I didn't realize that it has been more than a week since I posted last. Let's see if I can get you all caught up...
First, I've seen some great work over the past 10 days. stik, that A-7 looks great. I love the weathering! crown, I'm looking forward to seeing the A-37 all loaded up. Keep it coming! Tomcat, I can't wait to see how the B-57's camo looks when all the masking is pulled up. I dig the SEA-over-black scheme.
OK, so, last time I checked in it was after my minor decaling mishap. I debated leaving it but decided to fix it. I put it out in the FSM universe and the consensus was to correct the mistake. I was hesitant at first because I was happy with the paint and didn't want to have to sand and touch-up. Then I read keavdog's question about whether the decals were sealed, and it got me thinking. Usually, I gloss and seal with Future, which is not sandable. For whatever reason, this time I tried Tamiya's X-22, which IS sandable. So, I carefully sanded through the top "sealing" layer of gloss until I noticed that the underlying decals started to scuff. That told me I was through the protective layer and down to the decals. From there I took a piece of Scotch-type cellophane tape and laid it over the decal. With one pull the decal lifted off! Cleanly and in tact! (WOOHOO!) All I had to do was lay down a bit more gloss and reapply the decals. SUCCESS!
Unfortunately, I had a minor mishap during the process. I dropped the Skyhawk while I was sanding and damaged more slat struts. One broke off and one broke but remained attached. I was able to repair that damage fairly easily. You can't even tell they were damaged.
Anyway, after fixing the slats and decals, I started on weathering my Skyhawk. I wanted it to look used but not abused. I decided to go subtle with the weathering.
The grey on the topside looks a lot darker in the pictures than it really is.
I also started weathering the A-7. My airframe's based on A-7s stationed at China Lake in '67-'68. Because the A-7 was relatively new to the squadron during those early years, they were still pretty clean. My A-7 is no exception. Weathering was kept to a minimum.
While researching my loadouts for my A-7, I ran across a very interesting picture. Originally, I was going to build a deployed A-7 with a war load, but when I saw the green sash of VX-5 I changed my mind. The problem was I wanted to show off what the A-7 could sling under its wings. A lot of China Lake pictures show A-7 carrying a load that didn't really demonstrate its potential. Then I saw this picture. It's not a VX-5 A-7, but it is a test A-7. When I saw it, I knew that was the load I wanted for my Corsair.
I went a little heavier on the pylon's weathering for a couple of reasons. One, in some of the pictures I've seen, the pylons are dirtier than the rest of the airframe. Two, in those same pictures, you can see panel lines, rivets, and other details. Three, the kit's pylons have a lot of nice detail and I wanted to highlight it.
I also got the Skyhawk's ordnance assembled.
Now that all the things-under-the-wings are done, the last thing I need to focus on before final assembly is landing gear. I'm goint to get those assemblies done so that I can start finalizing these builds.
Again, comments, questions, criticisms are welcome. Feel free to drop your two-cents in the bucket.
Thanks for looking!
-O