Peterpools

Rob, thanks so very much, Agree that on the Real Deal, I doubt the crews and maintainers actually read all the stencil data after the aircraft after the aircraft/missile has been in service for a while. It's almost as if the operational maintenance manual has been painted on the aircraft and stores. I wonder how long it stays readable and how much is replaced when/if needed? I do remember your Kai Phantom - awesome build and it seems no matter how much stencil data is added, there is always more to go. My guess is, the F4's easily hold the record for the amount of stencil data on an aircraft. One thing for sure between the kit and Furball decals, almost every stencil marking is included and no way will I be using anywhere near half that amount - just want the flavor.

Chris, Very much appreciated. Surely was a lot of tedious work to apply all of the decals but without them, the missiles would look just close to naked for sure. Only negative, is the four Pheonix missiles are up under the fuselage and wings and not much will be seen - but I knowing it's there just in case and does look good. Thank you for the comments on the PLW's - for mew, I use the, very lightly and have gone away from using black and use a dark brown or gray instead, as a mean s of picking out the details and adding a bit of 'use' but not over doing it - more like a newly use look. Seems it's working.

Kev, very much appreciated on both the modeling and my photography.

Thanks Carl, very much appreciated. Lots of time and work and hopefully looking forward to seeing them on the Big Cat in a few weeks.

Thanks Martin very much appreciated. Hard to believe how much time the loadouts and gear consumed but better now then at the end of the build when I'm normally out of stream.

John Fantastic build. Left a comment and post on the RFI post. 🏆

John Awesome build and the freehand cammo finish is absolutely perfect. 🏆

Mark Got ya. I like the Wild Weasel looks a little better then the single seater but ant Thud is awesome in my book.

Phil I've been on board since day am all smiles that your ZM Mustang is nearing the finish line. So glad you stayed the course, regrouped the troops and have all the issues resolved and moving forward. 👍

Terrific progress on your Big Cat. Weathering absolutely brings out the details on the gear and gear doors. On my Tamiya F-14 GB Twins build, I did the same with the gear and posted an update yesterday showing that portion of the build.

WOW Terrific progress on the Fortress. Looking mighty good and the extra work on the wood floor and seats adds so much.

Phil Looking mighty good and kudos for keeping moving forward. NMF looks just fines as it more then duplicates an oxidized finish.

Oliver One good looking chain link fence and gate.

Rog Exactly ... can't understand how that can be unless it is sloppy engineering or no QC.

Thanks Mike again for the information and thoughts. All the Vallejo Metallics are ordered and on their way. The one item I didn't order (forgot) is the Flow Enhancer which I'll be order with my next week. I've air brushed Model Air a lot over the years and have run into all the issue we hear about; clogging and flow issues at the tip, a nightmare to clean out the air brush if you use anything but their air brush cleaner and all the rest. I now have a brand new dedicated Grex .3 tip AB for just Vallejo Paints, so I'm all set and raring to go as soon as the F-14 is finished and I'm onto my next project.

Mark I'm already waiting for the 105 Thud build - going to be a classic for sure. Go for the front office as well.

Paul I've had a few of those spills and even one that seemed worse. After I gather up the troops, walked away for a good few days, I went to work and fixed the mess I created. Once the CA was more then completely dry, I carefully wet sanded the entire area until it was smooth but now was a bit concave. I lightly filled in the offending sink marks with a few light layers of Tamiya White Putty, let dry between layers and gently wet sanded. Took a good few days but the repair work well and the build was saved. Give it a try and I'm sure the kit can be saved.

Carl Nothing like smooth going progress; looking so good. Weathering is soft and so very realistic. Electronics are going to be amazing.

Absolutely

OOPS .. someone stole the 'm'! Repaired

John Looking mighty good .. your in the home stretch now.

GEAR AND LOADOUTS - Finished The Gear Tamiya exquisite and wonderfully detailed landing gear is finished and has now been carefully put away until needed after the Big Cat has been painted and decaled. A few placards still need to be added (Tamiya decals), Tamiya Dark Gray Panel Line Wash applied to highlight the details and add a bit of weathering. Care and a delicate touch were needed when working on the gear as the parts are very detailed, finely molded and quite delicate. Wheels and tires were primed, then painted with Tamiya Lacquer Rubber Black LP-65 and given a day to dry. The tires were masked off using the Eduard F-14A set, which were a thin circular strip of finicky Kabuki tape, requiring a good deal of time to apply and then all the exposed real estate was sealed with Micro Liquid Mask. The wheels were air brushed with Tamiya Gloss White Lacquer LP-2 and the final step was a careful application of Tamiya Dark Gray PLW. The Loadouts -Decals, decals and more decals, all 154 of them. Decaling the missiles; a very time consuming process, with 154 individual decals being applied. The gloss white paint finish was super smooth, clear gloss wasn’t needed at all for the kit’s decal stencil data and striping. With the surface finish was so smooth, the decals just kept of sliding around and moving at the slightest touch, requiring a lot of extra time for the Micro Set to help the decals to take hold, remain in place and then a number of layers of Micro Sol to keep them tight to the paint. The eight missiles required a good three full days to complete the decal phase. The kit decals will be sealed with Tamiya Clear Gloss X22 and then a final coat of Alclad Semi Sheen a bit down the road. Over the past few years, I’ve seen a nice jump in the quality of Tamiya decals and at this point for all their newer kits, I would have no reservations on using them for the scheme provided. If I hadn’t already purchased the Furball set, I would be going with the kit decals for the Jolly Rogers. Now back to the Big Cat herself.

Phil I've been using Mr Color Self Leveling Thinners with Tamiya lacquers since they became available here in the states and happy to report. no issues at all.

Fingers crossed 🤞

Peter Brilliant as always and a joy to follow. Can't wait until your next update to her all painted and looking mighty good. Next build: just impossible to guess but I'm thinking a large scale WWII heavy.