This kit can be started by picking any of the sub-assemblies by pre-painting and  detailing, and checking the fit, but, since it all fit so nice there is not much use wasting time on pre-fit.

Even the resin cockpit fit very well after removing all the residue. I say this because most resin parts do not fit this well and usually take many fittings to get them right. After getting most of the cockpit done, I install and painted the insides of the bottom half of the main body at the intakes, wheel wells, which I added more detail but that was useless because after you in stall the main gear doors in the proper closed position, you can’t see the extra detail anyway. There are various air vents, exhaust ports that are large and you can see inside, I fixed those with some “scale screen”(he, he). The interior of the wells was painted white as well as the intakes and the compressor face was painted gun metal and polished with SNJ powder. The cock pit was painted dark gull gray, that seems to be the most basic color for most modern jet cockpits as far as models go. .But anyway, I painted it according to Cutting Edge instructions and dry brushed with ghost gray with a pre-wash  of umber.

After all the prelims was done, it was now ready to just get the Ambroid Proweld, ( I do not use Tenax, I had some seams crack a few years back using that stuff so I will never use it again, Weld-on #3 is very good but is only available now in 1 pint cans that can be bought at contractor supply houses),  and start putting things together, yes, I did put putty on most of the seams, I do that just from past experience, I always do that regardless of how good the kit parts fit. I put a little primer on all the fitted / and finished seams and now I can proceed with the basic Paint scheme of  Light Gull gray and White.

 I use various brands of putty of whatever I have, most  kinds work about as good as the other (except the environmentally correct white type, it flakes and cracks and falls out) and most of them shrink so be prepared to let it set a couple of days and work on some of the other projects you have. Scrap off the excess and then wet sand with some 400 + 600 grit  , prime with your favorite light flat gray, correct any bad spots and re-scribe if needed and prime again. Note: you do not have to prime the whole model when using most flat enamels, I don’t know about acrylics , there are so many types and with the viscosity and grainy differences between the types that my Passsche H-1 and VL don’t spray them very well from brand to brand like my old Bager 200 use to. I have used them all, but the best acrylic in my opinion, is the Tamiya brand thinned with denatured alcohol but I use mostly Model Master, Floquil, and Humbrol enamels  thinned with Disol now. Youse pays your money and youse selects what you like.

Of course, one of the first things you have to do, is, decide if you want the wings up or down because of the inserts that must go in on both wing parts. I wanted mine up to display the candy cane stripes better but I have seen this kit with them down and they look alright too but not sure about the fit, I think there is a gap problem, so, your choice. Cutting Edge makes a resin Wing fold set but I had already spent too much ($) on this thing and the kit’s parts looked ok so I just detailed them by adding styrene strips, and  bits, and dry brushing and .015 solder for wiring/ tubing etc.

I pre shaded the panel lines with heavily thinned MM  raw umber and painted the basic colors until I removed as much of the umber color as I thought would work and then I “scale” (har, har ) painted inside the panel lines with a  lighter shade of paint for the look I wanted which was to be just a little weathered for a non combat Navy plane. Next, I shot the first coat of  Hi-Gloss Floquil  clear with about a 50% ( I think, I do not measure, if it looks right, I spray it) mixture of Disol for thinner. ( I don’t use future floor wax, it is only good for dipping canopies and maybe for putting on floors, and I  don’t know about that) ( what people fail to say about Future Wax is, that most decal solutions will “Milk” color your nice new paint job)( Testors Metalizer Sealer works very well for quicker results but, it is not quite as glossy as Floquil) the Floquil dries really hard in 24 hours and then I lightly wet sand with 2000 grit to remove all the bug turds, dust, cooties etc. (don’t break the paint), spray again with the Floquil. Repeat this until there are no more signs of anything except a total mirror finish ready for decals. (flat paint usually takes about three times).

I have used Cutting Edge Decals on several occasions and they always work very well with a medium solution or just plain water, but my water is very soft so that may make a difference. Don’t use any of the hot solutions as they will burn and melt or destroy them. The  kit decals are a little tougher but you still have to be careful.

I chose the VF-13 scheme for no reason other than it was going to be colorful and besides, I had seen some of the other versions already so I wanted mine to be different like any modeler with an ego problem. (see, mine looks different!) . This version was for the squadron commander’s aircraft, CDR Norm Berrel, aboard the Carrier, USS Essex, in 1960.

After the decals were on, I decided to enhance the panel lines on this model with an acrylic dark gray soapy wash, after it dried somewhat, I removed the excess with cotton swabs and a piece of old T- shirt, sprayed again with some more lightened base coat(s) to wash out some of the panel lines that looked too harsh)( there are other and maybe better ways to “wash” if that is your thing, I was not real happy with the “Soap” thing, too messy and too much residue left over, but had to try anyway)-   then sprayed again  with clear gloss and the next day or so, sprayed with Testors Dull coat,( this is the best, I have used everything else, besides, you can trip out better than tube glue or metal sealer, “whopeee”) (just kidding ya’ll), and any minor silvering ( gray or white paint seems to silver worse than some other colors) was corrected and then sprayed again with Dull Coat. ( use light coats, it is a lacquer and will bubble the enamel is it is too hot, too much, and too heavy, disol works very well for thinning the lacquer also)

All the add-ons, electronics capsule, fuel tanks, landing gears, doors, weapons choice,(  not much of a weapons choice). (I was building an airplane, not bombs) tail bumper wheel, and tail hook, were completed and the  assembly started. The canopy parts were painted, cleaned up with a very small amount  of WD-40 to remove all tape residue, trash etc., then a small amount of Windex to remove the WD-40!! , and then dipped in future wax, after they dried a day or so and then dipped again which will remove blemishes that still may be there and makes it clearer also.  (this works best for me, if you like another method, by all means, use it, if it suits you, it just tickles the crap out of me)..there is no authority for this or any other techniques in modeling procedures, if it works for you, your method is as good as anyone , never take solutions or suggestions shouted  from the  bleachers, and /or the  ACES, you are the coach on your team..

This little kit was a joy to build and very easy to put together but to put it in a better build perspective, it would be about a skill level 2 but the paint scheme(s) levels would vary only by the skill level of the modeler and that could vary from a skill of 1 to as high as you want to go, but just enjoy and paint it anyway you like.

 A lot of people spend a lot of time writing down what they consider the “rules” of modeling techniques and /or etiquette   but it all boils down to just taking the kit(s) out of the box and start putting it together, have fun with it, as you go, you grow, you can use other people’s suggestions but the bottom line is, that you have to figure it out all by yourself so, just do it, however, unless you are just loaded, it is better to learn on the cheaper kits no matter if it is “in scale” or not. This kit was in the upper cost range so we try to give it some justice and it is reported to be 1/48  scale... I hope so for the purist out there.

Ya’ll have fun and thanks!!

Scale Aviation Modeller International vol 7/3
Personal photos from the US Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola FL
Various web sites

C.Wayne Sharp

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