I got bored tonight so I decided to make a web page containing the pics I've taken so far of the F-18 I'm working on. You can see them here.

looking great so far. let us know when its all done, I would like to see the finished project. I think I am going to have to make a web site to post model stuff on. what are some of the good free hosting companies. I have had luck with tripod because I use frontpage, are there any others that are better?

Andrew, I'm really not sure which ones are best. The web space that I have is provided free (and advertisement free) by my ISP.

How easy is that "pre-shading" technique you use??? I have never tried but have seen the results and think it looks great...any pointers on doing this???

Chappy,
That was my first try at pre-shading and I learned a lot doing it. While I got pretty good results using the method I did (just airbrushing flat black) I think I'll try something different next time. The next model I'm going to try and paint the lines with a brush so I can get them narrower and along more panel lines. There's another method that I haven't tried yet but will...maybe on this F-18. After the model is fully complete and you're ready to start weathering you mix up a very thin mixture of black paint (about 1 drop of black paint in two eyedroppers of thinner). This makes it so that when you airbrush the mixture you get a lot more thinner than paint. At first the black isn't even noticeable but after repeated passes the black begins to build up. This procedure is actually from Dave Aungst's article on weathering and I experimented with it the other night. It works very, very good for hydraulic leaks, exhaust stains and outlining panels.

The biggest thing to be careful of is after you've preshaded and begin applying your first coat of paint-put that first coat on very sparingly. It's easy to overwhelm the preshading and obscure it from view. I actually did this on the top of my F-18 but was more careful on the bottom.

Hope this helps you out.

Dude!! that last pic of the F-18 sure looks good!! I like the silouette!! Awesome stuff!!

Tin, Its really going to be a great kit when you get it all finished. What I seen so far is AWESOME!!!!

Looks very good to me!!! :-)

:-) :-) WOW, Looking great, What did you use to mask off the A/C body prior to painting the wheel well area ?? IOf you don't mind my asking ?



DAGGER-1

That looks like painters tape Dagger, kind of a low tack masking tape - you can get it at pretty much any hardware store.

Did you do anything special to keep it from lifting up on the edges Tin-Can? Sometimes it can be a little too low tack.

Thanks for all the kind comments!




Dagger,
Phantom was right on the money. Specifically it's 'Scotch 3M Safe-Release Painters' Masking Tape.' I picked it up at Home Depot here in the states. It works real good for masking because it is low tack and doesn't peel off previous paint work.

I haven't had any problems with it curling on me. For areas like the wheel wells, I burnish down the critical edge with the but end of my x-acto knife handle or just my finger.

Bryan - niiiice Hornet there!

Gunnie

Very nice Bryan!

I like the fuses added to the bombs, it adds a lot.

Just curious, is this a Navy bird, or Marines?

- Paul

Phantom,
It's being built (with some minor detailing) and painted out-of-the-box which will yield the Navy version. This is a very poor kit in both quality and fit so I wouldn't be surprised if their were inaccuracies with the plane or finish.

Bryan, it "seams" like you had to contend with a lot of "seems" there. you've coped very well with a tough build top shelf (excellent) material as usual. Keep em rollin.

"Someone had to shoot those babies down".

Jack be amazed