Justin: I see why you wanted the weapons bays open now. The contrast in colors and surface detail between the bay interiors and the airframe's skin is quite excellent.

I got to see one of these up close at the Randolph airshow back in '08 I believe. I should have taken more pictures, however I don't think that it had the weapons bays open.

Thank you,Yes sir it makes it stand out alot more wait till there are missles in there and i still have alot of detail painting and so on

this is really becoming a masterpiece

and it is at the satge where impatience makes me screw things up

so, stay patient

Thanks drab

Got a lot done should be done soon been snapping pictures along the way I will post soon

Nice paintjob Justin

Thanks for the great photos Bruce

Thanks Tojo!
Well here is a photo walk through of whats been going on the last week Its almost finished and it will look good in my case.






















Now to get back to work on the missles and wheels hope you like next update will be the finished product

Just one question, are you going to be displaying this one a mirror base? The weapon bays and landing gear look so good it would be a shame to just point them down at a non-reflective surface

as soon as it is finished yes it will be on a mirror

Wow Justin!

That's a serious machine! What have you used for the landing gear wires? Maybe it is easier to use small solder wire because it is very soft and therefor very easy to lay around curves and other odd shapes. Just a thought!

Very curious to your next update, keep it going!!

Thanks solder is to thick.I'll be sticking with stretched sprew from now on
Also IMHO The part I think your referring to is the scissor and on most modern aircraft the hydraulic lines are rubber here because it's a moving part so they are left loose.I also used guitar wire on these because I didn't know how to stretch sprew until recently.which I'm going to go nuts with since I now have about 12 feet of the stuff lol.

OK the Raptor is 99% done just need to attach the canopy.but that will have to wait while it dries tonight.So I figured I would show you what hours of tedious work,four monkeys,a bottle of Rum(dont tell Auss) and a dash board Hula girl get me for the day.I finished six AIM-120C's and two AIM-9X sidewinders and buttoned up a few last details like some weathering on the underside..I took pic's before installing the missles because its hard to see all the details after so here you are...





Finished Pic's soon

No need to tell me Justin, I can hear the top come off a bottle of Rum from several light years away. I'm just VERY disappointed that I didn't get the invite to partake (or perhaps it's in the mail )

Looking great mate, keep it cooking !!

Cheers, D

Justin, FWIW, I've come across a roll of .010 dia. solder. At .48 full size, it wouldn't be too far off from a real hydraulic line.

@auss your always Invited my friend

@mark I've tried to find it locally but nobody carries it so I will use joes method and use stretched sprew from now on.

@afterburner I noticed you removed your post please share I was having a bad week and I vented if you want say it looks like crap be my guest.

COMPLETION !!!!!





















The kit built really well almost put it self together
Thanks to Hawkeye Hobbies for making such an innovative tint as well.
And also Thanks to Jean-Luc for sharing his technique for oil stains.

Yeah now that looks great Justin, well done. Other than the EoD build will or do you have another jet sitting around waiting for glue.

Happy Modeling,
Joe

Thanks joe i dont know yet I keep eye balling the F-5 though

Justin,excellent build,really beautiful,makes me want to break out my F-22 right now."if I can get up the nerve" But your detailed instructions and guide will definitly make it an easier project to tackle.Thanks again for posting this.

PS-did you ever finish the DML Me-110 ?

Sweet! If I had to pick something out to complain about............I'd like to see a pin wash to pick out the exterior details. That's just me though. You guys are seriously rockin' the modern jets around here. I can't wait to get back into the groove.


Hermon

ps: Those weapons bays are the total shiznit. I ain't even gonna try to replicate any of that with my kit. The whole kit needs to be displayed on a mirror so everyone can see the underside detail.

Thanks Guys.
@Tojo the Dml is just sitting in the corner my son has lost interest but maybe he will pick it up again one day.
@Cuda I was going to give it a wash but out of all the pic's Ilooked out really the only place there is any kind of ware is on the belly under the engines where I put the wash and oil stains.The rest of the bird is smooth sleek and sexy although I dont know what I want to build next now.But I have a list

Beautiful job Justin. I've never been a big fan of modern jets, but seeing the work you and Joe have done of late I may need to take another look in the LHS.

Cheers, D

Thanks D maybe we will see a build log soon

100 sorry couldnt help it