JSI Tomcat - Super Detailing???

[A-10LOADER]

Thanks for the very kind words guys, much appreciated. Work continues on the leading edges of the wings. There are 7 access panels on each of them which are not quite correct plus, the lack of rivet detail. This detail is very noticeable when you look at the jets leading edges and at this scale, they need to be added. I'm hoping to have something worth sharing soon.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings all,
Today's update is about fixing / adding detail to the leading edges of the Tomcat's wings. There are seven access panels on each of the leading edges of the Cats wings. I am assuming these are for maintenance purposes. The ones on my jet are not quite correct. Referring to my reference pics I set out to correct them and replicate the details that were missing.





The access panels are too big and should not be seen on the top of the leading edge, except the last one out by the wingtip light. I used some thick CA glue and accelarator, to speed up the sanding process, to fill in the incorrect lines and re-scribed the correct lines where they should be.





Once this was finished I turned my attention to the underside of the wings. There are lots of access panels, for the leading edges but, they lack "panel fastener" detail so that was added as well. I applied some Tamiya panel line wash to check everything.








Next came the task of laying out for all the flush rivets that are very noticeable on the Cats leading edges. On the underside of the wing I ran a piece of masking tape to act as my straightedge and also so I knew where to stop.







On the topside I layed out evenly spaced marks with a ruler and drew myself some reference lines for the details to be added. I made myself a bendable straightedge, out of .010" sheet plastic, to keep everything in line. I layed out evenly spaced marks on the plastic as reference points, lined the straightedge up with my pencil marks on the top and underside and, taped it in place. Now all I had to do was make a mark, with my embossing tool, at each pencil mark.




Yes this took quite a bit of time to do but, as you can see from the photos, I think it was well worth it. The leading edge looks correct now and it adds interest. IMO it was a detail that needed to be there, especially in this scale. More Tamiya panel line wash was used to check the results.









So, with one wing down and one to go, it's time to get back to it. Thank you all for staying interested and checking in and until the next update.
I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Please remember those, who can not be home with their families at this time of year, who keep us safe and free.


Steve

[Jwcarpenter]

Hi Steve,

Incredible detail on the big bird. Your modifications show what a canvas JSI had, but they took the minimal effort route. Great work my friend!

[[CAT]CplSlade]

Yes, but imagine the cost if they had put that labor into it? It's one thing to modify it yourself but if Steve were doing this for other people what would he need to charge for his time and effort to do so on top of what the base plane cost?

Be glad they at least created a good canvas, and not a malproportioned POS better suited as a child's play toy.

[A-10LOADER]

Janos, thanks buddy.

Correct CplSlade, I'm just glad that they provided the canvas. I don't mind doing this super detailing at all. In fact, I would rather have the " blank canvas " per say and do the work correctly myself. What I would have LOVED is if JSI had released these Tomcats in "kit form" as well, like the Dauntless. I could have super detailed and added lighting for the cockpit plus, added lighting for all the external lights and the afterburners. Now that would have been cool.
Thanks for checking in guys.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Today's updates,

The detail work is finished on both leading edges finally !!





Something else that should have been addressed before now but, better late than never I guess. The panel lines on the leading edge / wing glove fairings were not correct. The top did not line up with the bottom half and, others shouldn't be there at all. The WHITE fingers point to the incorrect and filled in panel lines. The BLACK fingers point to the corrected and rescribed panel lines. Tamiya panel line wash was used to check the work.





I've also started to address the weekly / daily door hinges as well. JSI used raised detail for the original hinges and this was lost during the sanding of the airframe. The real one on the aircraft is similar to a piano hinge. I decided to use some 0.6mm round lead wire from UMM-USA for starters. I scribed out the plastic where the wire will sit so once the wire is in the groove only half of the wire sits above the surface and super glued them in place. I think I will use an artists pencil, to recreate the "fingers" or hash lines of the hinge. I think this will be enough to draw the eye to the hinges without being overpowering, we'll see.



Thanks to all who are still following along and thanks for stopping by and having a look. Until the next update .....


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

I've also started fixing the daily / weekly door latches. The ones on the airframe are way too big. The WHITE fingers point to the ones that will be filled in and new, smaller ones will be rescribed.



I also added the "panel fastener" detail for the ventral fins, to the weekly doors.






Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Tonight's update,

Except for the daily / weekly door hinges, I think I'm finally done all the rescribing, filling, sanding and, correcting on the Big Cats airframe !!! I definately have "SDS", super detailer's syndrome and it's time to say enough is enough. Otherwise, she'll never get finished. It might not be perfect but, it's alot better than what I started with IMO.
These shots show the daily / weekly door latches rescribed. Most of them were in their proper areas just scribed way too big. It wasn't easy scribing the door latches, onto the doors, that face the middle of the jet.






Lastly, the over-wing fairing airbag detail was filled in and redone correctly. Theirs were too far inward and too many fasteners. Fasteners were also added down the side, where the bag meets the body just under the wing.





Now I just have to decide how I'm going to prime this beast ?? I would really like to give the "BLACK BASSIN" technique a try. When done properly it's quite convincing, we'll see. I still have to mask off some things and figure out a way to keep the overspray out of the cockpit. There is a slight gap between the front windscreen and the main canopy.
Thanks again to all who still stay interested in this rebuild, til the next update ....


Steve

[bobb428]

I can't wait to see it painted!

[A-10LOADER]

That makes two of us especially sine this rebuild is coming up on it's 3 year anniversary. As soon as the Black Knight's diorama is finished I'm gonna get back to it.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings all,

Now that the "Black Knight's" display is finished (except for an acrylic cover), it's time to knock the dust off this thread and get things rolling again. This may not look like a lot but, with my hand / arm giving me problems again, this was enough for tonight. I managed to get things masked off in preparation for primer. I wanted to minimize over-spray from getting into the cockpit so, I masked off ANY opening I could. I also masked off the wingtip lights and wing glove lights with Parafilm M. I just need to figure out something for the intakes ?? Hoping to get some primer on her soon. Thanks for all who may be still following along.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings all,

Small update for tonight. I've been working on some more "extra items" to go with the Tomcat display. They still need some clear coats and sanding yet but, here's a teaser shot.





As for the Big Cat I'm trying to get my hands on some mid-temp lacquer thinner to mix with the primer. I'm really hoping not too much longer for the paint barn.

Thanks for having a look.

Steve

[supersonicfifi]

can't wait to see it !!!!!!!! amazing

[A-10LOADER]

can't wait to see it !!!!!!!! amazing

Thanks very much. Hopefully the wait will be worth it.

Steve

[cnq]

Excellent progress. I'm eager waiting to see it painted.

[A-10LOADER]

Excellent progress. I'm eager waiting to see it painted.

Thanks cnq, I am as well, hopefully not too much longer. I'm getting sick of seeing that radome tan nose cone.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Good evening all,

Small update for tonight. I managed to finish up the plaques for the 103 display. I'm still throwing ideas around for the base display itself.
Thanks to all who are staying interested in this project. Have a great weekend everyone.

Steve

[corsair bob]

great work

[A-10LOADER]

great work

Thanks very much Bob, I just wish I had more time to work on her. I really want to get this finished up.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings everyone,

Minor update for tonight. It's been really tough to find time to work on the Big Cat recently but, I did draw up an idea for the base of the display. I draw my ideas on cardboard 1 to 1 scale, this gives me an idea of sizes, helps me with my cut list for materials and, allows me to change things without wasting materials. I wanted to do something different for this build instead of the stained wood base I made for the 154 jet. I going to use 3/4" MDF because this base will be painted, not stained and, I have enough MDF laying around so why not use it and, it takes paint very well. The base itself will be roughly 27" X 27" X 10" tall and with the acrylic cover on top of that, the entire
display will be about 76" tall. Hopefully you can get the general idea from the pictures, they only show 1 of the 4 sides, of what the base will look like. The base and all the trim will be black with the "victory sash" in yellow. The entire base will be finished with a satin poly spray. That's the plan as of now anyway. I didn't want to go too crazy with the base because it's only 10" tall and I didn't want to draw attention away from the main subject. Thanks to those of you who still show an interest in this never ending project, I do appreciate it. Hopefully my next update will be something more substantial.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings everyone, it's about time to bring this thread back from the dead.

I've managed to find time to get some work done on the display base for the Big Cat while I wait to pick up my lacquer thinner. All the materials were cut, sanded and primed. I gave everything a few days to dry really well then sanded the primer. I made the corner piece and top trim pieces out of poplar and the rest of the box out of 3/4" MDF. Next I layed out for the "victory stripe" and sprayed the entire area gloss white. I'll give this a few days to dry and then I'll mask off for the yellow stripes. I also painted the corner piece and top trim pieces satin black. Once these are dry I will give them a few coats of semi-gloss poly spray. I'm not rushing this because I want the paint to dry really well so I don't get any marks on the paint from the masking tape. Slow and steady wins the race.



I've also been staring at the fuel dump area near the tailhook so, I finally addressed this area. I used my dremel bit to hollow out the area, drilled a small hole and, added a piece of brass wire for good measure. It looks a lot better IMO.



I am hoping once the base is finished I should be ready to send this jet to the paint barn (fingers crossed), it's about time to finish this project. Thanks to all who are still along for the ride, til the next update ....

Steve

[granch]

Nice, again new news from this marvellous project!

[A-10LOADER]

Nice, again new news from this marvellous project!

Thanks Granch, at least I have one follower.

Steve

[rschaap]

Nice to see the updates again. She is quite a bird and a labor of love. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Marek's F-14 that he worked so hard on. I know his model went to an IPMS modeler to finish after he passed. The post said it was completed, but I have yet to see photos of the finished Tomcat. By chance have you seen photos of the finished bird? I saw you had followed the project back then.

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index ... opic=28637

[A-10LOADER]

Nice to see the updates again. She is quite a bird and a labor of love. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Marek's F-14 that he worked so hard on. I know his model went to an IPMS modeler to finish after he passed. The post said it was completed, but I have yet to see photos of the finished Tomcat. By chance have you seen photos of the finished bird? I saw you had followed the project back then.

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index ... opic=28637

No sir, I have not seen the finished product, would love to thou.

Thanks for the kind words but, compared to Marek I'm a hack. He was a VERY talented builder on a whole other level.

Steve