Coming along nicely Mike. Excellent work my friend.

Thanks, Feldgrau. I admit I haven't been doing so well today. I've spilled paint on the garage floor, can't paint a strait line, and generally have been having a crap day because of some sinus issues. Hard to work when you're all dosed up on antihistimines and cough syrup lol. But I have made a bunch of progress.

The Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue is just a gorgeous color. It really came out great over Flat Black and the color seems to change hue depending on what light you are viewing it under. It changes from the Blue tone you will see in the pictures to a classic Navy Blue under regular lighting. Under daylight it looks like PURE Blue. I've never seen a color do this quite like this one does lol.

^ Navy Blue.

This is just flat-out the most beautiful Blue I've ever worked with. :D

LOL its a completely unintended effect. But one I like!  :D

Well, what can I say Mike, coupled with the neon green it's...well...visible.

LOL thanks, Joe.

Hand painted white checkers on the tail and hand painted canopy frames. A little more work done and a few more details painted in. Slow progress, but I had to remind myself that there is no rush lol.

Its not perfect, but its not horrible either lol.

I love what you did!  The color is beautiful.  I like it so much Mrs. Toshi went out and got it for me.  I'm going to use it for my Tamiya 1/48 Corsair!  Thanks for the information and very cool photos!

Toshi

You're going to like this color, Toshi.  :)

It changes depending on the lighting. Goes from a Blue Angels Blue in sunlight, to a dark (almost Black) Navy Blue under normal room lighting. Its a beautiful color.  :)

It is an interesting colour Mike, I'm very curious how she's going to look when done. 

Well I'm happy to say you won't be waiting too much longer. lol

She's almost ready for some decals. I've got the ones on the prop done and now its just a matter of waiting for the two cotes of gloss to cure up.

Al-most... there...

This is turning out really nice.  Are you going to place white squares on the wing tips as well?  If so, decal or paint?  Thank you in advance!

Toshi

Thank you, Toshi. I wil be using the decals for the wing tips. I've noted that the Academy kit seems to be the only one that has the white checkers on the wing tips. I'm not sure why that is. So I'm going to split the difference and add the wing tip decals to the right side top and left side bottom opposite of the stars and bars respectively.

I ran into a snag this morning. Seems I handled the paint a little too soon and I made a big ol' thumb print on the left wing tip. I think I have it fixed, but that meant adding another cote of gloss to settle it out.

The bad thing is I'm starting to fill-in my panel lines lol. So much for a wash later. Guess I'll skip that. I want it to be a mostly clean bird anyways.

Decals are on hold till after the weekend. I'm going to give this finish a lot of curing time.

Looking good Mike - and super job on the canopy framing !   Steady hands !

Chris

Thanks, Chris! They're mostly strait lol. But they look good enough without having used a mask for them.

In other news, I've got the decals on and I'm letting them sit for a bit before I do my usual repairs and detailing.

A little closer....  :)

The Hellcat looks so good, especially the colorization technique!  You've inspired me not only to purchase the Vallejo model color dark prussion blue 70.899 but to apply it on my Corsair this very evening! You're Beelzebub steering me into the direction to build, build, and build!! I should be packing but what the hay!  I packed all the pictures, dvd's, and family trinkets so far.  It's time for Toshi to have some fun!  LOL!

I know I told everyone and I mean everyone in that the P-40 Tigershark was or would be possibly be my last kit.  After completing the kampfpanzer leopard I thought this is it, I need to break down the model bench.  Looking around, I figured this will be the last room to breakdown into boxes.  This allows me to slide in three kits in my stash. 

Until things get really crazy and you know what I mean about crazy, I'll quietly build my Tamiya 1/48 Tamiya F4U-1A Corsair, Hasegawa Raiden, and finally the Trumpeter 1/32 Harrier night fighter version with Eduard interior and partial exterior PE.  

Anyway, I'm going on another planet here and will start a thread of the Corsair.  I love talking to you randomly like this.  It's so natural!  Thank you my friend!

Toshi

Thanks, Johnny.  :)

Toshi,

When I last moved from my house my desk was one of the last things to get packed up, and that was against my will lol. Now I'm working on one of those packed boxes as my desk lol. Talk about small work spaces. lol

I'm keeping an eye on that new Corsair build of yours. That is one beauty of a kit, for sure! You'll do her well I think. Remember that you can use that Vallejo green wash on your cockpit tub. You'll love the results.

I really like talking to you too, my friend. If only we were in the same state lol. I think we'd have a good time having a couple brews while watching the games and talking shop about modelling lol.

Anyway, you have a good night, take it as easy as you can, and keep that desk for last. It will save your sanity. lol

------------------------------------

So the final clear went on this morning. I did not realize that too many cotes of gloss can start to fog your clear parts like clear flat does. That's something to note for later builds  :/ 

Anyways... I mounted up the two 500lb'ers under the wings and they look great under there. There are still a few liitle details to paint, and I still have to finish painting the rockets, but its nearly completed, minus final effects.  :)

I've also learned a few things about finalizing with a gloss finish. Things I'm changing for the benefit of the Gremlin X build. I didn't do a lot of stuff you should do for a gloss finish and this build shows a lot of those mistakes. It doesn't have the smoothest surface because I didn't do any sanding between cotes of gloss. I just kept adding them over each other. Something I can get away with when finalizing with a flat finish.

Very nice work, Mike. The decals and the canopy look great.

Tnanks guys! I still need to finish the rockets and finalize effects. I've been distracted bby a Gremlin lol. No, literally. I've been working on a Gremlin. lol

Yes, I'd love to see the hellcat fully loaded with her own stores of weapons this kit provides.

As for the gloss work, it looks stupendous.  It really brings out that Prussion Blue Color!  I love it!!!!!!  Great job!!!!!!

Toshi

Very nice work Mike. 

Makes me wanna get started on the one I have in the stash. I would like to build mine in the same color as yours and hope it will come out  half as good.

Nice work Mike.

A Gremlin . . .  as in the AMC Automobile ? 

Chris

Thanks, Toshi. I think I'll finish up those rockets today.  ;)

Jay, go get the Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue from Hobby Lobby. That's where you will find it. There is nothing special you have to do prepare it. Just paint it on lol. You'll love it.  :)

Yeah, Bossman. A 1976 Gremlin X. Its in the Auto section lol. Not hard to find. My family has been involved with restoration and customization of AMC's for decades. But I've never built a model of one. Dad just bought a 1974 Gremlin X for us to put back into shape. Its a rough one and it wil take us years to get it into "show" condition, if we ever do lol.

He's off right now checking out a 1980 Spirit DL that we may be upgrading to a GT. Seems they are worth a lot of money these days. 10 years ago you could barely give them away lol.

Well that took longer then it should have. But I let myself be distracted... a lot.

So here it is, all shiney with orange peel finish.

So now it looks like I need to finish off that P-40E.

Hey Mike she looks cool. I like all the bombs and rockets- she's loaded for bear!

And it's not orange peel- it's no-slip texture so the flight crew won't slide off while servicing her in rough seas...... 

I didn't notice what you used for the gloss but if acrylic rubbing alcohol should take it off without harming the canopy. If enamel no idea what you could use without damaging it. You might try brushing on a little Future, in some cases I've seen it clear up fogged clear coats on transparent parts. 

Oh, just great, the bar has been raised again.

Wow, this thread got lost real quick lol.

Thank you guys. :)

Gamera, all I've got to say about that is, HAHAHAHAHA! maybe lol. The pictures make the glass look foggier then they do in person. I used Testors gloss. :/

I'm okay with it for now. Maybe I will return to it again in the future.

Templar, don't worry, I haven't set the bar that high. Not with that finish ayways lol.

Lawdog, Thank you. :)

What a fantastic finish.  The Hellcat looks mean with the ordinance on.  

Toshi