"Soccer War" Corsair camouflage painted

Thanks grenadier !

My customer didn't say why he wanted aircraft from the "Soccer War," so I imagine it's for the same reasons I would choose. Because of the way they look, very much out of the ordinary (how many P-51s can you haver on your shelf before they become a little stale?).

Horrido - they say that the memory is the first thing to go. I can't remember what was first . . .

Thanks again !

Splendid work as usual Bill!

Not an often referenced event. Just curious, did the customer explain why he/she wanted the birds to reflect the Soccer War?

Ray

Thanks jwb and Horrido !

Horrido - I listed the paints in the second paragraph of the first post of the thread. The MM enamels were thinned with MM's Airbrush Thinner, and I thinned the Gunze paints with 90% Isopropyl Alcohol.

Thanks again !

Thanks falcon !

Dave and arki - while it would be nice to say, "Use these settings and you'll get exactly what you want," it doesn't work that way. A lot depends on your paint, thinner, airbrush, and compressor. You need to experiment with your airbrush so that you can recognize when the mix, pressure, distance, or angle isn't optimal. The ratio and pressure settings I gave are only a starting point for me. I test spray, and since I've done the experimentation, I recognize what I need to adjust. This is something you can't be taught, you have to learn it by doing. Just sit down with your airbrush when you have plenty of time, and try different ratios, mixtures, etc. See what happens, and learn to recognize the "symptoms" of it being out of tune. You'll appreciate tomorrow the extra work you've invested today.

Pixilater wrote:

Thanks arki and Allen ! arki - anyone with a dual-action airbrush can do this. Spend a day experimenting with different mixing ratios, pressures, distances, and angles until you can paint the thinnest line without spatter, overspray, or running. Angling the airbrush in towards the area you're painting will give you a sharper line than spraying at a ninety-degree angle to the surface. You need to know what too much pressure, too little thinner, etc. does to the sprayed paint. I thin mine, then test it on a piece of white cardboard. By what I see, I know whether I need less pressure, more thinner, etc. Most (if not all) dual action airbrushes are capable of spraying very thin lines without overspray. Just for the record (and this might not work for anyone else), I thin the paint about 50:50, and spray at about 9 to 10 psi, 1/4" to 1/2" from the model's surface using minimal paint flow. Thanks again !

Hmm, I have a Paasche VL and have thinned out the paint as you suggest before, anywhere from 50:50 to 70:30.  I've played with the pressure between 5-10 psi and all I get is either overspray, or the paint spiders across the surface because it's too thin.  You're right, it's basically trial and error but I haven't figured it out yet.  I'm wondering if certain airbrushes are better than others at fine lines?  Anyway, thanks for the help.

Thanks arki and Allen !

arki - anyone with a dual-action airbrush can do this. Spend a day experimenting with different mixing ratios, pressures, distances, and angles until you can paint the thinnest line without spatter, overspray, or running. Angling the airbrush in towards the area you're painting will give you a sharper line than spraying at a ninety-degree angle to the surface. You need to know what too much pressure, too little thinner, etc. does to the sprayed paint. I thin mine, then test it on a piece of white cardboard. By what I see, I know whether I need less pressure, more thinner, etc. Most (if not all) dual action airbrushes are capable of spraying very thin lines without overspray.

Just for the record (and this might not work for anyone else), I thin the paint about 50:50, and spray at about 9 to 10 psi, 1/4" to 1/2" from the model's surface using minimal paint flow.

Thanks again !

Not to take this offtopic, but Pix, I noticed you do alot of your camo work freehand.  How in the world do you not get any overspray?  Or do you and I just can't see it? 

Thank you Dave and wing_nut !

wing_nut - I'm actually working on six at the moment. I have these four, plus a Phantom for a customer, and a P-38 (with Eduard PE) for myself. I'm a busy guy !

Thanks again !

Thanks Mitch, Leon, and Andy !

Mitch - the cockpit detail isn't great, but it doesn't look bad when finished. Fitting the flaps requires dryfitting and trimming to get an acceptable look. The inserts for the radiators and wing guns need filling and sanding, as does the tailwheel well. Overall, it's not bad, and it's at a much friendlier price than Mr. T's kit.

Leon - I have no references that show this particular aircraft with a football antenna. The aircraft used in this conflict were a hodge-podge of hastily equipped airframes. Some of the Mustangs used were appropriated civilian aircraft, refitted with guns, rockets, and bombs. Every one was a little different.

Andy - the irony is non intentional. I haven't followed any sports since I was a kid, and I'd be hard-pressed to name any current athlete. I'll be posting more pics as each one gets painted.

Thanks again !

Slick work as always, Pix.  Kind of an amusingly ironic subject since the the 2006 World Cup kicks off tomorrow.  I'll be interested to the U-birds complete.

Andy

Looks good Pix. In the build that David Aungst did of the soccer war corsair, he used a 'football antenae.' Are you going to use that? If so does it come in the hobbycraft kits?

Leon

Pix:

Excellent work so far, great looking camo.  How is the Hobbycraft corsair - does it fit well?  What level of detail comes with it?

Thanks for posting, awesome work as always.

Mitch

Thanks tigerman !

You must have been posting while I was typing.

The other FG-1D will also be different, as it will be finished in NMF.

Thanks Dave, Andy, Rick, seevee, and AH1Wsnake !

AH1Wsnake - I use Scotch "frosty" tape. It's thin, cuts easily to a sharp edge, and leaves no residue. It took about three minutes to mask the canopy.

Here's a shot of the four aircraft in this project. The other FG-1D (also HobbyCraft) will be done in NMF, the F4U-5N (hasegawa) will be in a weatherbeaten Dark Sea Blue, and the Mustang (Hasegawa) will have a disruptive pattern of brown and green over gray.

rjkplasticmod wrote:

Very nice Bill.  Takes a little getting used to, a Corsair in this scheme, but really looks great. Regards,  Rick

Yep, it looks so diffo without the blue. Catchy camo though. Nice job of applying it.

Nice camo job and interesting subject! Thanks for posting. What do you use to mask your canopy? Looks very thin.