Hey everyone,
School has started for me, so I haven't had as much time to model as I would like. Still, I'm following everyone's great progress, and taking small forward steps on my projects as time allows.
For my builds, I decided to go with Steel Beach's covered AOA probes, HUD, and ejection seat set on the -A, and True Details' ACES ejections seats for the -D. I build my kits with the canopies closed and I don't spend a lot of time on the office or worry too much about the accuracy of the panels, but I thought these sets might add some visual detail to the cockpits.
The TD seats look great. The detail on them is pretty sweet. The moldings and details are crisp, and there wasn't any evidence of any bubbles in the casting at all. On the other hand, the SB set left a lot to be desired. The seat and the HUD were dimpled with bubble holes. The seat details were mushy, and the the resin was flaky in spots. The surfaces were rough and sloppy (for lack of a better term). All four pieces had to have the surfaces sanded smooth and the pin holes filled. The HUD was too tall to fit under the closed canopy, so I had to sand it a bit to fit, but I'm not complaining about that.
Anyway, here's what the seats look like so far. They TD seat still need the ejection handles and canopy breakers added. I'm waiting to add those until the last possible moment, to avoid breaking them off. All seats still need a flat coat, but otherwise they're pretty much done.
I had originally planned to have the -D's intake open, but after a pathetic attempt at eliminating the interior seams and gaps, I've decided to make an intake cover. I'm gonna experiment with some materials to see which looks best.
Anyway, I'll post more pix as soon as I make some more progress. Thanks for lookin'!
-O