SPA Modeler

With six kits still sitting in the closet awaiting finishing I figured why not start another one?
The 1/32 Academy F-18C may be the kit that will get me to finish a jet of some sort, I haven't finished one since I did that HK Gloster Meteor. That was a couple of years back.

Any way, I started it out by doing the pit. It is a pretty simple affair with some faint details on the IP and side panels. The seat is the Wolfpack NACES.



I think I should do some different color on the belts for a bit of contrast.





I did have to sand down the lower sides so it would fit better in the tub.





With all of this going on, I did have some help. My little dude, Gibson. Here he is in attack mode.



I also got to the nose gear well. I mad a wash of Vallejo dark gray pigment and Hombrol decal fix. I learned this technique from an armor builder in the club. If you use the decal fix as a carrier for the pigment you can use a clear coat and not lose the effect.

This should be good...

But I would keep one eye peeled on that pointy eared fellow in the shadows at all times. He looks a little unpredictable.

Indeed, !

Gibson looks smart!

- Kari

Good start!

If ya need any detail shots (if ya can't find on the web)...I have a bunch of photo's plus a couple books...just holler(or shoot me a text).

Also, I'd recommend fiddling with the main gears as early as possible...they do not want to sit right. When I did this kit, I figured they'd just go right in...I ended up breaking other stuff, trying to mess with getting em to fit/sit right...failed. When I did the "D" kit, landing gears were the first thing I did. As soon as I had the basic fuselage together, I did all the test fitting and trimming needed to get em sit right.

Interesting technique with the decal thinner and pigments. I never heard of that one.

Thanks for the info Bro. Fermy. Until I get my new kit in this wont be going anywhere. Trying to get some warp out of the wings I managed to really melt one purdy good. So I bought another C and will cast aset of wings out of resin or have some one I know to do it.

Borg, If you use the Decal fix then it wont affect the paint, no mater what type of paint you use. If you want a darker wash just use more pigment. If you have too much wash just dampen a brush with the decal fix and clean it up some. Just do it before you clear coat it.

I'll have to grab some of that Humbrol decal fix at the LHS this weekend and try it out... I have an idea...

Stikpusher wrote:I'll have to grab some of that Humbrol decal fix at the LHS this weekend and try it out... I have an idea...

Go for it Carlos, it works nicely on decals too, just follow the video on YT

Roger that...

I started this a couple of weeks ago and while I was going strong I goofed up a wing panel with a hair dryer... :facepalm Yeah, I know. So I searched on how to get another wing panel but MPC didn't have any replacement and I couldn't come up with anything other than getting another kit. After the new kit arrived I found that guy on Ebay that sells kits by the sprue and he just so happened to have the correct sprue that I required.

Ok so now I wait for the sprue to arrive this week but I went head on and grabbed the part from one kit to finish the other. Here is the result.

I did manage to get the pit and fuselage together but I think I need to have the Eduard interior for it. The other kit already had that started when I got it.







I think that this is one of my worst pits ever, Oh well, what's done is done.

This is a pretty big bug and it does assemble well. I cant wait to finish it except all the odd stencils.



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