GH, that's a great way to display your model. Give it to the vets and let them enjoy and tell old tales while admiring your work. Awesome!!

BK

Thanks PJ, yeah, a little big.  Right at 24 inches long with a 15 - 16 inch wingspan.  I am going to but it on a base with a plexi cover.  Hoping the local Vererans home here in town will take her, thay have showm great interest in having some of the builds for permanent display as I get them done.

Looking good GH. That model is a beast at 1/32 so hope you have the display space. The previous builds I have seen show some really amazing detailing by Tamiya so this one will be a real looker.

Have not done much with her in the past week or so, due to work and getting up and running on the sub GB.  Did get the wheel well sides in, and wheel wells painted, along with the undersdes of the upper wings.  Going to do some detail painting in them before nailing down the uppers.  Easier access from both sides.  Ran into another  thing, Tamiya doesn't include a c/l tank in the kit.  Was assembling some of the subassemblies like the tanks, pylons, missles. etc., and finally noticed it.  Looks like I might have to order out the gun pod to hang there so she has something under her skirt.

Closer shot of wheel well detail.  Now painted flat white.

Pic of the typical beloved "D" nose, as mentioned back up aways.

Matt, very cool. I am looking forward to that one and I've updated the roster.

BK

Oh Matt, she's gonna be cool! 

blkhwkmatt

Well, as mentioned here are the three kits that I can choose from for this build. 

The Tamiya F-16C/N Agressor, will be marked as on the box art.

Kinetic F-16D blk52

or the

Skunkworks F-16XL

Which one would you choose if you had to.  If only I had the time to build all three...

<Matt

 

After consideration, and valuable input from you all here, I will be going with the F-16XL.  Not sure of the scheme yet, there is a "what-if" scheme included in the box so I might go with that one.

Will post more when I have some progress to share.

Thanks,

<Matt

Cliff, PJ, BrandonK,

Thank you all for the kind comments. I'll be out of town this weekend, but, I hope to have this Predator complete next week.

Bruce the little details like that spring make all the difference on the final model. I can tell by work like that, that it will be stunning.

BK

BK, hammer, bruce, gamera

Thanks for your comments on the FOD covers. They are actually very easy to make using junk plastic cards from the mail. Only cost me a few minutes of my time and Tenax to weld them up. I saved at least $12 on each set by doing them myself.

Bruce

That is some slick detailing with the wire to make the spring. Looks great.

PJ: She's really coming along, those FOD inserts look as good or better than the aftermarket parts!

Bruce: That spring looks way better than the molded part! 

@PJ,

That FOD looks amazing, I love the extra details you are bringing to these builds! Great job!

@GH,

Looking forward to see those pictures! 

OK, quick update.

The front landing gear on the Predator has a coil over shock. Reminds me of the motorcycle shocks I've used in the past on my race bikes. Anyway, on the OOB front landing gear it looks to "plastic" to me.

So I decided to cut it out and make my own front shock. First I made a spring around a drill bit in a pin vice. Then used .050 round stock for the piston. Sorry, the camera focused on the round stock instead of the spring.

Once cut to size I put the new shock in place to make sure it fit.

After the fit was verified, I pulled the shock and painted the gear MM flat black. Here is what is look like back in place in the gear.

I think it turned out pretty well, granted I do have some weathering to do on the gear. 

Comments and critiques are welcome. Thanks for looking!

PJ, agree completely, very nice job od the intake covers.

Got the wing/fuselage bottom on today, along with the underside around the tailhook, the radome and the front cooling intakes.  Got the front and back sides of the main wheel well installed in thelower wing, along with the fold hinges.

Will post up some pics after fill and sand.   Now starting to look more like an old donkey d*** "D"

Got an answer back off the Phantom Society forum on the mirrors.  Not real clearcut, but referrenced a couple more  pics without.  Going to go without as I like the cleaner look.  Have also decided to have the canopies open as she will be in a plexi case and dust won't be an issue.

PJ, that is really nice work on the FOD covers. They look like twice the price of the kit for sure. I may try one of these Monogram F4's and these tid bits will certainly aid me in my attempts. Thanks for sharing this great build.

BK

Gamera, BK, Bish and Bruce

Thanks guys for following the build. 

BD

Off to a good start. I love the lines of the Mirage, it looks fast just sitting there.

Bruce

That is one different looking aircraft. It's ready for markings and the finish line.

I did more work on both Phantoms. The intake detail is really poor so you can either work on the area and make it presentable or take a shortcut and add some FOD covers. However, I refuse to pay twice as much for an FOD set than what I paid for one Phantom kit! So I scratched out a set for each using plastic card and strip.

I traced the intake outline on the plastic card and carefully cut and trimmed it

Using some reference pictures, I used some strips to add detail

and bingo, FOD covers ready to be further trimmed and painted

The Navy Style refueling door was scribed. I used some Dymo tape to keep things straight. I forgot about the door and glued on the side plates first but will remember next time to glue them after scribing the door.

Fuel door scribed

Another area that needs attention is the elevator fit. They have a shoulder that leaves a nasty gap when attached to the fuselage. I carefully removed the shoulder as seen on the left part, giving a tighter fit.

Lots more to come....

BD, I always liked the looks of the Mirage and I'm glad you're here showing us yours.

Bruce, that Preditor is looking very convincing and the decals will put it over the top. Great addition to the build.

BK

Hey, BD nice start on your model and Bruce on finishing up yours 

BrandonD,

Nice start to the Mirage III. I've always liked the look of this aircraft. Looking forward to seeing more.

Ok, quick update on the Predator. I lightly toned down the shading, then painted the landing gear wells flat black.

Then sprayed the gloss coat

Next will be decals and a pin wash over the panel lines. I still have to paint the landing gear and weapons. Not much left. 

Hi all, great work in here so far. I'm not usually into modern stuff, but this one got me interested, and I got to start on my 1/48 Eduard Mirage IIIC.

It's a weekend edition kit, and I don't really care for either scheme (desert camo or natural metal) so I may use the natural metal markings and modify them to the blue scheme they switched to in the 1970s.

Anyway, I got to work on the nose wheel well and cockpit, and this is where I am. I bought an aftermarket (can't remember which brand) bang seat, and am just so far avoiding adding the harness to it because I don't want to bother yet.

Early stages so far, and some chipping will find its way into the cockpit, and I think I'll do this one closed, since there's not much going on inside it.

-BD-

Some stunning work there PJ.

PJ,

The extra details really livens up the office very nicely! Bravo! I'm looking forward to more progress!

PJ, I'm loving all that extra detail you're adding. I really like the added benefits of the bits  you are telling us about AF vs Navy versions. Priceless info.

BK

That's some nice work PJ, really like the scratchbuilt cockpit sides there. And I had no idea about the diamond panels not being there on the Navy Phantoms, good job on removing them. 

Steve, an F-8 sounds cool, another aircraft I've never built, I'd love to see you build one. 

Thanks Steve and by all means do start the Crusader. 

Those look great PJ.  You are really adding some love to those lead sleds. These are going to look great and your inspiring me to start my F-8.

Thanks guys and now for another update.

Got the back IPs wired up

I also scratched out the rear pit right sides which is covered up with no instruments. I used thin plastic sheet to make the cover and then scribed the pattern. Some are just plain but I scribed mine out.

Panels were scribed and some plastic parts added for interest

The completed panels, painted and washed

I also deleted the USAF refueling door on the spine

Also deleted the diamond plates on the elevators, Navy Phantoms did not have these, only USAF ones. The corrected one is on the right.

The wired rear IP looks a little better than left plain and naked

Both models with the wings attached and time to let them cure.

The darker Monogram Phantom had a slightly better fit that the lighter one. The darker one has no filler while the lighter one needed minor application of PPP in a couple of areas. I guess that as the molds wear down the gaps get larger. 

PJ, 

Nice start on the phantoms! The Navy and Marine phantoms are my favorites. 

I'm with you on that BK...Phantoms and Starfighters are my favourite jets of all time.

Cool beans PJ. I will most certainly welcome more F4's. One of the coolest jets ever made. IMO.

BK

Hey Rob

I have a bunch of the old Monograms like the Century Series ones that are fantastic. Some of the 1/72 ones are small brothers of the 1/48 ones like the F-4s and the F-105s having great detail packed into a smaller scale. Thanks for looking.