The shuttle is looking great. Glad you had some time to sit down and model. Hopefully it was somewhat relaxing .
Good to see you back. It sounds like you’ve had a lot on your plate lately, so I’m glad you’ve managed to find at least a little time to get back to the bench.
And I’m interested in watching this Shuttle come together. I’ve actually been looking at Shuttle kits myself lately and thinking I’d like to build one, so I’ll definitely be following along. I can see your dilemma with the payload bay too. White over white plastic is not exactly the easiest thing to see while you’re painting it. 
I think the Insignia White is a good choice for contrast, especially if you drybrush regular ‘white’ over it.
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Decals going on the Hasegawa F/A-18C
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Flory wash
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Wash wiped down and clear flat applied. I need to do some touchup around the canopy but getting there…
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That Flory stuff just gives great results for sure
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I’ve heard a lot of people mention Flory washes, but I’ve never actually used them. Seeing the results you’re getting here has definitely caught my attention.
I’m just getting to the point where the decals on my F-4 are finally going to be finished and I’ll be moving into weathering, so the timing of this is pretty good. 
What do you like about the Flory wash compared with a more traditional enamel or oil wash? Is it mostly the ease of application and cleanup, or do you find you get a different-looking result with it?
I may have to give this stuff a try.
Their base is water and clay,so they don’t interact with any medium,if you apply the gloss coat good,they clean off real easy,if you don’t like the results,you can start again.Here’s their website with videos.
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Ya what Tony said. Inert and near impossible to mess up. Here’s my Phantom
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I just didn’t like that Vallejo # 71.279 Insignia White that I used on the inside of the cargo bay for my space shuttle. It was like a very light cream type color. So I applied regular white over it. Now the cargo bay looks much better. I’ll probably add a few “greeblies” (spare parts) in the bay to represent electrical & machinery type items.
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Okay, you’ve convinced me. I’m still fairly new to all of this. I’m just finishing up my fourth model since getting back into the hobby, and I’ve been trying to learn a new weathering technique with every build. I really like the idea that if I don’t like what I’ve done, I can just clean it off and try again. Thanks for the advice and the link!
built some wires and cables for my tiger 1. The cables aren’t historical accurate, nor accurate in any measure. I just like it adds more detail. Gonna need to clean some stuff as it is still a bit messy.
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Moving along on the 1/48 Hasegawa F/A-18C
Gear doors going on. Probably my least favorite task of building aircraft
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I think I’ve got all the stripes on
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Now that’s pretty cool looking.
That’s looking really good! I especially like the weathering. It looks extremely realistic without being overdone, which is exactly the kind of finish I like on an aircraft.
And I’m with you on the gear doors. They’re one of those things that remind me of moving a house. You get all the big furniture out and think, “Wow, we’re almost done!” Then you discover that all the little stuff takes twice as long as everything else did.
Building an airplane feels the same way. You get the fuselage together, wings on and paint finished and think you’re almost there. Then come the gear doors, antennas, little bits and pieces, and especially the weapons. Somehow that last 10% takes forever.
Those stripes look really good. I’m curious—are those decals, or did you mask and paint them?
Either way, that’s a lot of work. After everything I’ve just been through with the decals on my F-4, I can definitely appreciate the challenge of getting that many stripes lined up exactly where they’re supposed to go. And if you masked and painted them, that’s a whole different kind of challenge.
Whichever way you did it, they came out great. I’d love to know how you approached it.
They’d better be amazing… Just ordered a set of 8 from the UK, but the postage was about 40% of the purchase price. The ratios get worse if I order individual bottles from Australia’s closest stockist in New Zealand… $14AUD/Bottle + $24AUD postage…
Hopefully I’ll either use them evenly, or favour one or two washes that justify a larger order when I need to restock