discussion Gary's Fujimi 1/72 Phantom FGR.2 'Firebird'

[gweller]

The airframe is also ready and has had two undercoats and the underside has had the first finishing coat. In the other photo you can see the brass replacement pitot tubes on the vertical fin. Painting the airframe is a slow process because as it is hand painted it will need 3 or 4 thin top coats for each colour

 

[gweller]

Just noticed from the last photo that I need to rescribe a couple of panel lines...

 

[Richard48]

Hiya Gary.
Glad to have you back and your Phantom.Its good to have a dual build together as at it feels like im plowing a lonely farrow.You certainly are moving a lot at pace.Missiles are coming along great mate.I had a bit of luck the other night and found a few tins of the old Humbrol Barley Grey before it became "Super enamel",So i might brush paint my jet.Im going to Essex modellers show this Sunday as im hoping to get some Ak Air gen 3 colours for my Phantoms to come.I did think about trying some of the paint markers in metallic colours to do the metal parts on the engine end.Your jet pipes look great.A friend is going to cast me some of the afterburner rings from the newer Fgr2 boxing so i can cover some of the earlier less detailed Firebird kits staring at me in the pile.I saw a great video on Youtube on the last few months of Phantoms at Raf Wattisham in May 1992.Lots of 56 Fgr2s and 74 flying Fgr2s.I believe some of the 74 tiger ones were the ones that came back from Raf Wildenwrath in Germany when the base closed.
Keep going mate,Just going to start the sanding and filling in my jet.Worst bit of aircraft models.
Richard

 

[gweller]

Hi Richard, you are making good progress as well, judging by the last set of photos! Cockpit looks very nice! Yes filling and sanding are not my favourite parts of a build and I try to minimise gaps by lots of dry fitting. But with these older kits sometimes it's just unavoidable.
The paint markers are very nice but I found them more useful for small details or touch ups. You are of course stuck with the brush tip fitted on the marker and for some things I prefer a flat brush to a round one.

 

[Richard48]

Hi Gary.
I just done 2 hours on the FG1.The top fueslage seam sanded nicely with only a few dinks to fill.Im never keen how Fujimi had the front missile bay part butting up to the lower wing.Lots of test fitting and did think about gluing it onto to the lower wing section and then getting it to line up with the nose section.Had to use a bit of CA and clamp as it was bit warped.Sanded the drop tanks and gun pod and got to drill the gun pod end open and add the holes in gun barrel.When i did my Phantoms in early 1990s Humbrol had the buffable metallics in small spray cans the size of a small body spray can.These were great coz i used to mask 2 jets and spray away.They also used to do small cans of Varnish which were spot on.Good shake and Satin or Matt finish instantly.Pondering how to do the metal work at the rear.Might even use some Warhammer paints as my neighbour says they go on well.So could be worth a go.
Happy modelling.
Richard.

 

[gweller]

Getting somewhere at last. Once more coat on the fuz still to go, plus some touching up to do plus the metal areas around the exhaust. And of course the nose cone!

 

[Richard48]

Always good to see U.k Phantoms in their plummage Gary.Did you handpaint her?,I bought some A.k air 3rd gen Barley grey last week.I will probably brush paint mine.Im thinking of doing the hot end with warhammer metal paints.My neighbour who does Warhammer says they brush nicely.
Ive got some catching up to do.
Richard

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Nice progress Gary.

 

[gweller]

Always good to see U.k Phantoms in their plummage Gary.Did you handpaint her?,I bought some A.k air 3rd gen Barley grey last week.I will probably brush paint mine.Im thinking of doing the hot end with warhammer metal paints.My neighbour who does Warhammer says they brush nicely.
Ive got some catching up to do.
Richard

Hi Richard, yes all hand painted. AK for the camo and Italeri acrylic for the red tail, all over two thin undercoats of Vellejo primer. Needs some touching up in places as my masking was not up to scratch, unfortunately.. Be interested to know how the Warhammer metal paints are as metallics always give me a problem.

 

[Richard48]

Hiya Gary.I shall test the Warhammer metalics on some scrap and see how it goes.Think ive also got some Army painter metallics in a box,In the past i used Humbrol metalcote enamels but not so good to handpaint with.They were great by airbrush if i remember and buff up nicely.
Richard

 

[gweller]

So masking tape is off and I've given the wings and part of the fuz a coat of gloss varnish to protect the paint while I do the rest of the painting. Not sure I'm that happy with it - the gloss varnish shows every imperfection, but I hope that they will be less visible

 

[Miko]

the gloss varnish shows every imperfection, but I hope that they will be less visible

A matt coat will hide a multitude of sins.

Gotta love a 56' Firebird!


Miko (Lightning F3 in 56sqn colours is a thing of rare beauty)

 

[gweller]

A matt coat will hide a multitude of sins.

Gotta love a 56' Firebird!


Miko (Lightning F3 in 56sqn colours is a thing of rare beauty)

Hi Miko, yes that's what I'm hoping for! Somehow it just looked better before the gloss coat, even though I was careful to thin the gloss varnish it still left more brush marks than I expected. Was a bit disappointed with the result, but I've come this far so I want to finish it rather than relegating it to sit on the "'shelf of doom"' . I shall put my hopes on the last coat of matt to put it right. Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[Miko]

Hi Miko, yes that's what I'm hoping for! Somehow it just looked better before the gloss coat, even though I was careful to thin the gloss varnish it still left more brush marks than I expected. Was a bit disappointed with the result, but I've come this far so I want to finish it rather than relegating it to sit on the "'shelf of doom"' . I shall put my hopes on the last coat of matt to put it right. Thanks for the encouragement!

I remember well the curse of brush marks! I blamed more modern paint, specifically Humbrol 'super' enamel! for me there wasn't anything remotely 'super' about it! I used Humbrol enamels exclusively, out of nostalgia I suppose, back in the days of the 'Humbrol Authentic' range in the 80's it went on really well, brilliant paint! Then the health and safety police had them take out the stuff that made it good because if you were exposed to it 24hrs a day for fifty years there's a chance you maybe just might get a bit of a headache! So, being frustrated with brush marks I moved over onto aerosols where I possible, brilliant for metal finishes and clear coats such as the matt coat you'll adding (semi gloss might be better) so that's what I'd suggest

. . . or

bite the bullet and get an airbrush! I resisted for years thinking it would be too much of an expensive faff! Then I found a compressor and airbrush on Amazon made by Fengda for less that £100 and thought why the hell not! . . . I haven't looked back since, takes a few goes to get the hang of it but the finish is so much better! and the set up and clean up does take time, but not as long as to brush paint your model! Also moved on to acrylic paint, mostly Tamiya and MrColor which are 'very' good!

Miko (I would probably give up modelling if airbrushes were banned!)

 

[gweller]

Hi Miko
Totally agree with you that an airbrush is the way to go if you want a better finish. During my first scale modelling period, 30 years ago, I always used one. Then I stopped when I moved abroad, got married, and then work and other hobbies (r/c aircraft and helicopters) filled the free time I had. Until last year that is, when my newly divorced brother in law, looking for something to fill his spare time said he wanted to do some scale modelling and suggested we take up the hobby together. So I started building again. He stopped having lost interest quite quickly, but I was bitten by the bug. My intention was not to get so serious with building as I was back then, but you know how it is...... Anyway, yes, maybe I will get an airbrush at some stage but I don't really have the room or facilities to set up a permanent work bench and spray booth. And I have got pretty respectable results hand brushing some models, (see photo below), but this last model had not come out as I hoped. Maybe my ''will to build exceeded my skill'' and I need to stick to some simpler subjects!
Cheers!
Gary

 

[gweller]

PS - Just took another look at the Phantom this morning, in the cold light of day, and it's not so bad as I though! So I'm going to finish it off and see how it comes out!

 

[Richard48]

Hiya Gary.
Think you are being hard on yourself.Im pretty sure the jet will turn out great.If you need a good varnish to matt then Windsor and Newton "Galleria" matt is a good one.I think you can get it in rattle cans as well.I reckon when you matt her down you should be good to go mate.I havent got a set up for airbrushing,Live in a 2 bedroom flat with wife and Our cat.No room to set up or spray and at times i feel resigned to having to cull stash and just do figures.We have a beach hut near Harwich but it means an hour on bus for me laden down with kits etc.But its an option and my wife bought me a rechargeable airbrush which could work ok for single camo schemes.I wish we had a little garden and shed so id be set up nicely.Yep its damn frustrating and constantly causes much anxiety,A lot of wasted years unable to complete stuff.Im determined to get my Fg1 done and yep its brush time!!.Its so good having you build along with me.
Richard

 

[gweller]

Hi Richard. Stick with it mate, I'm sure your model will come out great as well. I totally understand where you are coming from, and understand your frustration and anxiety. It's probably something all modelers go through at some stage I think, and people who don't have such a hobby don't understand what all the fuss is about!!

We also live in a smallish apartment with a (small) dog, and although we are lucky enough to have a garden our shed is stuffed to the gunnels, so working in it is out of the question, especially in the winter. For reasons I won't bore you with here publicly (although you can always PM if you are curious ) it's also difficult for me sometimes to go further into the hobby than I have so far. I was pretty p***ed off yesterday after I had varnished the Phantom, but this morning it looks better than I thought, so will push on and finish it. So I think my message, is to stick with it, make the model to the best of your own abilities and resources, and above all ENJOY the build!!! And yes, it's great to have someone to share the build with and you have given me much appreciated encouragement and advice along the way!!
Cheers!
Gary

 

[gweller]

I think I am going to put the Phantom to one side for a bit while I think about the way forward with it. I'm not happy with how it is turning out, but don't want to give up on it entirely as I have invested quite some time (and a bit of money) in it, for example with after market missiles, exhausts, gun pod, decals etc., and done work on the u/c, fuel tanks etc., etc,. All these are ok and ready to go, but the finish on the airframe is not what I had hoped, so time for a rethink.

One idea I had is to get another FGR2 kit (but these are not that easy to find and a bit expensive), or to get one of the Hobby 2000 FG1 Fujimi reissues and convert that to an FGR2. But for now I'm going to take a break from it.

 

[Richard48]

Hi Gary.
Yep im taking a break for a bit with mine.If you want a Firebirds FGR2 let me know.Ive got 9 of them now so plenty plus the new Hobby 2000 FG1.
Richard