GusMac

That is one weird looking little machine, but beautifully built.

Wow, very impressive work on a vac kit. Nice weathering too.

Looks great.

Right, here are some pics of the progress made before I ran out of paint. Slight goof where I got a bit carried away and started marbling the areas which will be bare metal - the gloss black primer which will have to go down should sort that out. I'm pretty happy with how it looks at the moment. I'm also going to try some salt fading on this and some oils, so hopefully it'll add further variety to the surface. Extra paint has arrived but I'm waiting for a respirator I ordered before I have another big painting session. This is too big for the paint booth and the fumes were pretty noxious. I run every day and age is slowing me down enough without adding chemical-induced asthma! As always, all comments and suggestions welcome. Cheers, Gus

Thanks Jim. I've seen similar on the UK site, so I will make the investment.

Hi all, discovered today my spraybooth is too small for beasts like the 1/32 Eagle, so can anyone recommend a decent, affordable respirator. Failing that, what level of protection is needed? I spray Tamiya acrylics and Mr Hobby mainly with Mr Levelling Thinner Thanks, Gus

I usually sum it up as 'the human is the weak link in the system'! Anyway, got a good few hours at it today and made some decent progress until I ran out of paint, oops. Will try and post some progress pics. Also found my spray booth is way too small for this so may have to invest in a respirator.

Hi Dennis, thanks for the post. Basically, I'm fairly happy with the effect so I'm going to try and replicate it on the full thing. Hopefully should get a good session at it tomorrow so should have some progress to show. I work as a medical imaging physicist and lecture on it as well and one of the things I always emphasise to students is that you can tweak and optimise the imaging system all you want but you always have to consider the human observer who will look at the image. It's their report that determines the outcome so you have to consider the way they perceive things. There are so many factors that have to be considered and we have spent years trying to mathematically model the way humans look at images and it is nigh on impossible. As you say 'each to their own' about sums it up!

Nice fix Bevan, you'd never know that the holes had been there.

Ok, no progress with the Eagle directly just some confidence boosting. First up some playing around with the Vallejo Metal Color acrylics using an old Tamiya 1/48 Skyray my son gave up on. Used the gloss black primer with Magnesium of the wingtip, Pale Burnt Metal on the leading edge, Jet Exhaust on the trailing edge and Engine Manifold in the centre. They spray nicely without thinning but I had the pressure a bit high, hence the 'splodges' towards the back - good learning points for the real thing though. Definitely now have a plan about how to go about the exhausts and rear metalwork on the F15. Next up was practising the marbling and top coat for a monochrome finish with the black basing. Matt McDougall's recent tutorials on this and general airbrushing were invaluable. Paint was thinned to roughly 2.5:1 thinner to paint which is waaaaay beyond anything I'd thought of using before but once I'd got the pressure and trigger point on the airbrush settled I was amazed how straightforward it is. I'm not sure if the top layer is still too translucent or whether that is the contrast with the unpainted primer, so if any of you more experienced guys have opinions I'd love to hear them. It looks ok to my eye but probably better towards the outer wing - looks too patchy towards the fuselage. Certainly a lot happier about tackling this now but I'd love to hear any comments, critiques, etc as I'm keen to keep pushing my skill-set on.

Time for a steady hand and the swearbox close by Cees. Good luck!

Good luck with the move Tom. The radome looks great and the ribbing is just spot on - can't believe you got it so symmetrical and consistent.

Looks great Bevan. The results your painting technique gives are very convincing, especially the weathering around the exhausts. Gus

Thanks Bevan. I'm sure your ordnance will be great. I did the Mig-23MF last and there is certainly a wide selection to choose from! I did mine with a full AA load but there are lots of ground attack options as well. Gus

As promised some pictures of the (slow) progress with the ordnance. They have all been flat-coated after weathering but they do look rather glossy in the photos. However, the Tamiya flat clear isn't as flat as I've found previously when I used the rattle can version. May be as I thinned it slightly with Mr Color Levelling Thinner which does seem to give matts a slight sheen. The detail on the Isracast Pythons is quite a bit better than the kit Sparrows and Sidewinders so I'm thinking of trying to tart them up a bit. Might try making some seeker head covers for the Sidewinders as I've seen a few folk do this using foil from wine bottles. Never tried anything like that but I don't have to use them if they look awful and I still get to drink the wine! Just for a giggle here is the Sparrow that became a battle casualty And here's the culprit in one of his angelic moments Little dogs love to chew! Will post some more pics if I succeed with the covers. Basically, I'm procrastinating about starting the main painting as I'm a bit daunted at the prospect. Bigger than anything I've done before and I'm not sure if I'm up to the black basing with an essentially monochrome scheme. Got to bite the bullet though! Gus

Pray tell, Jeroen?!

Slowly! Too many distractions - getting my son back to school and my daughter ready to start her first year at University, plus the Olympics!! Have mainly been working on the ordnance. Painted, glossed, decaled and currently getting weathered. Will post some pics soon.

They look very nice Cees. I can't imagine sanding Perspex is much fun!

Probably more nutrition in the missile too! Well, certainly more than some of our other delicacies such as deep-fried Mars bars!!

Thanks for posting Cees. It always amazes me how neatly some of these disassemble.

Well found the Sparrow. Let's just say the score is Jack Russell 1 - Missile 0! Well chewed would be a good description. I'll post a couple of pics tomorrow.

That looks great Tom. As you say it just adds so much character to the look of the plane.

Thanks for the offer Dennis. I'll keep it in mind but at the moment I'm kind of determined to find the missing one, it is now an obsession! I may be back to you though. Don't think I'd get the dogs to stay still long enough to paint them, although they'd blend in nicely to all the fields of grain here in a Raam colour scheme.

Nice Cees. How are you making the clear part for the cover? Crash moulding?

Thanks for the tips Dennis, you're getting me interested. Currently have a bigger issue though - the carpet monster has struck, big time! I've managed to lose an entire AIM-7 missile!! Got the blue base coat on the Pythons and the white on the Sparrows and 'winders and had started masking off for doing the fins, noses, etc. They were all sitting on my bench on Sunday morning but by evening one had vanished. My wife may have knocked it off when she gathered her sewing stuff - if it hit the floor I suspect it's either in a Jack Russell or has been buried by a Jack Russell! If it doesn't turn up then it will just have to do with 3. I'm not paying the prices on eBay for a set of the Eduard resin ones.