ODS: Tamiya 1/48 F-117

I had a go ad doing some in my 1/72 build...with limited success
www.kiwimodeller.com/index.php/forum/38-...fighter?limitstart=0

Thanks Nos. Was cool to read your build. I think the paint work you did on the skin was mint. I'm looking at getting some lead wire now.

grover wrote: Thanks Nos. Was cool to read your build. I think the paint work you did on the skin was mint. I'm looking at getting some lead wire now.

Try online tackle shops..look in fly tying materials... usually the best way to buy it

Cheers mate. Yeah I would love to borrow your chisel. Are you doing any trips to ModelAir this weekend? I was also thinking about using Mr Surfacer and trying to add a texture. I have a good hard stippling brush.
Nos, I actually went into an FCO store before they closed down and they had nothing. No wonder they closed down I grabbed the links Gary posted in your build thread and I'll order something online. Cheers mate

I continued on tonight. Not a lot done but I put together the kit HUD then proceeded to chop it up.

Some of the PE will go on after painting but the HUD frame went on now. I hope that was the right thing to do. It will be painted black.

I then took all the parts I had prepared and sprayed them with Stynylrez primer. This has made it much easier to see what needs to be cleaned up. I may not need a chisel as all the ejector pin marks look sunk. The black plastic makes it hard to see imperfections. I've also realised some wont be seen because (some of) the gear doors will be closed as seems to be the case when it's on the ground. There are other parts I have picked up that need cleaning up too so it was worthwhile doing this now.

Looking good Grover, nice not having to fill those sink marks

Yeah that's a bonus there not having to deal too much with the ejector marks. Also just thinking about it, Tamiya is quite good at hiding them under other components and such, so just keep that in mind

No worries G2. Im pushing on with the build. All the ones I need to clean up, now that I've discovered some of them are detail, are recessed. I have tried some Mr Surfacer 500 put down as a dot with a toothpick to fill them in, but the areas are bloody hard to get at with a sander.
I put the wheels and landing gear together ready for primer.

I then tried something new and sanded the bottom of the wheels to get the wight-on-wheel look. The front wheel came out great. The back ones, even though I sanded them together are a little crooked but I think it will be ok once they are on. I dont want to keep sanding to get them right.

I'm going to have to go around and make sure all the ejector pin marks around where the 2 halves meet aren't going to cause any fit issues. Shouldn't take too long.

I decided to push on with the weapons bay too. There is some really nice detail here. I could look at adding more, but I don't think it's really going to be visible and there are other skills I need to work on before i attempt some scratch building

The mechanism for the bomb release really is sweet. You can see how it all works. I wonder how far away we are from models incorporating more movable parts?

Here are most of the parts just sitting for a dry fit. You can also see the diamond cutouts either side of the bomb bays where you put in what looks like chaff/flare dispensers. These are shown as being in a semi-gloss black. I'm not too sure how necessary or accurate that is and I could add them now but I think it might serve to help break up the underside. I would worry they would be too noticeable and draw too much attention if it weren't for the bomb bay and landing gear.

Hopefully I'll get a bit more done tonight. Probably more sanding.

This is looking pretty good mate. Looks to be some decent detail in it.

Nice progress mate and looking good.

Hey grover i do something a mate in the UK showed me to weight my wheels

Mockup the Gear and attach the wheels if you can or wait until the model is done (depending on your confidence)

If you have an induction top over turn the big element to as low as it will go (hopefully your wheel base in not wider than the element)
If you have Gas like i do a baking tray is just as good

Sit the model on the hot surface for a few seconds and the weight of the model will settle the tires, obviously you want there to be only enough heat to make things pliable but not melt, a bit like stretching sprue. Sanding is OK but you don't get the 'bulge" using this method you do!

You can test with a bit of sprue from the same tree to see if the heat is to high, some styrene is a bit softer than others

worked great guns on my 1:32 HE111

What a crazy idea - I love it

Cheers guys and thanks for the tip FK. I have heard of that but I don't have the ballsies, and the wheels are made of 2 different types of plastic. The white plastic is like the rubbery stuff Bandai uses for some of their sprues.

I decided to stop working around 3:30 and go and spend some time in the cave. Did the control surfaces. These need some clean up around the joins, especially where they will be seen as I plan to show the tails tilted like they are when the plane is in a powered down state. The big pins are great for this but you have to watch out if you want to be able to take them out after fitting them. There's a small barb you should remove first, otherwise they will get locked in.

Last night I also painted the nav lights that will fit into the wings. Only a small part will be shown and I'll also put some metalliser on the back to act as a reflector of sorts. Not that it will be needed.

grover wrote:

This is coming along nicely. Is there 4x sets of 'scaffolding' in the bomb bays? If so, then you'll be lucky to see any of those ejector pin marks.

Also just noticed the above picture you posted earlier - do you have one of those fancy PE folding tools?
I've been thinking of buying one and I'd be keen to hear of any recommendations.

Cheers Powder. I do have an RB Productions bending tool but I've never used it. I've only ever used this Tamiya PE bending pliers and they are great in my (very limited experience) pov.

Last update for the night. I got the dark Grey sprayed on to all the cockpit parts that needed it, so tomorrow I can go ahead and add the PE and complete most of the cockpit. You might also notice I closed up the air refueling door and it has a nice mark where I brushed Tamiya Extra Thin. Its like this all over the kit so I'm going around sanding the shiny areas and then using some ISO on a cottonbud (Q-tip) to try and pick up all the dust created by the sanding.

I have attempted to fix some of the ejector pin marks. I used a flat blade to scrape the areas where I could. You can see on the bottom left of the wheel bay where I'm scraping the top off one of the marks. Hopefully it will have sorted them and I haven't created more damage.

A whole but load of more sanding and I also put the lights and the FLIR lenses in the lower fuselage.

Cheers Bishop.

Agreed, looking good indeed Kane...watching with interest

Dave

You might find this vid useful on how to break up the solid black colour and get some subtle highlights etc...

Thanks Dave and VD, and I'll go and watch that video soon VD. Just finishing up some work, then I'm back to the sanding

Wow, lots and lots of sanding lol. Hope it's not putting you off a Tamiya kit!

Looking good though, good progress mate

Xtr3meNZer wrote: Wow, lots and lots of sanding lol. Hope it's not putting you off a Tamiya kit!
Looking good though, good progress mate

No, fit has been awesome so far. It's just me trying to up my game before I get to paint and realise all the thing I have to re-sand, and then repaint.
VD, I put in that video while I was working on this tonight. Man we watch some dull stuff. I was literally watching paint dry.

Didn't get much time today but whanau time is more important. When I did get downstairs I managed to hand paint some of the cockpit areas that are semi-gloss black using Model Colour black.

Next on the list was the cockpit PE. First time I have done a PE cockpit so I both took my time and was a bit under pressure to not have the Micro Kristal Klear dry on me. Initially I think I used too much but cleaned up the excess with a cotton bud.

I knew the colour of the PE panels would be different than the dark grey suggested for the cockpit, but I think in shadows, with a wash and underneath the canopy it's not going to matter.

I started on the instrument panel as well, but this is where I stopped, wanting these parts to dry first before the next layers go on.

Really pleased with how the seat has come out. I'll be adding a clear coat tomorrow and then giving it a bit of a dry brush and a wash.

I've never been a fan of the stealth aircraft, but really liking how this build is coming along. It's looking great Grover!

Looking good so far Kane. When you get to the painting stage of the exterior try experimenting with adding some dark brown and dark blue to your black for tonal variations.

KitModellerNZ wrote: I've never been a fan of the stealth aircraft, but really liking how this build is coming along. It's looking great Grover!

Cheers mate. I was never a big fan either, and still aren't for things like the F-35 and the B2, but this one has grown on me over the years.

Viperbuilder wrote: Looking good so far Kane. When you get to the painting stage of the exterior try experimenting with adding some dark brown and dark blue to your black for tonal variations

Thanks Steve. I'll be using a matt black as a base but also have Nato Black and a Model Air Blue Black to break things up. Will be an interesting paint job for sure. It's going to be a stretch in the paint booth too. It will fit, but won't turn around in there.

grover wrote:

KitModellerNZ wrote: I've never been a fan of the stealth aircraft, but really liking how this build is coming along. It's looking great Grover!

Cheers mate. I was never a big fan either, and still aren't for things like the F-35 and the B2, but this one has grown on me over the years.

Viperbuilder wrote: Looking good so far Kane. When you get to the painting stage of the exterior try experimenting with adding some dark brown and dark blue to your black for tonal variations

Thanks Steve. I'll be using a matt black as a base but also have Nato Black and a Model Air Blue Black to break things up. Will be an interesting paint job for sure. It's going to be a stretch in the paint booth too. It will fit, but won't turn around in there.

Will be really interested to see how the paint variation turns out! I've got the Academy kit, which is remarkably similar in parts breakdown, including the white cast parts. Here's a shot for inspiration:

grover wrote: VD, I put in that video while I was working on this tonight. Man we watch some dull stuff. I was literally watching paint dry.

Hehe, yeah the guy does tend to waffle on a bit at times, but does show some really great tips and techniques during this build and quite a few of his others as well if you have the patience to sit through them.