rather than scratch building the adapter, I used some leftover parts from the Tamiya 1/48 Tomcat. The Bandit Resin Factory pod will fit in just nicely.
95September 3, 2024An example of the LAU-127 with the correct adapter for an ACMI Pod or AIM-120.
96September 3, 2024Nice fit.
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22 5 July, 07:33
Album info
Sporadic pictures of my build progress. I am using this to capture the build process for future builds.
Many after-market items are being added to this build as well as some scratch building to try to get this Growler as close to the real thing.
