The Rebuild (thread) of a YA F-18 twin

[Thomas_W]

the First layer of primer is on the majority of the fuselage. gotta get the gear taped up and then i can lay primer on the bottom.




Also got the plug and container for the "rubber" tires i'm making made. i'm currently waiting on that silicon rubber molding compound to get to room temp so i can make the first mold.

[Andrew Bird]

Nice job - keep it moving on, I wanna see what colour scheme you go for!

[Thomas_W]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Andrew Bird
	Nice job - keep it moving on, I wanna see what colour scheme you go for!

Decided on VFA-113 Stingers for the color scheme. Its very simple (the color you see now) but i'm going to do full surface detail, weathering and ordinance hanging off of it.

Speaking of which..Well.. Here's Terry's pane line and access panel technique complete And a little bit of weathering started. gotta get some chalk pastels tommorrow to finish the weathering on the wing.. but i gotta order my markings first. All of the rivet detail is about 4 hours worth of work, and thats JUST the top of the wing.. ugh... and i wasn't going to do this scale.. guess i kinda have to now. haha you'll notice the big paint chip missing from one of my "aluminum" tape panels. it kinda ticked me off at first that it peel that big of a piece off, but i think putting a random dab of paint on the panel will give it a nice weathered / chipped paint look. The other aluminum bits showing thru are where i just scraped a lil bit of paint off the aluminum tape.

[Al Czervik]

Here is some inspiration from this past weekend:

[Thomas_W]

More pictures:

[bigredav2002]

Damn Thomas, I am impressed. You gotta have that at least ready to have sitting under a shade canopy at the Jumbo and if it wont fit in your truck I'll bring the trailer to your place and take it to the field
Wes

[Thomas_W]

	Quote: Originally Posted by bigredav2002
	Damn Thomas, I am impressed. You gotta have that at least ready to have sitting under a shade canopy at the Jumbo and if it wont fit in your truck I'll bring the trailer to your place and take it to the field Wes

Yea, who would of thought that would come out of a heli guy. haha. I wont be able to make the jumbo, but if you or anyone else wants to "borrow" it to put on display at the jumbo while i'm gone, yall are more than welcome to it. As long as i get it back in one piece. haha

[sweetpea]

Where did you get your blue stand that the jet is on......and how much?

[Thomas_W]

	Quote: Originally Posted by sweetpea
	Where did you get your blue stand that the jet is on......and how much?

its an auto body panel paint stand. Available at most all automotive paint supply stores or harbor freight tools. Cost was about $35

[Thomas_W]

Finally got some decent weather around here to get the big bug out and some pics of it together for the first time. Plus it gave me something to do while more tires dried. LOL.

anyways, here ya go The fun begins in the next day or so when i get to start doing all of the fuselage surface detail work... i wonder how many rivets thats going to involve being added by hand?

[ferocious frankie]

From what you started, you have done an amazing job. I'm just a "ARFer" and I have great respect for people like you who actually "build" and "repair" their own planes.

[Thomas_W]

Thanks for the kind words. The plane has definately come a VERY long way since i first got it. I have a few friends who "almost" bought this plane but decided not to b/c of the work involved. A few have seen the pics of it the past few days and are kicking their butts wishing they would have bought it!