F-22 Raptor Update

The Italeri F-22 Raptor is continuing to progress, along with other projects.  This was originally going to represent an operational F-22 out of Langley, complete with the distinctive "Raptor Sheen" metallic finish.  I grew up in the Virginia Tidewater area, and spent many a summer day hanging out near Langley runways watching aircraft from the 48th FIS take off and land.  In those days (mid 70's), the base was populated by F-106s. I remember being excited by the transition to the brand new state of the art F-15 Eagle.  Only later, on a visit back up north, was I able to see the Raptors operating out of the base.

Anyway, I have a Revell of Germany F-22 kit as well.  It is a much later tooling, so I decided on a whim to compare the two molds side by side.  Big mistake.  As I looked at them, it became apparent that the Italeri kit, being based on essentially a pre-production aircraft, suffers from some significant inaccuracies when compared to more recent releases.  It is not really suitable for an operational Raptor, and I have decided to simply make it the roll out Raptor 01.  Raptor 01 did not have the snazzy metallic paint scheme of operational Raptors, but did have some ceremonial colored markings that squadron Raptors do not.  Six of one, half dozen of another there, I guess.

Here are the latest pics.

Lockheed F-22 Raptor Build - Introduction and Early Assembly

JAXCON 2017 is coming up of Feb 11.  Even though I build a lot of different things, I am best known in the scale modeling community for my 1/72 contemporary jets.  I make sure I get at least one done every year for the show. This year it looks like the only new one I am going to finish is a Air Force F-22 Raptor.

 

Kit is the first production F-22 kit offered.  It suffers from some minor accuracy issues, but but overall is a decent kit worth building.

Photo-Etch detail set by Czech company Eduard. My experience with PE aftermarket kits is that they give you way more than you really need to spruce up and add detail to your model.  I doubt that I will use even a third of the parts here.

The only problematic seam is the one separating the forward fuselage from the wing on back.  It requires careful filling, sanding, and re-scribing,

Fuselage joint seam is filled ad sanded.  Some of the photo-etch parts have been added on the form of some screens and vents ignored by kit manufacturer Italeri.

Instrument panel graphics came as a piece of film that is sandwiched behind a thin photo-etched cover.

Kit elevators are attached to the fuselage with fixed tabs that do not allow the drooped appearance yous see when hydraulic pressure bleeds after engine shut down.  I cut off the tabs, drilled some holes, and installed brass pins. We will see how this pays off later.

Various parts cleaned up and ready to prime.

Thai Airways 747-400 COMPLETE

Just completed Thai Airways 747-400 Dragon Boat. This was a challenging build. The kit has all sorts of engineering shortcomings, and the decals are so numerous that they cause trouble as well. If you are off even a little on a major graphic, it snowballs through the rest of markings.

Thai Airways 747 Dragon Boat

Space Shuttle Atlantis - COMPLETE (finally)

After four years of off and on work, the Monogram 1/72 kit of Space Shuttle Atlantis is finally finished.  I took it up to Columbia, South Carolina for the scale model nationals and it won 2nd in its class. It was beaten out by a very deserving cut out V-2 rocket with a scratch built interior.

  

                     
                     

Space Shuttle Atlantis Update

Finishing out the Thai Airways and further construction on Trump Force One have stopped for the moment while I concentrate on getting Space Shuttle Atlantis ready for the IPMS National Convention August 3-6.  I don't know if I will get this thing done, but I am going to try.  Here are the latest build pics.

The top of the SRB's where the parachutes is packed is a light cream color.  The average person (meaning not a scale modeler) usually would not notice this as it is very subtle.

Almost all space shuttle models were tooled very early in the program. No shuttle orbiter model in any scale replicates the thermal blankets which were developed to replace the white tiles on the specific heat vulnerable areas of the upper surface.

The ET (external tank) is a beast and is the single largest component of the shuttle stack.  The kit features molded on texture to represent the insulation, but it is lost when assembling, puttying, and sanding construction seams.  The answer is to use a rattle can of textured paint...

...but not this stuff.  This is "rough" stone texture, which I though I could use if I lightly sanded it a bit.  As I started to do so, it began to come off in chunks.  For some reason, it did not adhere will to the primer underneath.  In the end I had to remove it all with steel wool and start over.  I will still used a textured paint, but one not as rough.

My idea for replicating the thermal blankets was to lay out the pattern piece by piece with Evergreen styrene strip, then mask off and spray a heavily thinned mix of Squadron putty (the stuff in the red and white tube over there).  After that, I went back and manually textured each panel with an armor zimmerit texturing tool.  Zimmerit was a non metallic coating applied to German tanks in WWII so that magnetic mines would not adhere or be detonated. 

The grayish-tan is where the putty was applied.  These are thermal blanket areas.  Most everywhere else on a shuttle is either tiled (underside and high heat areas on top) or covered with a thin insulating felt.  The black tiles are for the high heat areas.  The really high heat areas (leading edge of wings, and nose), are made of RCC (Re-enforced Carbon Carbon).

The look of the putty after the zimmerit tool treatment.  A good effect.  The tiling in front of the blankets is also hand laid out and cut. All this manual work is intended to be representative, not machine perfect.  It is an enhancement to the overall look of the model for normal viewing.  Close up photography of any model will almost always reveal imperfections.

A look at the port side.

The tape is to protect the glass windows.  The one casualty I have had is the glass in the upper aft crew section.  It became unattached during bodywork and I have no access to fix it.  I had to plug the holes and am now forced to use a decal.

Here is the tool used to create the textured effect.