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One Super Hornet

I attempted some new weathering tactics on this plane using my airbrush and some slight drybrushing. After reading David W. Aungst's article on weathering I decided to try his method of applying shadows to simulate hydraulic leakage from the ailerons, flaps and various access plates. His procedure directs you to mix a very thin solution of paint by adding approximately one drop of paint to 2 or 3 eyedroppers of thinning solution. This creates a nearly transparent paint/thinner mix that when sprayed is not discernable until several passes with the airbrush begin to build-up paint on the surface of the kit. This allows you to slowly and methodically build-up areas of weathering where you need it. I used flat black in my weathering solution and used the fine tip on my Paasche H with the compressor output pressure set to 20 psi. By carefully fine tuning the needle I was able to buildup the hydraulic leakage very effectively. This setup was also used to trace panel lines along the top of the spine and near the nose area. Those panel lines that were engraved (flaps, ailerons and airbrake) were traced with a .005" black Micro-Pen. Panels that would have been removed often were drybrushed around the edges to simulate dirt and hand marks. After everything had dried and some pictures were taken I applied some Model Master Acrylic Dullcoat on the exhaust nozzles and nose to compensate for some glare.

 

Weapons/Fuel Stores
The MK83 bombs supplied with the kit were plain and simple. They were so simple, in fact, that attaching them to the weapons pylon would make for a very delicate and a weak joint. To remedy this, I again consulted one of David Aungst's articles regarding attachment of ordnance to airplanes. Using his article as a guide, I drilled two holes in each bomb at the attachment points. Into each hole I inserted a short length of stiff wire that would be used to attach the bomb to the weapon pylon. I then drilled two holes in the weapons pylon (corresponding to the wires in the bomb) so that the bomb could be attached with a solid union using super glue. This method worked great and all four bombs were attached in this manner. To finish each bomb I added a small piece of wire in the nose to simulate the fuse. All four bombs were painted dark green with a yellow stripe added to the nose. The sidewinders were painted light gray with flat black tips. I did drill out the exhaust nozzle on the missiles to make them more realistic. The fuel drop tanks were straightforward requiring a little trimming and sanding to get a good union with the pylon. They were finished in light gray.