Academy 1/72 F-22A Air Dominance Fighter

[Tomcat64]

Awesome to see you back on this one again Tommy!

And using power tools

[TommyKillander]

Awesome to see you back on this one again Tommy!

And using power tools

Thanks, mate!


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys!

So I have added more ribs to hold those flimsy resin-shards in place - I have my doubts about the success of this...
There will be some massive work involved to fill, sand and polish those seams







I will fit these last thing before I glue the fuselage halves together, to avoid any damage to the fragile resin.

So I will continue with assembly of all of the submodules inside the fuselage.




Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Ok, let's continue with the assembly of internal parts

Fitted the air intakes and main landing gear bays






I forgot to paint a couple of places with white, so I did that.


Painted the IP coaming and the surroundings of the cockpit tub black.


Stay tuned!


Tommy

[Tomcat64]

Nice progress Tommy - looking forward to seeing how you solve the problem with the resin shards down at the back end, that could get fiddly when you're fitting the top and bottom together.

[TommyKillander]

Nice progress Tommy - looking forward to seeing how you solve the problem with the resin shards down at the back end, that could get fiddly when you're fitting the top and bottom together.

Thanks Neil

I have two options as I see it; 1) glue them to the top half first to make sure that they fit properly at the top (where the seams are the most visible) or 2) glue the two halfes together, dryfit and adjust the resin parts one by one until they fit.

The more I think of it alt. 2 seems the most reasonable.


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys!

Got some more work done...

Some black wash on the "roof" of the main landing gear bay.


Drybrushed the IP coaming and then I glued in the cockpit tub


The kit has both clear and yellow tinted glass, so I'm using the clear canopy as a "sacrifical" cover during paint. I will pry it loose after the paintjob is done and replace it with the tinted glass.




Making some locating pins for the exhausts from brass tube


Dryfitting...


Dealing with a seam - using liquid sprue (sprue goo)


Assembly of the engine


PE for the thrust-vector nozzles.




I decided to paint all the parts (even the PE) individually


Ready for primer!


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hello!

Next up is painting and weathering of the engines and thrust-vector exhaust nozzles:







Lets start with the PE panels between the fuselage and the nozzles

The idea to get a dark metal tone; I used Alclad ALC-103 Pale Burnt Metal coated with a filter made from XF-84 Dark Iron

Primed in black


Turbine painted with ALC-115 Stainless steel


BUT - the last stage of the turbine does not fit inside the tailpipe !



Luckily it was possible to put the parts together with some patience and time...

Painted with a mix of XF-55 Deck Tan and XF-57 Buff


Dryfitting the engines - I'm happy with that!





Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Some more progress...

Glued in the engines using CA-glue


...and it finally time to mate the fuselage halves together !






Everything went together without any seams. There will be some cleanup and polishing of the edges, but that is only to be expected.

I have been thinking a lot about the resin sidewalls of the exhaust and I have almost decided to ditch them... the assembly is too complicated and there will be a massive job to deal with the seams. I will of replace them with styrene sheet instead.






Tommy

[Tomcat64]

Nice progress Tommy - shame the resin walls didn't work out.

[TommyKillander]

Nice progress Tommy - shame the resin walls didn't work out.

Yeah, It had been another story if they hadn't beveled the edges. Then I could have just fitted them and sanded them flush with the fuselage.

Controlplanes and vertical stabilisers built and cleaned up.


Soo... There is quite a tight fit between the tailsections and the thrust vector nozzles, so I'm using 0.25mm styrene sheet for building up the sidewalls and detailing them.

First I glue some styrene sheet to cover the holes.


And trim that roughly with a spruecutter


After that I used my Silhouette Portrait cutting machine to engrave the outline and some panel-lines for the raised part of the sidewall.




This is what it looks like compared to the resin part.




After that I started to sand down the excess material



There are still some work to do... so I'm not finished yet!

And I took care of the filled seams under the airscoops



Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Some more work done!

Added the elevons


Cleaning up the weapons load out - AIM-120 and AIM-9X




Stay tuned!

Tommy

[Maverick231]

Nicely done mate!
It's cool as I'm currently building what the Russians hoped was the enemy to the F-22! The MiG-1.44 Flatpack.

[TommyKillander]

Nicely done mate!
It's cool as I'm currently building what the Russians hoped was the enemy to the F-22! The MiG-1.44 Flatpack.

Thanks Maverick231 !

Yeah that's a cool plane too - but I guess that the Su-57 (PAK-FA) and the Jian-20 are the main contenders now for the F-22. And the british Tempest if it gets wind under it's wings...


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys!

I better get going with this build if I'm gonna make it to the deadline

Painted the missiles, wheels and inside of the doors


Masking and painting the FS36375 Light Ghost Grey




Dipped the tip of the AIM-9X in X-19 Smoke to get something that looks like optics for the heatseeker head


And now it's M.A.S.K.I.N.G !






To be continued - stay tuned


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys!

Masking done - phew!




Detailpainted the AIM-9X and AIM-120 missiles


Cleaning the surfaces with IPA before I paint them


Ultimate Black Primer on!



Tommy

[Tomcat64]

Great progress Tommy - love watching you bring this all together!

And the british Tempest if it gets wind under it's wings...

I wouldn't hold your breath on this one - our current inability to organise a piss up in a brewery would seem to limit our options for more advanced projects!

[TommyKillander]

Great progress Tommy - love watching you bring this all together!

And the british Tempest if it gets wind under it's wings...

I wouldn't hold your breath on this one - our current inability to organise a piss up in a brewery would seem to limit our options for more advanced projects!

Atleast you have a government - that's more than Sweden have right now...


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Ok.... back to the Raptor again

My idea is to use a metal base colour and spray highly diluted grey cammo colour on top of that.




Light grey using Gunze H305




The dark grey using H305 with some XF-24 in it




Tried to replicate the light brown panel on the vert stabs



Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Sort update today - I came home late from work...

My goal is to get this to the weathering phase before Christmas so I can finish it before New Year

Painted the Light Ghost Grey edges of the controlplanes as a starter...




I will continue with the fuselage tomorrow when I have more time.


Tommy

[Twokidsnosleep]

Cool work indeed

Do missiles have a hole in their back ends???
I drilled one out for mine to put on sticks for painting, then thought is that right??

[TommyKillander]

Cool work indeed

Do missiles have a hole in their back ends???
I drilled one out for mine to put on sticks for painting, then thought is that right??

I have seen missiles with and without "tailpipes" - here's an AIM-120


The AIM-9X looks a bit different


R-73 Vympel has a thrustvector nozzle



Tommy

[Twokidsnosleep]

They are a little freaking rocket so SHOULD have a tail pipe....just never know
Thanks for the references

[Fridgy]

They are a little freaking rocket so SHOULD have a tail pipe....just never know
Thanks for the references

Tail pipe/exhaust yes... I believe most western missiles have a protective cap which would be blown off when the motor fires

@aur0ra145 might know the answer being a fast jet pilot

[Tomcat64]

Awesome work with the metallic undercoat - that's another trick filed away for future playing with!

I was the same as Fridgy and thought missiles had a cap to deter FOD up the pipe (if you'll pardon the expression)

[TommyKillander]

Awesome work with the metallic undercoat - that's another trick filed away for future playing with!

Thanks, Neil
I hope it turns out good - success is not guaranteed

I was the same as Fridgy and thought missiles had a cap to deter FOD up the pipe (if you'll pardon the expression)

Make sense. Even the RAM jet propelled missiles may have some protective cap I guess


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Okey!

I have continued with the paintjob of the fuselage; Ghost Light Grey (Gunze H308) on the edges


...and it's masking time again


Painting the Ghost Light Grey (Gunze H308) on the bottom side also


I made a mistake with airscoops, they should be GLG on the inside aswell






Painted the heatstained exhaust plates (these are made in some kind of ceramic material I believe)








While the paint is curing I'm continuing with the nose landing gear. A couple of ejection pin marks needs attention



Tommy

[Tomcat64]

That paintwork is looking great Tommy! Is the metallic undercoat making a difference to the finish?

[TommyKillander]

That paintwork is looking great Tommy! Is the metallic undercoat making a difference to the finish?

Thanks, Neil!

Yes, or atleast it did before glosscoat

The sheen I'm looking for is still there, but it has changed a bit. I'm happy with the result sofar anyway. I'm currently working on the decals, so picture updates will come soon. I hope to get to the weathering stage tomorrow and finish it before the deadline - doable but will be a tight squeeze


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Okey, some progress...

Added a gloscoat using Gunze GX-100 thinned in MLT (ratio 1:1)

Decals !


4 hours later...




I found some extra decals on the decalsheet; since I goofed the intakes a bit I'm thinking of scratchbuilding a couple of FOD covers.


Snapped the missiles from the toothpicks (those that were still intact) and cleaned up the tailpipe - just painted them and hosed on some flat varnish


I will glosscoat everything to prepare it for weathering tomorrow... need to hurry up!


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Okey... I'm working on the final steps now... I *think* that I can make the deadline

Painted the main wheels


...and I'm finally into the weathering phase






I will give it a satin coat tomorrow

But now I have all those tiny bits left for final assembly (or in preparation of)

Cockpit stuff...




Pitot tubes (tiny!)


Painting...




And the vertical stabilisers are glued in place...



Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys,

I'm starting to see the light in the end of the tunnel now...

Satin coat on


...and we can start to remove the masking tape


Nose landing gear


Canopy almost finished




And we can start the final assembly (finally!)







Tommy

[TommyKillander]

The final push!

Weapons and bay doors






Time to assemble the thrustvector-nozzles (I had to trim them to fit)






Okey... time to pry loose the "sacrifical" canopy...



Look OK! Just some minor touchups needed of the glue-spots

HUD and pitot-tubes (almost forgot those)






Canopy glass!


And we are done - pheeew!






What's wrong with this picture?

(Sidenote: I hate pictures like this - you often see them in magazines; an airbrush or brush pointed at the finished product)

Anyway... Reveal pictures will follow soon, stay tuned


Tommy

[Fridgy]

Tommy!
You got her finished!
She looks awesome mate!
Well done

[Tomcat64]

That really does look stunning Tommy - great work

[TommyKillander]

Tommy!
You got her finished!
She looks awesome mate!
Well done

That really does look stunning Tommy - great work

Thanks guys! You're awesome

Reveal photos can now be found here: viewtopic.php?f=653&t=26161

To summarize this build;
It's a great kit - I didn't face any big issues at all but I had some serious problems with the resin exhausts that took me a while to figure out how to do it. I also had no clear view on how to do the Raptor-sheen. I found a couple suggestions to use enamel paints and mixing metallic colours into that, but I could not get it to look convincing...

But anyway, it's done and completed now and I'm happy with it. I might scratchbuild a couple of FOD-covers later on...

Thanks for following this thread and for the cheers, I'm sorry for not being more active in the build-threads but I have been watching the builds.


Tommy