Yaks Chengdu J10s Vigorous Dragon , - 1/48 Bronco Models

[Guest]

Looking good.

[yak face]

Latest progress on the dragon. I think its going to over run the deadline by a few days as its taking FOREVER to put on the decals! There are literally hundreds and I mean about five hundred tiny stencils on the decal sheet , most of which probably wont be noticed on the finished model and some as small as a full stop! I might not put every single one on but we'll see. Anyways its had a panel line wash now, paler grey for the underside colour and a little darker for the top. Now im not usually a big fan of panel line washes as they can look a bit unrealistic if overdone , but with the lovely detail Bronco have put on this kit its a shame to not highlight it in some small way , so ive tried to be as restrained as possible. next set ofpics will hopefully show the decals on, cheers tony

[Guest]

Tony this is looking sooooo cool, keep up with all the great work.


Scott

[yak face]

Well that was quick!! , ive been having 'pooter problems - my old laptop decided to go funny and i lost ALL my thousands of pictures of all my previous builds! These pics are off my phone, the ones ive loaded on the previous post are the first go with the new laptop, so that's why theyve followed on so quick. Anyways heres a few pics of the nightmare stencils ( 190 odd and each number has about four identical ones!!) and the airframe halfway through decalling , cheers tony

[papa 695]

I've just caught up on this one Tony and it's looking great but I don't envy you with all those stencils

[flyjoe180]

Coming to life now Tony, looks smart with the insignia on it. I don't envy your job with those stencils.

[yak face]

Well after sitting there half decalled and filling me with dread at the thought of doing the other half .Ive finally got it done!! The hundreds of stencils are tiny ,unreadable (unless you read chinese and have got bionic eyes!) and a pale purple colour so placing them has been a very testing job. They are barely visible on the grey but i had to do them all , or it would have niggled me! Next step is to give it a coat of varnish to seal the decals and give a uniform finish then its the knocky off bits like undercarriage ,aerials, canopy etc. , cheers tony

[papa 695]

Rather you than me with all those Tony, but at least there all done now. It's looking very good and now to the finish line.

[flyjoe180]

Awesome work Tony, nearly there

[Guest]

Wow, great work so far. 

[yak face]

The dragon has had a final sealing coat of varnish to lock on the decals and give a uniform finish. I decided to use a satin as modern aircraft are rarely totally matt (unless its a RAM coating) next up is the undercarriage and removing the rear canopy and detailing this., cheers tony

[papa 695]

Looking very good Tony 

[yak face]

Undercarriage and doors are on, including the TINY retraction jacks complete with microscopic hooked ends - believe me Bronco really know how to mould tiny parts!! Ive also put the exhaust nozzle on and removed the temporarily fixed rear canopy ready to add more tiny mouldings (rear view mirrors , grab handles etc.) Its nearing the finish line now ,once the canopy is on there are only a few aerials and the static dump wicks left to fit , the only problem then is where to grab it to pick it up -theres knocky off bits everywhere!! heres a few pics

[yak face]

Heres a few more pics. The dragon has got its canards on now and the fragile tiny bits are being added. The kit supplies photo etch for the static dump wicks but ithink these look a bit flat so i used toothbrush bristles instead , knocking them off and having to refit them about twenty times during the handling of the model!! > . Ive also fitted the mirrors and grab handles to the canopy and used a very thin strip of black tape to represent the thin line that runs down the middle of the canopy , but not all the way to the front. I dont know if this is a detonation cord or what but its there on the real thing . The canopy had a mould seam running down the centre which i could conveniently cover with this , only having to scrape off and polish the very front bit -brucie bonus! now the canopy is off ive added the decals to the ejector seats and the canopy breaker horns to the front seat (these were originally moulded on but I broke them off ages ago , clumsy bugger) Only things left now are to fit the stores and canopy and its done , cheers tony

[papa 695]

That is looking very very nice Tony. Not long now to the finish line.