Pearl Harbor 2014.....Thank You

The cockpit and exterior paint came out very well, Joe.  Looks good.

checkmateking02

Nice-looking cockpits, bob and Travis.  What's the interior color for a Zero?  I've never built one.

I used zinc chromate green.  Based on all the pictures I saw I couldn't see much of a difference so it's good enough for me.

Thanks, Bob.  That's good to know.  It should look spectacular when you add the red meatballs to the gray paint scheme.

I use Tamiya IJN Cockpit green. Pretty accurate. Since Gunze Sangyo is so hard to come by Tamiya is prettty good.

The color of the plane just didn't look right to me so I sprayed light gray over it until it did.  I put decals on today.  It always makes me nervous when I put Micro Sol on.  I'm going out of town for the next couple of days, I'll post some pics when I get back.

I know what you mean about MicroSol, Bob.  It's got to the point where I only put it on sparingly with a 10 0 paint brush.  A little of that stuff goes a long way.

Well one step forward and then ten steps backward.

The step forward:
The wings are installed, the fuselage is together, some of the clear parts are installed. 

The ten steps the other direction:
The seams are horrible, I will need to respray 90% of the entire build. Oh well.

So with that said, pictures.








So with all that let me say, I am pretty happy with the progress so far. The steps backward were of my own making. I used stretched sprue when getting the wings aligned. This allowed me to get the angle close (I think) and also gave me a start on filling the horrible gaps that were a product of fixing the angle. 

Thanks you for taking a look. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.



Joe

Ok guys this brings up sonething I have been wondering for a while. When 99% of us build single engine fighters, we usually construct the entire airframe, work out the seems, and then paint. But I've noticed that with most of the large multi-engine bombers built on here, the everything is painted seperate, then put together. I don't understand, it just seems kind of redundant, having to repaint after working out the seems.

And joe, that is NOT a knock on your methods!!! Its just something I've wondered for a while cause it seems everybody works that way. Which means there is probably a very practical reason for doing it, and I just haven't figured it out yet.

Sorry to hear that Joe, at least you noticed it now when you can do something about it.  I took a look at my Zero tonight and I noticed a huge mistake on my part.  I forgot to sand the panel lines I scribed, so my decals look horrible sitting on those lines.  I could strip the decals off, sand the lines down and repaint.  The downside to that is I won't have markings for a Pearl Harbor Zero.  I'd also have to make masks to paint the national insignia.  I did make a couple of black and white copies of my decal sheet so I could scan it, edit it some colors and try to print more decals.  Or, I could just carry on and leave this as a learning experience.  I'll have to think about what I want to do.

Let me say that the experiment had mixed results.  I love the look.  I do not like the clean up of the seams after.  

Ok, this will be a two part update.

First will be the initial stage of painting of the fuselage. Setting the stage. The build was primed with Rust-Oleum Flat Black, I then thinned Model Master Olive Drab. I then sprayed the paint on the model, being careful to avoid as many panel lines as I could. This process was a bit time consuming.






Second stage is a mixture of the Model Master Olive Drab and Rust-Oleum Flat White in approximately a 50/50 mix. I sprayed this concentrating on the center of the panels. I also kept my focus on the upper sections of the fuselage and the wings.







Second part of this update shortly.


Joe

Part two.

For the third stage of the painting I mixed in more of the Model Master Olive Drab in approximately a 50/50 mix and then thinned to the consistency of fat free milk. I then sprayed a misting over the entire upper surface, I was being very careful to not spray too heavy. I did however make a mistake as I finished with some pebbly surfaces. I then used a very fine sandpaper to beat down the pebbles and then sprayed to fix any blemishes caused by the sanding.

The result.







And there you have it. 

Next up for me on this will be to spray a gloss on the fuselage to prep for decals. 


Comments, Critiques, and Criticism are encouraged.


Joe

AJD I wanted to give this a shot.   Like I said, mixed results.  It definitely has a place in the tool box but I am not sure I will go this route again.

Silentbob use it as a learning experience.  You never know it just might turn out ok.

Joe

To prove I'm actually doing something, where is everything I have done so far.

This was my first time trying preshading. Not sure if I should go over it some more with the base coat or not, I remember people saying that the aircraft are Pearl Harbor were new so they wouldn't have too much weathering to them.

i168.photobucket.com/.../IMG_4612_zps60523926.jpg

i168.photobucket.com/.../IMG_4614_zpsc7a6f413.jpg

i168.photobucket.com/.../IMG_4617_zps1f21220a.jpg

i168.photobucket.com/.../IMG_4620_zps514cea04.jpg

[URL=http://s168.photobucket.com/user/MilsimPlayer/media/IMG_4625_zpsa312eda3.jpg.html]

i168.photobucket.com/.../IMG_4626_zps7c64de79.jpg

i168.photobucket.com/.../IMG_4628_zps1a405e81.jpg

i168.photobucket.com/.../IMG_4793_zps3f6f9ea0.jpg

i168.photobucket.com/.../IMG_4794_zps40dca00c.jpg

i168.photobucket.com/.../IMG_4796_zps6f5c9ff6.jpg

Some showed up as images the others didn't I don't know why, I used the same link on all of them.

Thanks Joe, that's what I'm going to do.  Your B-17 is looking great so far.  ww2psycho your cockpit looks amazing!  What scale is it?  I put another layer of MicroSol on the decals before going to bed last night, thinking that might help.  When I looked this morning the decals weren't perfect, but they looked good enough.  So I'll keep on trucking where I am right now.  Here's a pic with the decals on.  

It's the Hasegawa 1:48 kit. I used Eduard PE seat belts but other than that everything came with the kit. The IP was 5 different decals I believe.

Silentbob that looks awesome to me.  Love the way the preshade turned out.

ww2psycho your pit looks incredible.  Very crisp and clean.  Very nice.

Joe

Thanks Joe.  I have the house to myself this weekend so I'm hoping to finish the Zero soon.  I'm working on getting the landing gear assembly together and painted the aotake in the gearbays and for the struts. 

Well, I'm done!  The markings are for Lieutenant Commander Shigeru Itaya, leader of the fighters of the carrier Akagi during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  I read somewhere that the planes that were used in the attack were new, so I didn't weather it too much.  Thanks for hosting Joe!

Nice job on the Zero, SB!

Thanks!

The Zeke looks very good.  Nicely done.

Joe

Update:

Decals are on and she is ready for some subtle weathering.








And the way the engines look right now.




Next up will be oils. 


All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.



Joe

Looking good Joe!

Silentbob many thanks.  Last of the summer commitments is done as of today and that means I can get back to this.

Joe

I decided to do some more of the base coat, it looks too dirty for a Zero from Pearl. I added a few drops of white do try that scale color effect. It does lighten it up quite a bit and looks more grey white than a green grey. I'm going to paint the blue stripe on the back instead of using the decals. I'll try to get up what I have done tomorrow morning.

Well the end is near for this one. 

This update is for the little fiddly bits that needed to be installed and painted prior to a final flat coat. It will also show the subtle weathering and staining on the aircraft. 










So there we are. Almost. Almost done. 

All that is left is the wheels and a flat coat to seal it all in. 


All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.



Joe

Looks good Joe!  I really like your paint fading and weathering