1/72 Pak Fa...cockpits and bag clips...

Doesn't look like much but I did get the cockpit and pilot finished off and ready for painting of the overall aircraft. Looks like I went a little glue crazy but most if not all of that "extra" will be covered once I painted the edges of the canopy glass.

My favorite show below.



Here you can kind of see the teeny HUD display glass and front panel decal down in front of the pilot.





Bag clips are the best!

1/72 Pak Fa...some minor progress...

In between neverending bouts of sickness throughout the weekend, I got some things done on the Sukhoi.

Clamped and waiting on the glue to dry.



Engine parts constructed and added to the fuselage...



Pilots pretty much done with a bit of weathering added in to certain areas.





The overall detail on the Pak Fa is not bad but one thing I noticed was there are NO weapons bay doors at all on the belly. I had an idea of cutting some styrene strips and making them into weapons doors that I will then glue on the fuselage. TO get the width right I had to glue two strips together side by side and then angle the tips. What do you think?





Bench shot with stabilizers and tail fins attached.

New Comics...2.20.13...

Nice size stack this week, heavy on the DC with a nice surprise...a new feature I'm gonna try to do every week, instead of just picking a cover of the week, if I read one that blows me away before I post the covers, I'm going to give out a Comic of the Week instead...

The first winner, a new title "Fever Ridge - A Tale of Macarthur's Jungle War" #1. Part National Geographic, part WW2 comic..it involves GI snipers fighting the japanese on the island of New Guinea. Awesome.



A sample of the incredible splash artwork in issue #1...



Also making a strong bid for COTW..Hellraiser Dark Watch #1...a new direction for Hellraiser comics with Clive Barker back on board. Excellent cover.



Justice League 17...the conclusion to the Throne of Atlantis crossover, well that didn't take long. Great cover as well...



Batwoman 17...



Star Trek 18...Uhura origin story...



ST Countdown to Darkness 2...



Avengers Now 6...



Justice League of America 1....not bad...

1/72 Pak Fa...a little better...

A bit more work...some detail on the pilots and engine parts.



These look a lot worse than they really are...they are barely a quarter inch tall!







The workbench...

1/72 Scale Pak Fa...the hurt continues...

...And the struggle continues...

Some pics of the putty and my results sanding so far. Ugh. I had to step away. I WILL get it smooth but it takes a certain amount of precise effort and I'm just not there yet.





The weird shaped engine tubes forced into the openings and glued any which way I could glue them. There are so many weird angles and odd fittings here. I just hope the two fuselage halves go together when it's time.



Things seemed to get better once I started painting the figures. Some detail is finally popping out here. Not much to work with on 1/72 scale.





Decided to end this post on a good note despite my many issues. Detailing on the cockpit. There was one decal on the front display panel and then I used my smallest paint brush and dabbed in little dials and buttons here and there. I think it turned out ok!

NEW PROJECT! Revell 1/72 scale Sukhoi T-50 PAK FA...

So begins a new project. Not a good first weekend unfortunately. I keep getting reminded why I do not like Revell made kits. They are basic sometimes to the level of being remedial in some instances. I will soldier on...

Some initial cockpit painting...getting the base color down before I add in black detailing and dials, switches, etc...





Engine tubes for inside the fuselage - curious part engineering and very thin plastic.



1/72 pilot figures....very small - light years away from the Japanese pilots I just finished.



This almost made me throw the model across the room - intake frames on the underside of the jet. they had to be formed then glued to the jet. You can clearly see where they did not fit together perfect, but also where they just don't fit snug to the belly of the jet either. I just had to get them on the best way I knew how and hope for the best with putty and sanding later on. Ugh. The paint job is the only thing that will save this kit in the end I think. I'm not having the best time right now.

This is what little brothers are good for...

COBRAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

25th Anniversary HISS tank - how many times did I BEG for this as a kid!



Excellent side box vintage artwork!



Spec card - gotta clip and save! HA!



Out of box action pics to come this weekend!

1/48 Zeke...Final shots and some weathering updates...

First, I need to give a shout out to a really nice product I've discovered while finishing the Zeke. From Flory models Co...the dark dirt wash solution. It is clay based and non toxic and VERY easy to use. I originally used it on top of the Future on the Zeke, but with the pilot figures I thought they needed a bit more defition/detailing so I thought I'd give this a shot. I thinned it out with a bit of water (it's thin already anyway) - discovered that even without any future on the figs, it filled the crevices really nicely and did not leave any unwanted stains. I gotta say, if you are a figure painter, you might want to give this stuff a shot. I'm no pro, but I certainly think this gave my admittedly rookie level figures a nice overall finish. What do you think?

The Product...



Close-ups of all four figures...really like the back shots as that is where some of the really nice detail is on these. Enjoy.



























My two favorite group shots...







Some additionals with the Zeke back in the picture...













Some close-ups of the cockpit. I used the flash on some of these so the dials inside would show up. Amazing how that flash washes out the color on the plane and also makes my canopy "issues" pop out like a sore thumb! Ugh. It looks like the canopy is peeling (which may have happened in the south pacific!) Anyway I won't be using the flash for many model photos ever again! haha...









Nice overall shot...