28 FineScale Modeler September 2019
was applied to the fuselage dive brake bays.
I hand-brushed Floquil dark gray on the
instrument panel shroud, and then applied
a thin strip of Tamiya tape to the intake
leading edges and hand-brushed Floquil
engine black with good results.
The horizontal tail and wing leading
edges were masked and sprayed using
Floquil’s Wisconsin Central gold. Before I
started adding ordnance and the folded
wings, I drew in panel lines with a soft-lead
artist pencil. This set the stage for final con-
struction, 11.
A weathering we’ll go
The pencil-aided panel lines had been
applied to the folding wings and ordnance
before assembly as it was much easier to do
that in stages than it would have been with
everything glued in place. I also lightly
weathered the underside before I began
adding the remaining parts.
With less being more as my philosophy,
I added gray pastel powders to the under-
side’s surfaces, 12. I also brushed the pow-
der into the wheel wells and dive brake
indentations. The landing gear legs also
received this treatment. Then the wheels
were glued on after being painted with
Vallejo tire black.
I edged the landing gear doors with a
Sharpie and glued them on at the same
time. The black stripes on the tail hook also
were hand-painted and received a pastel
dust treatment. The first of the tanks to be
fitted was the belly tank. I had to enlarge
the holes to accept the pylon pins, but
doing so created a good fit.Decals add interest
With the exception of the individual plane
numbers and national insignias, I used the
kit decals throughout. You can see the nose
radiation warning symbol in the photo, 13.
That little gem came from a MicroScale
EA-6B low-viz sheet (No. 72-533), that I
had on hand. Luckily, it was printed in
black while everything else on the sheet
was gray.
Now I added the bang seats. Their detail
added a lot to the overall model’s appear-
ance, minus the folded wings, naturally.
During my pre-build research, I found
photos that showed jamming pod nose
vane protective covers. I wanted to replicate
those, so using a paper punch, I made a pair
from .010-inch sheet styrene, 14. I then
drilled a small center pilot hole so they
would fit over the nose of the vanes on the
front of the pods and then increased the
hole’s size with a reamer to ensure the fit
was snug, 15.Some of the covers I saw online were
painted interior zinc chromate and some
were red. I opted for the chromate, feeling
that added a nice detail to an already busy
model.Details, details!
Next up were the fine details needed to
complete the model before adding the
folded wings.
I sprayed the dive brakes red on the
inside and used Alclad II stainless steel on
the outside. A black wash was applied to
the indented circles on the brakes. The
length of the hydraulic rams was reduced a
little because I saw in photos that the
brakes were not fully opened and that was
the look I wanted. Those images also
showed the small details on the instrument
panel shroud. I duplicated them with three
small sections of styrene strip along with
short sections of fine solder, 16. I then
painted the edge of the kit’s heads-up dis-
play with Tamiya clear green and mounted
it on the shroud in front of the pilot’s seat.
Three small dots of clear red and orange
adorned the little warning lights — yet
another added detail that makes the instru-
ment panel pop.
Later, I sprayed the boarding stairs
Floquil caboose red and scratched up the15
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14
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13
10
A reamer then will help you increase the
center hole’s size so the disc remains snug on
the model.Gray pastel powders are brushed on to give
the appearance of wear and dirt.Deepening panel lines with a soft-lead artist
pencil is best to do at this stage, before all the
parts are attached.Red decal stock helps detail the intake
boundary layer splitter plates and was easier
than masking and spraying the areas.
A paper punch is useful in creating protective
covers for the jet’s jamming pod nose vanes.Adding little extras, like the radiation warning
symbol on the aircraft’s nose really bring the
model to life.