AREA 88: "The Upside Down Bomb" (Kfir)

1
April 25, 2019
I like 1+1 boxes...
2
April 25, 2019
The sprues look quite clean and well detailed.
3
April 25, 2019
Let’s start at the bottom. Main pieces cut, wheel doors in place and the engine LED is wired.
4
April 26, 2019
A bit of “aircraft grey” for the cockpit and “dark iron” for the tail.
5
April 26, 2019
Luckily the electronics still fit. Feels strange drilling into the top of a plane...
6
April 26, 2019
Major pieces assembled, and lights work... winning!
7
April 26, 2019
Got the small (C2) canards on, but the holes were much too big for the slots, so a shin was required.
8
April 30, 2019
Welcome Shin and Mickey...
9
April 30, 2019
The cockpit is a bit snug, but luckily I have an extreme weight loss program... who needs legs?
10
April 30, 2019
The canopies both cracked during application, so I'll try to sand them smooth again. I'm glad this is an upside down build...
11
May 9, 2019
After a bit of putty and sanding, the underside is painted "Israeli eggshell blue" - it's a homebrew mix, so hopefully close enough.
12
May 9, 2019
Masking almost everything...
13
May 9, 2019
And the first layer of camouflage is on. FS34227... or something close enough.
14
May 10, 2019
Second layer of camouflage is on... starting to look like a proper Kfir now, innit?
15
May 11, 2019
Taping up some masks for the triangles.
16
May 12, 2019
And... we have black and yellow recognition triangles. Man that’s yellow!
17
May 15, 2019
They look fairly different with a panel wash.
18
May 15, 2019
Since the bottom is up this time, I took more care to get the panel wash done well... I think it works.
19
May 15, 2019
Dry fit the chase to get the placement right...
20
May 16, 2019
Decals on... and we’re done!

Comments

25 April 2019, 14:28

Greg Baker
I don't want these two upside down Kfirs to get left behind in the project, so let's get started.

25 April 2019, 14:32

Martin Oostrom
Took you long enough to start them! 😉

25 April 2019, 21:34

Greg Baker
Sorry guys... didn't mean to be so lazy. 😄

26 April 2019, 00:51

Donald Dickson II
Yeah, total slacker.😉 LOL

26 April 2019, 01:44

Kerry COX
Yet an other adventure to watch. !
👍. Afterburner s glowing on the shelf. 🙂 👍
Mmmmmmm. This pop corn is GOOD. ! 😉

26 April 2019, 02:03

Greg Baker
Stick around... this build is going to turn your world upside down!😉

26 April 2019, 04:10

Matthew A
I should think our Antipodean friend would be used to being upside down

26 April 2019, 11:48

Xander Jansen
following.... Looking awesome already...

26 April 2019, 12:17

Greg Baker
As always, two steps forward, one step back. I got Shin and Mickey painted up and seated in the cockpits, and then I found out that all the reviews of this kit that say the canopies can crack weren't lying. BOTH canopies cracked, under very little force since I was forewarned. I'm starting to be very glad this is an upside down presentation. I will sand and buff out the canopies as clearly as I'm able... just promise me not to look too closely. 🙂

30 April 2019, 15:41

Nathan Dempsey
I promise to be mesmerized by all the lights Greg!

30 April 2019, 16:03

Greg Baker
I'm happy now that these have got some paint on them. I did my best to match the Hasegawa 1/72 callouts for colour. So "Israeli Eggshell Blue" (FS35622) on the bottom mixed from 5ml of Tamiya XF-2 and 7 drops of X-23 and 3 drops of X-25. Then FS33531 (XF-57) on the top with FS34227 for the first layer of camouflage (XF-71:1 + XF-21:1 + XF-2:1). Seems to have worked.

9 May 2019, 16:10

Bryn Crandell
Watching this, another interesting story from Area 88.

9 May 2019, 19:50

Greg Baker
It's funny. I'm fighting my instincts and trying to remember that these two will be displayed inverted. It seems unnatural somehow. I have to remember to spend more time on the underside than I might otherwise, and let things slide on top. It's also the first time I had the wires in the way of a camouflage paint job. Normally they're on the bottom and a single coat of paint is enough. They were a bit annoying and getting in my way.

9 May 2019, 23:14

Greg Baker
Thanks Lode. Problem solving and pushing our own limits is all part of the enjoyment of the hobby, isn't it? I didn't have the proper decals for the black/yellow recognition triangles on these two, so I had to do some careful masking. Whenever it got tedious I just thought about you masking 1/700 PE coffee mugs and soldier onward. 🙂

12 May 2019, 23:30

Matthew A
Can't find your plane at the airbase because it's painted in desert/jungle camo -then why not stick some massive yellow triangles on it because the enemy will never spot that

13 May 2019, 08:21

Greg Baker
Thanks Lode. I like being unpredictable in my builds. 😉

Besides the cracked canopies, I'm quite happy how these two ended up. The decals went on like a breeze and really give them the final pop.

16 May 2019, 23:50

Chris Greathouse
That is some super work!

16 May 2019, 23:54

Nathan Dempsey
Greg, whatever it is you do between laying original colors down and the picture I see now really makes your colors come to life.

17 May 2019, 00:46

Greg Baker
Thanks Nathan. The jump between pics 16 and 17 really is the panel wash. I use Tamiya's panel washes (black, grey, brown) not just on the panels, but basically on the whole surface and then spend a lot of time wiping it back off. I'm still trying to get a handle on the process myself, but it usually drops the colour uniformly by a tone. I also use one of those microfiber cloths to give the whole models a quick rub before applying the wash. That "sands" down the paint a bit and takes out the shinier high spots. It's not a miracle cure for painting mishaps, but can even it out a bit.

17 May 2019, 01:17

Martin Oostrom
Basically you are using the plw as a filter.

17 May 2019, 06:08