This is the Hasegawa 1/72 representation of an F-15J Eagle. The bird is built straight out of the box and there are probably some major colour inaccuracies.

Full gallery is here if you are uninterested in the buildup article.




Whilst this is not my first model, it is the first aero-plane kit that I have done up properly and completely (seam fix, prime, paint, wash, decals and flat coat).

Painting was done with Tamiya acrylics and ordinance represented are Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles from the Hasegawa weapons set.

I started assembly and painting on the cockpit. The controls were dry brushed. Unfortunately I should have take pictures before putting on the canopy). I also painted the interior of the air intakes at this stage

The bird was then assembled and the following seams were fixed:
• Nose
• Rear fuselage
• Top wing root
• Fuel tanks

Once all of this was done, the cockpit and intakes were masked and the painting process was started in the following order
• Prime with Tamiya surface primer applied with airbrush
• Base coat of light gray
• Subtle postshading with medium gray
• Base coat repainted with a 50:50 mix of light gray since the standard light gray was too dark for my tasted. This obliterated my previous post shade.
• The next step would probably scare most people and screw up their paint ideas. For the exhaust area and cones (top and bottom) I airbrushed un-thinned Model Master Metalizer titanium (which is a lacquer) straight over bare Tamiya acrylic, guess what no peeling or blistering, the only dodgy side effect is that the Metalizer isn’t as smooth or glossy as over bare plastic, but still decent and durable (I flicked it with a fingernail and there was no chipping). Shading was done with MM Metalizer magnesium. Just so you know I did test the MMM over Tamiya on a spare piece of plastic first.

• Camo areas were masked and painted with a mix of light gray and I think it was light blue, the final effect was very subtle and there was very little contrast between the base coat and camo colors. It also produced a shade that was more green than gray.
• Various little detail painting was done.
-Little lights on the tail
-Silver antennas on the nose
-Red ID thingy situated over the left intake. In reality it should actually be metallic blue green
• A gloss coat of future was applied for the wash
At the end of this stage I was happy with the way that the bird turned out and proceeded to do the wash

This was the first time that I have ever used a wash and I did it in the following manner:
The wash was done with Windsor Newton oil paints; it was a mix of normal Paynes Gray and water mixable titanium white oil paint. The mix was thinned with artists turpentine. The panel lines were very shallow, so I had to literally brush the wash over the length of some of the panel lines.
I then left it to dry for just under a day.

This was when I botched up. I used the same artists turpentine to clean away the wash residue, unfortunately the previous gloss coat of future was too thin and the turpentine literally ate through right down to the plastic (check out the horizontal right tail fin), EEK. What I ended up doing was using a wet fingertip to “smudge” the wash away; this only worked well on some of the panel lines (the ones that were neat to begin with) and didn’t do much for the others (the ones that were messy). Compare the top left wing (dirty) with the top right wing (cleaner) here; imagine looking down the tail to the nose. This resulted in a bird that looked unevenly weathered. Anyways I just kept it as is since I was NOT in the mood to re-spray the entire bird.

The bird then received another coat of future in preparation for the decals. The application of the decals was NOT fun, whilst the quality of the decals was quite good in my opinion (reacts to setting solutions, not too thick, blah, and blah), the sheer number was intimidating. I applied almost all of the decals except the no step and honeycomb decals for the top surface. I worked on and off the decals over a period of three or four weeks. Some of the decals were applied when I was in a hurry so there is some silvering (now I know first hand the difference between the painted on look and silvered decals)

The bird then received a final flat coat of future to seal everything in.

Unfortunately, prior to photography I took the bird into the office to show off (everyone liked it) and accidentally broke off the antennas on the vertical tail fin and bent the other.

Lessons to use next time:
I would probably use the following ideas on future models
• MM Metalizer over bare Tamiya acrylic. MM Metalizer is a lot cheaper than Alclad, especially when you need multiple colors for highlighting exhaust areas
• Water soluble oil paints could be smudged to produce some nice subtle weather effects

Mistakes to avoid next time:
Whilst I did enjoy the building and painting process, if I had the inclination to do the project again there are things that I would definitely try and do better:
• Fix more of the seams, there are some by the gun cannon and fuel tanks
• Better postshading (keep it subtle, yet not nonexistent) and camo application (more contrast)
• Do better alignment – reference pictures indicate that the wheels are perpendicular to the ground, not splayed and the under-wing fuel tanks don’t line up to each other properly (not apparent in pictures though)
• Oil wash – note to self: PUT ON MORE LAYERS OF GLOSS COAT (not a single thin layer) and clean off wash within a day (not after). Though smudging a semi-badly applied was can create some interesting weathering effects (shading without the airbrush?)
• Take time to apply decals to avoid silvering.
• Re scribe Hasegawa panels lines as they are very shallow

All in all I spent about 5 months on and off doing the bird up.

The bird now sits on my table looking aggressive and weathered, though I wanted it to be a nice clean one. Oh well, I’ll do better it next time 

As a side note I think it looks great, but the close up shots isn’t as great.

Comments, suggestions and questions are totally welcome

Well, for your first effort - that isn't too bad at all. The most important thing is that you learn where you went wrong - which it sounds like you have done. Give it a few more goes and you will be on top of most of it - honest!

I would suggest a couple of cheap 1/72 kits - if jets is your thing, try the F-16's, Harriers as they are cheap and you can perfect you techniques on them.

You ought to apply the decals BEFORE you do the panel lines. My basic order is this -

Pre-shade (if i'm using it)
Paint
Post shade (if i'm using it)
3-4 coats of Future/Klear
Decals
2 coats of future/klear
panel lines
Exhaust stains (WW2 A/C) oil stains and other weathering.
Matt or Satin varnish - depending on the finish I want

Here is one of mine - it took only about 3 attempts to get to this standard so hang in there!


Regards,

Lee

Let me just say one more thing - Tamiya 'Smoke'. This is one of the most versatile paints available. It is a fairly clear oily brown colour and you can use it for many things -

* Mix it with future and dip the Modern US canopies in it to get the 'tinted' look.
* Use it for exhausts stains - a few coats for light stains and several for heavy stains.
* A very narrow airbrushed line along the panel lines gives a nice shading look.
* Gives a nice oily looking wash in wheel wells and wheel hubs.

There are more uses but of the top of my head I can't think of them.....

Lee

thanks for the tips. The reason why I didn't do the decals first was that I was afraid that the decals would totally obscure and fill the panel lines. I'll probably give panel rescribing a go on a hasegawa 1/72 F-18F (that I have in my stash) - so decals won't fill up the panel line

If you use Microset/Microsol on your decals, they will bed down right into the panel lines.

Lee