Eurofighter EF-2000 1/72 Tamiya

[Caledonia]

This is my next project. Looks nicely moulded but the panel lines look a little too deeply engraved. This will be an out of the box build with the exception of the Decals; the kit had peculiar NATO markings, I have bought some Model Alliance RAF Decals instead. Cheers Derek

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[yak face]

Hi derek, looking forward to seeing how this one goes together. You mention the panel lines are a little deep, looking at the sprue shots and especially the decals it looks to me as if tamiya have reboxed someone elses moulding, it just doesnt seem like one of theirs. That said, it still looks a nice straightforward build and im sure the old caledonia magic will produce a great finish (even if it is only grey !!) cheers tony

 

[Fenlander]

Being a solid colour, I wouldn't worry too much re the panel lines. Just don't do a heavy wash on it and they will show up fine on their own. Another hint for me to get on with finishing my Revell 1:48. Only needs finishing touches but I just cannot get motivated. With a bit of luck, your build will give me the old kick up the bum I need to get it done.

 

[Caledonia]

Graham, thanks for the tip, I didn't plan to do much weathering as so far all the Eurofighters I have seen or seen photos of, have been very clean.

Tony, you could be right about the re-boxing, the kit was obviously intended for the home market as all the instructions are in Japanese only. As for grey - grey is good after my Starfighter and SU-33 Joseph's multi-coloured coat finish. You will be disappointed with my next three models if you don't like grey - watch this space as they say.

Cheers Gents

 

[Ian M]

I have a suspicion that its an Italeri rebox.

Looking forwards to seing what you squeeze out of this one Derek.

Ian M

 

[Caledonia]

I have a suspicion that its an Italeri rebox. Looking forwards to seing what you squeeze out of this one Derek.

Ian M

Ian, you may well be right. If you look at my sprues photo in the plastic bag, it has 'Made in Italy' printed on it. The copyright date on the box is 1996 so its an older one. Cheers Derek

 

[yak face]

Graham, thanks for the tip, I didn't plan to do much weathering as so far all the Eurofighters I have seen or seen photos of, have been very clean.Tony, you could be right about the re-boxing, the kit was obviously intended for the home market as all the instructions are in Japanese only. As for grey - grey is good after my Starfighter and SU-33 Joseph's multi-coloured coat finish. You will be disappointed with my next three models if you don't like grey - watch this space as they say.

Cheers Gents

Im never disappointed with your models derek,even a plain grey can look great ,its just that youve spoiled us with your colourful paint jobs!!LOLcheers tony

 

[backonthecase]

Hi Derek, I loved the -104 build so it'll be nice to see what you do with the Typhoon.

From the photos, I'd wager 99.932% that this is the Italeri. I built their twin stick version a while back and I recognise a lot of the parts being the same. Take care around the intake area, I seem to remember it being rather testing...

Looking forward to this coming together

Stuart

 

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Derek

I'll be interested to see how this comes together. The topmost aircraft on the Model Alliance sheet is the same Squadron Eurofighter that featured at the Biggin Hill Show. I've got another shot of this aircraft deploying a shute if it helps. Don't know a great deal about this aircraft except it's incredibly loud and very agile in the air. I don't know anything about the kit at all, but I'm sure you'll make a cracking job of it.

Paul

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[Caledonia]

Tony, flattery will get you everything, cheers

Stuart, thanks Italeri is usually good, but being an older kit there seems to be a lot of fit issues around the wings, air intakes are usually the hardest part in Jets I find, thanks for your interest, cheers

Paul, thanks for the photo, I always scour my records and the internet for photos when I start a model. I saw the same Eurofighter at Leuchars last year, and this is what I am going to base my model on. Fortunately the decals I bought covers this actual aircraft. Thanks again for the photo you cannot get too many, cheers

PROGRESS TO DATE

Not a lot, the Boss had me lay some patio and paint the bird table. Anyway have painted the cockpit, the seat belts were molded into the seat, but I added some on the head cushion and made up a bit to go on top of the head rest that I saw in a photo. The cockpit canopy in the kit is clear plastic, but the Eurofighter I am basing the model on has a smoked finish canopy, so to achieve this I added some Indian Ink to Klear, and dunked it a few times. A trial fit of the Wings show a large gap, will show some before and after shots with my next posting, Cheers Derek

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[backonthecase]

The wing top halves fitting to the fuselage i now remember was challenging. you could put a couple of spacers made from sprue on the underside of the upper halves, that might help. Mine sit too low at the fuselage I think.

HTH

Stuart

 

[Caledonia]

As promised a shot of the gap at the wing root is the first photo below, followed by one showing the gap filling aided by masking tape. The filler was 'painted' on with a cotton bud soaked in acetone based nail varnish remover. The tape was removed immediately. When the filler was hard, the surplus was cleaned up using a cotton bud soaked in nail varnish remover and tidied up with needle files and fine grade wire wool. As mentioned above I plan to make this aircraft the one that went round the country last year at all the airshows, so no weapons and one central fuel tank. The fuel tank supplied had the wrong fin configuration so I removed it and fitted two fins which look approx correct. The 'PIRATE' (passive infra-red airbourne tracking equipment) supplied with the kit (port side just below the front of the cockpit) was not entirely the right shape nor was it set at the right angle, so I have adjusted this to fit approx. as the photos I have. Am almost ready to close up the cockpit, the cover for the electronics bay is being glued to the canopy with clearfix so will need to dry overnight. Have a few other minor adjustments to make to the kit, them I should be ready to start painting. Cheers

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[colin m]

Taking shape nicely Derek. The real thing is so impressive at the airshows I've been to, it might be time to build one of my own ( and I was going to be strictly WW2 when I returned to the hobby ! )

One day I'll learn to do 'in progress' posts as you do !!

Regards

Colin m.....

 

[Gern]

That canopy looks amazing! A tip to remember - especially for the car guys if they want tinted windscreens.

Gern

 

[Caledonia]

That canopy looks amazing! A tip to remember - especially for the car guys if they want tinted windscreens.Gern

Hi Dave, never thought about using it on cars, good idea. One other way is to dilute Tamiya Smoke X-19 and airbrush, but because my model being 1/72, the curvature of the canopy is tight, and I wasn't confident I could manipulate the airbrush properly. I didn't measure it, but you need quite a lot of Indian Ink to get the tint. Cheers Derek

 

[Caledonia]

Taking shape nicely Derek. The real thing is so impressive at the airshows I've been to, it might be time to build one of my own ( and I was going to be strictly WW2 when I returned to the hobby ! ) One day I'll learn to do 'in progress' posts as you do !!

Regards

Colin m.....

Hi Colin, see once you get the bug for Jets, you can forget those propeller things. Cheers Derek

 

[Caledonia]

Hi all, a good news/bad news day. The good news is I got the undercoat on using Tamiya Fine Surface Primer - Light Grey, see photos, bad news is I used Humbrol Acrylic 167 Barley Grey and got a very bad finish and didn't like the colour when it dried. So spent two hours with a roll of kitchen towel and thinner to remove it all, so I am back to a bare plastic finish. Am now sitting down with a malt whisky to calm down. Oh well tomorrows another day. Cheers Derek

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[Caledonia]

Well, the Whisky did the trick, almost back to normal.

Experimented with Lifecolor stock which I had, and for the leading edges I mixed 5 Parts Lifecolor UA079 (FS 36314 - Barley Grey) with 1 Part Lifecolor AC01 (FS 37925 - Matt White), brush painted this on to the leading edges, and when dry masked off, see photos. I then added another part of the above white to the previous mix, and airbrushed adding approx 20% Lifecolor thinner. THe photos below show the finished coating. I am trying to get the effect shown on 'TRICKEY66 (Paul's) photos he posted in Page 1. Painting this model is quite difficult, as the low-viz decals have to be darker than the fuselage. Still have a good bit of painting of minor bits and pieces including the exhaust. Will post some more photos shortly. Cheers Derek

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[Fenlander]

Looking good Derek, I like the idea of Malt whiskey to aid stripping paint lol. Wonder if a G&T does the same???? May have to experiment later. I think you have done a great job masking this up, it is a fiddly job on the 1:48 so heaven knows how you manage it on 1:72. Keep it coming, you are nearly there.

 

[Caledonia]

Graham, thanks for those words of encouragement. In order to further your education, only the Americans and Irish spell whisky with an 'e', I won't mention the Japanese paint stripper stuff. Malt Whisky is much better at calming the nerves than G&T buy the way. all the best Derek