Janissary Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 (edited) Hello, after 9 months, I finally managed to finish this model. It started out as a factory roll-out scheme, but I changed it to an operational version in the middle of the build. Aim-9x is not realistic, nor have I seen a blue Aim-9L on a Raptor, so all is fictitious. Hope you enjoy. All critiques and suggestions for improvements are welcome. Progress pictures All studio pictures Edited December 15, 2013 by Janissary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 (edited) And here is my makeshift photo setup. The model was too big for the photo tent I normally use, so the shades are a little too strong as you see in the pictures. Edited September 7, 2012 by Janissary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
veliko_pile Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 perfect job! I really like it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loftycomfort Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 ooooppphh! That's breath-taking. I hate the Raptor's look, but LOVE your model's finish. Did you do any shading or high-lightning on the surface raised details? Terry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jwest21 Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Fantastic work!! The finish is great. I like the FOD covers in the intake too- how did you make those? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Look at that canopy! incredible all around. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toadwbg Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Please tell us more about your painting and techniques! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VA-115EFR Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Look at that canopy! incredible all around. I was thinking the same thing, that canopy is crystal clear!!! Excellent detail and a job VERY WELL DONE! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SR10user Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 If anything will make me go back to 1/48th scale, it will be this! Truly excellent job. Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gonzalo Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Beautiful Raptor! The only thing I see and it might be just the picture but it looks like on the left side under the cockpit, the color is the original green that you had painted. The color on top looks thin. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fulcrum1 Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Please tell us more about your painting and techniques! Check out his build thread. There's some good stuff in there! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 Thank you very much everybody, I very much appreciate your input. Let me try to help with some of the questions. Did you do any shading or high-lightning on the surface raised details? Terry Thanks Terry, I actually did. After all painting, gloss coating, and decaling was done, I took a wide flathead brush and dipped it in some dark oil paint. Then, similar to dry brushing, took almost all of the paint off of it, leaving just traces of oil paint on the brush. I then gently went over the raised details with this. This sharpens the delineation a little bit, but it is questionable whether I should have done this, given the already pronounced details. Anyway, after completed, I scrubbed clean the whole surface with an old tshirt to further constrain this effect only along the edges, and clean paint on the flat regions. Hope this helps. Fantastic work!! The finish is great. I like the FOD covers in the intake too- how did you make those? Thank you, I used Tamiya epoxy putty to do this. After extracting the shape using styrene sheet, and making the rough mockup out of epoxy, I used the end of a thin brush to create some surface depressions to simulate wrinkling (while the epoxy was still soft). Here is the link: Link Look at that canopy! incredible all around. Thank you. I cannot take any credit for the canopy, though :) The kit comes with both the pure transparent and smoke version of the clear parts, so used the smoke version. I only lightly sanded it with fine sandpaper and micro mesh, polished it with Tamiya compound, and gave it a future bath. The color is the original plastic color. Please tell us more about your painting and techniques! Hi, I mostly used some preshading and postshading, all done in a mottling pattern. For the gray, I settled on using a mix of Gunze acrylic H306 and Citadel metallics, all thinned with X-20A. For the camo, I cutout the patterns from the blow out version of the instruction sheets. I also did quite a bit of panel toning, where I would mask a panel with parafilm, cut along the edges, and paint the inside of the panel using a lightly modified version (various greys and tamiya clears) of the base color. The progress pics (link at the top of the page) I believe can better illustrate what I am trying to explain in words though. Hope that helps. Beautiful Raptor! The only thing I see and it might be just the picture but it looks like on the left side under the cockpit, the color is the original green that you had painted. The color on top looks thin. Thank you Gonzalo. After your comment, I understand what you mean. That color variation was intentional on my part. After the base color of H306+metallic, I masked that portion off, and added a little bit Tamiya clear blue to the base color to give some tonal variation. Nothing really realistic as far as the color goes, though. So I see that it indeed does look like the jade green from the previous version. All in all, I too don't think it was a successful effect it created. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jwest21 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 I was able to see this in person this evening- it is even more fantastic than the pictures show Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fellow Hobbyist Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Superb weathering you did beneath the Raptor. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted September 8, 2012 Author Share Posted September 8, 2012 Thank you guys, I appreciate it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Doughboy Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Great job! The only thing I see is the blue body on the AIM-9M. I've never seen a blue body on a CAP-9M and especially on a live. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JesniF-16 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Your Raptor is very appealing to the eye I am not surprised since you are the one who built it. The intake covers look great, but I know you dunked the intakes in latex.... Did they not turn out satisfactory? Just wondering. /Jesse Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MarkC Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 faultless model - looks really good. For your photos - (i had same problem making photos of HET) you need to diffuse the lights because you have a lot of glare and blown out areas. I only know this because I had the same problems. when you use a tent it diffuses the light - all you need to do is hang a sheet of tracing/tissue paper in front of the bulbs - it will make a lot of difference. best Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 (edited) Great job! The only thing I see is the blue body on the AIM-9M. I've never seen a blue body on a CAP-9M and especially on a live. Thank you very much, you are absolutely right. I too have not seen a blue 9M on a raptor either. The starboard side 9X is also fictitious. Your Raptor is very appealing to the eye I am not surprised since you are the one who built it. The intake covers look great, but I know you dunked the intakes in latex.... Did they not turn out satisfactory? Just wondering. /Jesse Thank you Jesse. The white paint dunk method I think works fine. My issue was that, during the rollout scheme, before assembly, I airbrushed the insides of the intakes brown, then did a white paint dunk from the backside, which naturally created a good separation line between the brown and the white. When I changed my mind, the whole assembly was done, so I had to airbrush the brown sections with gray, while keeping the white part intact. Masking was way too difficult, and on top, airbrushing inside a closed-end duct is always difficult for me (paint dries too dusty/grainy due to air circulation). So, I simply focused on the gray parts of the intakes without masking, which obliterated the white parts. Too long of an explanation but this was a major decision point for me, which led me to making the intake plugs :). All in all, I would give two thumbs up to whomever invented the latex pour/dunk method. faultless model - looks really good. For your photos - (i had same problem making photos of HET) you need to diffuse the lights because you have a lot of glare and blown out areas. I only know this because I had the same problems. when you use a tent it diffuses the light - all you need to do is hang a sheet of tracing/tissue paper in front of the bulbs - it will make a lot of difference. best Mark I could not have said it better. I too believe some sort of diffuser is a must (tent or tracing paper) for good indoor macro photography if general lighting is not sufficient. I always thought only if I had a better camera my photographs would come out much better (I use Canon A620 Powershot), but I think setting up the right lighting conditions is a step one cannot overlook no matter what the camera is. Edited September 10, 2012 by Janissary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wayfarer 30 Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 You have my respect. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Doughboy Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 "Thank you very much, you are absolutely right. I too have not seen a blue 9M on a raptor either. The starboard side 9X is also fictitious. " Right. I would not be too worried about the 9X though. Eventually they will find their way onto the jet. I've never seen a blue body on any type of 9 in the AF. Even the inert CAP-9M/X are gray with blue bands. Just wondering but did the instructions call for it to be blue? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Honza K. Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Hi Bro, perfect build and nice result with colors! I like it very much. Keep going in this clean, rigorous work. Honza Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Thank you Doughboy, the instructions call for gray missiles like you suggested. I have been impressed with blue sidewinders ever since I saw them once on a super hornet, and once on a tomcat model. So, what I have is very very inaccurate. No bearing to AF at all it seems. Hi Honza! Thank you for your note and encouragement. I miss your build threads so much, but I understand you may have other priorities now. I still am in awe when I study your Tomcat builds! I like them so much that I wish the real ones looked like your models, not the other way around :) Hope all is well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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