1/18th F-14A "BLACK KNIGHTS" Tomcat, JSI's 2nd release

[A-10LOADER]

Update for today,

I got the blank glued onto the bottom of the carrier and blended everything in. I also blanked off some holes that remained open once the deck was in place. Scratchbuilt some platforms for radars ?? that brings the carrier up to 1998 time frame. I still have some work to do for the different radars. The white spot towards the front of the flightdeck is some putty from filling a sink hole.





I managed to get the island together and scratchbuilt a platform for the radar ball as well.



Hoping to get everything painted so I can get this thing assembled and get to work on the water. Thanks for checking in.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Today's update,

I got some work accomplished, I managed to scratchbuild a new Radar antenna tower, the kit one was pretty basic and crappy. Some sheet stock and a sewing needle head for the radar ball. Before I glued the ball to the tower I brushed some color where I thought the airbrush would have trouble getting to.





I airbrushed the flightdeck and elevators using a combination of MM Euro 1 Grey and some flat white. I tried to lighten up the color for the scale effect, looks ok I guess.



The flightdeck and hull got masked up to keep the mating surfaces clean so I get a good glue bond when it's time for assembly. All the other parts are ready for the Grey paint as well.




The flightdeck was masked so I can spray the outer edges with the grey and the bottom of the hull to give me a good clean surface to attach the carrier to the water.



That's it for today, hoping to get the grey sprayed tomorrow, thanks for looking.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Today's update,

I managed to get the grey sprayed today, unmasked everything and, glued in the elevators. Still lots to do since I will not be using the decals for the flightdeck. I'll be spraying the yellow and white markings instead. There is still a lot of work to do for such a small model but, progressing nicely.



I set the flightdeck in place and placed the Island and Radar tower in their spots for a pic. I'm not a ship guy so I guess it looks ok besides the carrier is not the main focal point of the display. Thanks for having a look.



Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Small update for tonight,

I masked off the flightdeck last night and sprayed the markings tonight. I'm really happy with the results, all that tedious masking paid off, much better than decals IMO. Now it's starting to look like something. Still have to gloss coat the very front of the flightdeck for the "63" and do some weathering as well. Getting closer, thanks for checking in.

Steve

[granch]

It's getting very nice!
Did you find a solution for some planes and SH-60 on this wonderfull small flightdeck?

[A-10LOADER]

It's getting very nice!
Did you find a solution for some planes and SH-60 on this wonderfull small flightdeck?

No Granch, no joy on finding aircraft yet.

Minor update for today,

I managed to get the flightdeck weathered and flat-coated. Once it's dry I can glue the flightdeck to the hull. I still have some minor paint work to do to the Island and the Radar tower. These items will remain off until the carrier is attached to the base and the water is complete. I've also been making a few extra items for the display that I will reveal when the time is right. Thanks for checking in, til the next update ....

Steve

[bobb428]

Really cool build!

[A-10LOADER]

Really cool build!

Thanks bobb428, thanks for stopping by.

Today's update,

The carrier is finished !! I got everything flat-coated and I'm really happy with how it turned out seeing's how this is my first ever ship model. For being such a small model there is quite a bit of work in her. The Island and Radar tower are just posed there for the pics, I'll glue them on for good once the Carrier is attached to the base. The fingers point to things I had to scratchbuild to bring her up to the 1998 time frame. So now the process of making the ocean comes next, thanks for checking in and until the next update ...

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Greeting's all,

Things are on hold for the moment with this diorama. I was setting things up yesterday deciding how to pose the carrier and, I snapped one of the acrylic rods that supports the jet. I wasn't very happy using the 1/4" rods anyway, a little too flimsy. I will now go to a 3/8" clear acrylic rod and that will provide plenty of support for the Big Cat. I had to plug the holes in the base with some 1/4" wood dowel and glue. Once I get the new rod I'll re-drill the base holes and proceed with making the water.
Thanks for showing interest in this project, til ther next update ......


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Tonight's update,

I finally got those "extra items" for the display finished up. These will hang on the sides of the display and I think they will add a nice touch to the overall display.









I also finally received my 3/8" acrylic rod in the mail so now I can re-drill the holes in the base and get going on making the water. Thanks for looking.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

OK so, I managed to re-drill the new holes and install the thicker acrylic rods. I also added these plastic "sliders" to the four corners of the display. Makes it a lot easier to move on the carpet.





The PVC pipe halves were painted this morning, once dry I'll hit them with a clear coat and then I can add the black felt to them. Hoping to get started on the water portion this week.


Steve

[cnq]

very very nice work so far. Thanks for posting.

[A-10LOADER]

very very nice work so far. Thanks for posting.

Thanks cnq, much appreciated. Thanks for having a look.


Steve

[slogan]

Can't wait to see the 'ocean'.

[rschaap]

There is in article in the latest "Fine Scale Modelers" that talks about sculpting seas. My be worth looking at it for ideas.

http://finescale.com/videos/issue-previ ... ue-preview

[A-10LOADER]

Yeah, I received my copy on Saturday and read the article. Lots of good tips.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings all,

Time to give this thread some new life. Starting the Ocean Part 1,

On Monday afternoon my good friend was able to swing over and give me a tutorial on how to do the ocean for the display. We started by masking off the black outline, that I painted on to help hide the wood screw heads and, started to apply the acrylic paste.



Once the acrylic was applied he used a metal cake server to help spread it over the surface followed by a 4" brush to even everything out. Then the carrier was pushed down into the paste.



Once everything was covered, he then proceeded to "work the water", giving it texture and ripples. The area behind the carrier was given attention as well to simulate the churned up effect of the water.





After we were satisfied with how everything looked, we removed the painters tape. From start to finish this all took about 30 minutes.





It took about 24 hours to get to this stage and this morning everything was dry and crystal clear.





So the next step will be to apply the colors to the water. Thanks for having a look and until the next update .....


Steve

[supersonicfifi]

allready lookin good ! can't wait to see it finished

[A-10LOADER]

allready lookin good ! can't wait to see it finished

Thanks very much.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Today's update,

Part 2, adding the colors to the ocean.

Once again we started off by masking off the black border on the base. Ed " The Most Interesting Man in the World ", started to add the colors around the carrier first.





Once he got the colors applied to the wake section of the water, I started on the other corner of the display painting the ocean blue. Once the blue was applied I took the brush and stippled the surface to work the colors into all the nooks and crannies. We added some dabs of green paint here and there and this was also blended in with the same stippling technique.





After we had the entire surface covered, we walked around the base checking different areas of the water to see if we needed to add any green or blue anywhere but, not to over do it. When we were both happy with the look of everything, Ed went to work "working his magic" on the wake of the carrier. Remembering the whole time to keep the effect in scale. This whole process took us about an hour and a half. Looking at the base with the colors on it really brings it to life and when you look at the water effect behind the carrier, to me anyway, it looks like the carrier is really moving in the water. Very happy with how this came out. We'll give this a few days to dry real good and then we can apply the final step of the whole process, the gloss coat. I can't wait for that part. Enjoy the photos everyone and til the next update .....

Steve

[rschaap]

Wow, that looks outstanding. I can't wait for the next update. You have skill.

[A-10LOADER]

Wow, that looks outstanding. I can't wait for the next update. You have skill.

Thanks but, as you can see it wasn't all me. I did learn alot today however watching my friend do his thing.

Steve

[tmanthegreat]

That "water" looks amazing! Just the way the flash from the camera (or the room lighting) reflects off it looks just like sunlight reflecting off an actual body of water. The carrier's wake looks great as well. Very nice work with this setup... The final product is going to look fantastic

[A-10LOADER]

That "water" looks amazing! Just the way the flash from the camera (or the room lighting) reflects off it looks just like sunlight reflecting off an actual body of water. The carrier's wake looks great as well. Very nice work with this setup... The final product is going to look fantastic

Thanks, appreciate it. There was no flash on the camera just the room lighting, which sucks. That's on my "to do list " BTW.
I am hoping to get shots of this outside when the gloss is applied to the water and dry. I prefer to shoot outside whenever possible.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings all,

Small update for today,

I managed to add some white to the "high spots" of the water to simulate some whitecaps. I also applied the gloss topcoat. Once the gloss dries real good I will be able to add the Island and Radar tower to the flightdeck. Then I will take the top of the display outside for some final shots.
Our jointer is down at the cabinet shop until we get a few parts for it so, at this stage of the game, I am at a standstill on completing the wood trim for the cabinet. I'm hoping our parts show up sooner than later and I can finish this thing up.
Thanks all for your interest in this project.

Steve