First completed model I’m posting here, please be gentle
Took a while to finish this F-80 as I was trying a few new things and had a bit of analysis paralysis at points. First time doing photoetch, first time natural metal, first time trying Tamiya panel liner… which was a disaster.
It came with PE harnesses and I sprung for the Eduard exterior kit. Struggled a bit with breaking and/or losing several parts, and the main gear bay was a pain and a half from a mod and fit perspective.
I wish I had taken a picture of the metal finish before I tried to panel line. It actually looked pretty good. I think I either didn’t get enough gloss coat on or it didn’t cure long enough, because the panel liner was splotchy and stained all over. I was able to save it somewhat, and with some brush paint over where I could without going over the decals. Now it looks dirtier than I would have wanted. Not great, not terrible. Overall a good learning experience and on to the next one!
From the photos, the NMF looks good as it has that used look to it.
I am really not a fan of photo etched so I tend to stay away from it!
I’ve got the same kit in my stash and looking forward to building it after seeing your build. Any fit issues or assembly issues?
Happy Modeling,
Mike
It was a decent kit from a fit perspective. My major issue came from the PE gearbox causing issues with the upper and lower wings coming together. It probably would have been fine with the stock gearbox.
Assembly wise, it’s relatively simple once you figure out which setup you want to build. There are multiple types of wing tip pods, and a couple bombs for the hard points. That had me in fits, looking at references wasn’t sure which way to go. From an actual build standpoint, the trickiest part was getting all the landing gear doors to stay put long enough for the glue to set.
Thanks! Yeah I was doing some searching afterward and the Flory washes definitely looked interesting. I use vallejo so thought Flory might be better over water based.
