1/48 Hobbycraft VNAF F8F,

Super job you are doing there…BRAVO!
Cheers,

Thanks Joe, you are far too kind. But I think it has quite a ways to go before it gets anywhere near super…

So since my last update I’ve been slowly working on the Bearcat. First up I had to paint the wing walk and exhaust areas flat black, as I forgot to do so when I painted the anti glare area on the nose.

Next I airbrushed on an overall coat of a satin light gray as a base for the NMF

Then I airbrushed on a coat of Humbrol non buffing metal cote Aluminum

It turned out a bit rougher than I though it would, but should look the part for faded weathered aluminum in the end. Next I airbrushed on a coat of Future for decals

Then today I applied the decals. They are fairly simple- national insignia, squadron insignia, and plane in group ID letter

The decals need another dose of decal set to snuggle into the panel lines, then another light Future coat before I can do a wash in the panel lines…

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WOW! Talk about polishing a turd… Nice.

Hi,

UMM have a set from 0.1mm to 1.1mm drill bits that have more ductile strength. Not cheap, yet worth a look at least. John will answer your questions.

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Thanks. I’ll have a look at getting a set. Some good drills would a good investment.

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They’re black in the product pictures.

So I’m trying to get this project wrapped up shortly, and have been working on it for the past few days.
First up I added and cleaned up a panel line wash

and then this evening I made up some replacement gun barrels using brass tubing

More updates to come soon…

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i was getting worried that this had found it’s way onto the shelf of doom, so it’s good to see you are making progress on it.

Are your eyes crossed from getting that alignment so true? :grinning:

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Thanks guys!

@Klaus-Adler, nope, no more long term shelf of doom side liners. Anything I start since I’ve moved to my new home will ideally be finished within the same calendar year, or not too far into the next one… so far so good. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

@HGBARNES, no crossed eyes were incurred… but I did manage to superglue my fingers together briefly during the process… :laughing:

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A little more progress on the Bearcat. I painted up and weathered the kit 5” HVARs, plus added some Pro Modeler decal stenciling, then glued them in place. I also painted up the 20mm gun barrels using a mix of Testors Gun Metal & Flat Black. That gave a nice parkerized finish looking color.

More coming tomorrow hopefully… lots going on here…

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Like a Rare Bear? :upside_down_face:

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@JPTRR, I think Rare Bear is a close cousin of this cat :wink:

Finally, enough time in the day, and no complications, to get in a good bench session. I did the last bits of airbrushing, then started removing all of the masking. Some of that dampened tissue paper in certain areas sure was reluctant to come back out, and that ended up causing me to knock a 5” rocket loose during the handling. But man does this look good now.

One more good session and I ought to be able to wrap this one up…

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Ok, I’m calling this Cat finished

I’m gonna let the landing gear fully dry overnite, as it is a bit spindly. Tomorrow I’ll get a full proper finished multi angle bunch of photos taken and posted.

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it looks fabulous, you’ve done a great job with that kit.

Thank you Klaus. I gotta say that it stacks up well enough compared to the Hobbyboss kit, and of course is superior to the old Hawk/Testors/Italeri kit. A little help here and there, and this becomes a real gem.

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Fantastic work on the Bearcat Carlos.
Really nice and neat paint finish.

@phantom_phanatic, thank you for your kind words Stephen.

So here we go, a proper all angle walk around of the Hobbycraft 1/48 F8F-1B, in the markings of the VNAF 1st Fighter Squadron, Bien Hoa AB, Republic of Vietnam, 1959, at the end of their service career.

And out in some sunlight

Only changes to the kit were replacing the gun barrels with brass tubing, adding an acetate gunsight lens, and a Kits World 3D decal seat harness. Paints are Humbrol and Testors enamels. Mig panel line wash, Tamiya Weathering Master set, and oils used for weathering.

Thanks for looking, comments and critiques welcome.

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Fantastic looking Bearcat Carlos, nicely done :smile:

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