Hello all, been away from the modeling form. Mainly what I was building couldn't be entered into a group build. I started this F/A-18 Blue Angles aircraft back on February 13.
IMG_6243 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
IMG_0134 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
I though I had more work in progress images but only one during painting. This Kinetic F/A-18 Hornet Blue Angles 2017 went together very well. Routine sanding and filling. I did have some trouble with parts, H32 & H33 leading intake. They did not fit smooth and flush, had to do some sanding with 400 grit to get them smooth. I should have left them off and painted them separate, touching them with the paint brush after airbrushing the main color on just about drove me crazy. And I still didn't get it right.
The only other part that did not meet up right was the top half of the fuselage, the very front section were the internal gun is. I used AK white putty to get that area flush. Also I forgot about the HUD so my model does not have that on it.
The canopy had a center seem, that is easy to remove. I start with 800 grit sanding paper wet, then follow with 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 6000, and finally 12,000. With manually buff the fine scratched out with Novus plastic polish.
When the model was ready for the main colors, I first started out with Tamiya XF-19 Sky Gray as a base color. Then on to XF-2 Flat White, I used white as a base for any light colors (red, yellow, blue, orange). I wanted to try using Mr. Hobby acrylic paints, so I picked out H-5 Gloss Blue for the main color. Ended up needing two bottles from airbrushing on five good coats, after the first three I wet sanded with 3,000 grit.
IMG_1123 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
It also seemed like the gloss paint dries better with Tamiya lacquer thinner. And after the last coat is applied, the paint does dry to the touch in about a hour, but for tape masking I recommend letting the model dry over night or even to play it safe a full 24 hours. I tried to make up time and mask for the yellow paint, then when I removed the masking tape(over the blue) there was the tape finger print left behind, or the grain of the tape. I use Tamiya masking tape.
The next main color I used is Model Master Acrylic Blue Angles Yellow #4684 FS 13655, I painted the wing tips, vertical tails, and horizontal stabilizers. The landing gear Tamiya X-2 White, exhaust was X-10 Gunmetal. The Decals were made by cartograf, then went down like dream no problems what so ever. I sealed in the paint and decals with Testors 1261 glosscote.
From start to finish it took me 37 days to complete.
IMG_6204 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
IMG_6206 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
IMG_6207 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
IMG_6209 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
IMG_6211 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
IMG_6213 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
IMG_6224 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
IMG_6227 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
IMG_6228 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
IMG_6234 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr
IMG_6238 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr