Just completed this 1/48 Freedom Models F-20A Tigershark as a comission. The kit was a delight to build having delicate details and great fitting parts except the join under the fuselage where the forward fuselage meets the rear. It had a medium sized gap that was easily filled with stretched sprue and all melted solid with Tenax.
I opened up the intakes for a better look. I used mylar discs punched out from a potato chip bag as the reflectors in the landing lights and secured with Future then the back side of the housings were painted the belly color. The gunsight glass included with the kit was a bit too thick so I cut my own out of clear plastic and secured with Aleene’s.
The model was painted with MM enamels. The paint was then polished out with 3,000 grit pads, then two coats of Future were hand brushed on and set aside to cure. The decals came next receiving some Solvaset to melt them down. Another light coat of Future was brushed on and set aside for a couple of days. Flory washes came next and most of it was wiped off with a water dampened paper towel. After curing for over a week or so, several light coats of Testors flat lacquer were sprayed on to kill the gloss followed with some light streaks and staining with artists oils.
I must admit that the F-20 is one hell of a sleek good looking plane and it looks fast just sitting there on my bench.
Double click on the picture for closeups. Thanks for looking.
Check out the mylar disc reflecting the light