Sweet build!

Glenn

Paint looks good.  

Did you clear coat after decaling & before weathering?

Plenty good there to get a dio going.

Flaps up and stabs level, with closed up bays, you could show it as an Alert-15 bird with an APU truck , show a Pilot swap-out; some Grapes topping the tanks off; some redshirts checking RBF pins on the AIM-120s

Or, the Plane Captain bringing tie-down chains, couple more t-shirts bringing FOD covers, a couple dudes with handfuls of RBFs to place.

Yeah I  clear-coated, but I tried an enamel wash.  Won't do that again.  Probably just stick with airbrushing all the weathering.  

Working on the figures and other diorama miscelaneous right now.  I like your suggestions for the ground crew.  Thanks

Dougrey,

Looks pretty good to me!  What did you use for your clear coat?  Perhaps another layer or two or more time to cure?  I've been using futue and brush on 2-3 thin coats before I do any weathering and give it 24-36 hours to cure since I don't ge to the bench every night. 

Steve

Used Model Master Gloss Coat first after I did the decals.  Then TRIED (lol) the weathering.  Won't use that particular technique again.  Then did a flat coat for the end.  Kinda fond of a flat looking coat on the Navy aircraft.  Never seen them look very glossy, especially the helo's that were on my ship when I was in the Navy.  

BTW...I can't find Future ANYWHERE!!!  LOL!  Wanted to get some for the canopies, but still searching.  

Looks better than any weathering I could do.  When I do use a pin wash, I use acrylics, thinned with water.  They won't hurt the underlying paint then, and if you don't let them sit too long, they'll wipe off with a damp q-tip or cotton ball.

Nice work!  You'll do well, Grasshopper!

Thanks Checkmateking02.  Yes, next time definitely going with an acrylic wash.  Or just do it with airbrush.  

Overall a nice effort. My critique points are:

1) seams- you have some pronounced ones on the undersufaces, the LEXs and the centerline fuel tanks

2)one the wash- enamels in my experience are superior, they give you more time to apply and clean up. Acrylics dry too rapidly and are not too forgiving if you do not clean them off quickly. One suggestion with enamel washes, especially pin washes for panel lines, moisten the whole area with thinner beforehand, this helps the wash flow, and will lessen if not eliminate the "tide marks" that can be seen where washes pool before clean up.

3) mold line seams on parts, check out the ones on the bottom of the pylons- those are best removed after cutting the part off of the sprue.

Keep at it your efforts will improve. Try different methods and see what works for you.

Looks good!  As a weathering technique, I once filled a bathroom sink basin with a very dilute black acylic and water solution, and submerged the whole airplane in it, took it out and set in on a paper towel to air dry.

DON'T DO THAT!  There is no such thing as a quick weathering job!  But I thought it was a creative idea, anyway.....

Stikpusher, I tried an enamel wash, but the problem I had was this.  When I tried to wipe it off, it took some of the gray paint off.  Any suggestions?  How do you take care of some of the paint that goes out of the depressed areas?  Capillary action worked good, but had a lot of overflow, if you know what I am trying to describe.  

Also, what is the best way to cover up the seams, especially if they are 2 parts that glue together?  The pylons and the fuel tank were 2 pieces, so I got those nasty seamlines.  

Thanks for the feedback...I really appreciate it.  I know I got a lot to re-learn, but it's good to see I still have some of the old skills lingering around.  LOL!

Use dissimilar stuff in washes. I read that you cant find any Future so that makes it a bit more difficult. But if youre gonna do an enamel wash, have an acrylic coat under that. Otherwise you do risk having the thinner pull up the base coat. I know what you mean about overflow and capillary action. If I run into that,I will load up less wash on the brush to reduce it (I dont think we can quite remove that completely). And then clean up as much as I can afterwards using a brush moistened in clean thinner. As far as filling seams- pick your favorite filler, putty, gel super glue, etc, apply it in the gap and sand them away. Repeat as needed.

Thats far from crap, it's a nice looking build. Stik is right, the wask needs to be different to the surface you have beneath. Enamel washe's use what we call white spirits, can't remember what you guys acll them, which damage enamel paints.

For aircraft i use pro modeller weathering wash. You could also try chalk pastels.

Well, I am looking forward to doing some WWII builds soon.  Wanna do my fav plane in the world, the B-17.  

Thanks for the feedback guys.  I know I got a lot of improvement to do and the advice/tips are much appreciated.

Duogrey, Very nice build!  Weathering looks good.  I too have recently gotten back into the hobby after a long time.  The only weathering I've tried so far is the old drawing pencil sanded on a piece of sand paper and dry brushed on, so you are doing a great job!  SEAMS!!!!!    Like Stik said, sand and repeat!  My hard thing with seams is I get too aggressive and usually sand away all the detail around the seam area! .  But I'm teachable!  Great build man, can't wait to see what you do with it diorama wise!

Eagle90

Duogrey, she looks just fine. I wish that I could do as good!  Which F-18 kit is it?

It's a Revell F-18E Super Hornet kit.  

Looks pretty good to me, I do see a few of the seams pointed out but otherwise nice work!

I prefer Testor's Model Master Acrylic gloss over Future, there are a bunch of other brands. Krylon spray gloss and flat work pretty well too. A wash is easier to take off the excess if applied over gloss. I've been using Flory brand wash on several recent models and had good luck with it. I got mine from Sprue Brothers but lots of people seem to stock it. 

Wal-Mart sells Future Floor Wax, or Floor Shine, or whatever it's called now. I couldn't find any, either, then decide to Google "Where to find Future Floor Wax" and Wal-Mart came up immediately. I am now looking at my bottle of it, and it's called "Pledge Floor Care Wood Floor Finish, with Future Shine". Hopefully, the Wal-Mart in your area has it in stock.

The Hornet looks good. That windscreen must've given you a heck of a fight. I noticed it had a few small gaps where it mates to the nose. On your next attempt, try masking the windscreen and canopy, then apply some filler where the gaps are; use a Q-Tip moistened with alcohol to get the filler kinda smooth and level; then, carefully sand flush once the filler is completely dry.

Gary

I remember, while stationed in a VAP squadron,  how much we dreaded the call for all E-2 and E-3s to report to the hanger for plane wash downs. You have any idea how much surface area there is on an A-3 Skywarrior? In addition to washing   it down we then had the pleasure wax the entire aircraft. It was a real incentive to make E-4 as fast as possible lol

Ah yes... the proverbial *** duties of E-3 and below.  I, too, was thankful when I made E-4.  

And, yes, I need to get some modeling putty for those dreaded gaps.  As far as Future goes, I just may order in from Amazon or something because NOBODY has it around here in Illinois...

I could not see if you had stated how long you let your top-coat cure (maybe I missed that).  Every time I have had problems, it has been because my topcoat was not fully cured.  I now let them go a minimum of 48 hours, and usually 72 hours, and I am in a pretty dry climate, in Utah.  More humidity of course means even longer cure times.  

Isn't  using an airbrush a blast?

I think it was only a day or 2... so, yeah, probably should have let it cure longer.  And...HELL YEAH!!!  I love using the airbrush.  I wonder what would have happened if I had one in my younger days when I was building?  I might actually have some skill...lol!