1/72 Hasegawa VF-0S Step-by-step...

[wm cheng]

Man! finally done all those data stencil decals - boy was it worth it - I love all that tiny writing all over the plane, it really gives it a sence of scale.

It was probably 20 hours of decalling spread over a week!

[wm cheng]

I cut the decal along the panel separation lines once they were dried, and re-dabbed some more MicroSOL onto the cut edges, I find that in simple cases like these, to actually cut the decal makes them look so much more realistic.

[wm cheng]

Here's a black oil wash on the fast packs after the decals.

[wm cheng]

Here's a white oil wash over top of the black decals to pick out the revits and panel lines. This breaks up the decal and ties it into the overall aircraft a bit more.

[wm cheng]

A white oil wash on the black areas as mentioned before, and a grey oil wash on the lighter areas. I tried to highlight the rudder control surface with white on the black background, and were it its the white cross bones, I place a dab of dark grey so you can always read the separation.

I kind of like the little splots around the revit holes, if this was a dirtier bird in 1/32 scale, it would look pretty good as it is without wiping it off later

[wm cheng]

Here I have wipped off the excess oil paint (after allowing it dry for a few hours) you can see that it picks out the details in the pack areas better, paying careful attention to access panels that cross from the "white" areas into the black stripe.

[wm cheng]

Here's the finished rudder - I didn't wipe the white off too much - unfortunately you can't see it in the photo, but I left some of the white around the revits - it makes it look a bit sun faded - but its too subtle to be seen in the photograph, but you can see it in person

[wm cheng]

With these high-contrast decals, I feel the weathering ties in better. Although still overly weathered for an 1/72 scale aircraft - it does look like the CGI model though.

[wm cheng]

Here's a shot showing the leg decal integrated into all that nice panel details with the various white and grey/black wash process completed.

Funny, the instructions call for several of the small red data stencil decals to be placed right in the black stripe - but the red is not backed with white. So the red stencilling dissappears against the black stripe. So I took a bit of artistic licence and put some of the stencilling above or below the stripe. The "Beware of Blast" should be below the stripe - it will look better next to our other Valks.

Edited May 6, 2004 by wm cheng

[David Hingtgen]

Wow, love the rivet details on the v.stab, and the rub-strip ahead of the rudder itself.

BTW, with all these close-ups, I realized that's not the Jolly Rogers skull (nor bones). It's *a* "skull 'n bones" but not Jolly Rogers style. Just a trivia note.

PS--love stencil data? Build a JASDF F-4EJ or F-15J. I have a 6x8 inch decal that is JUST the stencils for an F-4EJ. About 120 decals I think.

Edited May 5, 2004 by David Hingtgen

[wm cheng]

After "talking" with David - he convinced me to create sweep marks on the wings just like the F-14 Tomcat. He sent some amazing photos that shows what these sweep marks look like - so I thought I might experiment here on this bird before I do it on my future F-14.

Since I have already decalled this section and clear-coated. I would have to be very careful when masking, I used post-it notes to try and trace out the contour of the fuselage when the wing is fully swept.

[wm cheng]

Then I took some of my conte/pastel chalk and created some shavings which I used the blending stick and dipped a little into the filings. Using the blending stick, I "drew" some arcing lines from the post-it note edges towards the fuselage.

[wm cheng]

Then I smudge it a bit more with the stick and some paper towels, always trying to work with the curve of the arc from the post-it side towards the fuselage.

[wm cheng]

This looked pretty cool - but I decided it was a little too dark, so I lightened it a bit more with a eraser.

[wm cheng]

Here's one of the shots of a real F-14 (thanks David H.) showing the wing sweep areas, its a little too pronounced here in my opinion, but I like the tail insignia

[wm cheng]

This shot shows both sides of the wear. I will spray a thicker coat of clear-coat to protect these sweep wear areas once I am satisfied with them.

[wm cheng]

I am pretty happy with them - it does make the bird look dirtier though. Note, I haven't pushed the wings all the way in yet (I want to make sure I don't need them out again - its pretty hard to take them out afterwards - its a really tight fit)

[wm cheng]

Ahh, I just can't wait, I pushed the wings right in (I hope I don't have to remove tem again)

[wm cheng]

In the swept back position - they are completely hidden. Hmm, I might change my mind on doing my future F-14 with the wings swept forward...

[wm cheng]

I've given the black areas a very light dusting or shot of the light grey body colour to lighten it up just a tad and all the leading edges of the black gets another shot of this light grey. It just blends in the decals a bit more so they look a bit worn and not so "black" against the body of the aircraft. I also took a few shots of thinned black and hit the white skull and lettering on the black so that they were toned down a bit too and tied into the weathered nature of the overall paint scheme. The light grey shots also toned down the red UN Spacy kite symbol so it doesn jump out at you to much. This is a very important step to tie the overall decals into the paint finish. Once I was satisfied, I clear-coated the entire thing again to protect this light dusting, since its very fragile and this light dusting scratches off easily if not protected.

[wm cheng]

Overall shot from above.

[wm cheng]

Yaay! I finally glued the head on - I waited till I was finished with all the clear-coats and dustings until I put the head on, since I did the red nav light in an ultra gloss clear red, I didn't want anything that might dull it down. I also airbrushed a thinned black on the gun pod's lettering to tie it into the panelling and blend it in more.

I still have the silver and clear red to do on the gun pod, but I will wait until the landing gear is in place to protect it - right now the plane rests on this gun pod. and and red I do would be damaged.

I love the arresting hook - god bless Hasegawa's hearts to even include the white and black striping for this piece!

[wm cheng]

This is the part where I always wished I decided to do the plane with the landing gears up!!

I hate having to make this decision everytime - it looks so much better and sleeker in-flight mode, but the gears allow it to sit and be displayed with the cockpit canopy open. Oh, well... I guess thats why I need at least two.

[wm cheng]

Hmm, the black still looks pretty black in this photo. Well take my world for it, it ties in better - I'm not just a sucker for pointless work (really I'm not)!

[wm cheng]

Here's a shot where you can just see into the intakes and the spinners with the grey intake contours fading to the white near the front opening - this effect gives it a more sense of depth. You can see the drilled out head lasers too.

[wm cheng]

Here's the fast packs after some light streaking of the light grey to hit/highlight all the forward surfaces, and some darker thinned black to tie the UN Spacy lettering and missle exhaust stains. I clear-coated the entire thing in Flat finish in keeping with all my other Valkyries where the plane is semi-gloss with a sheen and all the fast packs are flat finish - the contrast is quite nice (if I do say so myself )

[wm cheng]

Glad I used those magnets!!

Hmm, in flight mode looks better all the time - excuse me while I zoom it around the room a bit

[wm cheng]

Its funny the packs don't have the perfect contour to fit onto the legs - its notched out for the ventral fins, but doesn't quite make contact properly. Its hardly noticeable though.

Maybe I get to peel back the canopy tommorrow or the landing gears and doors, I don't know which yet.

[David Hingtgen]

While you're at it, details on how you glue in gear-doors nicely would be appreciated. (and how you ensure straight strut and wheel attachment).

[Grayson72]

That fast packs came out really great looking, I always like flat finishes on 1/72 scale.

[Myersjessee]

GORGEOUS!!!! I can't for the big finish!

[Grayson72]

Hey what color paint did you use for the fast packs?

[Jawjaw]

Tremendous as always! I just love those finishing touches that really tie it all together.

[Stamen0083]

I may be able to match you point for point when it comes to construction, but I can never hope to achieve such a flawless finish.

At least not yet.

You are, indeed, the master. It is quite the honor that you listen to what we have to say.

Bravo :-D

Edited May 6, 2004 by Stamen0083

[mechaninac]

That's it, it's official, time to stop building models altogether. There is no way I could even come close to matching the beauty of your work.

Edited May 6, 2004 by mechaninac