lol its so terrible.

but it makes you smile! :D

yes, yes it does lol.

Scorpiomikey

lol its so terrible.

Well what makes this any different?

Oh god trabi why? lol i think i threw up a little in my mouth.

Hilarious......

Well videos aside the Mirage is very close to being done.  Still have to finish the gear doors, there is some PE on them I've been procrastinating on.  And can anyone guess what I forgot before I glued the halves together.  *Hint* It's in the 4th pic

NOOOSEEE WEEEEEIIIIGHT!!!! Looking good so far.

Thanks, Stu, for interrupting the madness with your Mirage.  Fine looking plane.

As for the music, I think I'd rather hear William Shatner sing "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB3uVARNhmM

Stu -- that is an awesome looking Mirage, one day I must conquer my AB problems and get back to spraying metallics!

Well, after a hiatus of a month or more (probably more), the Raiden is happening again. I sprayed the yellow leading edges and unit band earlier:

I'll let them harden overnight and do some masking tomorrow. I was thinking about preshading on the top but the IJN green is so dark and so dense I doubt anything would show through. So, on with the grey underside, then more masking, and into the green.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Hey mike. Dunno if you seen this photo.

Just thought you might like to see it since your building one.

Scorpiomikey -- that's a cool pic ! Raidens in RAF markings -- now that would be a most unusual finishing scheme, esp. if they were in RAF camo as well... Thanks!

M/TB379

Theyre a really attractive little aircraft. Id love to see them in all sorts of different camo.

Turns out there was an american one in natural metal.

I found a pic of it in natural metal with stars and bars today -- amazing!

Here's today's:

No, it's not a repeat of yesterday's -- I realised after the fact that I should have checked the shade of yellow, and Tamiya's generic bright yellow was too light. I had started masking and had to remove the tape, do a new mix with 10% red to warm up the shade, and respray. Back to masking tomorrow...

I was in the LHS today and picked up XF-19 Sky Grey, which I'm looking at using as the basis for the underside shade. Every chart I can find says XF-12 is the correct shade, but to my eyesight XF-12 has a green component that is simply not there in photos of the real aircraft, nor in other people's builds, nor artwork. If anyone has any thoughts on that, I'm all ears. I did Hasegawa's 1:72 N1K1 last year and used the XF-11/12  combo, and though it looked great it just didn't resemble what I was seeing in references...

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Like it Mike.

Cheers

Tony

Hey looks good Mike! I assume the yellow did fade some in the sun so it might still be ok. I dunno about XF-12 either, I've used it before but it does look slightly greenish to me too. I've used Testors Model Master instead but I don't think they have the colour in acrylic forcing me to use enamel for it.

Anyway here's the Viggen (Swedish for Thunderbolt). This kit goes together like nailing Jell-O to a wall....

I assume nailing jello to a wall is difficult? GRIN Thanks for the perspective -- I'll go with the Sky Grey and see what I come up with. This Arii Raiden is an experimental project, really, just to see what I can get...

Cheers, Mike

Lol, ok nailing the jello is easy, keeping it from falling into a million pieces is the hard part!

Mike, I think the sky grey should look pretty good.

This ones for OWL

Today's progress: I masked the ID band and leading edgees:

Yellow on yellow, not the easiest to see... Then I sprayed the underside in a 50/50 mix of XF-19 Sky Grey and XF-2 White:

I'm not sure how well the preshading shows up in the image but in real life it looks subtle and surprisingly pleasing. The satincoat and panel wash should really make things pop.

The underside will get masked off tomorrow, and I'm thinking of going with a slightly faded IJN Green for the top, then postshading with the original colour... New approach, if it works I might do something similar with the antiglare panel at the end....

Cheers, Mike/TB379

the preshading looks good to me!

Nice work Mike, the underside colour looks pretty close to me.  The pre-shading looks really good too. 

Thanks Owl and Gamera! I must say I'm really enjoying this old Arii kit -- it has its challenges, sure, but nothing that can't be overcome, and with the Aztec decals it should looks pretty competitive.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Pre-shading looks fine to me, you dont want to overdo it.

Usually the japanese aircraft its the weathering that makes them, not the preshading.

Here's the latest -- canopy interior and antiglare panel done:

And the AGP masked:

I'll lay on the IJN green tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the base colour and then a lightened fade shade over the top, rather than the other way round. They're all interesting experiments and I have plenty of Japanese subjects to come. I must say I'm enjoying the heck out of this old kit!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Hey Owl if its not too late would like to join in with a P-38M Night lightning ,1/48 Academy

Looks good Mike 

TREYZX10R

Hey Owl if its not too late would like to join in with a P-38M Night lightning ,1/48 Academy

absolutely! Ill get your name on the roster!

Thanks Owl.just went back thru and reviewed the builds on this thread and there are some heavy hitters in here ,nice work everyone! Mike the preshade looks tight!

The office is ready to instal,not a very detailed affair but much wo'nt be seen once its entombed in the fuse anyway

The booms are ready to mate up to the pod, the gear bay design does'nt fit well and leaves a super thick wall. I've sanded it down some but its still way thick. Also took the time to open the air scoops up and thin down the leading edges