mslz22

Pilot is almost done....just a few tiny parts to mold and i can finish up the test build.... thanks mike

Skipping ahead on instructions to show off a little bit of the test build. This is really the first time i have been able to see it almost all together. Legs are still dipping down a bit because they are not glued in. pic with a 1/48 kit to show off the size...lots of little paint touch ups will be done, i am doing this at break neck speed... thanks mike

More masking suggestions, the kite decals will have a white backing but it is still a good idea to mask off the black where it will go. I masked the back of the fuselage first and then the nose area, the nose area was a bit more of a pain but overall not bad. Made a quick temp stand to help with assembly... thanks mike

As long as i am happy with the results...this will be a kit... Anyway, getting on with some painting and masking, here you can see the suggested position for the leg stripes. I am trying to do this one as a quick test shot, one of the short cuts i was trying to take was to use a semi-gloss white for the paint, eliminating the need for a gloss coat for decals....If i had it to do over again i would have stuck with flat paint and gloss coat before decals...to late now, next build will be a more pro paint up.... thanks mike

One of the things that have always driven me a bit nuts about other vf kits, was the mold split right down the middle of the legs... I have an original 1/48 club m and even that has a terrible fit there. I made the legs so that the middle has no seam, pushing it all the way to the edge. More than making the seam work easier, i think it helps the fit. The top and the bottom of the legs still may go a bit out during casting/demold, but the outer leg half is stable, pulling everything back on glue up. To do this I elastic banded the parts together, got them aligned the way i wanted, then put CA glue on the inside seam. The capillary action brings the glue thru the seams. The parts can be aligned using the panel lines, but you should kind of "click" together since i used the squish method with apoxie sculpt when forming the joint. The legs are made so that you can put the feet on after all the painting is done, these also slide onto the mid leg, allowing it to be painted separately. Also seen here is the feet detail, I pre painted the parts as seen here and assembled them later. Also first test shot of the canopy, will be cast in clear for the kit, this is just the test. thanks mike

Sorry for the weird pic, it's a tough angle to get close up...This is whole assembly that can be prepainted before attaching to the body...

Getting started, i am going to try to document the test build as good as i can and hope that it will serve as a guide for assembly. I am doing this in no particular order, just what i am getting to as parts come out of the molds etc. First up for me was to work on the intake. I wanted to keep the intake fan detail a separate part, but as the kit evolved i was not able to. The work around was that i painted the fan gun metal, made a little paint mask out of a scrap of styrene, glued a stick holder to that mask, then shot the intake with black. The result is what you see here. The intake cover and the center piece of the intake fan are cast separately and will be easy to paint. People may have another take on doing the intakes, but i usually do gunmetal for the fan and cover and flat black all around, eventually will get some blending and weathering with the white.... mike

Getting on with some test casting...canopy and frame are in a mold today, after that i can get on with the last of the mold making and get going on a test build. I hope to have some test decals late next week....The wings are a different color because they are cast in HDP thanks mike

Awesome, did not realize you started a thread over here...it's really a great idea...and great work too...looking forward to a 1/48 set

Update, i finally figured out the canopy and frame, once i get another gloss coat or 2 on i will take a pic, hopefully that is the last big hurdle....I have a few projects all converging on me at once right now with WF on the way, but i hope to have castings of all the major stuff this weekend.... thanks mike

Thanks everyone, just a quick update 90% of the molds are done, all the big stuff. I got a little hung up on the canopy frame, but i think i have that figured out. I hope to have all the last little bits molded up over the next week, then the WF test shot build.... mike

Been a couple of weeks without an update but i am happy to say that this is just about wrapped up, lots of the small parts like the intake covers are in molds now and i hope to have a the mold making for the whole thing wrapped up by mid week next week. The canopy is getting it's gloss coats right now, then the frame, that and a few other small parts, small touch ups and this is good to go.....A few last minute pics before molds, again this is a rough up as i can't glue the pattern together.. thanks mike

Thanks, right now plans are for the 1S and 1A head, if i hear from a lot of people wanting a J i will take a look at it....

Thanks guys....it was cool to see it all mocked up for the first time, but it was also helpful, in fact posting the pics helped me a bit with refining the kit. I realized after seeing the pics up here that it looked a little "short"...I know it's huge but the legs looked short in relation to the body. I went back and checked and i had the mid leg locking in with the bottom part of the leg 2.5-3mm to far in, not a lot when you look at it on a ruler but it always amazes me that you can pick it up in the model. It's an easy revision but i will need to remold the part, not a big deal. I also decided to trim about 1 mm off each side of the "backplate" to give the body a bit of a sleeker look, again not a lot but when i penciled it out on the pattern I think it will look better... thanks again mike

Been slow going with all the crazy weather around here, lots of time watching kids home from school instead of working. I got molds done for the mid leg, and the main parts of the arm so i can get to the final fitting of the parts. Very rough in here as there is nothing holding the parts together for the most part, they are just quickly mocked up. It is cool to kind of the the overall size for the fist time....now i can get on with the fine polishing and the final bits/fitting etc... mike

I have a couple of customs done with his decals that are at least 5 or 6 years old and no yellowing, and they are applied over enamel white. I may be wrong but it was my impression that any clear/dullcoat has at least some potential to yellow, future, testors or otherwise....I may be wrong about the future.. Is the base color yellowing as well? It would be easy to tell on something white, while much harder to tell on something like a cannon fodder custom, or even something light gray depending if the gray had a touch of beige or yellow in it... mike

Sounds cool.....sent you a PM about a source for metal casting... mike

Nice job...I too have a soft spot for these old kits...if i only had time to dig into my stash....

Just about finished up the buck for the canopy, I will vac form over this so it's representing the glass minus .040, so it looks a little small. My plan right now is to vac form 2x .020 laminate them together to get a .040 pattern, right now i am leaning towards a crystal clear resin canopy, i just have not had luck with vac formed canopies on finished models. The frame will either be part of the clear resin canopy, or a separate frame, right now i am leaning towards having it be part the clear canopy and just masking off and painting the frame. I also made a small adjustment to the nose, i realized it was pointing up a bit to much, this looks better IMO, but now i need to redo some of the panel lines. thanks mike

Wondering if this is a prototype or fanmade armor...the lack of detail around the thrusters at the back of the boosters does not seem like Hasegawa's style...

I would really like to, depends a little on how well the basic kit does, if it is offered it will be an add on, no need to buy a 2nd kit. Getting started on cutting the ribbing to make the buck for the canopy. I opened up the cockpit another 2mm, it's pretty amazing how 2mm makes a difference at this scale but i am happier with the profile of the canopy this way... thanks mike

Thanks, cleaned up the workbench a bit this morning and took a quick pic with all the rough parts to date, always inspires me to get cracking to see it like this...Hopefully will get some work done on it today after i go chop some ice outside.... mike

Yep 1/24 harrier pilot...again just a stand in...I have just about got the major stuff wrapped up. everything is slightly proud at this point in anticipation of some shrinkage, it's always easier to subtract a little material from a casting than add it, so everything does not fit quite right. The parts need to get assembled in a sequence for it to get in there, the good news is that all interior parts can be painted separately from the fuselage and added at the last minute, saving some masking. Still a few little details to add but getting there.... thanks mike

Pilot is just a stand in, but is a 1/24 pilot....I will put the real one on P90X to get him to fit in....Looks like there was some anime magic going on in the cockpit if you ask me...

Starting to play with the pilot...tight fit!!