F-22A Raptor - 1:72 Academy

[Caledonia]

Not wishing to tread on Ljubo's (aka Pilot Program) toes it just happened that this was my next scheduled build. Ljubo as you know is doing the 1:48 Academy build in remarkable detail I must add, so I don't plan to do a step by step unless someone is particularly interested. I have shown photos of the kit below, and I intend going for the elusive Raptor sheen using Gunze (Mr Hobby) paints including their super metallics which I have never used before. The kit comes in 3 off grey plastic sprues plus two off clear plastic sprues (one tinted and one clear). The only extras I will use is my usual Eduard Zoom set to enhance the cockpit. At the moment I don't think I will fit the weapons provided with the kit. Cheers Derek

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[Caledonia]

Whilst 'Pilot Program' is having a break from his 1:48 Raptor, I thought I would share a few shots of my progress with my 1:72. The fit is generally good with the exception of the intakes which are a real pain, one of the worst I have had to deal with. Tons of filing/shaving/sanding and dry fitting. There is a lot of ejection pin holes in awkward places also.

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As you can see above the model has been primed with my usual Tamiya white aerosol. I am trying to achiev the 'Raptor Sheen' finish as the photos below.

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I have freehanded the edges of the kit with a 50/50 mix of Mr Hobby H314 and H334 this morning so will give it 48 Hrs to cure before I mask it off.

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Cheers Derek

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[delmonteman]

Looks fantastic

 

[Caledonia]

After 8 solid hours of masking on this little blighter got the lighter metallic finish on. This is a 50/50 mix of Mr Hobby (Gunze) H315 + SM04 diluted with approx. 50% Mr Color Thinner. Waiting another 48Hrs to cure (touch dries in minutes) before masking again for the darker metallic finish. Cheers Derek

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[colin m]

Looking nice Derek. The metallic looks like it has nice 'fine' particals in it. Some metallics can be quite out of scale.

 

[papa 695]

Looking very good Derek great work so far

 

[flyjoe180]

Nice work Derek.

 

[treyzx10r]

Great a/b work Derek ca'nt wait to see it unmasked!

 

[Caledonia]

Thanks Gents, you're a mind reader Trey just took the masking off.

Had a long hard think about putting on the darker metallic colour, finally decided to do it free hand, which scared me as I have never done it on a 1:72. Anyway I changed the needle in my Iwata Revolution CR to a 0.3mm needle. I used a 50/50 mix of Mr Hobby (Gunze) H317 + SM03 diluted with approx. 20% Mr Color Thinner.

Here is the result.

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Removed the masking from the leading edges and the wheel bays; still a good bit of work in finishing off the cockpit/ under carriages/ wheel bays/ exhaust petals/decals.

Cheers Derek

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