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Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2023 4:19 pm
by Nikola
Hi gents,

Parallel to my favourite subjects and scale, 1/32 WWII, I like to have a 1/48 jet project on the side in case I need a slight change of scenery from time to time. :)
Hence my work on Hobby Boss' Corsair II.
For the extras I am using Aires resin cockpit set with PE included.
I am doing the "Sidewinders" livery.

So far no trouble. The fit is very nice, especially the wings (dry fit tested).

Best,
Nikola

Box art and refs:

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And some work pics:

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 7:27 pm
by Nikola
Well, enter putty, from head to toe, top and bottom. It was a must, at least for me.
And some minor play with exhaust weathering just to give it a bit of life.

Best,
Nikola

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 1:46 am
by digger303
Lovely burnt look to the exhaust.
That's a lot of filla to be going on with. Really for a newish kit it should fit like a glove yet I shouldn't be surprised because Hobby Boss/ Trumpeter can be like that. Despite the kit looking great.
:th: :th: :th:
:cheers2:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 9:24 am
by Nikola
digger303 wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2023 1:46 am Lovely burnt look to the exhaust.
That's a lot of filla to be going on with. Really for a newish kit it should fit like a glove yet I shouldn't be surprised because Hobby Boss/ Trumpeter can be like that. Despite the kit looking great.
:th: :th: :th:
:cheers2:
I think it's of my own doing because of the resin cockpit fitting and adjustment.

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 11:32 am
by Nikola
A bit of filling and levelling with Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500:

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 11:43 am
by Nikola
Now, here is a problem which is a bit more challenging - The inner side of the intake "ring" is much narrower than the inside of the intake tube.
I think that I can't sand it because the ring is a hollow shape so I might lose all the material of the inside part of the ring, and also make the intake much narrower.
The only feasible solution which I can think of for now is to fill in the step and make a gradual taper towards the back of the tube.

Don't know. Any suggestions?

Best,
Nikola

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2023 2:23 pm
by Nikola
Does anyone know the colour of the FLIR "eye"?

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2023 12:45 am
by digger303
Sorry not a aircraft guy. I'm not even half decent modeller let alone solving problems with jet engine intakes.
However that does seem to be one solution, but sanding it will be a nightmare I would think.
Perhaps adding thin layers of putty section by section and smoothing with a paint brush might be another way. It would have to be a non shrink type to save problems later.
Sorry that's all I could think of.
:cheers2:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2023 1:11 am
by smokeriderdon
Sand as far as you can, then try fixing the step with putty.

Its probably too late to get the seamless intake. So you could always go with an intake cover.

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2023 2:40 am
by Parker
could you fudge it by making an air intake cover?


Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2023 2:42 am
by Parker
smokeriderdon wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2023 1:11 am Its probably too late to get the seamless intake. So you could always go with an intake cover.
^^^ that.

:cheers2:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2023 1:17 pm
by Nikola
smokeriderdon wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2023 1:11 am Sand as far as you can, then try fixing the step with putty.

Its probably too late to get the seamless intake. So you could always go with an intake cover.
Parker wrote: Wed Jul 12, 2023 2:40 am could you fudge it by making an air intake cover?

Thanks guys, great idea. Cover it is. :)

Best,
Nikola

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2023 1:18 pm
by Nikola
Pre-shading done:

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2023 2:32 am
by digger303
:th: :th: :th:
:cheers2:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 1:38 pm
by Nikola
Well, I managed to f' it up. Switched the FS numbers and instead of Light Gull Grey I used Ghost Grey for the low vis scheme. I saw that something was off but didn't do anything about it during painting. After I checked it was too late. 🤬

Three options available - mask and paint again losing all subtle pre-shading, mask and correct with a filter or leave as it is...

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 11:46 pm
by ForeverPlasticKits
A beautiful build, this kit is really amazing (even if the Corsair II isn't my favorite plane), you do a great job on it! :thumb1: :thumb2:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 5:07 pm
by Nikola
Here it is corrected.
I decided that the easiest thing to do is just go over it with the correct colour to make sure I got it right this time and then later modulate with post-shading/tinting and filters.
This way I avoid having too many coats and ruining the surface detail if I don't get it correct right away which would most probably have happened.

Best,
Nikola

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2023 5:11 am
by digger303
Well it still looks good.
:th: :th: :th:
:cheers2:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 7:25 pm
by Nikola
After tedious masking here are the electronics bays painted in base colours. Some cleanup and corrections are required prior to washes, dry brushing and details.

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 7:25 pm
by Nikola
Now, this is a b%$ch! I assume that Aires just relabeled the parts to say for Hobby Boss while it is actually for Hase, Academy, Trumpy, whatever... The AM part is significantly shorter than the kit part so there is a big gap. 🤬

I need to think of the way to remedy this.

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 7:26 pm
by Nikola
I also started making the intake cover. Luckily, there are two intake "mouths" provided so I used the other one as a template:

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 7:26 pm
by Nikola
Also, again after tedious masking, the cockpit base colours and a gloss coat are done:

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 9:02 pm
by RangerNeil
Looking good!! Well done. :cheers2:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2023 12:52 am
by digger303
The time spent masking well pays dividends.
:th: :th: :th:
:cheers2:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:37 am
by Nikola
The Corsair slowly advances... My phone sincerely apologizes for the photo quality. :)

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2023 11:18 am
by digger303
Phone pic's are fine. I spy some very good work.
:th: :th: :th:
:cheers2:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2023 8:03 pm
by aur0ra145
Very nice work! You don't see a lot of people paint up the avionics bays anymore.

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2023 8:45 pm
by Garion77
Very nice job as always ! the pics are awesome so imagine if it wasn't with your iPhone

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 6:50 pm
by Nikola
Decals in place.

Left to do - canopy, "beast mode" ordnance, ejection seat details, control stick and canopy mechanism installment, all bay doors installment, intake cover, some minor paint corrections and some more weathering with oils and pencils...

Best,
Nikola

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 7:58 pm
by BigWall
It's really looking nice!

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 10:44 pm
by digger303
Excellent work.
:bow:: :bow:: :bow::
:cheers2:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 6:19 am
by Parker
Brilliant as always, Nikola.

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 12:15 pm
by RangerNeil
Excellent job - well done! :cheers2:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 2:04 pm
by Nikola
Thank you very much guys! Appreciated!

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 2:05 pm
by Nikola
Almost to the finish line.

A few teasers won't hurt... 😜

Best,
Nikola

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Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 3:36 pm
by Tomcat64
Just caught up with this build and that's absolutely stunning work.

The cockpit and avionics bays really pop, but the whole thing looks fabulous - looking forward to seeing the reveal photos :th:

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 4:45 pm
by Nikola
Tomcat64 wrote: Thu Nov 23, 2023 3:36 pm Just caught up with this build and that's absolutely stunning work.

The cockpit and avionics bays really pop, but the whole thing looks fabulous - looking forward to seeing the reveal photos :th:
Thank you Neil! Appreciated.
I hope that I won't disappoint in the end. :)

Best,
Nikola

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2023 5:44 pm
by Garion77
Just caught up with the last few posts I've missed. Really great.
Love that you aren't afraid of close up pictures ! The cockpit, the seat and avionics bays are amazing. Lovely paint job. Since you're close to the finish line, what do you think in the end of the kit ? One I'm tempted to buy

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 10:05 am
by Nikola
Garion77 wrote: Thu Nov 30, 2023 5:44 pm Just caught up with the last few posts I've missed. Really great.
Love that you aren't afraid of close up pictures ! The cockpit, the seat and avionics bays are amazing. Lovely paint job. Since you're close to the finish line, what do you think in the end of the kit ? One I'm tempted to buy
Thanks Francis. Glad you like it so far. :)

As for the kit, the overall fit is relatively good but there is a big problem with the jet intake as it is the wrong shape (much more oval than on the real thing) and the fit of it is bad, hence the intake cover which I had to build form scratch. Also, the canopy part is too wide at the "hinges" so I had to insert additional plastic and sand it to correct width and shape.

The level of detail is mediocre in general.

I would go with some other kit if you ask me.

Best,
Nikola

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 12:50 pm
by Garion77
Nikola wrote: Fri Dec 01, 2023 10:05 am
Garion77 wrote: Thu Nov 30, 2023 5:44 pm Just caught up with the last few posts I've missed. Really great.
Love that you aren't afraid of close up pictures ! The cockpit, the seat and avionics bays are amazing. Lovely paint job. Since you're close to the finish line, what do you think in the end of the kit ? One I'm tempted to buy
Thanks Francis. Glad you like it so far. :)

As for the kit, the overall fit is relatively good but there is a big problem with the jet intake as it is the wrong shape (much more oval than on the real thing) and the fit of it is bad, hence the intake cover which I had to build form scratch. Also, the canopy part is too wide at the "hinges" so I had to insert additional plastic and sand it to correct width and shape.

The level of detail is mediocre in general.

I would go with some other kit if you ask me.

Best,
Nikola
Thanks for the input ! indeed major problems ! I'm currently building Airfix Javelin and I'm having also all sorts of major fit issues.

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 6:07 pm
by ulvdemon
Pretty awesome build. Enjoying watching the process.

Re: Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7E Corsair II Sidewinders - Work in progress

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 6:28 pm
by aur0ra145
Great looking winder jet!