1/48 HAsegawa CF-18, 439 Sqn "Tigermeet" markings.

[Myke]

Looking sweet man! Great attention to detail, and WOW, that is one hell of a canopy seam line. I might expect that on a 1/32 scale but even then not that bad. Nice work with it!

 

[Chris S]

Coming on nicely , and good forward planning with the fuselage joins

Chris.

 

[Glorfindel]

This is going to be fun to watch. Nice start.

 

[Carsenault]

More progress to report.

Closed off the fuselage and attached a few detail pars prior to painting. Im using Leading Edge's mask set for the Hasegawa F/A-18 kit as it saves a lot of time masking off the canopy, and wheel bays, plus other handy masks for the wheels, position lights, etc. The Wheel bay masks are simply foam plugs that are pre-cut to fit the open wheel bays. The set also come with vinyl self adhesive masks for the wheel bays if you chose to paint the bays after painting the fuselage. Missing in this set but included in the 1/32 set is masks to paint the false canopy as well. The 1/32 set also has foam plugs to mask off the intakes wheich I forgot to do... :


I used thinned mr Surfacer 1000 to prime the surface before spraying some paint. Might do some light preshading before the color coat. Demo birds are usually neatly kept, but this one flew over the dense urban and industrial areas of western Europe so Im sure a little dirt wouldnt be out of place.

 

[Robbo]

Cor, this should be nice when done, I'm watching

 

[letsgobrowns82]

She's looking good so far, nice work.

 

[Chris S]

Thats really taking shape now

Chris.

 

[Carsenault]

A little more progress... Got some paint put on, I didnt have very much paint so I had to thin it out a bit more than I normally do, will buff the paint out then do bit of postshading with a slightly lighter color.

 

[Carsenault]

Well, I may be able to skip the post shading. Lightly sanding the dry paint with a 4000 grit sanding pad not only smoothed the surface but also lightened the shade a bit, and brought out the panel lines too... killed 3 birds with one stone!

 

[Quaralane]

She's looking really good.
Nice work on that canopy seam

 

[Chris S]

The paint is looking very nice

Chris.

 

[Carsenault]

Disaster struck... The decals were bad... they were all flaking apart as soon as I removed them from the water dish, and yes, the water was heated. Gonna decide If I want to hand paint all the tiger stripes, but I still run the risk of the national markings and stencils falling apart one me.

 

[Junkie]

That sux. Can't get another set?

The build is looking great Charlie. And that orange tiger one is a thing of beauty.

 

[Carsenault]

These decals are not cheap, they are about $25 a set. I have heard that decals from the first batch were quite troublesome, the latter printings were better. Ill keep my eyes open for a set at the prize tables and vendor tables at the upcoming hobby shows. Another kit on the back burner.

 

[Glorfindel]

Man that just eviscerates you. Hate when bad decals strike.

 

[Carsenault]

Well, the price for a new set is considerably cheaper than I thought, $15 plus postage for a brand new set direct from Leading Edge, if I cant find anything at the upcoming hobby shows, Ill order a new set instead.

 

[Quaralane]

Really sorry to hear about the decals, man.

 

[Myke]

Bummer about those decals, but the plastic is looking sweet. Love the flaps.

 

[Carsenault]

Just found out that Dave from LE has inquiered about my mailing address, hopefully hes sending me a replacement. Will keep yas posted.

 

[JMac]

Any word on new decals from LE? Considering how this forum is growing and how many people read the posts here, it's just good business sense to supply new decals if the old ones were defective.