Build

The 3D decals are pretty neat. Feels like cheating a little.

RIO Panel

I used Citadel paints here

Sticks and canvas were painted with Citadel colors

Looks fab

These sets come nicely protected and packaged

The top of the cage removed

Nose gear pieces free from the supporting structure

The bit of the nose I have to place into the nose before it is sealed up

The back. Exquisite details. Makes me think I might get a PE set for the gear bay, because it’s going to look sparse in comparison!

Nose gear bay pieces, primed and base colored

Nose gear bay assembled

Nose gear bay

Nose gear bay

Nose gear. I used a chrome pen on the hydraulic shaft and tank harness.

Nose gear and cockpit joined.

Another perspective

Variable sweep wings

This is a large piece!

Seam filled with CA

More seam filler

CA filler

Seam begone!

Wow

Wow

Happy with the seam removal

Starting to look like a cat

I’m hoping I’m not making a mistake thinking I can get this mask out later.

Looks pretty sci-fi!

Lines

Mmmm. Sexy lines.

Tomcat with airplane ears

C M WANGS?

Had to fill some incorrectly drilled holes. :-/ First mistake!

Prepping a lot of sub-assemblies for paint!

Ordinance, drop tanks and LANTIRN pod

The smallest seam sorted out with Tamiya Fine and Finish polishes

LANTIRN pod and canopy masking

Canopy fixed in place with some strategically placed blue tack

The decals are too glossy. I masked the display panels before spraying a matte coat on the rest of the cockpit.

I like this better matte.

If I don’t cock up the ejection seats, this will look amazing.

Filling, sanding and scribing. Yay. 🙁

The main gear is primed. The detail is astounding.

Masked off and ready for paint!

I actually enjoy masking. Is that weird?

We're gonna need a bigger booth!

Undercarriage done. I usually black base my aircraft, but too often I've found the volume of paint required for the marbling seems a bit wasteful. I'm going to try grey primer, marble white and some pre-shading of dark grey on the panel lines.

Undercarriage done

Undercarriage done

Control surfaces, gear and sensor pod done

Topside done

Topside done

Topside done

Topside done

Topside done

Topside done

Nose is clean

Nose is clean

Dry fit the wings and vertical stabilizers. This is a BIG bird.

‘Cats have always been a personal favorite. I was 12 when Top Gun hit the theaters. Twelve!

Alclad glossy black base coat on wing slats.

Alclad airframe aluminum. Good stuff.

Sealed with Gauzy Agent

Dark (German) Grey pre-shading. This is my first time not black-basing.

Next will be adding some light grey and white marbling like I normally would with a black base.

Very pleased with the result. Hopefully this lower contrast underpainting works well with the top coat color. Which I have to decant from a rattle can. :-/

It’s a little hard to tell in the photos here, but the marbling is evident. Some panels are denser than others.

Decanted the primary color (AS-16) and got to work

In progress

Belly with primary color

Topside with primary color

AS-26 decanted and sprayed on appropriate areas. Thinking next time these get attached after color.

Weapons and pod

Masked off for the blue!

It’s down

It’s perfect!

Couldn’t resist another dry fit

Painted the bare metal panels and removed the intake and landing gear masking.

A little touch-ups will be necessary, but nothing serious

Masking off walkways

Very happy with walkways.

Had a rough time getting liquid masking out of the ladder recesses. Note to self: never use liquid mask in this context ever again.

Getting closer to a clear coat and moving onto decals.

Touching up white areas

So fresh. So clean.

Awesomesauce

My neck and upper back are sad. My eyes are happy.

I have some choices to make for the seats. I think I like the 3D printed decals for the straps and ejection handle. The PE has some details not in the 3D printed kit.

The resin seat cushions were just too sterile and neat. My first attempt was terrible and done over the paint. Stripped down to primer and sculpted again. Heavily inspired by Luftraum72’s exquisite take on the seat from the same kit.

Decals in progress. I despise them, but I am enjoying my first experience with Mark Fit.

Mostly satisfied with the decals. Lost one to clumsiness.

Another dry fit and assessment

Moving onto ordinance details and decals

I'm glad I'm (mostly) done with the decals on these. I hate doing decals. The JDAM and Paveway olive drab is too dark and needs some texture. Maybe a little sponge painting a lighter shade of olive? Looking forward to weathering these with oils.

All of this stuff is ready for a clear coat to seal the decals

Assembled the Eduard resin exhausts, which I've had painted for a while. The kit instructions suggest the only modifications necessary was to clip off the 3d printing stubs/supports or whatever they're called. I had to grind off the caps of the cone and shaft to get the whole thing to sit flush in the Tamiya kit. Did a couple washes of brown, dark grey and light grey. I'll probably also do some dry brushing later on too.