Airfix 1/72 Angel Interceptor

[gnomemeansgnome]

Really nice work going on here.

[celt]

I have never done any space or prog related models but your work has encouraged me to have a go, thanks.

[ShaunW]

I've seen a few modellers battle this kit Ian and it's great to see that you are now working your magic on it - the last one that you built looks excellet BTW.

[general rocket]

Impressive work here.

[Sunray]

Thanks lads. I have attached the wings and tail plane without too much trouble but there were a few gaps which I filled with sprue dissolved in Tamiya Extra Thin cement and left over night to harden.



When the homemade filler was rock solid it was just a case of sanding down the filler and adding more if there were still gaps.













Then I moved on to adding the wing tip skids and the nose canards which also had a few gaps which were again filled.







I had already cut off the piece of plastic that was the nose gun. I am going to make a new one from a syringe needle so first I drilled a hole the same diameter as the needle.





I cut the needle to size using my Dremel with a cutting disc with the needle held in a vice.



I stuck a small piece of tape to the end of the needle as it makes in easier to find if the cut piece of needle decides to go walkabout once cut. Also I don't cut all the way through the needle just in case it flies off. I leave just enough as to make it easy to snap apart.





Then I just glued in place using CA glue.



Now its starting to look the part.

[Sunray]

Sorry about the delay on updating the thread. I had to look for a new job as I have been made redundant today and it my birthday as well! Finding a job in the North East of England isn't the easiest of pastimes but the good news I found out this morning is that I start my new job on Monday. What a birthday present!

Anyway on with the real work. I sprayed the seams and joints to check for gaps then I have painted the pilot and ejector seat but to be honest the pilot's face leaves a lot to be desired. In my defence the resin moulding for the face isn't the best but c'est la vie. I also painted the cockpit and added a HUD made from a piece of scrap clear plastic from the packing of a shirt.





The instrument panel was painted black and then I used the tip of a cocktail stick dipped into red, yellow and white paint to add the detail.



The HUD was painted with Tamiya Clear Yellow to help it stand out.



With that done I used Roket Card Glue to attach the canopy.



The glue cures really fast and gives a good joint.



Now for one of my favourite jobs and that is masking the canopy. I first mask the canopy edges with thin masking tape. I find the thin tape is easier to bend along the curves of a canopy than wider tape plus you use less, if you know what I mean.



With the canopy edge masked I then used Mr Masking Sol R solution to mask the remainder of the canopy. I have used other liquid masks but I find this one the best. As you can see from the photo is goes on green but as it dries it turns clear.

[iggie]

Nice work Ian, and great news about your new job; I hope it goes well on Monday

[MarkyM607]

Glad the job thing worked out!!. The pilot looks like he/she landed and stopped sharply without tightening the seat belts!!.

[Sunray]

Thanks chaps sorry I haven't posted anything earlier but as you can imagine I have been a bit busy. Anyway here is an update for the Angel. Once the canopy was sorted I sprayed on the primer and added a touch of pre-shading.







And then on went the base coat of Tamiya XF-2 white.







When that was dry I did a touch of masking and sprayed a few marking on.









Tomorrow I will hopefully mask around the canopy frame and spray it silver and also paint the jet nozzle.

[skypirate]

Fantastic work!
Congratulations, too, on bouncing back into a new job!

cheers,

David

[ShaunW]

That looks great Ian and congrats on finding a new job!

[Sunray]

Thanks chaps. What I noticed was the red stripe down the spine of the Angel wasn't as straight as I wanted so I used a bit of Tamiya tape to mask off the stripe and sprayed a bit of Tamiya XF2 white to tidy it up a bit. I could of left it but I know it would bug me later on, so job done. Next I masked and sprayed the canopy using Vallejo Metaliser Aluminium and finally I then sprayed a few coats of Tamiya gloss to seal the paint.









Once everything was dry on with the decals and for such a small model there are a few. I used Micro-Set and Sol on the decals to settle them down with out any problems and now I think its starting to look the part.











I have applied the Micro-Sol about 30 minutes before I took these photo's and already it is starting to pull them down.



Also I have still the jet nozzle to paint.













I must admit for a 1/72 kit the decals are excellent, you can even read every warning sign.

[philp]

Looking good so far Ian.

[MarkyM607]

Second that.

[DavidWomby]

That's looking great.

David