wm cheng Posted Thursday at 05:28 PM Posted Thursday at 05:28 PM (edited) Well, I had a little time so I thought I'd get back to basics to enjoy the hobby again and build one straight out of the box! I love the shape of the J-20S but there weren't much choice in 1/72, knowing it was not a great kit, I thought I'd close it would be a perfect candidate for the OOB. Unfortunately, the anal side of me saw all the injector pin marks all over the place, I'd either sand (which I hate) or cover them up (the lazy choice!). There's so little photographic reference for this bird out there that I felt I was freed to make up some "business" in the opened internal bays. There was no internal support and the fuselages flattened out into a pancake, so I had to add some internal support to get the cross section up to snuff - so much for the straight forward build! The engine nozzles were pretty bare, luckily I had some leftover (FineMolds F-4J) burner cans that fit pretty well inside for a little more detailing. The landing gears were such a poor/simplified representation that I ended up getting carried away with detailing them up and decided to learn how to add some small lead wires. There wasn't any fan face in the intakes, so I took the lazy way and had it disappear into darkness - so hard to see that far back anyways Finally able to start to close her up. There's going to be a lot of filling and sanding on this one unfortunately before I can get to the more fun painting stages. Edited Thursday at 05:28 PM by wm cheng Quote
505thAirborne Posted Thursday at 05:49 PM Posted Thursday at 05:49 PM I kind of like the J-20 design, big, chunky with that borrowed F-22 design. Does the kit come with a pilot? Honestly, I always think of the VF-31A Valkyrie when I see this fighter jet. Quote
derex3592 Posted Thursday at 05:50 PM Posted Thursday at 05:50 PM @wm cheng - "I'm going to go back to basics and build something easy and straight out of the box!" ....... Also @wm cheng ..... See above pics... 😂 😂😂 Looks awesome man! Can't wait to see more! Quote
wm cheng Posted Thursday at 07:44 PM Posted Thursday at 07:44 PM Unfortunately, the DreamModel 1/72 J-20S (only dual seat model so far - and anything but a dream!) doesn't come with any pilots @505thAirborne. Luckily, I have a pair of excellent pilots from my FineMolds F-4J that I didn't use because I wanted to show off the cockpit - I don't think I'm going to sweat the wrong survival gear or helmet in 1/72 scale (at least that's what I will tell myself to let me sleep.😛 Had to shave down their butts and back to get them to fit though. Strangely, it comes with a nice set of 3D printed seats though as the box is filled with trees for the single seater (and only includes one seat in styrene) and only the top fuselage was different to accommodate the longer tandem canopy. The grey helmets convey the PAAF more than the actual gear on them. The plastic really sucks, its soft and brittle at the same time! The tiny pegs for the canards broke just test fitting them into holes way too small for them, but the way they need to be installed prior to closing the fuselage up means I had to cut them anyways to change the build order so I can sand and paint. The entire thing is not engineered to ease painting in logical steps. I liked that the dual tandem seating of the 2-seater fills out the forward fuselage aesthetically over the single seater J-20. Hey @derex3592, it WAS my original intention for a fast, quick build; "no good intention goes unpunished..." BUT, the ANAL me won out again.... 😛 If I had closed her all up to put in flight mode like I had intended when I bought the kit, I could have succeeded. Unfortunately, when I was researching for images online, I came across this one and it really sold me on trying to get it all splayed out like this (reminded me a bit of Yukikaze) Quote
Bolt Posted Thursday at 11:45 PM Posted Thursday at 11:45 PM Great job @wm cheng ! Mad skilz Some kits don't need any improvements out of the box , just to build them, as you know. But you picked a "help me!" Kit Quote
Thom Posted Friday at 01:40 AM Posted Friday at 01:40 AM @wm cheng That's going to look great mimicking that final image. I happen to be building a stealth fighter as well, Tamiya's 1/72 F-35C. Quote
nightmareB4macross Posted Friday at 05:24 AM Posted Friday at 05:24 AM Improving the housings of the leg intakes. 4mm reduction made a really nice difference. Now to finish reshaping the shroud entrance. Quote
wm cheng Posted Friday at 08:15 AM Posted Friday at 08:15 AM 6 hours ago, Thom said: @wm cheng That's going to look great mimicking that final image. I happen to be building a stealth fighter as well, Tamiya's 1/72 F-35C. Hey, I just bought that at my local hobby store on Black Friday for 40% off, looks like an amazing build, but I was very disappointed that it didn't have the internal missile bays as an option to be opened up. The fit and engineering looks top notch as well as the crispness of the molding! I thought I'd use the J-20 as a test bed to try out the metallic grey paint scheme that I will later use on this F-35C and I have the older Fujimi F-22 to look forward to eventually. Quote
electric indigo Posted Friday at 08:53 AM Posted Friday at 08:53 AM 7 hours ago, Thom said: I happen to be building a stealth fighter as well, Tamiya's 1/72 F-35C. Nooo, you must finish the Sea Vixen first! 😄 Quote
derex3592 Posted Friday at 05:00 PM Posted Friday at 05:00 PM It's beginning to look like a ship 🚢! Quote
Thom Posted Friday at 05:26 PM Posted Friday at 05:26 PM 8 hours ago, electric indigo said: Nooo, you must finish the Sea Vixen first! 😄 It's not off the bench, yet! 😁 I'm doing a couple of GBs over on Britmodeller, and the one with the Sea Vixen goes a month longer than the one the F-35C is in, so I'll be jumping back to that whether this one is done or not by the deadline. 8 hours ago, wm cheng said: Hey, I just bought that at my local hobby store on Black Friday for 40% off, looks like an amazing build, but I was very disappointed that it didn't have the internal missile bays as an option to be opened up. The fit and engineering looks top notch as well as the crispness of the molding! I thought I'd use the J-20 as a test bed to try out the metallic grey paint scheme that I will later use on this F-35C and I have the older Fujimi F-22 to look forward to eventually. Yeah, their A and B mode kits have open weapon bays, so I wonder why this one doesn't. Not that I'm bothered by it, as I'd just close it up anyway, so win-win for me. No need to worry about the bays and it's the C! Quote
Thom Posted Friday at 05:27 PM Posted Friday at 05:27 PM 26 minutes ago, derex3592 said: It's beginning to look like a ship 🚢! It's beginning to look like a mighty ship! Quote
Papa Rat Posted Friday at 06:29 PM Posted Friday at 06:29 PM (edited) 2 hours ago, derex3592 said: It's beginning to look like a ship 🚢! 😍 that’s very inspiring. Never built a ship before. Might have to now. Any recommendations on a fun beginners kit? I saw an article about this cool looking tugboat. Might get my feet wet with it. Edited Friday at 07:17 PM by Papa Rat Photo Quote
Papa Rat Posted Friday at 07:17 PM Posted Friday at 07:17 PM (edited) Double post. Deleted Edited Friday at 07:17 PM by Papa Rat Quote
Thom Posted Friday at 08:13 PM Posted Friday at 08:13 PM @nightmareB4macross I know I can't do that!!🤯 @Papa Rat Airfix has a couple of nice rescue boats that could be a good firs build. Been thinking about getting one meself. Quote
Papa Rat Posted Friday at 08:15 PM Posted Friday at 08:15 PM (edited) 13 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said: Ratcheting hips. That’s great. A macross chorus line dancer. @ThomThanks for the recommendation. I’ll check those out. Edit. This one looks awesome. Love the color scheme Edited Friday at 08:18 PM by Papa Rat Quote
Thom Posted Friday at 08:22 PM Posted Friday at 08:22 PM 4 minutes ago, Papa Rat said: @ThomThanks for the recommendation. I’ll check those out. 👍 https://www.hornbyhobbies.com/products/rnli-severn-class-lifeboat-a07280?srsltid=AfmBOoon1xAbKLCrP6U0KoSgv4lPDFGYEc_Xi2Ib6eXONAcmlnVEibyF https://uk.airfix.com/products/starter-set-rnli-shannon-class-lifeboat-a55015?srsltid=AfmBOopfjk2MT0DJIiJrHXlkV0GXcDd07BqvMiKF10Zu8JKybz-c8DU5 Quote
Papa Rat Posted Friday at 09:32 PM Posted Friday at 09:32 PM 1 hour ago, Thom said: https://www.hornbyhobbies.com/products/rnli-severn-class-lifeboat-a07280?srsltid=AfmBOoon1xAbKLCrP6U0KoSgv4lPDFGYEc_Xi2Ib6eXONAcmlnVEibyF https://uk.airfix.com/products/starter-set-rnli-shannon-class-lifeboat-a55015?srsltid=AfmBOopfjk2MT0DJIiJrHXlkV0GXcDd07BqvMiKF10Zu8JKybz-c8DU5 Thanks for the links. Have you built this kit before? Quote
Thom Posted Friday at 10:33 PM Posted Friday at 10:33 PM 1 hour ago, Papa Rat said: Thanks for the links. Have you built this kit before? I haven't but I'm really thinking about it. Maybe asking Santa... Quote
Papa Rat Posted Friday at 10:56 PM Posted Friday at 10:56 PM 23 minutes ago, Thom said: I haven't but I'm really thinking about it. Maybe asking Santa... Hope you make the nice list. 😁 Quote
nightmareB4macross Posted Friday at 11:58 PM Posted Friday at 11:58 PM 3 hours ago, Papa Rat said: That’s great. A macross chorus line dancer. For reference. 😜 Quote
Papa Rat Posted yesterday at 12:07 AM Posted yesterday at 12:07 AM 8 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said: For reference. 😜 That’ll leave a mark. Ouch Quote
Big s Posted yesterday at 12:37 AM Posted yesterday at 12:37 AM 38 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said: For reference. 😜 Road House! Quote
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