W.I.P.: 1/35 Pave Hawk

Thanks Gino, wolfflarsen, Chris, Mel, Charlie and Higgy! Hope to full fill your expectations (man I start to feel the pressure!)

@Gino(defintively a pattern: you're following me around the forums!): the aircraft will be painted in Euro I scheme as it was in use in 2003

@wolfflarsen: the kit is one pain to build wil all it's bad fttings, gaps and lack of detail (mainly on the inside) BUT it's a great helo; so I guess I understand your "had a love hate relationship with this kit".

@Chris: hope the dio will come out as I have it in my mind.

@Mel: Indeed. Once I've completed this helo I'll take a break from Pave Hawks and build a Black Hawk!

As for the progress, in these days I primed and pre-shaded the aircraft. I will post pictures in the next days.

Klaus, I have just finished reviewing your build and it really loks great. Sounds and looks like you had a lot of obstacles to overcome but the finished results are looking great. Cant wait to see you finish it and add the figures. Your on the home stretch now.

Steve

Thanks Steve! Glad you dropped in and took the time to comment.

Here are the promised pictures:

First I "primed" the glass parts with black ... voilà a Pave-Kebab

Then the whole thing was primed in white

And eventually pre-shaded

Thanks Chris!

BUT last week end I started spraying free-hand (without masking): the gray came out decently even though in some spots it was darker, but the light green was a complete mess since it made blotches.
And besides both colors covered completely the preshading ...

So  I decided that I'll remove the colors and the preshading (wasted time!!!) and use a different technique: apply a uniform layer of grey, then add the two green tones using masks and eventually do some subtle post shading.

I'm back to where I was two weeks ago (more or less)!

Aw man! I never knew how to work the whole preshade thing, but it looked like you were on the right track.

Good luck on the fix!- the masking seams simple enough

It's not hard edged though right? How are you going to get it blured? Kinda the elevated index card "overhang" idea??

I don't get the whole point of the pre-shadig thing either.  It usually gets totally covered and when it doesn't, I don't think it looks realistic anyways.  I have never seen an aircraft or vehicle with heavy, dark lines.  For the camo on mine, I get the soft edge by doing it freehand.  I never use masks. 

Good luck and keep plugging away.  It will look great in the end.

I used pre-shading successfully on aircraft with "easy" camo scheme or one tone coloring. The pre-shade wasn't completely covered, leaving just a subtle shade to define the panels.
Here's an example of a japanese float plane and a german tank killer I made in the last years:

Anyhow I guess I learned the hard way that this method doesn't work with polychromatic camouflage shemes.

psstoff995 wrote:

It's not hard edged though right? How are you going to get it blured? Kinda the elevated index card "overhang" idea??

Indeed it's not sharp-edged; I was thinking to contour the edges freehand once all the colors are applied.
The point is that freehand would have been perfect but I don't seem to get a uniform color layer this way. That's why I opted for masking.

She is looking very nice Klaus. Can't wait to see more.

Charlie

  Wow Klaus - looking really nice! Love the camo!

looking forward to next step - weathering!

Andy

Hello Avus. Great job you have done so far. Keep up.

Question: how did you apply the mask on the transparent details? How is the mask applied afterall? Only with tape accurately cutting it so it fits the necessary places? I saw on your pics some bottle MASKOL. What is it?

Thanks Amateur)!

For the first time I used one of Eduard's masking sets. Basically it's pre-cut masking tape which supposedly fits the model; I'm saying supposedly because it isn't 100% accurate.

The standard technique is the one you suggest:precision cut tape.

Maskol is a masking fluid. It's a liquid that turns to a rubber once dry. You aply it to the area to be covered , but I never managed to get straight edges with it.
Almost every paint manufactuer has it's own masking fluid. Maskol is the one produced by Humbrol.

For bigger areas such as wins shields you could use a combination of tape and masking fluid. You put the tape along the edges and fill the rest wth masking fluid.

HTH

Klaus, very nice save in the paintjob and it definetly has turned for the better. Its looking great now and hope to see more progress pics soon. I like the paint as it is.

Steve

Thanks Steve, glad you like my progress!
I still have to pass with the airbrush: (real) life gets in the way.

Currently I'm in the phase where I'm about to put that darn thing on a shelf and start something new just to clear my head ... BUT ... I must not give in tho the dark side!

Here I am again with an update on my work, for those who are patitent enough to keep up with my slooooow pace.

I went over the greens with the airbrush, clar coated and panneled the aircraft. Here's how it turned out:

Klaus, very nice indeed. It looks very good in its final form and its nice to see all the masks off. This is the stage that I like the model at, you can see the end in sight and there are many possibilities you can go with from here. keep up the good work and looking forward to seeing this one done.

Steve

Klaus,

Looking good!  Lets get the decals and some rotors on this bird!   It needs to be "rolled out of the hanger"!  Got your E-mail.  I'm playing plumber for the sister-in-law this week! 

Thanks for your comments and support, Steve and Mel!

Actually the masks (cut foam piece) will go back on as I have to coat it with matt varnish once the decaling and weathering is done.

The main rotor will be the last thing to go on this bird, only once I have the figures, the base and the display ready.

Today's another milestone for my build: I've finished painting the body!
The last steps were:

1. Decalling:

2. Weathering:

3. Dull coating:

Now I "only" have to add the details: wheels, "disco-ball", wheels, antennae etc.

 Hi AVus.

 I was wondering how your build was going. It looks fantastic. I love that camo job. Please more photos.

Oliver

Your Pavehawk is looking awesome. Can't wait to see more!

Charlie