Detailing S&P models - my builds

[Siwi]

Some more bits done
- cockpit finished with sticks, seatbelts, throttles and ejection handles
- rear chaff dispensors
- canopy cut, doubled and attached; currently adding glass panes. My process for this is a new one: stick the cutout window areas to clear plastic and cut around them, then attach these into the canopy frame. The intention is to get a flush fit between the glass and the frame. Unfortunately I used double sided tape and it's difficult to get all the glue residue off the clear plastic.

[Siwi]

To procrastinate getting back to Pogoria after the Stirling, I started a 'quick build' this week. In fact it was by chance after seeing Neil Colley's build of this aircraft on his channel. It looked nice so I bought the kit and a adding the usual 'minor modifications'.
Aircraft is a Kawanishi N1K1 Kyofu floatplane upscaled to 1/72. As displaying it on a float could be tricky, I am making a beach display base too. I won't go into a blow-by-blow account since most of the techniques are related elsewhere, but in short we have opened the cockpit, made a more realistic spinner and prop blades, added cooling flap detail missing on the kit and scribed the panel lines with a dead ballpoint.
The base is made from part of a box, with the sand sandpaper (what else?) and the water a painted base with a plastic bag superglued over it to replicate waves.

[Siwi]

After only 11 days, the 'Rex' is complete. Some subtle painting was done on the yellow-orange to add a bit of colour variation, but no real weathering since this was a prototype. I cut the cockpit opening far too large and the windscreen piece isn't lined up properly either, but otherwise good and everything else has gone together at exactly the right angles for dihedral, floats, etc. My other temporary mistake was sticking the wing float supports as the main float front supports and having to cut them off and replace. No harm done. Cockpit detail is very simple with just the seat, instrument panel and stick in there. Could probably tidy up the display base too. I had some leftover olive drab that looked like a cartoon of a fragment of aircraft aluminium so made a label from that. The Japanese characters are copied as best I could but if anyone can write kanji better feel free to give corrections. The aircraft has something of a Studio Ghibli feeling in the bright yellow.

[gomidefilho]

Very nice build!

[Texman]

Good looking build Simon!

[Siwi]

Another 'quick build' which turned out very quick indeed! This is one of the TSMC F-16s that were released recently and are still available. It's a Block 50 F-16CJ with Pacific Air Force Wild Weasel demonstration team graphics on the tail fin.



Miku-Chan says in their opening spiel that this kit was one of the most difficult to design and it's also not simple to build. You have to follow instructions carefully and coax the paper into some complex curves. But as ever, the paper engineering is superb and there are many intelligent features that make it easier to get the correct shapes. In the end this took me not much more than two evenings to complete. The only tiny modification is painting the canopy to hide the joins and the display stand, which is meant to mirror the profile of the aircraft.


There are some tiny fit issues I found, but I believe they are more my fault than the kit. Specifically, the outer thrust nozzle was significantly wider than the inner jet pipe piece even with the lip folded over. Also, I wish these kits would use a subtler colour than fluorescent green for the glue tabs, firstly because glue does not always stick so well to the print, and mostly because it is very visible through any gaps or misalignments.

I also had the usual mysterious situation with the printer whereby lighter colours were perfect but darker ones were significantly darker than they should be.



I built it without any ordinance so far as the model only comes with a pair of missiles and radar units, and I like the look of a clean jet without the clutter of weapons and fuel tanks underneath. I also decided to omit the landing gear and display the fighter in flight for the same reason - the F-16s closely spaced and angular gear looks a bit comical in my opinion. I will definitely be building at least another of these though and will take the time to attach a full ordinance loadout.

[Siwi]

This TSMC F-5 had been sitting on the Shelf of Shame for a while at 90% complete, so I actually got myself in gear and finished the scrathbuilt cockpit and canopy. First TSMC model I found a few fit issues with - the underside doesn't quite meet the formers and the horizontal stabs won't align straight out. But a good build nonetheless and a very attractive colour scheme.

[Texman]

Looks well done to me!

[Don Boose]

All excellent models, Simon. Belated kudos on the Kyofu, which is the one that appeals to me the most.

Don

[ReynoldsSlumber]

Nice, on these last two, I do appreciate fighter jet models that accurately represent the air splitter between the engine inlet and the fuselage.