Mike C Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 (edited) I'm building this as part of Grumman Iron Works GB... Bought this kit quite some time ago from... LuckyModel, I think. Read lots of pros and cons about this kit. Inaccurate shape, supposedly bad fit, etc. Oh well... let's see how I go with this... 'Later! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 15, 2013 Author Share Posted August 15, 2013 (edited) First glance, it appears that all those bad things I read about this kit may indeed be true. There's a gigantic, and deep, ejection pin marks on the seat. Not a good start! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 15, 2013 Author Share Posted August 15, 2013 (edited) OK. Initially I wanted to build this bird wheels down. But, as I applied some putty to some of the injection pin marks, I saw... THIS: WHAT THE...?! SERIOUSLY???? So, that decided it for me... Wheels up, it is! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 15, 2013 Author Share Posted August 15, 2013 Hmmmm.... It had just occurred to me that the only way to build this as in-flight model is by sacrificing at least 2 of the Phoenixes. And I really want to build this fully loaded... I guess I will still build this bird wheels down, despite the shocking pin marks in the gear wheels. Oh well, at least they won't be visible when sitting on the shelf. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 (edited) OK... Applied the decals on the instrument panels Man... Cartograf decals are really really good, aren't they? Also glued up the wings sections. Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 (edited) OK. I decided to glue the rear Phoenix launchers to see if there's any way to mount this bird I can see there's a bit of space between the front tip of the rear launcher and the rear end of the front ones, so I think I should be able to build this bird wheels up after all! YEAH!! :thumbsup:/>/> Also found this little gem at my LHS: I can mount up to 3 birds on this thing. Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 (edited) Lots of drama with this project. The wheel cover didn't fit at all. Looks absolutely crap. I'm not sure what to do here. I might use Milliput to patch this up later. Tonight, I decided to glue the top and bottom fuselage halves together, along with the wings and glove vanes. O...M...G!!!!!!! It took me probably around an hour to do it. The hardest part is ensuring the glove vanes would stay put. But then when I managed to get everything lined up and glued, I realized that I had stupidly installed the wings incorrectly (left on right, and right on left). Somehow I managed to pry the fuselage halves enough to swap the wings around. Considering the number of moving parts, it was surprising that the fit was still somewhat acceptable. The worst gap was the joint between the fuselage halves just behind the wings. 'Later! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 (edited) Quite a bit of puttying required... I actually lost one of the small wheel covers. So, I fashioned a replacement one using one of the pylons from Italeri E Super Hornet that I scrapped some time ago. Also finished painting the AIM-9 (L?) and AIM-7 (E?). The Sidewinders were OOB. As far as the Sparrows go, the kit's Sparrows are EXTREMELY BAD, so I decided to steal a couple of Sparrows from my Academy "C" Hornet. For newer jets, I'd normally spray the tip of the 'Winders with metallic (Boltgun Metal, Gun Metal, etc.), but I used black for this one. Also, rather than using FS36375 for the missile body, I used gloss white (Gunze Aqueous H1). 'Later! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 (edited) My elbow is sore from all the sanding. And yet there's plenty more to come! AIM-54 Phonexies all painted up. Ready for decals! Man! I must've done at least 4 spray sessions on those! Each session laying down probably 3-4 layers! Yeah... yeah... I know I can use Tamiya White Fine Surface Primer. But... I thought I'd do things "the hard way" for this one. 'Later! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon1974 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Wow, you really have a lot more patience than me. I would have sent that kit to the round file cabinet located on the floor just to the right of my feet after seeing those ejector pin craters. Looking good so far, and good luck with those landing gear doors! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 (edited) Alrighty... Glued the front and rear fuselage together... \ As expected, they don't fit perfectly. Although I didn't expect there was such a big step on the join. The worst was the belly. After lots of sanding with 400-grit sandpaper... 'Later! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 Wow, you really have a lot more patience than me. I would have sent that kit to the round file cabinet located on the floor just to the right of my feet after seeing those ejector pin craters. Looking good so far, and good luck with those landing gear doors! Thanks falcon. I suppose the key factor here is that I never have any high expectations on building these kits. I mean, it's not like I'm doing this for a living, nor will I enter any model competitions... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) Installed the canopy and windscreen and learned that the canopy doesn't fit the frame that well. Not sure if you can see it from the photos below, but the bottom of the canopy only barely touched the frame. One thing that I'm quite happy about though is the join between forward and rear fuselage. Can't see any evidence of seam line at all now. 'Later! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) BTW... Just realized that I forgot to upload the pics of the cockpit just before I installed the canopy... Cheers! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 (edited) All 4 Phoenix launchers are installed. You know, I've had Tamiya Extra Thin Cement for quite some time, but I have only used it sparingly in the past. This is the first project where I used predominantly this fantastic substance! I think I'll start using it much more from now on. I'll still use Tamiya's normal cement, but it'll be my secondary cement. Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 (edited) Jet turbines up! Sprayed with MM Non Buffing Metalizer Gun Metal. Dry-fitting the left side engine nacelle revealed not a bad fit. Doesn't look like it'd require any putty. The right side engine nacelle will require some putty though. 'Later! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 (edited) Phew! That was HARD WORK! After LOTS of sanding with 400-grit sandpaper, I finally managed to get rid of the step. The front parts glued with Tamiya Extra Thin cement and held in place with hand until the cement dried enough. I then applied some Tamiya Basic Putty (highly thinned with nail polish remover) then sanded down with 1200-grit sandpaper, to blend the tips of the engine nacelles. 'Later! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fishbone Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Despite all this kits flaws, I'm pretty sure it's going to turn out to be a stunner! The amount of patience and effort you're putting in to make this kit work will definitely pay off handsomely! :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 Despite all this kits flaws, I'm pretty sure it's going to turn out to be a stunner! The amount of patience and effort you're putting in to make this kit work will definitely pay off handsomely! :)/> Thanks Fishbone. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 (edited) Alrighty... Seems that a whole bunch of updates were lost when the site went down. Anyway.... Here are some pics of the more significant "updates" since then... Now, I don't normally use preshading for my models. But I'm making an exception for this. I used Tamiya XF-54 Dark Sea Grey for the preshading. BTW, Tamiya XF-54 is virtually identical to Gunze Aqueous FS36118, especially when sprayed. See picture below... I used Gunze FS36118 for this: (what's that triangular area called?) I also started spraying Light Gull Gray on the lower fuselage, but then I noticed a few places that still needed some puttying. I used Gunze Aqueous H315 (FS16440), thinned with Tamiya X-20A acrylic thinner. Horizontal stabilizers slightly weathered and decaled. Vertical stabilizers all done. Ready for a layer of clear coat (I think I'll use Tamiya Semi-Gloss Clear) Gas bags weathered a bit with oil wash. Masked and sprayed the black areas with Tamiya semi-gloss black (X-18). 'Later! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HomagerMan Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Great build Mike, the pre-shading looks fantastic. James Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 (edited) Laid down a layer of gloss clear... Ready for some oil wash, then decaling. 'Later! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted October 13, 2013 Author Share Posted October 13, 2013 (edited) OK... Oil wash applied. I'm thinking of spraying random panel with slightly different colour to emulate paint touch ups. I might also spray some Tamiya Smoke over some random areas. Hmmm... just remembered that I haven't painted the navigation lights and the gun port's metallic part. 'Later! Edited October 26, 2017 by Mike C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andre Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 Nice progress! (what's that triangular area called?) These are inflatable bags to seal the wing sweep areas with the wing in the forward position. Cheers, Andre Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 The weathering is coming along quite nicely. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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