Metal masters GB 2016 (1Feb to 31 July)

It seems the build is driving you "nuts" ;-)

I have to agree, you have nailed the weathered NMF look perfectly, well done.

I might have to try the preshading with alclad myself some time.

Theuns

Britt, that is one of the most convincing NMF's I have ever seen. The sun beaten and weathered treatment is very good. I really like what you've pulled off here. Great job.

BK

I'm starting to have doubts about finishing my build now. Not enough time in the day especially with a 2 month old. I'm starting to get fussed at by the wife for spending all day in the garage... =[ I haven't quite managed to be where I wanted. I missed a whole day basically having to be daddy and hubby, but it's not such a bad gig to have =]. Here's what I managed so far.

I got everything primed and before I could finish my poor little compressor crapped out on me. He needed to take a break! Eventually wrapped it up. What I like about it is even though it's a bit time consuming, once I'm done with a section...it's done for the most part. Any addtional weathering will be based on the theatre of operations. One thing that's worth mentioning is I preshaded certain panel lines and riveted sections with Alclad's Magnesium. This allows me a bit of depth with the Aluminums that go on top and gives the surface a bit more character with more control. The double action airbrush is the key to that though. 

I do apologize about the pics. They are very rushed and I honestly searched for the best light to show what your eyes are really seeing as best as I could.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

The cowling was preshaded some as described above and painted with White Aluminum. The panel along the exhaust stack was done almost entirely with the Magnesium. I find it does a great job of representing this part.

The rest sort of speaks for itself. I paint the panels individually by taping them off with Tamiya tape. I hear of others having a lot of trouble with this and I can never understand why. My tape does get low tack very quickly as I tear off many strands and put then on the mat or cardboard, etc and reuse them. That may have something to do with it. I will say that my paint goes down in thin coats and is dry immediately after. No kidding...immediately. Just tossing that out there for folks. I hope it helps solve the Alclad mystery. 

The rest of the plane is painted in Aluminum along the cockpit and Polished Aluminum as we move aft. The wings are Duraluminum with Magnesium within the ammo/gun bays. I always come back and clean up whatever overdoing it happens while using the Magnesium with whatever color is dominant. When the panels are taped off, you won't notice how much is going down. Tip...it never takes much for a subtle difference. =] I did  not have the luck I thought I'd have with the Airframe Aluminum over the grey primer. It didn't bond with the plastic at all hardly. So for the tail part that shines bright in all the pics I referenced I went back with the Gloss Black and put down the Polished Aluminum instead as I didn't want something that shined too much. The Airframe Aluminum is way to bright and pretty for what was seen in the PTO.

A little walkaround.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

That's where I'm at for now. I need to tidy up the gear bay, assemble the prop, and paint the insignia and anti-glare strip.  I'm skeptical about the finish.

nothing like a deadline to get motivated LOL

Theuns

I know! I'm sweating bullets!! =]

I should be starting my paint real soon. Hopefully this weekend.

Just over 2 weeks left guys  ;-)

Theuns

Theuns is right. The NMFs are changing due to oxidation and UV conditions and other corrosive elements as I'm sure you know, but something I see commonly with modelers is a brief disconnect between what they see being done by many and what actually is. They adopt certain practices of weathering an aircraft that may simulate what's being seen, but it may not accurately reflect what's happening or why and where it should be happening. For instance, you see a lot of preshading for panel lines in an effort to reveal the joins along the borders of panels. I personally don't think there's anything wrong with this practice...how it works can largely vary on your coverage of whatever paint goes on top, but seeing each and every border uniformly on a plane is not normally accurate. There are other ways to accomplish it with better success. So to relate this to NMFs, I would suggest you consider how pretty you want your shine to be and start there. And by that I'm speaking of a primer coat underneath your NMF surface. I can't speak for the new MiG acrylics that just came out, but for Alclads using either the Gloss Black or Grey primer will have a significant difference in shine. Then consider a sealing coat of either flat or light sheen. Both change the final appearance of your efforts. Alclad itself doesn't need to be sealed with anything. It's durable enough on it's own, but adding a flat coat on top can dull the shine and give a more warbeaten look. Of course you still have oil leaks and fuel leaks to display and the big rooster tail of oil spray on the right side of mustangs in particular, but griming up a NMF starts with what goes on underneath.

I'm sorry I'm not as caught up as I'd like to be with my two mustangs. I'd have probably run through some of this already to some degree with my WIP part. What do you plan on doing for the next one Larry?

What I have found is that NMF planes do not really weather like painted craft. The metal is to smooth to really hold onto any dirt od soot.

The metal does however fade a little more "dull" than when new and the different pannels have a different "colour" to it due to the different alloys.

You might want to play arround with that to simulate some weathering and maybe have a "new" shiny replacement pannel somewhere.

Theuns

Whoops, just saw that you posted a different pic. Like that one too - it maybe shows the NMF a bit better.

LZD

Theuns,

Thanks for allowing me to participate. I've already started the next model - a replacement for this one. One thing I need to investigate is weathering. This bird looks far too clean.

I kinda partial to the first photo, if you wouldn't mind using that one.

Best,
Larry

Lary, that looks really good, well done for a first try.

I hope you will do another NMF soon.

I will post a pic on the front page, thanx for taking part :-)

Theuns

Britt,

Thanks for the kind words. I think the fuselage came out pretty well. It's the wings that turned out to be a problem. When I stripped the model following my first attempt at NMF, the putty I used to fill the panel lines came off as well. I refilled them, sanded again, and resprayed the paint. Apparently I didn't wait long enough after spraying the wings. When I masked them off to paint the fuselage, removing the mask pulled up big bits of the paint on the wings (I used frisket film because I thought it would be less sticky than masking tape). I was so frustrated at that point that I just resprayed the wings, but - in person - the surface of the wings looks like the aircraft has some kind of nasty skin disease. I was in too much of a rush to finish I think. AlClad clearly needs over 24 hours drying time before it's safe to mask. Live and learn.

Best,
Larry

Larry, well done! =] Nothing wrong with a clean mustang. For your first NMF build I'd say you faired pretty well. Some people get all mixed up and never complete the build. Once you do one, you'll go back and think about what you'll do for the next one...and the next. =D Personally, I think NMF models get the chance to show a lot of character without any "paint."

Your grassy scene you have seems pretty versatile. I'm a little jealous. I'll have to put one together sooner or later.

Let us know which picture you want for the front page, and don't forget to grab a badge. Super clean looking build Larry. 

Well, I've finished my P-51D. This was the first D I've ever built and my first natural metal finish. Most of my models have at least one flaw somewhere, but usually it's something I can live with. This model exceeds the threshold, so it will sit on the shelf with the rest of my Mustang models only long enough for me to build a replacement. The flaws don't show up so much in the photos, but in person I can see them and they really bug me. Anyway, here are some photos.

Best to all,
Larry

You certanly got that glazing sorted out, well done!

Theuns

I made some important progress in securing the canopy. I've been a little leary in just plopping this piece on here and hoping it'll work out and never creep or shift or even gap in spots. I haven't always had the best luck when it comes to windscreens and canopies, so I wanted to absolutely make sure I did everything possible to ensure this badboy went on perfect and stayed perfect. Especially since I can't just peel off the "glass" and start again...the back end will be a part of the fuselage. So in order to keep a seamless finish with the kit plastic, it needs to be perfect...thus the patience!! =]

I've placed two tabs aroung the top half of the cowl piece. The first is underneath the cowl poking out to reinforce the top piece which will accept the canopy. It worked out pretty well and I was able to make it leave just enough space to account for the width of the plastic canopy so it will be flush to the cowling. Next, I wanted to reinforce this forward part with a bulkhead to keep it strong. So, I cut and sanded to shaped (using the canopy as a guide) the bulkhead that the motor mounts attach to...only I moved it back a little from where it would actually be. I chose the location for functionality.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

I added a couple of tabs that will be hidden to help secure the sides to the fuselage. There's a total of 4 along the bottom of the canopy and 2 attaching to the back of the spine of the fuselage. There is just enough gap to allow a smooth transition (I'm hoping!) I also took this moment to cut out the extra window that's present on JJ England's mustang. I made the shape from the Montex mask that I picked up so it would match up properly. I sanded the plastic scratched out piece as thin as I could but found that I still needed to touch it up after I had fixed it to the canopy. I personally felt it was easier too. I masked off the plastic canopy and carefully brought the extra window closer to scale on it's thickness.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

And I suppose the masochist in me decided I couldn't get this far without making it more difficult...so since there is a big gaping hole for a carb intake, I just couldn't leave that without putting something there. I very simply scratched out the housing for the intake and the C-channel shaped anchors that attached it to the cowling. There's a bit more going on with the actual intake, but for here I just wanted something that would fit the bill, occupy the space, and prevent any light from sneaking through from the cockpit. So that's what I did. Primed and painted parts:

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

That's where I had to stop for now. Last things left with this part includes a few details  for the window to the canopy door, controls for the throttle/oil mixture, and prime and paint.

=]

From here the pony looks really gaag mate :-)

Just for interest sake, when I have to paint bands on a spinner, I will put a toothpick of such into the spinner's backplate.

Then I prop up the paintbrush to be horisontal at the correct hight the edge of the bans needs to be.

I then press the spinner to the 'stationary" brush and slowly rotate the tootpick/spinner.

This  gives a nice equal smooth band, imagine the same way some clay is turned on a potter's wheel .,not that your spinner doesn't look good, I just find it works for me.

Theuns

Britt, Theuns,

Thanks for the kind words. I gotta wonder, though, if it's really a save if you go back to square one and start over...

I’m am finally making progress, though. I’ve also learned a few important lessons. First, the EagleCals chcekerboards went on like a dream. They just needed a bit of touchup at the edges. That’s where the lesson comes in. Since the spinner was going to be the same colors as the checkerboard, I epoxied it on before painting. Then I painted with Model Masters Insignia Yellow and Insignia Red. Bad move. The red on the decals is actually better matched by plain old Testors Gloss Red — the stuff that comes in the little square bottles. Repainting the red on the spinner has been a little bit of a nightmare, but I think I’m about ready to apply the rest of the decals.

Best to all,Larry

Yes! And again, great save. =]

Very nice save on the NMF :-)

Theuns

Britt, your F-6 looks amazing. Great detail. You have some mad scratchbuilding skills.

Well, I’ve solved a couple of problems with my D. The first one concerned the splash of color behind the nude in the nose art. The Kit’s World decals that I had purchased included (as did most of the decal sets I found) a red background, but some included blue or black. I wasn’t sure which was correct. I finally found a color photo of Weaver’s aircraft (color photo of Weaver’s Mustang). The photo is absolutely clear: the background splash was black. So, after a little more online searching, I ordered EagleCals set EC-103, which includes the black splash.

That decal set also solved some of my painting issues. While I think the checkerboard method I was working on has potential, I want to get this build done. I didn’t like the paint buildup along the masking, which I think was exacerbated by the paper I rubber cemeted to the masking tape. After stripping off my first attempt at a NMF, I didn’t want to end up with exactly the same problems. The EagleCals set includes the checkerboard markings as two decals: a solid yellow background and the red checks. The red in the decals seemed like a pretty good match to Model Masters Insignia Red, so I decided to paint the yellow and use the decals for the red checks. Here's where I am now. I need to do a bit of touchup to the paint, but next up is applying the decals.

Larry

It seems we're in a big lull at the moment...sooo...I'll keep it moving with this one! =D

Back with another update. I've gotten everything riveted, buttoned up, and sanded smooth. Took my time lining up the dihedral for the wings on this mustang...something I didn't do in the past as much, so I either got lucky or later noticed something was off about those beautiful lines these planes make. I still have some sanding to do in places, but for the most part this one is close to paint.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Questions and comments are always welcomed. =]

Thanks Theuns. Here's the latest.

Okay...made some progress. It feels like it'll be mostly downhill from here. =]

I finally got the fuselage closed up. I also removed the elevators from the horizontal stabs and went ahead and put the rivets in all of this now before applying them to the fuselage where it would be more difficult later. I aim to keep all the riveting a subtle feature in the metal. I looking to see it appear only here and there. So that's done...I did have a little to repair around the mass balance from there removal. I haven't done that in the past and I regreted it later. Sanding it pretty is just not enough. There's just too big a gap that doesn't belong. So a little plastic strip cut to fit and sanded smooth does just the trick and goes a long way to making a nice modification into a great modification. =] 

So here it all is.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Took my time making sure the fit of the fuselage went perfectly.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Made my first round of sanding seams. I'll be making another pass after the riveting is done for the rest of the plane.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

This Tamiya kit really does a nice job engineering this mustang to build up. Everything fits together perfectly and intelligently. The horizontal stabs/elevators even come in one piece! Of course the only hassle is cleaning up the seams on the bottom for the radiator, but hey...nobody's perfect. =P

I also put the "glass" in the windows for the cameras. The big one went in from the inside and the small one from outside. 

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

That's that for now. =]

really nice detail work there, looking good :-)

Theuns

I have a quick update on the F-6D. I'm trying to get through this part so I can close her up and then focus on getting her prepped for primer.  

So to start, I've completed the cockpit. I've added the thin support arms to the seat, which were absent on the TD pit, and I've scratched out the intervalometer-a device used to for timing and filming for the reconnainsance equipment on board. It sat just to the left of the stick on the floor by the pilot's feet. I guess there's no good place to put it, and that made the most sense. It's basically two parts...a small square piece I sanded down to the appropriate size (comparing photographs) and a thin face to go on top. The thin plastic face was drilled with a pinvise to make the dial that's seen and glued on top with Tamiya ETC. That's all =] Then, some tinier bits of thin plastic rod and stretched sprue make up knobs and buttons that are seen. Albion tube makes up the receiver end for the cable you see...the cable is stretched sprue. Also, there's the fuselage fuel tank dial I scratched to place on the tank to the left. Warmed up a plastic rod and bent it into shape. Easy.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Next, is the K-24 camera. Painted it up and dropped her into place. 

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

And that's about where I am for now. I stopped to assess how I was coming with all the internal detail for the camera bay to see how visible any of it was...and naturally, I couldn't see Jack Sh!t. Virtually...it's not terribly impossible to see what's going on in there, but for the time and effort you always hope it comes out a little better. So, I'm going to hit the breaks on further detail. It gets hard to cram everything in there after awhile even when there's space to put it (eventually your tools are too big to put them in there). It's sufficiently busy in there and I can live with it I suppose. =] 

The cockpit has been glued in place, camera set in place, and here's that:

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Tonight I plan to close up these halves after the glue is set. =]

Larry, I'm sorry to hear you having a hard time with that paint. That's such a gut punch to see. I do enjoy seeing others put their builds together from a totally different fashion, but I wonder if some times people make it harder on themselves. So try this for instance. I approach my builds like a real plane would get painted. If I'm doing a fair amount of weathering (even if only over a certain part like a wing walkway) I'll start with a metal color paint such as an Alclad. Then, likely even move onto a zinc primer color to show where those colors would pop into play. Next, would be the first layer of paint for the undersurface of whatever color I'm painting--it could be lighter or darker--then a follow up color depending on location to tie it all in. So it's basically like painting the real thing. Primer color on top of metal...paint on top of primer. It has never failed me. In fact, I get better with each build. It's simpler to keep track of and masking is a lot less complicated.

So for a mustang, for example, I'd complete all my metal colors and then move onto painting my anti-glare surface, then whatever markings it may have, then possibly decals unless I'm painting those as well. Once completed, I'll seal all of that with a Flat or whatever desired effect I'm hoping to see. I never have to worry about build up. Colors go down in thin coats and masking is limited. I honestly don't really feel like any kind of expert. I am always hoping to soak up information from others on the forum. But I can tell you I have not once had the kind of issues I hear from others with painting. Might be a bit of luck, or maybe a little by design...either way if it ain't broke...I'll keep on with that line of thought. So, I share that with you and everyone else reading in hopes that it provides some perspective and possibly another way to go about your painting/weathering phase. Each step helps the other by providing a layer that could be seen without having to backtrack. Just a thought. =]

Don't let her keep you down!! I've almost got mine closed up. I have just a couple of cables to secure and paint up and then the cockpit to sure up and then she's getting sealed shut. =D I'm about to nail this TD cockpit fit and it feels good. LOL ...only took me a week.

Theuns, thanks for the kind words. The paint definitely looks better from three feet than close up.

Here's a shot of where I am now:

I am not a happy camper. I masked off the wings and sprayed the fuselage with Airframe Aluminum. Then I removed all of the masking. I like the contrast between the fuselage and the wings, but some of the Alclad paint came up with the masking. You can see what I’m talking about along the edge of the antiglare panel just forward of the cockpit, along the edge of the checkerboard just below the exhaust, and — most noticeably — right over the wing root. In addition, there’s a fair bit of paint buildup along the edges of the checkerboard and the antiglare panel. I don’t know that going over it with really fine sandpaper would help. I suspect that I could cut down the paint buildup, but I’d probably ruin the metallic finish. I’m very tempted to strip the paint and try again, if I could be sure not to ruin the cockpit. Please excuse me while I go pound my head against the wall...

Thud, thud...

That is a cool way to put cecks on, way better than a decal the never fits to the shape.

Theuns

Here's my latest progress on my P-51D:

In this shot, the spinner has been painted and the nose end of the aircraft painted yellow in preparation for the checkboard squadron markings.

I put a lot of thought into how to deal with the checkerboard markings. I finally settled on a version of the method used by lawdog114 (see 1/48 Tamiya P51 B "Berlin Express" (FINISHED)). I first tried cutting out squares of tape like he did, but I could tell as I was applying them that it wasn’t working out. Then I hit on this: I photocopied the Tamiya decal, cut it out and rubber cemeted it to blue painter’s tape. Then using a straight edge and a really sharp Exacto blade, I cut out the individual “squares” (they’re not really square). I applied them all, then pulled off the tape over the areas to be painted red.

In this shot, I’ve applied the red paint. At this point, I used progressively finer grits of sandpaper to knock down the areas a raised paint where the masking tape had been. The checkerboard isn't great (nowhere near as nice as lawdog's), but I think I can live with it.

Using another copy of the kit decals, I prepared a solid mask to go over the checkerboard, applied it to the model and then painted the top of the nose olive drab. I masked off the antiglare panel and then sprayed the model with Alclad Gloss Black Base.

After masking off the ailerons, the elevators, and the rudder (they’re going to get a coat of Alclad Semi Matte Aluminum), I sprayed the model with Alclad Aluminum.

Sorry for the long post, but that get's me up to date.

Best to all,
Larry