Nathan Dempsey
Watching. How many of these are you building?

Clifford Keesler
Thank you Roland and Nathan, and welcome aboard. @ Nathan I am building 3 of them. I have 2 almost complete air frames, ready for primer. I have not started the third one yet. I will get some pictures up tomorrow.

Nathan Dempsey
Nice, a triple build!

Maciej Bellos
Following times 3!

Clifford Keesler
Welcome Maciej.

Clifford Keesler
All I got done today, was to remove the tape from the puttied areas on AF. #2. Honey do's overrode bench time. LOL.

Clifford Keesler
Both air frames now complete and ready for primer. More pictures soon.

Clifford Keesler
I got both air frames primed today, both sets of landing gear struts painted and weathered and one set of tires all painted.

Clifford Keesler
Started to paint these beast today, and my compressor decided to die. So they are on hold untill my new compressor arrives.

Nathan Dempsey
Looking nice. DOH on the compressor!

Clifford Keesler
Thank you Nathan. Yes I guess S*** happens.

Donald Dickson II
Looking good! Im in

Clifford Keesler
Thank you very much Roland and Donald. @ Roland, the stripes are decals, thank God. Welcome aboard Donald.

Clifford Keesler
I dug my old first air compressor out, and it still worked so got the other air frame and landing gear painted. I will be doing as little painting as possible until my new compressor arrives.

Clifford Keesler
Quick update. New compressor arrived yesterday, so semi gloss black down the spine is painted on both birds, and decals are started. Man the decals in the U.S. version of this kit SUCK. They do not want to come off the backing paper, They are very fragile, I ripped several trying to place them on the vertical fins. As soon as they hit the surface they do not want to move, usually you can float a decal into position, not these. Finally got them but will have to do some touch up with paint. They don't even come with any NAVY markings, had to raid the spares box for them. If you want to do this kit, get the Revell Germany boxing not the U.S. boxing. I will take some pictures tomorrow.

Nathan Dempsey
Useful info Clifford. Thanks!

Clifford Keesler
Yes the decals are different, and the Revell Germany release comes with extra weapons rhat the U.S. kit does not have. It is the same with the F-14 Top gun kit. It does not have the correct chin pod, and the same crappy decals.

James C
Quick work on these two builds mate, you don't mess about do you 👍 😉
Looking good. Other than the decals, what's your opinion of these Revell kits themselves?

Alexander
Nice work so far, especially the double build approach! Will follow the rest of the paint process.

Donald Dickson II
Well shit, now I need to check the 14 I have. Argh.

Clifford Keesler
Thank you very much James, Alexander and Donald. @ James, the kits are not all that bad. They have excellent wheel well detail. The cockpit detail is nice, except there are no cockpit sidewalls, and if you look closely in the cockpit you can see down both sides of the cockpit tubs. I usually build me side walls out of sheet stock, it does a good job of plugging the holes. Otherwise they suffer from the same fit issues as any other F-18 kit. Surface detail is nice. @ Donald, I just ordered the correct chin pods for mine from Sprue Brothers. They were for the Tamiya kit, but work on the Revell kit.

Clifford Keesler
Well the major paint is done and decals in progress. Like I said decals SUCK. LOL.

Clifford Keesler
Except for the blue/black fuselage stripes decals are done. Weapon painting and decals in progress. As stated before the kit decals do not have any markingd for the weapons, so had to dig in the spares box again.

Clifford Keesler
I was suprised to find decals to go on the gear struts. A nice touch and it sure livens up the landing gear struts.

Nathan Dempsey
The twins are looking good Clifford. Are you going to "blind-box" them when it's time for the boys to take them home?

Clifford Keesler
No, they already know about them. They bought the kits and brought them to me to build for them, I will finish the fuselage stripes tomorrow, and then let them cure for a day, then apply the final gloss coat and then start the weathering process. These will not be to weathered.

Clifford Keesler
I just used Mig's panel line wash for the first time. I love it. Will never use Tamiya's again.

Donald Dickson II
So you would recommend trying it? LOL I gave up on Tamiyas crap a while ago.

Clifford Keesler
Yes I would. I threw my Tamiya away. I am also going to try Mig's filters and pigments also. I also like their acrylic paint, although my favorite paint is now Mission Models.

James C
I agree about mission models paints CK, awesome paint to work with.
BTW the Hornets are looking fantastic mate. 👍

Donald Dickson II
I do NOT like acrylic paints. I use them only if I have no other viable choice. I can see how they would be good for line washes though

Clifford Keesler
Thank you very much James. @ Donald. I haven't used enamels to air brush with for a long time. I ruined my first air brush trying to use them. I kind of like the new line of laquers, but the old lady complains about the smell. The Hornets are finished now. I will put up an album with the finished pictures.

Ben M
What is better about Mig's panel line wash than Tamiya's?
I've mostly been mixing my own either water and detergent and acrylic paint or a bit of winsor and newton oil and turpentine depending on what I'm washing over. I prefer oil washes because you can fix mistakes, but if you're washing over oil/enamel of course you have to use acrylic.

Clifford Keesler
It flows better than tamiya, and comes off easier. It stays in the panel lines and recessed details better than Tamiya. I like oil washes also, especially on NMF finishes.

James C
That's why I like them as well. I don't have a dedicated air-brushing area, so it's just not practical to use enamels inside. The MMP paints lay down and dry unbelievably flat (like an enamel) and currently have a pretty good range of colours as well. Will be making them my first choice once I've used up my Tamiya's, AK's and MiG's etc.

Give them a try Donald, well worth a look

Clifford Keesler
I agree with James. They are rapidly becoming my go to paint as well. I also like the fact they come in 1oz bottles not 1/2 oz, or 10ml or 17ml.

Nathan Dempsey
I have purchased some, but I have yet to use it. It was the only RAF desert pink I could find at the time. ?

Donald Dickson II
Well, I horded MM paints for the last year or so, so I have plenty for now. Once I run out or need a specific color I may give them a go.

Clifford Keesler
What paints do you use now Donald? Enamels or laquers. I do not quite understand the difference between the various types of laquers. I have a bunch of AK real colors but have not used any of them, as I am not sure what to thin them with. Do you use Mf. Leveling thinner?, if so how is it? Would like to try it, if I can ever find any in stock anywhere. Would you use it with AK real colors and Alclad's?