OK, just a quick little update to show something I said I wasn't going to do. After practicing on a scrap model, I decided to add some scratches to the refueling door. Photos in Jake Melampy's "Viper Guide" show that those doors can take quite a beating. I'm a charter member of the "more is less" school of weathering, wear, and tear, so I didn't try to get mine to look as beat up as the pictures in the book showed.

I took a little scrap of sheet plastic to use as a straight edge and used a combination of a lead drafting pencil and Prismacolor colored pencils in black, light gray, and yellow, to get an effect that looked something like the real one pictured in the book. After drawing the scratches, I blended them a bit with a small eraser, dusted the whole door with bit of medium gray pastel dust, and sealed it all with a light coat of Dull Coat clear flat.

I'm quite happy with how it turned out.





I also added some light fluid streaks in areas that the book showed get some staining but they are hard to see in these photos. I used Tamiya Smoke diluted with Tamiya Clear. I'd place a tiny dot of the paint where I wanted the streak to start then wiped it back with a bit of soft foam. I wanted just a hint of the staining as the real planes are kept clean and when you scale it down, it should be barely visible.





Cheers,
Eric

Wow looks good the way it turned out

Eric,

how did you 'highlight' (for lack of a better word) the panel lines? Because only on the last set of pictures do they seem to show up.

Very good looking model btw!

Harm

Thanks, Harm!

RE: the panel lines. After sealing the decals with a final gloss coat (I use Floquil's Crystal Coat thinned with automotive lacquer thinner), I used a water-based wash of my own making. I wanted something that would not be too harsh and would contrast well with the camo colors. I used acrylic craft paints - those ones that come in 2 oz. bottles for a dollar or two at any craft store. In this case, the mix was a drop of Burnt Umber, a drop of Charcoal (dk. gray), and a drop of Soft Black (brown-black). To this was added a drop of dish washing liquid soap and about a tablespoon of water. I then used a fine pointed brush to run the mix along the lines. When dry, the excess wipes off easily with a dry, or slightly dampened (water) cloth. A cotton swab also works well for the hard to reach areas.

After the wash had dried and the excess wiped off, a final flat coat of Testors Dull Coat was applied.

Cheers,
Eric

Good tip. Thanks Eric!

Thank you for the tip Eric!

Getting VERY close to the finish line. Here are some shots of the completed cockpit without the canopy blocking the view. Man, that flash sure shows up every speck of dust!

Cheers,
Eric

Good job.looking forward to finish.Thats a sharp looking bird.

This is the final post for me in this thread. Why? Well, it's done!

I have started a new thread to show pics of the completed model.

Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement.

Cheers,
Eric

beauty!

Excellent work. The more I see builds of this scheme the more I want to do it on my 1/32 bird.

Sweeeeet looking Viper there Eric.

I did an ANG version a few months ago and have an Block 30 on my soon to-do list.

Mark

Eric I have a question Im currently building an F-22 and I am going to use your techique for the camo job.So what I need to know is how do you get the lines so crisp?are you spraying up to the Blu-tak or into the edge where it meets the plastic?