Subject: Re: 1/48 AA Shenyang Shenyang J-8-II
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Erik Ringelberg" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2013 13:49:03 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
ARC Air - Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.arcair.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Erik Ringelberg 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2013 2:34 PM
  Subject: 1/48 AA Shenyang Shenyang J-8-II 

  1/48 AA Shenyang J-8-II 

  by Simon Tan
  --------------------

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  Here is my 1/48 scale J-8-II from AA Models that I completed about a year ago.  I am a long time visitor of the ARC Gallery, but have never thought my kits measured up to the outstanding work featured daily on this website.  Since the J-8-II page is a little sparse for submissions, I thought perhaps I could add to it.  I came across this kit many years ago and grabbed it since I had not seen a 1/48 scale J-8-II before (this, of course, was prior to the recent Trumpeter releases!). Upon opening the box I found a kit that seemed like a very simple build with not many parts, but not much detail at all either.  As a result, I added some random updates here and there to simply improve the aesthetic. I painted the model with Testors flat white enamel spray paint and weathered it with a wash of thinned black Tamiya acrylic.  Panel lines were filled and wiped using Sepia water color and the entire model was hit with Testors Glosscote, prior to decals, and then finished in Testors Dullcote. It's far from perfect, but a reasonable result for a non-cooperative build of a rare aircraft type in 1/48 scale. 

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  The original kit's cockpit detail was non-existent and the existing canopy glass was horrible.  The front windscreen was not even shaped like an actual wind screen!  To remedy that, I raided an Academy MiG-21 kit for an old cockpit as well as the front windscreen. I also added an aftermarket seat to provide some additional detail. The seat is not exactly a match for the J-8-II, but an older generation seat that fits closer with this J-8 variant's age. Adding the cockpit and seat resulted in a fair amount of sanding and filling to get the pieces to fit, although that was just the beginning.  The fit of the model was terrible and there were seams at every major fuselage joint (directly down the center of the model), at the intakes, wings, and at the engine exhausts.  This amounted to many hours of filling and sanding.  I was concerned my usual weathering technique would come out somewhat heavy on a white aircraft and to some extent that was the case.  Further, after all of the sanding, re-etching the lost panel lines resulted in them coming in a bit more "robust" than preferred and when accented with the watercolor, they became fairly stark. Although a bit bolder than you would expect on an actual aircraft, the panel lines and weathering did provide a descent texture to what would otherwise be a plain white aircraft. I am a decals minimalist so simply went with the aircraft side number and roundels, which were also swiped from another kit.  

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  The kits centerline bomb rack and included bombs went on well, but the wing pylons and armament options were unsatisfactory.  Again, the Academy MiG-21 kit donated the pylons and rocket pods. Overall, if you are looking for a 1/48 J-8-II, I highly recommend the Trumpeter kits, as this one will provide you with limited detail and significant sanding ahead of you.

  Simon Tan

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  Just delete any of the boxes below you don't need.....it's not important to include them.....they are there to give you an idea of the finished article.  It is best to limit your article to no more than 60 or so photos, so the finished webpage won't take too long to open.