I decided I wanted to get back into this hobby. I built a few models as a kid and a few in college. So, my lovely wife bought me a couple kits for Christmas... And I bought some supplies. 
(I actually started with a build with my stepson of a Dodge Challenger... But, I like wings.)
I started the other day. I primed the kit and then started to carefully paint the cockpit. It came out decently. Luckily I watched a couple YouTube videos for some techniques on drybrushing the controls. Happy with that, I moved on to the landing gear and nose assembly. Small seams, but nothing frightening. Emboldened, I turned to the fuselage and wings. I had horrified memories of an F-14 kit years ago that had serious issues but this one came together nicely. I was feeling so good about it, I even decided to try to fill some seams with my newly purchased green putty and Mr. Surfacer.
Hit my first snag when I tried to decide if the seams on the wing tops were actually panel lines and should stay, or not. Had a lot of fun looking at f-15 pics on the Internet. I feel like the seams on the top of the wing should stay and the ones on the very front and where the wings meet the fuselage are the only things I should fill. Does that seem right?
Okay, I'm starting to feel like this kit is gonna have a lot of mistakes and I should consider it practice... And then I see something odd. At the back of the fuselage, where the horizontal stabilizers are, the very end of the plane, like the little pointy ends between the stabilizers, one is missing. It looks weird to me. But, I think it might be a space for another part. I go searching through the sprues and the instructions for the missing part. Then, I look more closely at the left horizontal stablizer, and I realize that part of it is missing.
Blast it, I see now that my top fuselage part is actually not fully formed. So, I've already put on the jet intakes, the conformal fuel tanks and the glue on the fuselage/wings cured days ago. I ordered a replacement part from Revell and used my hobby knife to carefully remove the top fuselage. Now I know this is a practice kit. I will get to practice sanding and filling and all kinds of techniques. But, I'm a little bummed because I was looking forward to finishing it.
Oh well, no worries. I am taking delivery on an airbrush, my first, later this month. So, this should the pressure off of me when I paint this one. Anyway, I thought maybe that since you guys all seem so good at this that you might get a chuckle from my noob misadventures. I'm sure there will be more.
(I actually started with a build with my stepson of a Dodge Challenger... But, I like wings.)I started the other day. I primed the kit and then started to carefully paint the cockpit. It came out decently. Luckily I watched a couple YouTube videos for some techniques on drybrushing the controls. Happy with that, I moved on to the landing gear and nose assembly. Small seams, but nothing frightening. Emboldened, I turned to the fuselage and wings. I had horrified memories of an F-14 kit years ago that had serious issues but this one came together nicely. I was feeling so good about it, I even decided to try to fill some seams with my newly purchased green putty and Mr. Surfacer.
Hit my first snag when I tried to decide if the seams on the wing tops were actually panel lines and should stay, or not. Had a lot of fun looking at f-15 pics on the Internet. I feel like the seams on the top of the wing should stay and the ones on the very front and where the wings meet the fuselage are the only things I should fill. Does that seem right?
Okay, I'm starting to feel like this kit is gonna have a lot of mistakes and I should consider it practice... And then I see something odd. At the back of the fuselage, where the horizontal stabilizers are, the very end of the plane, like the little pointy ends between the stabilizers, one is missing. It looks weird to me. But, I think it might be a space for another part. I go searching through the sprues and the instructions for the missing part. Then, I look more closely at the left horizontal stablizer, and I realize that part of it is missing.
Blast it, I see now that my top fuselage part is actually not fully formed. So, I've already put on the jet intakes, the conformal fuel tanks and the glue on the fuselage/wings cured days ago. I ordered a replacement part from Revell and used my hobby knife to carefully remove the top fuselage. Now I know this is a practice kit. I will get to practice sanding and filling and all kinds of techniques. But, I'm a little bummed because I was looking forward to finishing it.
Oh well, no worries. I am taking delivery on an airbrush, my first, later this month. So, this should the pressure off of me when I paint this one. Anyway, I thought maybe that since you guys all seem so good at this that you might get a chuckle from my noob misadventures. I'm sure there will be more.
