Looks good George, you didn't correct that black aileron ! thanks to you and Erik for the info on printers, I have a Samsung CLP 300, a pic of my only decal so far, "THE VIPERS" done similar to your method using a scrap from a decal sheet !

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Looking good, George @georgeswork.
Pity about the decal.

Ok guys ,

Spiros (@fiveten) Erik (@airbum) and Allan (@kalamazoo)

I feel like I am in the home stretch now . and I also feel like I could have finished 3 modern models in the time of this one kit. But then again, I kinda remember most kits being this fussy back in the '80s.

I had to give the decals a base coat as they are just a bit too translucent and decided to lightly brush on the white base instead of spray due to fear of overspray. Now I need to wait overnight to give a gloss coat and apply the decal.

In the meantime, I guess I can replace those sensor tubes on the wings as they look way out of scale.

And I have time to figure out what to do about painting or apply some kind of decals to the shallow intake ducts

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Here's what I got so far Allan with some decal scraps cut to fit.
I might just need to run with your idea. The real things does look pretty good.

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I will echo Spiros and Allan here George (@georgeswork) - FOD covers on a parked jet is a great idea.

Looks like I'll be making up some FOD covers 😉

Thanks Greg (@gkittinger) , I have a few planes that I was thinking of painting as Target Tugs and this was my first try. The black paint is so hard to correct if an error was made but has actually easier than expected. And you are right, the more any little mods is added these older models take a whole new look.

I added the my own wingtip probes, kicked out the old ones. I just took a couple of needles and trimmed to size and added a couple of spins of mylar tape to give the variation in tube diameter, increased the diameter until I got a snug fit.

I'm also close to finalizing the cockpit painting. No see through glass for the navigator 🙁

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That is a sharp addition George (@georgeswork)!

Well gents, I think I have gone far enough with this kit and paint scheme.

The only thing left are the FOD covers and that pesky 'Decal #11" which is hardly noticeable from a distance. I should be getting an actual replacement set of decals soon (maybe a month - mailed from Russia). Also, if I go with the intake covers then I might as well add the exhaust covers too.

With all its inaccuracies and fit issues and apart from the primer issue, this kit was actually as much fun as I was hoping it would be.

I think I should wait until that final decal is in place before I post in the Headlines though - or maybe not?

Thanks Erik (@airbum) for starting this group!

I had this kit for over 30 years and I probably would have waited another 30 years to build it if not for this group. Also glad to do this paint scheme as you do not see too many target tugs being done. Having this old kit allowed me to try the scheme and it adds a bit of more colour to my 72nd jet cabinet.

Thanks to all who followed the build, it definitely helped me keep focus and get past the primer issue.

Here's a first look before I decide to post in the Headlines.

As for my next kit to the group --- Not sure what to do next but I did find this re-issue of a Sea Vemon still tagged at $7 Cdn. The kit is a release from Ukraine SCAT, a reissue of ...wait for it...another FROG kit.

Tagging @kalamazoo and @fiveten

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