JSI Tomcat - Super Detailing???

[A-10LOADER]

Thanks YT, it's finally starting to look like something. Still a long way to go but, everyday I try to get something accomplished on the Big Cat. I should have all the smaller sub-assemblies finished up soon as well then I can focus on the main fuselage.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Worked on the LANTIRN pod today, filling seams and wet sanding, also added some panel fastener detail and a few extra panel lines to it as well. There were ALOT of sink marks in this once you started to sand. I will post shots tomorrow, another step forward. Have a good night everyone.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Small update for this morning, finished up detailing the LANTIRN pod. Next I will mask off the laser window and FLIR and get some primer applied. I hope to get the 2 AIM-9's and AIM-7 weathered ( waiting on some washes to arrive in the mail ) and flat coated. Then I can attach the 2 MV lenses to the AIM-9's seeker head, apply a dab of Tamiya clear smoke to the lenses and, the missiles will finally be finished. Thanks for checking in.






Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Today's update, finally finished up the AIM-7 and the AIM-9's. I added the proximity fuzing to the AIM-7 using some left over brown strips of decal. The missiles were given a wash and then flat coated. I also added the Influence fuze / Target Detector windows using a few drops of Testors clear parts cement and finally the seeker heads ( MV lenses ) were glued to the tips of the AIM-9's. I just need to add a touch of Tamiya smoke to the seeker heads.



Close up shot of the seeker head.



Influence fuze / TD windows added.



Thanks for looking.
Steve

[A-10LOADER]

I added a small white disk inside the Sparrows exhaust to cover up the hole that I drilled out for inserting the brass rod while painting.





Glad these are all finished up, it's nice to get another step forward on the project. Thanks for checking in.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Small update for today, got the LANTIRN pod painted and worked on the wing pylon that carries the pod. I cut out the underside of the pylon, like on the real jet so I will have a place for the cables, that hook up to the pod, to disappear into. I will use some small lead wire to represent the cables. It should look pretty convincing once finished.



Decided to tackle the crews helmets. There was a bad seam that needed to go away and, the visors needed some better shaping. I will completely repaint both helmets and masks.





Thanks for checking in.
Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Tonight's update, got the LANTIRN pod gloss coated yesterday and just finished putting the decals on. The gunship grey one, in the upper left, is from my VF-154 jet. I'll let these decals dry overnight and give it a semi gloss coat of flat tomorrow. Why semi gloss you ask because, this will allow more of my wash effect to stick to the pod then I can flat coat the pod. I also got the crews helmets primed tonight as well. I'm hoping to get them painted and finished up tomorrow too. Have a good night and thanks for looking.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Small update for today. While waiting for the wash, on the LANTIRN pod, to dry I wanted to see how some of the finished items looks on the Cat. IMO it looks like this is shaping up to be one pretty cool looking Tomcat. I'm very happy how things have gone to this point but, still a long way to go however. Once the pod is all finished up I'll post shots. The crews helmets are still works in progress too, taking longer than I thought. Thanks for checking in on things, til next time.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Good Friday afternoon everyone and Happy Veteran's Day weekend to my fellow veteran's out there, thanks for your service !!

OK, today's update is all about the LANTIRN pod. I got everything finished up last night and got the pod attached to the wing pylon. This first shot shows my finished pod on the left with the factory version from JSI on the right, big difference IMO.



Port side shot



Starboard side shot



Closeup of the business end of the pod. I used a thin coat of Tamiya clear green on the laser window.



I used some metal screening, from my stash box, on the back end of the pod for the exhaust vent. The "cables" were made using some old telephone cable. Inside the phone cable itself there is a red, yellow, green and, a black wire. These were about the same diameter as the point where they attach to the pod. I used a little flat white and red to represent the different heat shrink wrap used on the real cables and some steel for the cable ends. The pod was drilled out to accept the copper wire and I stripped off a little of the black coating. A dab of super glue to secure them in place and instant "cables".



Sanded the paint off the front of the ball to give it that worn look from flight.



And finally, the pod mounted to the wing pylon. I'm really pleased how this came out. It looks ALOT better than the stock version and will dress up the Big Cat. Thanks for checking in. Now to get back to the crews helmets. See ya.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

I hope everyone had a great weekend, tonight's update, got the crews helmets all finished. Everything was repainted and all by hand. Once the seams on the helmet and visor were gone I primed them with Floquil grey primer. I used MM Classic white for the helmet shells. I wanted them shinny to mimic the reflective tape that they are done with. MM Insignia yellow and flat black were used to create the Jolly Roger stripe. MM steel for the bayonets and some gloss black for the visors. I think they look a lot better and should add a nice touch.







Thanks for following along.

Steve

[supersonicfifi]

Waow you are right ! The helmets are super nice ! i will send you my pilots !!!!!! Can t wait To see it finished

[A-10LOADER]

Phillippe, thanks for the kind words.

Today's update, working on the tailplanes.
Since the thickness of these were too thick around the edges I decided to sand them down. I wanted to get the edges more to scale, however doing so I sanded off the radar warning antennas, it was just easier instead of trying to sand around them. Now that I have created more work for myself I need to replace them. I took some extra sprue, from one of my future kits, and sanded it down flat on one side and shaped one end to a point. Once I get the size I need I will glue it to the tailplane and finish sanding off the flat edge. Hopefully once primed they will look acceptable, stay tuned.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Good day everyone, small update for today. Things have been moving slowly on the Big Cat for a couple of reasons but, finally got the horizontal stabs sanded down and the edges are nice and thin now. I also added the new scratchbuilt radar-warning receivers.
As I go thru this re-build I am gluing all the seams so there are no issues later on, or so I thought. I don't know what type of plastic this Tomcat is made out of but, most liquid cements won't work on it ?? Currently I am using Ambroid Pro Weld liquid glue. Before I wet sanded the horizontal stabs down I flooded all seams with the liquid glue and let them dry overnight. While wet sanding, some of the seams reopened and, water got inside so, now I had to wait and let them dry good before proceeding. Once they dried I re-glued them with Loctite super glue and sanded them again, this seems to work. I also had an issue when I glued the radar-warning receivers on using the Ambroid. After gluing and clamping them in place, for a few hours, I went to blend them in with the sanding stick and they popped right off. I had to glue them again with the Loctite, very frustrating to say the least. So I guess from here on out the Loctite will be the glue of choice. Has anyone else ever had an issue like this ??
Next up I will get them in primer and see how they look, one step forward and a few steps back but, progress none the less. Thanks for checking in.

Steve

Top view



Bottom view



Close up

[A-10LOADER]

Another small update for today, received my "01" decals for the tails the other day (thanks Brian ). Decals applied and waiting for a flat coat then, weathering followed my a final coat of flat. Another small step forward but progress, thanks for looking.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

OK so, after having a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner last night and helping the wife clean up the "fall decorations" around the house and getting out some of the Christmas decorations, I was able to get some time in on the Cat today. After letting the horizontal stabs dry over night ( primer and spot putty ) I wet sanded them with 400 and re-primed them. They look good and will get one more sanding with 400 before paint.



I also got the tails flat coated as well. I am a little concerned about still being able to see the edges of the decal ???? Hopefully after they are weathered and flat coated again, this will disappear ( fingers crossed ). What color wash would look better on the tails ? I use the Flory washes and have black, dark dirt and, light dirt. Ideas welcomed. Thanks for staying along for the ride and keeping me motivated.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

I hope everyone enjoyed their long holiday weekend. I know I sure did, good times and great food.

The weekend update, Part 1. I spent quite a few hours yesterday and today sanding the big beast. I started out by putting the finishing touches on the F-110 engine shrouds. I still need to add some panel details here and there but, the horizontal stabs line up real nice now.




Also spent some time re-shaping the ECM antenna on the beaver tail. I will hit the seams with some CA glue and give it another sanding prior to priming.




Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Weekend update Part 2. Since this beast is getting a total redo, every square inch will get sanded prior to priming. I chose to tackle one of the wings. There was a high spot along the entire bottom of the wing, where the flaps meet the wing area(factory seam). Thank god the plastic this thing is made out of is thick. This allowed me to block sand everything down and get the trailing edges nice and thin too.



The topside trailing edges had a lot of shallow sink holes and they got block sanded out as well.



Since the wingtip formation and slime lights have the incorrect raised detail around them, this got block sanded down as well. I cut out the cheesy formation light and will replace this will some clear red and blue plastic like I did on the tails.





Lots of work ahead but, progress being made. Hopefully things will go smoothly and I can get thru this next stage rather quickly. Thanks for following along.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Today's update, I got the Horizontal stabs wet sanded and painted Light Ghost Gray ( I didn't think this warranted a photo ). I'll let them dry for a day and mask off the underside and paint the tops medium gray. Mean while, back to work on the fuselage of the Big Cat. Hopefully I'll have some pictures of progress for the next update, thanks for stopping by.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings everyone, hope your week is going well. Got some time in on the Cat this week and worked on the wingtip formation lights. For this I used two old toothbrushes, one red and one clear, from the stash bin. I thought I had a green one too but, couldn't find it. Once I got the pieces sanded and fitted to the notch, I wet sanded and polished the edges that will get glued to the notch.



A chunk of the red toothbrush super glued in place. I used my rotary tool to get the basic shape then sanded with various grits of sandpaper to the final shape, I don't even have to paint this one, bonus.




I did the same to the starboard wing, this will get some Tamiya clear blue / green when finished. I still need to sand the entire wing and address the seams. Thanks for checking in.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Hoping everyone is doing well and finally I have some things worth posting shots of, at least I think so. The progress has been slow and steady lately. I've had to do ALOT of studying photos for all the detail work I've been adding to the Tomcat, since I am trying to be as accurate as possible. It's amazing how much time and research go into a project of this scope. This has gone way beyond what I'm use to doing for a model.

First update for tonight, since the weather has been much warmer the last couple of days, I was able to spray the topsides of the vertical stabs (FS 35237, Medium gray) and got the ends of the RWR antennas painted. Once dry I can gloss coat, decal and, weather these.

[A-10LOADER]

Tonight's update Part 2, panel lines and "panel fastener" details added. JSI did a great job on the panel lines, for the most part they are correct. I am adding extra "details" here and there and removing the ones that should not be there. This shot shows some panel lines that SHOULD NOT be there.



Here is the same area after some filling. I also added the slime light formation panel and "panel fastener" details.

[A-10LOADER]

These next couple shots will show the varoius panels and their "panel fasteners" added as well.





Here's a close-up of the detail added to the underside of the beaver tail.

[A-10LOADER]

This area, on the underside of each wing, is where JSI decided to put the logo. Filled in and sanded.



Close-up of the "panel fastener" detail added to the wing fuel tank access panels.

[A-10LOADER]

Some problem areas that need attention. This is one of the reasons why I wish this model would have been released in a kit form. It would've been ALOT easier to take care of these areas before assembly.

These large voids will need to be filled in.



There is a nasty seam on both sides of the intakes that needs to be sanded smooth.



Large sink marks on the bottoms of the intakes as well.



I know this is not earth shattering progress for alot of you out there but, progress none the less. I am not a quick builder to begin with and I'm really trying to do all the proper research before I go ahead and apply it to the aircraft and this is what takes up alot of the time, research.
I appreciate everyone's encouraging words and kind comments during this re-build, it helps keep me motivated ( I've already passed my expected completion date ). At this point I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Happy New Year everyone, hope things are going well for you all.

Things here on the Big Cat have been moving slowly to say the least. Lots of "panel fastener" detail has been added and I think I'm just about finished. I have to learn when to say enough is enough plus, I'm getting sick of doing it. I will have to fix some of this detail around some seams that have been sanded but, that's it. I am hoping to have something worth showing in the next few weeks. I have been priming and painting everything so far outside so, the weather has to be cooperating. Once I spray things then I take them into the garage, which is heated, to dry, once dry then back into the house. I need to build a better and larger booth so I can continue to work no matter what the weather is. The booth I have now was built for 1/48th scale jets.

I would like to thank those of you who are still following this project. I need to stay focused and soldier on, stay tuned.


Steve