Felow constructors.

It's time......next to some fuselage preparations I'm going to start on the cockpit of my 1/32 F-15 Eagle.

Since it's the first plane in 15 years or so, I could do with some help.

Anybody some tips or links on how to build a cockpit ?

A few councels : don't build the whole cockpit first... You'd better try to paint as much as possible before gluing.
Otherwise you'll have "reachability" problems.
You must have photos to know the right colors for the several buttons and knotches...
Then you must not forget a nice wash, and of course drybrushing ! That's what helps a lot to show the instruments, except
if you're are painting them one by one...
If the seat doesn't have belts and buckles, don't hesitate to add them. It's a bit of an effort, but it's realy visible afterwards.
I don't know if the F15 has ejection handles above the head of the pilot, but if there are, paint them well
( these yellow and black stripes are very visible ).

OK, that's all I can see so far ! :-)

Thx Penpen,

In my early days I used to paint, wash and weather the instruments as well as a one by one approach on each button or meter. Right now it will be a test all over again. I'm now 15 years older and my hands...........well let's hope and pray they're still as steady as the rocks they used to be.

The tip on not building the cockpit in once, was something that slipped out of my mind. I thank you for that one.

About the belts 'n buckels I can say that's really going to test me, since I've never did that part before. But like my own advice to others.....I'll be patient and practice, practice and...practice some more before doing it on the real thing.



If anything else comes to mind.....don't hesitate to share it with me !

As far as building the cockpit good luck. A well-done cockpit can make a model really stand-out. As far as the seatbelts go, you can easily make them out of masking tape. Lay a piece of tape down, sticky side up and then place another on top of it, sticky side down. This doubles the thickness of the harness and makes it more realistic. After that just cut them to size and add the buckles. On the instruments, you can add a tiny drop of liquid glue to each instrument that will dry clear and simulate the glass covering the instrument. Also, be sure to drybrush all the details before starting your detail painting. The drybrushing will really pull-out all the little intricate detail that's hard to see otherwise.

If your going to be getting back into airplane modeling, I'd like to recommend a book called 'Detailing Scale Model Aircraft' by Mike Ashey. It's put out by the Kalmbach Publishing, the same people who put out Fine Scale Modeler. It's an excellent book in detailing anything on an aircraft from the landing gear bays to the cockpit. The cockpit section is particularly nice because it starts out with working on the kit supplied cockpit and goes to totally scratchbuilding a new cockpit. It covers the painting of the cockpit very well.

Good Luck!

Tin Can,

Can you please provide me the ISBN number of the "Ashey" book. Not all the books are so easy to obtain over here (at least not without the huge amounts op p&p).

Eagle,
I almost never use the kit instrument panel but scratchbuild mine. I use the kits for a template and cut 2 identical panels fron sheet plastic, .020 (but it depends on the aircraft scale) thick. I paint one flat black the other I leave white for now. A good refrence pic of the panel is a must. I take the plain one and draw the instrument layout with a fine pencil and drill/punch out the holes for the gauges. I then lay the one with the holes over the painted one. I then take a tool I made of an old paintbrush handle and sewing needle and CAREFULLY scribe the outline of the instruments on the painted one. I then remove the front panel and paint it black or grey or whatever color it is supposed to be. I then CAREFULLY scribe the instrument detail in the black panel, this makes the white numbers etc. show through the black paint. I then add the colored parts, red lines etc. and when finished I sandwich a piece of .010 clear acetate between the two and VOILA! It sounds lengthy but I did a ME-109 Instrument panel in about 1 hour and it looks good. I guess I need to get a DIGI-Cam for photos, but if I did that, I wouldn't have the money for more kits, dilemma. HTH :-) P.S. This idea came from a VERY OLD FSM issue. If i find it, I'll photocopy the pages and send it to you.

ThX Chief,

Looking forward to that copy.Hope you'll find it.

Chief, nice tips!

Eagle, here's the ISBN# for that book: 0-89024-205-4

Eagle, since your a/c is 1/32 the ejection seat is gong to be a nice big palette for colors. I base paint the seat cushions in acrylic paints. These dry pretty quick which brings me to my next step. I then use an appropriately colored oils paint and lay in wear areas and highlight to the seat. After these are laid in I let it set for 15-20 minutes and then blend them. Makes for a very realistic looking seat. As far as the rest of the cockpit goes, the other tips mentioned previously will work well. I will recommend that once you have the side walls, floor and any other portions painted that you you apply some Future Floor Wax, and once this is dry apply a nice oil wash of Raw Umber. The future wil allow the paint to flow nice and even around all the details. After the wash has dried, you can apply a flat coat and then drybrush over this. I have a 1/32 A/C underway. I haven't started the cockpit as yet so I might use my new digital camera and do an article to post on this method. Hope I haven't confused you. Have fun. "Q"

Thax Tin.

Looking forward to the pics Red ! I'll sure follow up on your tips !

I usally build modified oob I add belts maybe so odds and ends . The 15 is a
great subject to do. On the instrument panel I under coat with white and
after drying a flat grey or black as the case maybe , after this dries I
carefully scrape off the top coat brings out the detail quite well.
the article from FSM will help you. Ive got it a big help.


ponysoldier

I usally build modified oob I add belts maybe so odds and ends . The 15 is a
great subject to do. On the instrument panel I under coat with white and
after drying a flat grey or black as the case maybe , after this dries I
carefully scrape off the top coat brings out the detail quite well.
the article from FSM will help you. Ive got it a big help.


ponysoldier

Eagle I started building my bird. Its the Revell 1/32 F4 Phantom. I have the True Details ejection seats. So far I have both seats under painted in acrylics. I have taken pictures of the process thus far. I also took a couple of shots with the kits seats next to the True Details resin seats for comparison. Once I get everything done, I'll post the entire article here. In the meantime if you like I can send you the pics sort of as a play by play sneak preview.
I plan on painting one seat completely and showing the comparison to the other that is just base coated. The cockpit will be done the same way...before during and after pics. Drop
me a line if want any more info. Hope your build is going well. "Q"