My First Build. Eurofighter 1/72 christmas gift

[Adam]

Evening chaps,
I wanted to share my progress and get your thoughts on a little challenge I'm facing to flatten the joints of the poorly moulded intake duct.

First off, to my eyes, the pilot and cockpit looked pretty good, but when under the cold hard light of a camera on macro, they don't look as cleaver. I'll forgive myself this time as its a learning curve. There were no decals for the dash, so I painted some little green screens on as is the dash on the real thing, and then just spotted a few little buttons with artistic licence. It was my first time making and using a little black wash to pick out details too, and I think that went pretty well on the pilot.


pilot and cockpit in by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

I used my airbrush on the cockpit but just coloured the top deck of the fuselage with a brush for speed and ease. Think ill mask off and use the airbrush for that too next time as it leaves a much flatter, more appealing finish.

I managed to glue the airframe together really nicely, and even kept the glue away from the front ailerons so they can be pivoted freely, making the sanding behind them a doddle. The trouble started when I tried to fit the front air duct as you can see from the photos.


trim edges a little by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

Bad fit by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

poor moulding by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

As you can see, it doesn't fit together too well, so after a lot of careful filing, sanding scalping and gluing, I got to a point where it was starting to come together nicely.


filled, fitted and filled by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

better but not perfect by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

Nicely level and flat by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

I layed a very thin coat of primer down on the area, just to make it easier to see where needs more attention, and as you can see, its mostly there but for a few pin pricks and very faint lines, otherwise I'm fairly happy with the shape. I'm using humbrol plastic filler watered down with a little humbrol liquid poly, but its not easy to use and sets very quickly. It cant be whipped with a cotton bud and filling in those tight areas with all sorts of radius and angles going on is very hard. Ive been using some 800 and 2000 grit wet and dry wrapped around a cotton bud (Q-tip for my American friends).

I'd like some ideas on how to fill those last little imperfections without getting the filler out again. Will building up the primer a few more coats level it? what other filling products are out there? some kind of high-build paint perhaps.

Thanks in advance

[SteveW]

Hi Adam

I think you have done an excellent job there. That really is a bad fit. I have not got around to trying this yet but many people use superglue as a filler on those small gaps.

[Paul]

Nice start adam' I've built this kit ages ago and the fit was terrible, your doing a superb job do far mate.

Try to get yourself some Vallejo putty of deluxe perfect plastic putty, as it's easier to work with, as for filling those holes it will need filling someway, be careful using superglue as it needs a lot more work to remove.

[RobertA]

So far, so good....

[George]

Nice job.

[DesertAAModeller]

Very nice job so far! You've filled the gap very well.

[muskegman]

You are doing a fine job, that air intake looks great

Mark

[Omi]

hi you said you use humbrol plastic filler, i thin my humbrol with cellulose thinners and mix well, you can get it reduced down to what looks like thick paint, then use an old brush to apply, if you use thin strips of masking tape either side of what you are filling it reduces the amount you need to sand away when it is set. hope this helps.
or you could use tippex for the very small gaps you have left just give it plenty of time to dry.

[chrismoseley]

Hi Adam Really Nice Start Mate, Sorry To Hear About Your Fit Issues.... Sure You will Be Able To Fix Them!

Alex

[Bissyboat]

Great job on the pilot.

[Adam]

Thank you all for your kind words and tips. I been busy making more progress and I think I've pretty much finished. Ill post my progress shots below but there is quite a few so please feel free to scroll to the end

Having filled the seem lines best I can, I continued to mask off for the wheel bays, and airbrake, fitted the canopy with PVA and masked that too. Painted them white and then reversed the masking to protect them.


IMG_3923 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_3926 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_3931 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_3933 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

I did a little pre-shading, but I was struggling with flow rate through my old Chinese rip off airbrush which eventually died when I snapped the nozzle off. Rooky mistake I know, but the needle was bent and it was ancient anyway, so I later treated myself to a New Neo.


IMG_3934 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

Base paint layed down


IMG_3939 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

I wondered if anyone could surgest why the paint is so rough a Finnish. It could have been the old crummy airbrush with a bent nib? or the humbrol paint the model came with? I thinned it down with Tamiya thinners, maybe they are incompatible? either way this was the last time I used either, as I did the post shading with a new airbrush and vellajo paint that I picked up from a local model store.


IMG_3945 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

after a little post shading


IMG_3949 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_3950 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

Missiles and landing gear painted


IMG_3942 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_3962 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

Bit of cheesy afterburn detailing lol


IMG_3956 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

I didn't have any gloss varnish to use before weathering and applying the decals, I thought matt vellejo varnish would be fine, but with the rough base coat really not helping things, I found washing quite difficult. I ended up carefully dropping paint in the recessed panel lines with a wet brush, and then dry brushing the raised lines. wiping wash off such a rough surface just wouldn't work. I then carefully and very lightly dusted some areas with the airbrush to weather it up. It turned out alright, but ill buy some gloss for next time! I'm glad I went with a brown/tan colour though. I think it worked well.


Untitled by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_3963 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

After another layer of varnish, I then fitted the landing gear


IMG_3973 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_3974 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

finally I glued the missiles on and removed the canopy masking with bated breath to find no overspray which I'm very happy about. I'm quite chuffed with the end result for my first build. I've learnt a lot, and will change a lot of things for the next one, but I'm really happy with the end result. I'd like to add a little weathering to the nose cone and fuel tanks, but I've run out of skill and don't know how to add any without running it. A sponge perhaps? Any ideas folks? Thanks for reading. Look forward to your surgestions. Adam


IMG_3981 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_4015 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_4019 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_4025 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_4029 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_4031 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr


IMG_4012 by Adam Marsland, on Flickr

[chrismoseley]

Looks Awesome Adam... Top Notch

Alex

[Bissyboat]

Stunning Euro fighter.

[Omi]

Nice result mate, as for the rough finish on your paint it may be you have the air pressure to high on your compressor and the paint is drying in the air before it hits the model turn it down a touch say 15 to 20 psi .
Just a thought.

[Adam]

Thanks for the kind word folks

Omi, ill give that a go! I've just revived my ultimate thinners and airbrush cleaner in the post, so that should rule out the paint reacting too.

[SteveW]

Nice result Adam. Well done.

[OliverWilson]

This is stunning well done. I really like the details on the rockets.
Oliver

[Willem]

Looks like you nailed it Adam. Even with a knock off airbrush. Awesome skills mate.