1/72 Has. F4U-1A Corsair - In Progress

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I went to sleep very disappointed last night, but it was good to step away from the bench. Last night I tried to clean it off with some water/alcohol mix and it looked promising at first. But, the more it dried, the tougher it got and unfortunately some of the decals have been ruined. I painted it with enamels, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get the rest of the flat coat (and likely the decals) off without damaging the paint too much. Then it would just be a matter of some new decals and another flat coat.

I was so close too. The canopy is even done and I think it turned out good. I may stlil be able to salvage it, but new decals are definitely needed.

Murray

Pixilater, I know what you mean. I *usually* use Testors Dullcoat, but I tried this out for a change. I don't have a booth/exhaust set up and didn't want to get fumes all over my house at 1:00 in the morning. So, I set up a little box and used some acrylic instead. Big mistake. The bottle says you can use water or alcohol to mix, so I used alcohol.

That's a shame, Murray. But I guess that's how we learn which products work for us & which don't. Good thing you didn't find this out on a $100 kit in which you had a year's work invested.
I've always used Testor's Dullcoat, and I now seal the decals with Future first. I get a dead-flat, which is what I want. I've NEVER had any luck with acrylic flat coats. They are intended to be safer, but I just plain don't like 'em.
Good luck on the next one. I'm sad to see this little bird go.

That sucks! Bummer..............

Truly sorry to here that Murray. I've never had a clear coat turn white but I have heard of it. Microscale Micro Flat is waterbased isn't it? I don't think I'll be trying it anytime soon.

Just an update to let you know that this plane is now dead...gone...kaput....

I made a lot of progress on it tonight and even went so far as to put the final flat coat on. I used Microscale Micro Flat and this stuff totally ruined the model (white powdery haze everywhere .) I've heard about it happening, but it's never happened to me before tonight. Not sure what the problem was, but the bird is now dead. I tried to salvage it, but it just wasn't going to happen.

I really liked this kit too. Put a lot of work into it...

Murray

I like it and I don't think you went overboard on the weathering. The one exception is the prop. I don't think you over weathered it I just think it could stand to be smoothed out so it looks more scoured. I'm not saying it looks bad it just sounds like you are wanting impressions. Awesome build, take it to the show!

Great job Murray! Looks like a real Pacific warbird!

Great job Murray. Especially the weathering. I can never seem to get it to look real so I end up with the fresh from the factory line look.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I do realize I went a bit 'overboard' on the chipping, but there were two major reasons for that. Firstly, I did snag a few pics from the net that showed these birds in rough shape like this. http://www.bentwings.com/kepford/kepford.htm was a bit of a guide, but I soon just went with the flow. Second, I was really 'learning as I went' and I got a little carried away in some places.

Rick, the deals are from the kit. Thanks for the comments.

Murray

Well, the paint chipping is a little extreme for my taste but weathering is a matter of personal choice. Nice job on the bird though. This is a great little kit. Who's decals did you use?

Rick

Nice job so far ! Weathering is always up to the builder. The Pacific was a harsh environment, and your bird looks convincingly "beat." Can't wait to see the finished product. If you hadn't mentioned the scale, I would not have guessed its that small.

hi murraynice bird but i think u overdid it a bit wiv the weathering. but thats ma opinionkepp building