It's not often (read: almost never) that I think a kit is a total dog, and I sort of pride myself on the fact that I'll build damn near anything. But this one was pretty bad. It almost didn't get built.
Even after assembling it I have no idea as to it's pedigree. I saw no discernible manufacturer's name or emblem on the box or instructions. It was one of those last minute E-bay scores - finding something ending in the next few minutes that was only going for 99 cents. At least I wasn't out a lot of money.
The seat looked like something from the set of a bad 60s sci-fi show, and the side console detail was 3 raised rings on each side of the cockpit - as if the plane came equipped with 6 drink holders. I was not interested in scratchbuilding a cockpit, or cannibalizing another kit. But I decided I could use it as a "test bed" for a painted canopy.
Sometimes in this hobby, folks will recommend you try a new technique out on a "throw away" model first - well, I don't really have any throw away models. But I did have one that could only improve! I also decide to try making an inflight display, something else (along with the opaque canopy) I hadn't done before.
The canopy was painted blue from the inside after having been coated with Future. It was masked for the framing then installed (and the gaps around it filled with white craft glue - which dries clear, won't craze clear plastic, and can be shaped while wet with a damp Q-Tip, meaning no sanding marks on your canopy). The supports for the inflight display are 2 K&S aluminum tubes bent to shape and cemented into a wood base I grabbed at Wal-Mart.
To make it look somewhat interesting, I used Superscale decals for "Strike U", and made a TACTS pod out of a Sidewinder missile. Weathering was with pastels.
Kit: ???
Scale: 1/72
Markings: Naval Strike Warfare Center ("Strike U")
Date: 2008
Aftermarket: Superscale Decals, K&S aluminum tubing
No comments:
Post a Comment