JSI Tomcat - Super Detailing???

[A-10LOADER]

Good afternoon all,

Today's update, I've been dying to try the Tamiya panel line wash I ordered so, the Big Cat got " washed." There are many hours of adding details, filling seams, adding seams, etc. and I wanted to see if it was all worth it or not. I have to admit I'm happy with how things look so far. I've never deleated seams or added so much surface detail to a model before especially since my scale normally is 1/48th.
For starters I added the gun gas reinforcement plates around the gun gas exhaust ports. These were made with my punch set, to get the proper inside diameter hole and, .010" sheet plastic. The areas inside the plates should be opened up but, I didn't want to create more openings for overspray to enter the cockpit area. I may open them up once all the painting is done or, just paint them black, we'll see.

BEFORE




AFTER




Next came the wash, this is my first time using this product and I like the way it works. Very handy for checking things before the primer stage plus, it's already mixed so there's no waste. It does stain the plastic and I can not get it off but, that dosen't matter because it will be covered by primer.





Notice the scribing template, it's taped in place because I have to add the hinge detail for the "daily" and "weekly" doors that was lost during sanding.



This thing has alot of surface detail to start with and everything I added I tried to match what was already there. With the wash applied everything really pops now.







All that out of scale and horrible raised detail around the wingtip light and slime lights looks much better sanded down and rescribed with the panel fastener detail added IMO.

So that's it for today. It may not seem like much but, it took quite a while to get to this stage and I'm happy with the effort so far. Thanks to all who are still interested in this WIP and for your support.


Steve

[normandy]

Steve, Wonderful work and progress on this project!! The time you've put in shows.
I always enjoy checking your posts, great stuff!

[A-10LOADER]

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the progress Normandy, and thanks for the kind words, much appreciated.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

A big thank you to my friend, Janos Carpenter, for the awesome gift in the mail. You can never have enough reference material, thanks buddy.







Steve

[Jwcarpenter]

Hi Steve, thank you for the kind words . Your model is an inspiration for all of us. The detail and work is amazing! Thank you for sharing this with us!

[A-10LOADER]

Thanks Janos, I'm glad your enjoying the ride and thanks to all out there who are still interested in this never ending project.


Steve

[supersonicfifi]

we are all enjoying the show ....keep up the fabulous good work !

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings all,

Work continues on the Big Cat but, very slowly, hard to find time lately. I have made some progress however, test fitted pieces to make sure everything looks cool before sending her off to the paint barn and, I've decided to redo the MK-82's.


Since all the ordnance will be "live" the blue "smurf killers" just didn't go, stupid on my part. So I've now decided to turn them into "live" MK-82's with the 904 nose fuze installed as well.


First things first, a couple of shots showing the completed parts test fitted to the airframe.








When I removed the TCS chin pod I removed a little more plastic than I would have liked so, I had to make a shim out of .020" sheet plastic. Now when the chin pod sits in place there are no gaps.





I also remove the two Radar Warning ECM antenna fairings. One because they fitted very poorly and two, It was easier to sand the area without them there and easier to paint them off the jet. Once I did some reshaping of them they fit nice and tight to the airframe now with no gaps.





I want to get some better pics of the MK-82's and explain my ideas on correcting them which, I will post later.

Thanks to all who are still interested in this WIP and enjoy your weekend, til next time.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Small update for tonight,

Since I'm waiting for materials to arrive, via the mail, to modify the MK-82's I decided to weather the insides of the F-110 nozzels. They will have clear acrylic rods in them and you won't see much of the weathering but, at least I know it's there. I started by giving them a Flory wash ( dark dirt ) then drybrushed one with Model Master Radome Tan and the other with Model Master Sand. This was followed by adding some different shades of Tamiya's weathering master sets ( sets D & E ). Colors from the sets used were burnt blue, burn red, oil stain and, green. I chose not to go too heavy on the weathering because I wanted to represent engines that had just been recently installed. I'm pretty happy with how they came out and like I said, you won't see much of them anyway.





In the meantime, back to getting her ready for the paint barn.


Til next time,

Steve

[Jwcarpenter]

Awesome! Spectacular attention to detail. Even before she is painted, it dropkicks the stock version right out of the ring! Thank You for sharing the model and how you are making it into a masterpiece.

[A-10LOADER]

Thanks buddy.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Small update for today,

BEFORE shots of the starboard side intakes, thick square edges and no roundover. There were also some areas on the sides of the intakes that needed some filler. The tape is there to keep the filler from getting onto the inlet ramps. No need to do any more sanding than necessary, especially in this confined space.








AFTER shots of the port side intake with the edges rounded. The inner inlet wall, the one closest to the fuselage, was thinned down as well.








So, one down and one to go. I just wish I would have caught this BEFORE attaching the forward fuselage to the main body. Thanks for checking in, time to get back to work.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Today's update, reworking the MK-82's.

Since all the other munitions, that the Big Cat will be toting, are live the "smurf killers" just didn't fit in. Not sure what I was thinking there. Stupid on my part but, fixable.

I thought about just leaving the noses of the bombs alone and re-painting the bodies but, that would be too easy. Adding 904 nose fuzes to them will add interest.

I started by using a test subject before I ruined the resin ones. These are what BBI offered on their 1/18th F-16. A crude high speed TER with 3 MK-82's.




This is what I need to duplicate, should be easy enough.





The part that sucks about this hobby these days is obtaining materials. I use to have 2 hobby shops within a 20 minute drive from my house. They have both since closed and I am forced to order things online.

After a week my parts finally arrived. Hopefully these do the trick.




I started by sanding down the nose of the 82 until it was flat. Then I carefully drilled a 3/16" hole in the center. I cut a piece of the tubing and inserted it into the hole, no glue yet.

Next I cut a piece of the rod and chucked it up in my rotary tool. I used the low speed setting and put a bevel on the rod, with my file, to match the picture.





The rod fits perfectly into the tube and I think it looks pretty good so far. I just need to come up with an idea on how to make the arming vane for the front of the fuze.

Scratchbuilding at 1/18th is a whole different animal compared to 1/48th, there's more to see and it has to look right. There's no "good enough" at this scale.







Now to do this 4 more times on the resin bombs. Hopefully they come out as well as the test subject did.


I hope you all enjoy today's update and I thank you for stopping by and having a look. Until the next update ......


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings all,



A very small update for this afternoon,

Since I need to get some thin metal for the arming vanes of the bombs, I decided to turn my attention to the fuel tanks.

I managed to finish getting the fuel tanks decalled. I'll seal them in with a flat coat and do some weathering. Another small step forward.





Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Good afternoon everyone,

Today's update focuses on the MK-82's. I was wondering what I could use to replicate the thermal coating used on the Navy bombs. I wanted something that wouldn't look overdone and out of scale. Something that would

be easily applied and workable. We had some BIC white out ( correction fluid ), lying around so I figured I'd give it a shot. The applicator brush is no longer used, instead they give you a nice little foam pad

applicator now, this was a nice bonus. I sanded down the "test subject" bomb body with 320 grit and wiped it clean with some rubbing alcohol. I worked small sections at a time and as the fluid was drying I went

back and stippled it with the foam pad. It worked awesome and looked very convincing. Like I said at the outset, it had to be to scale.







I let this dry overnight and applied the yellow to the bombs nose the following day. It takes paint very well, did not soften back up or smear.




Next test was how would tape affect it ?? I cut 3mm strips of Tamiya tape and applied them to the nose. Mixed up some MM Olive Drab and sprayed two light coats. I waited about 5 minutes and pulled the tape, I figured the sooner

the better. To my surprise the tape did not affect the white out, NICE !! Probablly because this one is only a "test piece". Hopefully when I spray the "keepers" things will go just as well. I'm very happy with the results.





Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Tonight's update, wrapping up the MK-82's.

I started out by drilling out the bomb noses to accept the fuzes.





I also drilled out the tail fin assemblies, since theses are hollow on the real deal and, installed the scratchbuilt M-904 nose fuzes.





Now I neede to make the arming vanes for the fuzes. This is the shape I needed to replicate, just on a much smaller scale.





I neede something that would be easily workable and retain it's shape once twisted. I ended up using some metal foil from a wine bottle. It took me a few attempts but, I finally got what I was looking for. Now time to paint some bombs.




I always like to be a little different so, I chose to paint two of the bombs Faded Olive Drab and the other two Light ghost grey, just to add interest. After a flat coat I weathered them up using some pastels followed by another flat coat. Then to add even more interest
I added some graffitti to the bomb bodies ( I ALWAYS wrote graffitti on anything our crew ever loaded ) with artist pencils. Next I glued on the arming vanes with some liquid CA and painted them with some steel paint. I'm really happy with how they came out and I think they'll look cool hanging on the jet. Thanks for stopping by and having a look, until the next update ....

Steve

[Jwcarpenter]

Hello Steve,

Thank you for sharing this great tip. The ordinance looks real. That is a great scale effect with the liquid paper. Who would have known? As usual.... keep up the great work!

[A-10LOADER]

Thanks for stopping by and having a look Janos, glad you liked them.


Steve

[A-10LOADER]

The one bomb that has " Remember " spelled wrong has been fixed. I got distracted while marking it and noticed it after I posted the pics. Very embarrassing.


Steve

[granch]

A-10 Loader, when somebody concentrates on writing a tittle, it happens that one letter is missing. It's also possible that young people used with computer and Windows corrector but not with English may write in a hurry something wrong with hand on a bomb...

[A-10LOADER]

I wanted to see how the bombs looked on the jet, not too shabby.





Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone and, remember those overseas who can't be with their families today.

Steve

[A-10LOADER]

Small update for tonight,

I've always wanted to do a Tomcat going vertical and I figured since I already have one Big Cat displayed in level flight, this would be the perfect opportunity to give this a shot. The base itself is 26" X 26", made out of 2 pieces of 3/4 inch MDF glued together. I chose MDF because it's ALOT easier to drill than solid wood. In order to find the exact spots for the 2 inch acrylic rods I threw this frame together temporarily. This will mimick the glass or acrylic case I will need.





I then took 2 pieces of PVC pipe and cut them at different angels until I came up with the angel and pitch I was looking for and also stayed inside that 26 X 26 square. The base was then sent to a machinest and the holes were bored. I picked up the base Friday night and couldn't wait to test everything out. Everything worked out perfectly and she sits just how I wanted. Today was dry, no wind and, the sun was peaking out so, I had to set up outside for some photos. I know you all have seen the finished parts attached to the airframe before and I don't mean to bore you with redundant photos. I have to do this for myself because this is another small step forward and this also helps keep me motivated during this very lenghtly rebuild. There are a few small items that need to be addressed yet on the airframe before the primer stage but, I am getting close. I am extremely happy with how everything is going so far and I'm very much looking forward to the primer / painting stage. For those of you who are still interested, I hope you enjoy the pics and, thanks for sticking around.

Steve

[USCGMK2]

That is going to look badass when done!

[rschaap]

I can't think of a better way to honor the Tomcat.

[granch]

A nice monument to the Tomcat