Стрічка новин

Mark K
Very nice indeed!

Robert Podkoński
Good work (a lot of...). Congrats!

John Thomas
Very cool

Robert Podkoński
I've been tempted to purchase one (I just love the X-3). Taking a seat🙂

Cuajete
Well done so far. Following.

Ben M
Watching, I love x-3's as well

Ben M
Looks like fit is "interesting "

Mark K
This will be fun to follow!

Robert Podkoński
Come on guys - it is still much better than Mach 2 offering (I know what I am talking about...). At least polistyrene is "workable", i.e. not soapy, and there is some detail everythere, and the canopy is transparent and fits well (I suppose...). Keep my fingers crossed for Paulo.

Doug Craven
Very happy with removable missile! Youtube Video

JD
Absolutely Essential tools in pic #12! 🍶
A happy modeler is a well lubricated one!

Treehugger
Any tips for working with LED? Mistakes to avoid?

I think I've learned that bleed though is an issue, so one ought to add metal paint and black maybe, to stop the light going through the plastic in places. I've seen tube paint been used around led diodes, a type of thicker paint.

Doug Craven
Yes Light spill is a concern. As you can see from some of these pictures, I painted the inside of the hull with black primer. I also used foil tape, the kind you use on heating ducts, not only to mask the light but to reflect it back where I wanted it. Of course what I learned this time around is that you've got to insulate your wires so they don't make contact with the foil.

Doug Craven
I know some of the modellers iin the Star Trek forum I belong to on Facebook use black sealing tape to prevent spill. Whatever you use, it's really important that you keep checking to make sure that you don't have spill before you seal it up.

Doug Craven
@jd Yes, essential! Any kind of sake will do!

TWN
The trick with the missile is awesome 😎

Prieur Gaël
It is a very easy and pleasant assembly, no trap for the moment.
I used the color of the cockpit which is not black for the first machines but blue gray (gunze H337)

Maciej Bellos
That's a rare sight! A perouvian Mirage! Looking good!

Laurent "HELLER-forever"
good job !

Prieur Gaël
merci laurent
@Maciej I loved to see the french airplane with exotic scheme

Pierre-Christian Baudru
Bravo Gael !

Mark K
This certainly is an interesting subject - look forward to seeing the construction progress.

Edward May
Thanks Mark. This kit isn't very high on my list at the moment, however thanks to you commenting, it did prompt me into looking at this project with fresh eyes.

I realized that this kit in particular doesn't need a replacement Fiat A.80 as I previously believed but rather instead it needs an Isotta-Fraschini K.14 which is a license produced version of the Gnome-Rhone 14K. Thankfully there are a handful of good looking aftermarkets out there to replace the kit's resin cowl plug. Now whether I can successfully remove the offending engine plug from the cowling AND get the aftermarket to fit without destroying the cowling anywhere in the process is another story. I don't relish the idea of having to scratch build a replacement...

According to the reviews I've found and from what I see in the kit I'll be doing a lot of drilling, replacing some kit parts and scratch building. According to one reviewer they stated that the interior is well rounded but to my eyes it's anything but! I'm very particular about the offices of my bird builds and given that this comes with a very clear vac canopy I'll be adding a lot into her fuselage.

The landing gear looks pretty chunky, apart from the photo etched parts, but it's a pretty light kit so I should be able to shape these up into something reasonable without having to resort to making all new landing gear strut assemblies. I'm not real happy with the wheels in general but after I study the proportions against photographs I'll make a judgement then as to whether I'll be using these or looking elsewhere. Whether it's an aftermarket, something sourced from the parts bin or a handmade resin component I don't yet know. I've never tried the last of those options but I know I'll wind up in that position someday.

Do you ever wonder if modelers that reach this stage of obsession over detail suffer from OCD and are a touch masochistic? I plead the fifth!

Mark K
Thanks for sharing your ruminations. If it's any consolation, it all strikes a chord with me - exactly the kind of considerations that have kept so many kits unbuilt for years or decades. If I could be less picky, and less afraid of taking on things that I might mess up, I'd get a lot more done.

The last couple of projects that I posted are in that category, alas. The St-Chamond tank looks like a nice little kit, but it's going to involve a lot of sawing and filing of resin, which I can't say I enjoy. And the Triton kit is just godawful, and the instructions consist of one cryptic exploded drawing, so even test-fitting the major parts is a challenge.

Edward May
Oh yes, there are some kits that languish away on the shelf for that exact reason! I remember back in the day hunting high and low for the Contrail Petlyakov Pe-8, jeez, more than half my lifetime ago. Only after the hunt did I learn that the kit fuselage was something like two real centimeters short. It wouldn't be until many years after that I learned that I could've hand casted a resin plug but of course by then Zvezda had released it's kit; In no less than three variations to boot.

I am not as bad off as many modelers, the so called "rivet counters," I can overlook slight discrepancies so long as the dimensions are reasonably correct and it's shape is true. I don't even mind sanding rivets and raised panel lines since I can inscribe new ones easily enough. I don't yet have a tool for rivets but I've been using a hypodermic needle in a pin vice to create rivets.

Personally I also dislike empty wheel wells, featureless interiors if it's visible to the casual observer, defensive weaponry that looks like a stick paired with a 2x4, a poor representation for the power plant or landing gear that lacks even basic detail. All of that is easy enough to fix if you don't mind going elbow deep into the kit with only a moderate amount of effort. I actually kind of enjoy this sort of work. Photo-etch, resin, brass and white metal are dandy but they're just a convenient shortcut in MOST cases.

The only "sin" in this Breda kit is that darned solid resin cowling and engine plug. You're right though, it puts me off from building it because of how wrong it could go in trying to remedy that issue. IF I could get my hands on the Luso Kit K 14 / Breda 65 bis (A 80) Motor e "Cowling," which was designed as a correction for this kit back in '99, I don't feel I'd have any further trepidation towards building it. Then again there are even the devils' whispers that tell me to consign this kit to my trade list or the spares bin and just invest in the beautiful looking AZ Model kit.

Stefan Schacht
nice start, count me in.

Alex
Nice one, I plan to do the same kit in the near future. And I agree, the contrast dark/light gray looks a bit too strong for my taste. Not sure if the light gray is too light, IIRC the F-22 are quite dark.

Alex
Actually, the contrast can be quite strong, as I realised after a short web search...

Chris T. An
Yes, that is what I noticed when searching for photos: it depends on the light, so sometimes the contrast is strong, sometimes less. But I will not mind that anymore now, it is done an it will look different when it is completed and set to better photo lights.

John Thomas
Nice work

WhiteGlint
Looking great 👍

Alexander
Agreed looks very nice already. 👍

Chris T. An
Thank you. I finished the model today and will now take some final pictures.

I found it difficult to get the surface as you can see it in many photos: probably around 30 different shades of gray and silver, depending on the incidence of light and the age of the machine. You could certainly put a lot more work into it, but that's enough for me for now.

If you look at the photos on the Internet, every jet looks somehow different. So there is not so much you can do wrong.😉

Alexander
True, the newer birds looks relatively clean and well maintained while some older ones look heavily bleached and seem to have multiple surface panels exchanged. Awaiting the final reveal. 🙂

Scot R
I think your model turned out great. The transformation of the intakes and cockpit were amazing. Congrats.

Alexander
Somehow actually missed the final reveal, but wow, looks awesome! 👍👍 For the last picture I thought it was this way on the internet and not your model with a background, as your model fit so seamlessly with it's style. 👍

ElGuapo

Where to buy this kit outside UK?:-?