1/48 Hasegawa F-22A Raptor WIP

BrandonK

It's coming along nicely. Can't wait to see it complete.

Moving along like an arthritic iceberg (did I use that one already?)...

I've completed the latest couple layers of painting.  Like I've said before I don't like to paint fresh out of the factory paint jobs.  But most of the F-22s out there aren't particularly dirty.  So I've used images of different F-22s with various weathering on each plane and will combine them on my F-22.  Those of you who follow my builds know that's how I like to do it.

So one of the images I came across showed an F-22 that had all kinds of paint touch ups all over it.  Several panels had been repainted as well as several random spots.  So I've tried to recreate it on my Raptor:

I came across several images where there was a sooty exhaust stain on the upper door of the Sidewinder missile bay on the left side.  There is some kind of exhaust vent right above the door and when the door is open the vent blows right on it.  I tried to re create it using black and Alclad II Smoke:

At the rate I'm going I'll post an update in about 4 weeks...  Next up will be to paint the exhaust area (which is masked and ready to be painted) and the wheel wells.  The wheel wells shouldn't take too long.

Glad to see you back. I like what you did here.  I'm the same way.  I just have to tell more of a story with regards to the painting.  I like more to show through.  =]

Great job.

Thanks, bvallot!

I've painted the wheel wells and the hydraulic lines on the gear.  I've also masked the exhaust area.  That should be easy to paint now:

I still need to give the bays a wash.

Well folks I'm back from the dead!  I packed up my modeling stuff back in January because we had company staying with us and I just needed a little break.  Plus I had some other things going on that just made it hard to do any modeling.

I got out the airbrush today and did some work on the F-22.  I touched up all the little errors and added some metal color ahead of the exhausts.  I didn't take any pics with the new metal color but I will post them on the next update.

I've painted several of the vents and exhaust ports:

I'm still planning on making this a dirty Raptor.

Good to see that you're back to your bench! Looking forward to the next installments.

Mike

mrmike

Good to see that you're back to your bench! Looking forward to the next installments.

Mike

I painted the area just ahead of the exhausts Alclad II Pale Burnt Metal.  It doesn't seem like all of the F-22s have this color in this area but there are some that definitely do...so I added the effect to mine:

You can't really see it in any photos but I've also gone over the entire model lightly with 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000 grit polishing cloths to give it a really smooth surface.  I might do it again to get it even smoother so that I can apply the decals right to the paint.

So I was wondering why so few F-22 pics have that pale burnt metal area.  I did a bit of picture hunting on Google and I now realize that the only F-22 that had that burnt metal coloring was Raptor 01.  Too bad, too.  I thought it looked pretty cool.

 So I'm gonna mask it off and re paint it the way its supposed to be.  It will be really easy to do, actually.  I'll paint them just a slightly different shade to make it more interesting.  Alot of them look a little lighter in the pics so it should work out well.  I have some other areas that I've decided to touch up, also.

Interesting build Fly. I really like your clean paint work. I'm  curious about the micro mesh job. I've tried that in the past in hopes of skipping the initial gloss coat, but as I sand the model down with the micromesh pads I seem to nick corners and raised areas and it sands through the paint and I always have touch ups to do. Trailing edges seem to be the worst. Maybe I'm being too aggressive?

Nathan T

Interesting build Fly. I really like your clean paint work. I'm  curious about the micro mesh job. I've tried that in the past in hopes of skipping the initial gloss coat, but as I sand the model down with the micromesh pads I seem to nick corners and raised areas and it sands through the paint and I always have touch ups to do. Trailing edges seem to be the worst. Maybe I'm being too aggressive?

So I guess its just a matter of using a light touch.

I'm working on an airliner now and I've been painting the wings black (for Alclad II Airframe Aluminum) using Tamiya TS-14.  During the first coat or two I was polishing down to the primer a little bit.  But after the third coat I was just getting a nice glossy black finish.  So the number of coats makes a difference.

Here's where my AMS problem kicks in...

I noticed there were some ghost seams where the bottom of the air inlets join the bottom of the fuselage so I sanded them out and polished them up.  

There were some spots in the lighter grey areas that I touched sanded down, also:

I just could resist...

Fly-n-hi

Nathan T

Interesting build Fly. I really like your clean paint work. I'm  curious about the micro mesh job. I've tried that in the past in hopes of skipping the initial gloss coat, but as I sand the model down with the micromesh pads I seem to nick corners and raised areas and it sands through the paint and I always have touch ups to do. Trailing edges seem to be the worst. Maybe I'm being too aggressive?

When I start with the 4000 grit cloths I tend to use really light pressure.  The only places that I need to touch up (because of the polishing) are the spots where I pressed down a bit too hard...  and most of those spots were around some raised panels or corners kind of like what you're saying.  But there were only 2 or 3 spots that needed to be repainted.

So I guess its just a matter of using a light touch.

I'm working on an airliner now and I've been painting the wings black (for Alclad II Airframe Aluminum) using Tamiya TS-14.  During the first coat or two I was polishing down to the primer a little bit.  But after the third coat I was just getting a nice glossy black finish.  So the number of coats makes a difference.

Are you using the cloths or a stiffer sponge? I'm using the sponge squares, but they are fairly stiff. Thanks for the help.

I've used both before.  But I use the cloths more often because I tend to over do it with the sponges.

I've completely missed this thread....since last June!

This is a really interesting WIP, and what a great job you are doing, Fly-n-hi. Will be a great reference for when I decide to tackle a modern military jet, which hasn't happened for a couple decades at least. Won't be able match your craftsmanship, but you're providing one heck of source of info!

Thx!

Greg

I've completely missed this thread....since last June!

This is a really interesting WIP, and what a great job you are doing, Fly-n-hi. Will be a great reference for when I decide to tackle a modern military jet, which hasn't happened for a couple decades at least. Won't be able match your craftsmanship, but you're providing one heck of source of info!

Thx!

I'm really dragging my feet on this build.  It should have been finished a few months ago!  If you like this one you might like my next one.  I've already started building a 1/48 Hasegawa F-15C.  It should be more interesting than the F-22.  I'll start a WIP thread after I finish this one.

Can relate to dragging heels. Have had a 1/48th Stuka going for a year. Sigh.

F-15's are my favorite, so you can bet I'll keep my eyes peeled for that one!

I've already got my seat for the eagle! I've been wondering how the old hasegawa kit stacks up to the new GWH one.

Nathan T

I've already got my seat for the eagle! I've been wondering how the old hasegawa kit stacks up to the new GWH one.

That's what figured. How about the GWHs thick plastic parts? Ailerons, flap, and elevator trailing edges?

The panel lines and surface detail are crisp and fantastic.  As far as the thickness of the trailing edge parts...they might be a tad on the thick side but no worse than the Hasegawa trailing edges.  They are all separate so I'm not seeing them attached to the wings/vertical stab as I write this.  It might make a little difference to see how they look when assembled.

The cockpit and engine exhaust details are incredible.

I've painted and weathered the thrust vectoring nozzles:

Nice work on the Raptor Fly!!!  As always, she's looking great!  I too havent had as much bench time recently as I've wanted.  Like anyone else, life sometimes gets in the way of doing the fun stuff.

Thanks, jelliott!

Here's the repainted exhaust shroud areas.  I just painted over the Pale Burnt Metal areas with a lightened mixture of the base color:

I applied the base color using very thinned paint and I like how it turned out!

On top of all of that I painted the middle area of each exhaust Burnt Iron...so the exhaust area has Steel, Burnt Iron and the covered Pale Burnt Metal.  Enough already....right?

Ok, I finally have a really good update!  I've got most of the decals applied!  It took a few hours.  I was going to try to find some AM decals but I decided to go with the Hasegawa decals because I figured that they were more likely to match the Mr Color colors recommended by Hasegawa.

The decals went on mostly well.  There was a little bit of silvering here and there but nothing that I couldn't fix.

This thing went from looking zero-to-busy really fast!

It's looking great Flyn'!  I'm still aching to start something more modern.  Sooooooooon....

What's next on the agenda here?  I don't suppose we'll see any ordinance huh?

Very nice work with the Hasegawa decals. What setting solutions did you use?

bvallot

It's looking great Flyn'!  I'm still aching to start something more modern.  Sooooooooon....

What's next on the agenda here?  I don't suppose we'll see any ordinance huh?

I'm not working on an F-14 or anything.  I just got the urge to build these.  My next project, though, is a 1/48 Hasegawa F-15C.  That one will have some goodies hanging underneath it.  I've already started it and will post a WIP after I finish the F-22.

I decided to paint the steel brake areas on the wheels:

I think I'm going to use the resin exhaust petals that are in the open position.  It seems like most of the F-22s parked on the ramp have the petals open.  I don't know if they are positioned like that by hand or if they "default" to that position without hydraulic power:

I had to file down the sides of the brass parts quite a bit to get them to match the resin parts.

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!! That's better.  =]  I actually have been searching for a good F-15C to build.  I'll likely do the Revell -E that they have out as well.  But I'd really like to put a single seater from the Gulf War with the gear up.  =P

What's the reviews like on the Hasegawa C?

bvallot

What's the reviews like on the Hasegawa C?

I ran into a bit of a problem with the F-22.  I applied a panel line wash some of the vent decals broke up and disintegrated as I wiped the wash off.  

This is annoying but I can get replacement decals from Hasegawa USA.  I needed to get a new canopy and windshield to replace on an F/A-18C kit I bought on eBay anyway so it isn't really too inconvenient to order them all at once.