1/48 Revell MQ-9 "Reaper"

[LifesGoodDH]

Hi folks.

I know this is technically a prop driven aircraft but its modern so I put it here.

But here she is, a massive 1/48 Reaper. 40-some cm wingspan. A successor to the Predator UAV, this one is heavily armed and is the main drone attack craft of the US military.

This is my 10th or so model kit I'll be building but unfortunately, I've killed all the previous models due to some kind of catastrophic mistake. But we live and learn and I've learned a lot from this site and from just going out and trying things. Hopefully this one will pan out.

One of the previous projects was a 1/72 Reaper by Italeri. From what I can tell about the sprues, it's actually quite similar to the Revell version but the molding of Revell and tooling is far far far far far superior. Revell plastic is nice and stiff enough while the Italeri was so soft and malleable. Instructions seem better and more clear, with parts clearly marked - way better than the Italeri version.

Below, the box and sprue shots.







I've just cemented together the front structure with tamiya extra thin. This is just the shot now, will add more shots later on.



I'll be happy to answer any questions if you have them!

[eightfooticeman]

So how are you liking the kit? It looks really cool, perhaps I can find one at the model show next week. Oh, I'm watching this too!

[LifesGoodDH]

The kit for the most part is very nice!

No flash. Crisp molding. The main pieces are big and long with nice detail in there. Rivets are already molded in for example. Nice fit only had to putty 3 places
1) top of rear motor
2) bottom fuel tanks
3) front nose piece.
For all 3 there were only seam lines no gaps or anything egregious.

Couple of cons:

Small pieces are too flimsy. I've already broken some of them.

She's a major tail sitter. I put in the 20 g weights they said but what's happening is that the middle wheels can't handle the weight and bend a bit until the tail sits down. (If you know how to fix this let me know please). Otherwise a fantastic kit I think

[LifesGoodDH]

An update. Finished assembly for the most part.

All pieces are in place. I knocked out a good chunk of the nose needle antennae because I'm a clumsy dolt but otherwise everything came out ok.

I don't have an airbrush so everything is brush painted. I use testers enamels.
Placed an base coat on the top side only and then painted all the missiles and attachments. The base coat for the top seemed to get a little too blue and dark upon drying so I will go over on top with a grey when this enamel paint dries.



Thanks for looking. Will add updates as this progresses.

[eightfooticeman]

Great job sir!

[LifesGoodDH]

I've finally finished the main paint job.




Not pictured but I've added a pastel wash for the panel lines.

A small bit of water, mixed with some high quality liquid hand soap (just a drop or two), plus the rubbed off chunks of black pastels. She's now drying from another clear coat.

When I'm all done with that, I'll apply decals and add the ordinance before adding any finishing touches.

[LifesGoodDH]

Well. Panel wash is in and decals added. Just pulled her away to dry.







Now she'll rest for the night and we'll see what happens from there. Thanks for watching!

[eightfooticeman]

Looks great bro! I like it a lot.

[LifesGoodDH]

Hey thanks a lot! I appreciate you following my progress on the Reaper.

[eightfooticeman]

The pleasure was all mine sir. What do you have planned next? I could use another good show, this forum is the best TV ever, lol.

[LifesGoodDH]

I just washed off the Academy Leonardo Da Vinci Catapult kit.

Not as much painting as this one, but it supposedly fires!

[Oasisscott]

Hi. Does this revel kit have Royal Air Force decals? I'm trying to find a 1:48 with raf decals

[LifesGoodDH]

It's been awhile since I've finished the kit but I believe so. There were 3 decal configurations one was U.S. military the other was national guard and the third must have been raf

[Oasisscott]

Cheers