Meng 1/48 F-18E Super Hornet

21/10/202226/10/2022 / Bruces Scale Models / Leave a comment

Added to stash 2022
Built: 2022
Enhancements:
Seat– Brassin
Wheels-Reskit
Nozzles- SteelBeach
Pylons: Phase hangar resin.
Wingtip launchers: Flying Leathernecks
Decals: Afterburner Pacific Coast CAG Superbugs

Construction Notes

I need to stop writing these so long after I have finished the model, as its sometimes hard to remember stuff encountered during the construction!

That aside, I found Meng’s kit to be a painless build, construction wise. There were some pesky seams under the LEX that took a while to remove, and there are some spurious panel lines on the rear fuselage sides that need filling. Overall though I would rate it as a well fitting kit that is quite enjoyable to build.

As with any kit, multiple dry runs and careful preparation of the parts to ensure all mating surfaces are clean will reward you with far less problems than the modeller that does not take these steps.

The gun muzzle and fins can be painted separately and then added during final assembly, so good is their fit.

It easily eclipses Hasegawa’s ageing kit (as it should)

However, should you only have the Hobby Boss kit in your stash, I certainly wouldn’t be rushing out and replacing it with the Meng kit. Comparing notes with my mate, there doesn’t seem to be a lot between the two, perhaps a slightly better fit with the Meng kit-maybe!

Calum’s build here

My plan was to model a clean jet, as this is what most photos of this jet showed, clean as in both condition, and having no stores save a centreline fuel tank fitted. The phase hangar 3d printed pylons were therefore purchased in order to show detailed undersides with all holes slots etc hollowed out unlike the kit pylons that just have no detail on the undersides.

Likewise the resin Flying Leatherneck wingtip launchers. Whilst the kit wingtip launchers actually weren’t bad, if modelled bare, they displayed a nasty centreline seam which would have been difficult to fill.

Initial construction of the model proceeded fairly quickly although progress was held up whilst waiting for the resin to arrive from the United States. Thinking back on the build, no real problems were encountered. As my intention was to fit FOD guards, I left out the intake trunking and compressor fans. The intake FOD Guards are made from Apoxie-Sculp formed over the intake, then left to harden. The afterburner sheet included decals for the FOD guards so it would have been a crime not to use them.

I faffed around endlessly and to no avail trying to come up with home made covers for the nozzles, epoxy putty, glue dampened tissue being two materials that were tried and quickly removed as my efforts looked rubbish. In the end I found Steel Beach resin had done the work for me by releasing a set of covered nozzles for the hasegawa kit. Long OOP, I managed to find a set from a German retailer, even better, they fitted the Meng kit.

Halfway through the build, my wife and I put our house on the market, which resulted in me packing the modelling bench up to project the house in the best way during inspections.

We sold the house, but this then had the effect of me putting a clock on my modelling projects, in an effort to get them done before starting to pack the bench up in November. Experience has shown me that half finished projects that get packed away for house moves never get finished upon unpacking at the new house.

Subsequently. the Super Hornet was finished in a bit of a rush, with not the greatest attention paid to final assembly, or even the weathering really. Just a few token stains appearing on the wings.

The one store it carries, the target seeking pod, has just been tacked on as an afterthought with no decals or weathering. This was a deliberate choice on my part. When the new bench is set up, the ordnance will again be getting the attention it deserves

A mix of gunze and SMS paints were used for the USN greys, they ended up being mixed as I thought the SMS FS36320 was way too light as was their version of FS36375., but thats just my opinion. Some tonal shifts and fading being achieved by post shading on various shades of grey before a final blend coat.

The Afterburner decals performed flawlessly. I chse to paint the yellow trim and squadron codes on the fins using masks cut from scanning the decal sheet into my silhouette cutter. Im slowly getting better at using the software. The yellow border to the black spine was also masked and painted rather than using the decals. Long thin decals and I don’t get on a lot of the time.

The Meng decals, however were a big let down. Only the stencils were used, instead of being legible, they were just formed from random lines and are also the wrong colour being black instead of the contrasting grey. That said, they did perform alright and responded well to micro’s setting solution where used. Most of them were applied to little pools of future as I find this the best method for applying stencils and avoiding silvering.

Yes, I should have just used the afterburner stencils, but wanted to save these for a future Meng F-18F thats in the stash, in fact somehow the stash has ended up with THREE Meng Fs. Im not sure how this happened!

So thats it, my Meng Super Hornet. It was originally started for a FB group build, but it overrun the deadline. Whilst I enjoyed the build, I find modern jets can get a bit draining around the 80% mark, all those pylons, stores, undercarriage componets and aerials make them a fussy build. At least one of those two seaters will get done though, either as a USN jet or a R.A.AF jet

Boeing F-18E Super Hornet. VFA27 Royal Maces. U.S. Navy

USS George Washington 2010.

Please excuse the photography. I was having all sorts of issues getting my speedlights to slave to the camera.

Hobby Boss 1/48 F-105G Thunderchief

18/10/202108/09/2022 / Bruces Scale Models / 2 Comments

Added to stash: 2017
Finished: 2021
Enhancements
Cockpit Panels: Quinta 3D decals
Seats: Legend
Gun Barrels: Master Barrels
Pitot Tube: Master Barrels
Wheels: Reskit External details: Eduard Exterior set. Quickboost vents Navigation Lights: Quickboost Decals: Caracal Boarding Ladders: LF Models

This is not the first time the HobbyBoss Thunderchief has formed part of my stash. It first joined the stash soon after its release, only to be sold off in the Great Stash Slash of 2013. However, its funny the effect of looking at the real aeroplane can have on us as modellers.

What had previously been so many disparate grey parts in a box took on form and large menacing grace when I stood next to several real Thunderchiefs whilst on an Aviation Odyssey to the USA,

I knew I had to build one upon my return home. My mate had a similar feeling upon looking at the F-101B Voodoo, a jet he had previously had no love for either.

Consequently the HB two seat Thud rejoined my ever growing stash, and this year was picked out by a mate for my 2021 build schedule. I should add here, for a kit to only spend 3 years in my stash between being purchased and then built is well above the average!

As with all my builds, I started out watching related youtube videos and pulling all the reference material I had in my library. Republic’s Thunderchief had a very tumultuous start, during which the project was almost cancelled. Republic refined the original design markedly and the Thud went on to deliver sterling service during the Vietnam War before being withdrawn due to crippling losses. This was due to the jet performing a role it was never designed for. All this research helps with motivation for the build.

HobbyBoss’ Thud is one of their earlier releases, I believe it’s scaled down from their 32 scale kit, hence the breakdown is far more complicated than it probably needs to be with an engine, open gun bay and even parts for the nose mounted radar. That said, I do like the display options these details offer the builder.

Ive made a conscious effort lately to plan how I want my finished builds to look. This helps me with purchasing aftermarket parts that may be needed, and on the flip side, deciding what assembly steps and parts can be skipped due to closed panels etc. I’m finding planning like this leads to saved time on the build.
With this jet, the canopies and gun bay would be opened to show those details of the jet. The drag chute door behind the fin and the lower speed brake would also be shown open as seen in many period photos.
It would also be tooled up with a typical Wild Weasel asymmetrical load out that would have been carried during the Vietnam war. Naturally, it would need to wear the WW tail codes for Wild Weasel.

I was surprised to find I had amassed quite a bit pf AM for the Thud!

aftermarket

Construction Notes
I started by making up complete fuselage halves by assembling each fuselage rear to the front half. Doing it this way ensures a neat gap free join. Plastic strip was glued to the rebate where the engine bulkhead would normally be glued to provide more glueing area.

Cockpit
HobbyBoss really mucked up here. The kit cockpit side consoles are way too narrow and do not reach the fuselage walls. You will need to add plastic sheet to widen them. What on earth were you thinking HB?

The Thunderchief has a wide very visible cockpit that rewards extra detailing. I chose to use one of the new Quinta cockpit sets specifically for this kit. Well, colour me impressed! This was the first time I had used these sets. The Thud one fit perfectly, correcting the too narrow kit consoles. They are easy tao apply once all the moulded detail had been sanded off the panels and look far more realistic than just flat PE panels. Printed on white vinyl, you may have to touch in the odd visible white edge, but this is nothing hard. the dials are already gloss coated, although I would probably hit the panel with a matt to dull Quinta’s semi gloss finish. These will be my go-to panels for all aircraft that feature highly visible cockpits in future.

Construction Continues
For such a complicated looking kit, it went together surprisingly quickly. The separate spoilers were individually added to the top wing before the halves were glued together. Doing it this way ensures you get the best possible flush fit as it allows access to both sides of the wing, which you wouldn’t be able to do if you added the spoilers to the assembled wing halves. I had the Quickboost navigation lights to hand so also added these. Strange decision by Quickboost to mould the complete wing tip in red and green plastic when the actual light is quite small. I can only assume they did it this way so the light is correctly faired in. Be careful to avoid a step though. I also added the completed wings to each fuselage half to better ensure a gap free join. Hobby boss’ kit has the wing strengthening plates moulded on. I could not glean a date though when these were added to the real jet, just that the constant tempo of operations in SVN had lead to fatigue issues, hence the reason they were added. Anyway, I was not going to risk destroying detail by sanding them off. The Gs were late airframes anyway so hopefully they had them fitted.

Eduard PE fascias were added to the gun bay and the plastic vulcan barrels replaced by the incredible brass turned Master Barrels ones, You will go crosseyed trying to assemble them. The Eduard gun bay door with its open gas vents is a massive improvement on the kit part. Should you be building your Thud with the gun bay open, I’d suggest the Eduard set is a must.

Painting and Decorating
Aeromasks are a manufacturer unknown to me. I stumbled across them browsing facebook. They offer a very comprehensive range of camouflage mask sets in all scales. Seeing they offered a set for the Thud, I promptly ordered one thinking it would really ease painting the S.E.A scheme.

The sets arrived pretty quickly from America and are indeed fairly comprehensive, even providing masks to paint the demarcation lines on the fuel tanks. Clear instructions leave you in no doubt how to position the masks and in what order to paint the scheme. You are well advised to follow these as the painting order is designed to ease the masking process, not necessarily the painting. Therefore you start with the medium green not the tan as you would imagine.
Being the masks are not designed to fit specific kits, you may find some trimming necessary in order to fit the kit you are using.

The masks were placed on little blobs of white tac so as to leave a soft edge. This was only marginally successful so I ended up tracing around most colours with the airbrush freehand to soften edges.
Overall, I was happy with the masks and the intricate pattern using them provided, which seemed to match photos. A lot of the jets had their camo field applied as they entered the theatre still in their silver schemes, so there would have been some minor differences from airframe to airframe.

The bloke who runs Aeromask used to paint real Thunderchiefs at Hill AFB, so has access to all the official paint schemes.
My intention was to portray a battered and faded jet, but again looking at photos revealed not a lot of faded paint on the Wild Weasles, so the faded look was held back apart from the upper surfaces.
The Caracal decals performed flawlessly as always. Prior to decalling, an oil wash was applied straight over the lacquer paint. This was then sealed with a gloss coat ready for decalling.

Thunderchief_initial paint Thunderchief_initial paint stb side Thunderchief_initial paint-2

Once decalled a further gloss coat was applied to seal the decals before stains and leaks were added with more oils. The model was then flat coated before proceeding to final assembly. This is now my preferred work flow.

Final assembly reveals the achilles heal of the HB kit. That being the very spindly weak undercarriage legs, upon which the completed model wobbles alarmingly. Against my better judgement white metal legs were purchased, and ultimately discarded, because they were….well….crap plus the main reason the kit legs are spindly is the insubstantial socket HB have moulded for them to sit into. The metal legs weren’t going to fix this, nor could I glue in more substantial sockets. The Thud continues to wobble on its legs.

upongear_Thud_21-03_04

Weapons were sourced from a hasegawa weapons set. There was a difference in size between the kit missiles and the hasegawa ones . My faith went into the Japanese manufacturers product.
A final lack of detail that was not discovered until I went to fit the canopy was that HB had made absolutely no allowances for the modeller to pose them open. Thus actuators had to be scratch built. This was achieved with brass wire and rod
The brass pitot tube was push fit into the hole in the nose cone and this mighty Vietnam warrior was finished.

Final Thoughts
The Thunderchief makes for an imposing model in the cabinet. Its a decent size in 48 scale, and stands out amongst all those grey jets in its multi hued warpaint. The lovely LF Models ladders provide a nice splash of colour and draw your eye to the cockpits
I think the Thud is one of my best efforts yet. the trouble free construction being a bonus I had not expected when first perusing the instructions and parts. An enjoyable build, although one will do me.

Republic F-105G-1-RE Thunderchief U.S.A.F 561st TFS Korat Thailand 1972

Kinetic 1/48 E-2C Hawkeye 2000

18/10/202110/10/2022 / Bruces Scale Models / Leave a comment

Purchased: 2018
Completed:2021
Enhancements:
Wheels Royale Resin
Decals: Authentic Decals

The hawkeye was quite a bold release for the then relatively new Kinetic. Although I have never seen a built example grace the competition tables here in Australia, there are quite a few builds featured on line. Perhaps a better indicator of what people are building. In any case, I hope Kinetics courage in releasing it has been rewarded by good sales.
Being one of Kinetics earlier kits, there are a few sink marks evident on wings, the crew door and the rotordome pylons, easily fixed, as they are quite shallow.
Panel lines are somewhat heavy and ejector pins mar the wheelwells. Options out of the kit allow the modeller to fold the wings, drop the flaps or model the crew door open
Interior detail is fine for what can be seen and full intake trunking is included for the engine intakes. Upon its release, the kit seems to have met with good reviews, some commentators remarking that the 4 bladed propellers would need some minor reshaping to better reflect the full sized blades. All reviewers experienced a nasty step between the upper nacelle and the wing interface. otherwise the kit was found to be well fitting

Kinetic followed up their original boxing with this later boxing that includes parts for upgraded satellite antenna fits, engine cowlings with stiffeners and the 8 bladed propellers. The four bladed props are still included. Both boxing s are let down by the very plain markings offered. Surprising, given the schemes this aircraft has worn and the fact the decals were designed by Fightertown. Italeri have also reboxed the kit with a far more colourful aircraft sporting markings from “Liberty Belles”

Build Notes

Assembly

2020 was to be the year I built anything from my stash that saw service with the United States Navy. It didn’t work out too well!. Pandemic aside, the start of 2020 turned out to be a modelling disaster that saw about 4 kits started and promptly consigned to the bin before finally managing to complete one. The Hawkeye was the fifth kit started and was shaping up well, until I discovered the canopy had been short shot. Kinetic though were very receptive when I requested a replacement, although the part did not reach me until quite some months later due to global airmail almost shutting down.

I had decided early on to build the model with wings extended as to me, wings that fold along the fuselage hide too much of the aircraft. In the Hawkeys case it would also take away from the greyhound look of the aircraft. Kinetic offer decent spars that go some way towards ensuring the spread wings form a solid join and align with the fixed centre section. Fit is good, but not exceptional. I was left with gaps top and bottom that needed filling and rescribing. Greater care and some fettling on my part would have probably reduced these, as dry fits without the spars revealed tight joints
Sink marks across the wing top surface were dealt with by application of Mr Surfacer 500. Rather than slather on putty, the nacelle step was dealt with by careful sanding of the nacelle mating surfaces where they met the wing undersides, taking care to maintain the contours. Serial dry fits were carried out until the step had been eliminated. The then very minor gaps were filled with Apoxie Sculpt, the excess being removed with a damp finger. The overscale static discharge wicks were cut off, to be replaced with toothbrush bristles. Being the lazy Modeller I am, the ejector pins in the wheelwells were ignored.

As a result of having to wait for the canopy, the kit was built up in sub–assemblies, being the wing, comprising the nacelles, the rotordome and supporting pylons, and finally the fuselage, being I did not want to contend with possibly having to fair a badly fitting canopy into a large and unwieldy model. I carried this method right through to painting and decalling. Dry fits had shown the wing to fuselage fit could be easily dealt with, when the time came, and this method would also allow unfettered access to the inside faces of the nacelles and the fuselage sides that would otherwise be underneath the wing.
Fuselage assembly was unremarkable, an average fitting belly panel required some use of Mr surfacer, and a large amount of lead sheeting was epoxied in behind the cockpit bulkhead with lead shot filling the gaps either side of the nose wheel well to ensure the aircraft sat on all three undercarriage legs. Fitting the clear nose cone left a step on one side. The low side of the step was built up with apoxie sculpt and sanded to shape.

Paint and decals

Whilst still in its sub assemblies, the model was painted using Mr Color light gull grey with the tail fins in SMS Insignia Blue. Black de icer boots were sprayed tamiya rubber black after some very time consuming masking. The portions of the flaps hidden by the wings and the flap wells got a coat of Mr Color Flat Red
Not a single chip of paint peeled up on the removal of the tape, unlike most of my Tornado builds. Looks like that old Alcad grey primer was the culprit!
The cockpit tinting was done using a 50:50 mix of tamiya Metallic brown and smoke, overcoated with several layers of future.
Unless you want to build the very boring kit option, aftermarket decal sheets are a must, even then options are few, with the decal manufacturers seeming to offer nothing post 2008. This machine has worn some very colourful markings which have not at all been mirrored by the very uninspired decal sheets out there, save for the Fightertown Liberty belles sheet.

I chose a decal sheet by the-to me- unknown manufacturer, Authentic Decals that included a scheme with a large hawk on the side, and ticked my boxes of having coloured fins and a artwork on the rotordome top surfaces
My concerns about the Authentic decals not performing or breaking apart in the water were unfounded. Turns out they are printed by Bergemot. (EDIT, It seems this sheet is also offered under the Bingo Decals brand, I’m not sure which came first, or if one is a knock off of the other, or printed with permission)
They performed flawlessly and reacted very well to the Micro decal solutions settling down into even the rivets with only two applications. This is more than I can say for the kit decals which had been printed by cartograf. They took multiple applications of setting solution before sinking into the detail, and only after resorting to using Daco strong solution. All walkway decals and fuselage national insignia were left off until the wing had been mated to the fuselage. However this then exposed the fact the Authentic Decals NAVY titles were far too big, when compared to photos of the real machine and how the NAVY titles sat in relation to the national markings. The kit NAVY titles were the correct size, but it was too late as even removing the oversize titles would still leave the ship and squadron designations in the wrong spot in relation to the NAVY titles. There was no choice but to just suck it up, and move on. I decided to do a clean build as photos I had of the real aircraft showed it very clean indeed, like fresh paint clean, plus I was getting to the stage where I wanted it off the bench

Final details were added and EZ line used for the antenna lines. Like all modern aircraft , the model was starting to get hard to pick up, the more you added to it. Royal Resin wheels replaced the rather bland, and in any case far too weighted kit wheels. All those pesky red lines on the wheelwell doors were applied with a fine tipped gundam marker, and she was done, ready to almost take up half a shelf in my cabinet.

SO! The two questions I ask myself after each build

HOW DID I GO?
Well, not bad. I think its an incremental improvement over my Tornado builds. I’m still marring my finish with stupid mistakes, which are only too apparent to the camera lens, damn you macro camera!!Thers some silly construction and finish mistakes as a result of just not taking my time but, overall, I’m pretty happy with it, and just love the look of the finished model. It just looks so busy with the aerial wires, the multi bladed props, deployed flaps and that large Hawk

WOULD I BUILD ANOTHER?
Not another Hawkeye, but if I found the Greyhound at a reasonable price, then possibly!
Thanks for looking in. See you after the next build
Bruce

Grumman E-2C Hawkeye 2000 VAW-117 Wallbangers United States Navy

U.S.S. Nimitz Pacific Ocean 2009

More Images here

Trumpeter 1/32 P-47D Thunderbolt

18/10/202119/10/2021 / Bruces Scale Models / 1 Comment

Built: 2019
Enhancements Used: Gunbays: Eduard PE. Wheels-Brassin. Seat Belts-HGW. Gun Barrels-Master Barrel

Decals: Combination of Ad Astra masks and Superscale Cowl checks

One of my New Year resolutions was to tackle some of the stalled builds taking up room in my cupboard.
Being as the Trumpeter Thunderbolt box was taking up the most room, it was summarily dragged down onto the Cutting Mat.
I’m not sure when or why work on this stalled, but a look in the box revealed all major sub assemblies completed, just needing their seams dressed and then bringing together to be ready for paint. A nice shortcut to getting Build No.2 done for the year.

I rate Trumpeter’s Razorback Thunderbolt as one of their nicer kits. Reasonably accurate, options to allow dropped flaps. open gunbays, open or closed canopy, and plenty of underwing stores options. It also goes together quite quickly if you don’t use all the unnecessary interior parts. such as the full ducting for the superchargers. Contrary to a lot of on line builds and reviews out there, the cockpit does not require the ducting to sit on, as it is will locate quite solidly into slots provided on each fuselage half. The wing spars slot through the openings provided for them as well without needing the ducting added. Leaving these parts out plus the engine accessory bay greatly simplifies the assembly of the model.

All I added behind the engine was the bulkhead and firewall to provide some rigidity to the fuselage. Its a big model, and you do not want seams popping open when it is picked up or otherwise handled. Assembly still throws out a few fit issues. Steps on the wing undersides when fitted to the fuselage, leading edge gun inserts and windscreen all required attention on mine. The attention taking the form of filler and plastic shims to even up gaps and steps. I have heard the gunbay panels can be an troublesome fit, but this would not concern me as I wanted mine open. If the details there, why not show it off, right?

The only frustration I found, in common with all Trumpeter’s radial engine kits is the poor fit of the engine parts. The parts certainly do not click together with the result it is quite easy to end up with an engine and propeller out of alignment as I found on my Hellcat build.
This is then compounded by Trumpeter also not engineering the cowling to be a strong positive fit to either the engine or airframe. At least in the thunderbolt, the engine is held solidly within the cowling by a frame.
I further reinforced the cowling airframe join by inserting two pieces of plastic tubing into the cooler ducts to provide a more positive fit

In regards to the chosen scheme, I have always thought the checkered cowling of the 78th FG would stand out in the cabinet, so looked for a suitable machine to model. I was quite taken by “Miss Behave” with her RAF colours of dark green upper surfaces, and sky undersurfaces. Invasion stripes, red rudder and the scalloped area under the canopy remaining NMF reinforced my choice.

With this scheme originally picked when the model was originally started, masks for all markings were ordered from a bloke in Canada that called himself Ad Astra masks. Now sadly no longer doing them as mask set was excellent to use. He based the masks on photos of the real aircraft and an aeromaster decal sheet.

This time, the deciasion was made to apply the insignia first, mask and then paint the camouflage. It was hoped doing this, the masks would be easier to align, and I would avoid that thin white ring of built up paint you can get if painting the markings last
What I learnt from this was the US star and bar markings must be the most complex markings to paint, even more so than RAF type A1 roundels. There are just so many elements you need to ensure are aligned and straight. Anyway I got there in the end having to only touch up two stars Painted markings are the only way to go in 32 scale in my opinion. Even the “miss Behave” came out nicely, a true testament to the great job Ad Astra did cutting these masks. Then there was the cowling!
Well, I tried to mask that too using a montex mask set, but it was just an abject failure, so was my attempt at cutting little squares of Tamiya tape. Buggar it, I thought, this will be decalled, so I dragged out the Barracuda sheet, but I could not get this aligned either despite it being sized for the Trumpeter kit. It must be me as I imagine Roy would have been meticulous in designing the sheet.. Rapidly running out of options, I found an old Superscale sheet with checks on it for the old Revell kit. It fit surprisingly well, just needing a couple of black squares filled in with black paint around the cowl opening and underneath where the two halves met.

This just left the final assembly where I discovered I had lost a wingtip light and also one of the landing gear covers. Despite hunting high and low, no sign of them. I can only think I accidentally chucked the gear cover out as it was stuck to the big ball of Tamiya tape that was sitting on my desk. The jigsaw that are HGW belts were then assembled using wild guesswork as to how they all threaded together! HGW could really help here by providing step by step instructions rather than just a picture of the completed belts.

Searches of the various fora hasn’t revealed anyone else knowing how to assemble them either! The guns also provided a bit of frustration trying to get them all aligned and properly seated. I really need to either test fit these items and engineer proper fit, or assemble them way before I get to this stage. I had the same problems with the guns on my hellcat. To add the brass gun tubes, I simply drilled the holes in the leading edges out slightly and pushed them through into the breechs.
The 108 gallon drop tanks are from the kit with plumbing added from wire and steadying braces from plastic rod. If I was being strict to the 84FS’s missions I should have added bombs as after D-Day this squadron switched from long range escort duties to ground attack, but I wanted my aircraft to wear the tanks.

Adding the ammo bay doors, I also discovered I had the door upside down when I painted the star and bar portion on it. A modeller worried about perfection would have repainted the star. I just flipped the door upside down as the model had got to the stage where I just wanted it off the bench so I could move onto something new.
Does anyone else get like this?

The photo I had of Miss Behave showed no chipping or fading that I could make out, just that very extensive oil streak leading from the oil cooler doors, so this was added with black oil paint, and then the whole model dullcoated . I should probably go back and gloss the oil streaks at some stage.
It was then time to sit back and enjoy the model, happy that I had reduced by one the small amount of kits on the shelf of doom. (there’s still 6 on the SoD if you must know!)
Overall, not as good as I was hoping it would turn out, but it still looks imposing on the shelf and Im happy I have a 32 razorback in markings not usually seen. I just love that big checkered cowling. I really hope that we get a 1/32 P-47D from Tamiya at some stage.

Republic P-47D-22RE Thunderbolt 84FS 78thFG 8th A.F U.S.A.A.F Duxford England. 1944

Eduard 1/48 F-14A Tomcat

18/10/202110/10/2022 / Bruces Scale Models / Leave a comment

Date added to stash: 2016
Date Completed: 2018
Aftermarket used: some parts from Eduard Detail set
Paint: Mr Color Light Gull Grey
Decals: Furball Sundowner Anthology

I started this at the same time as lthe other Tomcat I was building for a friend. At the time, it seemed like a good way to build a kit from my stash as well. In hindsight, if I had not started this one, I would have sold it, because its position has been ably taken by the Tamiya kit, and building the two HobbyBoss kits was a real grind. Not that there was anything wrong with the kit, but it was just one HB Tomcat too many. (Although this boxing was done by Eduard, it is the HobbyBoss kit, so I will refer to the kit as HobbyBoss)
The previous article covers the build in detail, although I would add my take home lesson from building Tomcats is mask the intake camouflage demarcation before you add them to the jet I didnt on either build and it was a hell of a job to add them later!
I had high hopes for this build wanting to build it with all panels open. In the end the build just started annoying me as there ws other stuff I wanted to build and I chose to rush a lot of things. Im not really happy with it, but HB Tomcats are a long complicated, involved build as are many modern jets, so to do two in a year is not bad. I have three tamiya Tomcats in the stash and look forward to tackling those at a later date. Just not for a while, as Im all Tomcatted out.
I also think Miss Molly was the wrong jet to pick, as all those open panels do not allow you to see that nose art in its entirety. Live and Learn, hey.
And wheres that sensor gone from under Miss Molly’s hand on the starboard side? I definetly added it LOL
For those who don’t know, Miss Molly was named for Molly Snead, a nurse to Senator Carl Vinson, yep, the Senator the carrier is named after.
I visited the USS Carl Vinson at Fremantle Western Australia in 1994, so like to model aircraft from her.

Grumman F-14A Tomcat VF-111 “Sundowners” U.S Navy U.S.S Carl Vinson 1989

Hobby Boss 1/48 F-14A Tomcat

18/10/202110/10/2022 / Bruces Scale Models / Leave a comment

Date Completed: July2018
Aftermarket Used: Quickboost Pilots
Paint: Gunze Mr Color
Decals: Kit supplied for airframe, missile stripes from Fightertown Tomcat Data sheet

This build was borne out of a work colleague’s request for me to build the kit for him. As I also had the kit in my stash, I thought I would build the two of them alongside each other. As often happens with my double builds, this one sped ahead and was completed whilst mine sat on the bench falling further and further behind.
The Eduard boxing contains the Hobby Boss plastic, brassin resin burner cans,chin pod, wheels and a PE sheet specific to this kit with a large decal sheet done by Furball Aero Designs
The HB Tomcat is a nice kit, there a few accuracy issues, most noticeably, the bottom edges of the intake openings are not parallel to the top edges as they should be, but this is only noticeable from head on. Rivets punctuate the flying surfaces which should be smooth, but apart from that, its a detail packed kit, allowing you options to open the gun bay, avionics panel, display the radar and extend the wing control surfaces.

It assembles well and does not really deserve all the wailing and teeth gnashing it gets on the internet. I put it above the Hasegawa offering, but it has been pushed into the shade a bit with the release of the tamiya kit.

Jeff had requested his model be finished in Jolly Roger markings as if just about to launch, so I used the compressed nose leg, extended the wings and dropped the flaps and leading edge slats. Naturally, all the access hatches were glued in the closed position.

Of course this meant I also had to crew the jet, so used the aerobonus crew . Although Aerobonus should be applauded for the idea of releasing seated pilots, I really wish that they would include alternative helmeted heads with visors down and masks in place. As it is, their entire range of seated pilots have visors up and masks dangling which means they can not be used for in flight models, which I imagine is what most people want them for.

I sourced correctly helmeted heads, as well as a gloved hand that grips the throttle from an Academy Phantom. As the canopy would be closed on this particular jet, I didn’t bother using the PE consoles and panels, rather relying on the entirely adequate kit parts. The canvas coverings over the instrument panel glare shields were beefed up with milliput draped over the kit parts, and then painted a dark leather colour, which according to the DACO book, is the shade the original black covers fade to.
The HB kit includes the short lived glove vanes, (they were wired shut in A models, puttied over in B models and left out altogether in Ds, I believe) requiring you to open up flashed over slots in the wing gloves. Stupidly, I didn’t, thinking I could just scribe the vanes in later, This would have worked if I was halfway good at scribing, as it was, it just created more problems for me. My tip. Open up the slots and use the kit vanes as even shut, the openings are quite prominent on the real jet.

For some reason I had a gap when fitting the bottom plate, not sure why as dry fits had shown a good fit. Fitting the phoenix pallets hid most of it and a plastic card shim covered the rest. The forward fuselage fitted to the rear with no gaps or steps as did the tailfins. I had read about fit problems when glueing the gun bay and avionics panels in the closed position, but being patient and gluing a side at a time will reward you with reasonable fit, still, I needed a small smear of Mr Surfacer around the ladder door.

Apart from this, the kit assembled quickly. I left the brass burner rings out after successfully bending one up, only to then drop the pliers on it.
The WIP shots on the front page outline my painting steps in achieving a bit of tonal variation to the Light Gull Grey

Moving onto the decals, I didn’t apply any of the stencils. as photos of the actual jet showed very few. The decal instructions call out the red turbine warning stripes to be placed along the jet nacelles whereas they should go around them. That said, I forgot to add the stripes above the NAVY titles. I was disappointed the yellow border of the VF84 sash showed through the US star, I didn’t want to lay another start and bar over the top so left it as was. For the other side I cut away the yellow border where from where the star and bar would overlay it.

The Fightertown data sheet, whilst being quite comprehensive, does not include enough stripes for a full suite of phoenix, so I could only add the stripes which would remain the most visible, and with the stores fitted, the canopy was the only part left to fit. The fit to the windscreen is not to my liking as there is a step and small gap as you can see, but at the rest of causing cracks to the canopy from forcing it, I decided to leave this too as it was.
The Jolly Rogers scheme is most attractive and I can understand why a lot of modellers choose it to adorn their Tomcats

F-14A Tomcat VF-84 “Jolly Rogers” U.S.S Theodore Roosevelt U.S Navy 1989

Airfix 1/48 North American P-51D Mustang

18/10/202119/10/2021 / Bruces Scale Models / Leave a comment

Year Purchased: 2018
Date Completed: April 2018
Aftermarket Used: Eduard Brassin shrouded exhausts
Paint: Floquil Bright silver, Xtracolour Olive Drab, various vallejo and tamiya colours used for detail painting

Construction Notes: Im loving the new Airfix kits. This is the second Ive built after the walrus. From the excellent box art to the many options included in each kit, you can tell they are designed with the modeller in mind.
Airfix’s mustang was a very enjoyable build, with excellent engineering, detail and fit. That there will be other boxings is evident from the options in the kit for different windscreens, canopies and tail units. A Commonwealth boxing has already been announced. As good as the kit is, it is let down by a few parts, mainly the cross hatched wheels, where the tread just does not extend to the centre of the tyres. You will either have to source replacements, or scribe the tread in ( badly) as I did. Brassin make resin replacements, but inexplicably would have you drill out the hubs rather than use the same mounting as the kit uses. I would also recommend the Brassin M-10s as the kit ones are a little clunky.

The propeller has some sink marks on the blade tips, and the gun inserts aren’t the best fit. Other than these minor quibbles, the kit is a joy.
There is some rivet detail on the wings which you will need to fill should you so desire, but the wheel wells are moulded correctly with the straight rear spar. The kit cockpit looks busy enough assembled OOB and even comes with decals for placards. When choosing a scheme, I could not go past the striking 2ACG machine with its Black Lightning bolts on wings and fuselage, and it meant I could use those M-10 airborne bazooka tubes.
Rather than use the kit decals for the arrows I had a friend cut some masks for me. Other than the black arrows, the kit decals were used and performed flawlessly.

I used Floquil Bright silver for the finish, with grey and black preshading underneath to try and get a bit of tonal variety. This will bear further experimentation as in certain light, you can see a bit of variation in the silver finish.
I decided on impulse to build the kit for an upcoming themed competition, so feel I rushed it a little bit. Everything was going fine until I applied one of the Mig Panel line washes over what I thought would be an impervious base of Future but to my horror, as well as removing the excess wash with an old T shirt, I also removed paint in some areas. This then began the downward spiral of touchups which never match. Anyway, its done, but Im annoyed that this is another finish that was going nicely until this stuff up sent it down a different path. I can only surmise my coat of future was not thick enough. Another enjoyable build, although these days I would build the Eduard kit.

U.S.A.A.C P-51D Mustang 2nd Air Commando Group India 1945

Bronco 1/48 Curtiss Tomahawk 81-A2

18/10/2021 / Bruces Scale Models / Leave a comment

Built: 2016
Aftermarket Used: Nil
Decals: Kit

This was the second review I did for The Modelling News and I had high hopes for it. Unfortunately the kit was a bit of a chore, whether this was because I had just built a kittyhawk, or because of all the remedial work required, I found myself having to dig deep to finish the build.
Despite its inaccuracies, the kit has some nice features, although I can not recommend it given the Airfix kit is far superior. I imagine this will be relegated to the shadows, especially in the Western market.

Curtiss 81-A2 Hawk. American Volunteer Group. China. 1941

Eduard 1/48 N.A.A. F-86 Sabre

18/10/202118/10/2021 / Bruces Scale Models / Leave a comment

Built: 2016
Aftermarket Used: Multimedia kit OOB
Decals: kit

This is Hasegawa’s still very nice plastic rebooted by Eduard and supersized with some of their excellent resin and Photo etch.

This was built for a review for The Modelling News, and rather than go through the build again, I will just send you there via this link

I was quite happy with the finished model and it still resides in my cabinet.

North American Aviation F-86F Sabre 390th FBS, Alexandria AFB, Louisiana, USA, 1955

Special Hobby F2A-3 Buffalo

18/10/202118/10/2021 / Bruces Scale Models / Leave a comment

Date Completed: 2014
Aftermarket Used CMK Armament set,

Decals: Montex masks

Another double build in which was eventually a pretty productive year after a few false starts!
From memory these Buffalos were lovely kits to build, being fairly straightforward, even the CMK gun bays fitted without too much scraping and grinding
The completed models were painted with extra colour paints which were my preferred brand until export restrictions stopped them coming into the country. I still have several tins I am slowly using up on current projects.

For the USN one, I could not go past those oversized early war stars, which I found on a Montex mask set. This were the second set of markings I had masked after my dakota I found the process a little more difficult lining up all the elements and there was a fait bit of touching up to do. I cannot remember what colour I used for the USN blue grey, the underside grey was Extracolour with a dark wash from Flory Models. A small piece of brass mesh was inserted behind the oil cover opening. Looking at the model now, you can see I have rushed the weathering with none on the undersides or gun bays. Despite this, it still looks nice sitting in the cabinet with those big stars.