Build Log: 1/72 Hasegawa Su-33 Yellow 13...

It's looking better this time around.  I have finished all of the sanding down, re-etching the panel lines and rivets and base coat of the light gray. I'll do the camo tomorrow.  I'm glad I didn't strip it down in a fit of disgust and frustration.

Looks good so far, when placing decals I always leave a pool of water or decal fix where the decal is going to go, I always place the decal on the model then move it into position afterwards. Then I use cotton buds to remove the water so the decal sets.

I'm sure that you'll get what you're striving for out of this model- keep digging.

I decided not to strip the whole thing.  I'm revisiting the repair of the two areas.  Basically, I've sanded it all down until there are no ridges/bumps/etc. from the previous coats.  I then shot a very fine coat of the the base light gray color to make sure it was all smooth.  Now I've got some serious re-scribing to do before I hit it with the base color again before the two other camo colors.  I think it will turn out this time...

Thanks for the tips Fly-n-hi.

It sucks to be an OCD, anal-retentive perfectionist. I'm not happy with the results of the repairs whatsoever. I'm going to mask the engines and strip the entire top and forward fuse camo down to the primer or plastic and do it all over.  It shouldn't be that bad as I already have all of the camo template images for my vinyl cutter to simply cut and stick-on. I hope it will go much faster the second time around. I've also ordered another kit and a replacement decal sheet.

Talk about lessons-learned.

Man that sucks about the paint getting screwed up!  It was looking fantastic!  But I like the fact that you're attempting to repair the damage.  I think it will pay off in the end.

For future reference...If you place a decal in the wrong spot you can apply some water on top of it, let it soften and move it around.  Keep applying fresh water and very gently start working the bristles of a fine brush under the decal.  Be gentle and don't force it!  THIS WORKS!  I've done it myself several times...even with decals that have dried for a few days.  

Now, I don't typically use Future as a gloss coat so I can't say for sure how the decals will interact with the Future.  I suppose that could be a deal breaker but I don't know.  In this case Windex might be a better choice.

Good luck!

Not so much stuck as angry/frustrated.  Anyway, I'm back on the path and fixing the screw-up.

If I had just let the decals dry, I could have just sanded them off....but I panicked. Bare plastic because I tried to use nail polish remover....I'm such a dumbass.
 

Rescribed/etched and ready for primer...

Primed and leveled...

Masked and ready for paint...

Base color applied...

Next Up: I'll be redoing the camo in a little while...with more pics to follow.

Post a pic of what went wrong and the problem could be solved if you're stuck, even post it in a new thread asking for help you'll get suggestions surely.

Sorry to hear about the decals, but the engine panels are top-shelf.

Someone once posted a method for removing decals by basically rewetting them again and again until they lift off... but once they're sealed in, no way.   I don't know if they'd be reusable, but I kind of doubt it.

Could you do an area respray to mimic some sort of maintenance/repair effort?

All with the Tamiya weathering powders.  

I followed up this awesome triumph by pretty much ruining the model and all my hard work.  I was trying to put the red box decals around the panels on the top.  I placed them wrong and it was too late to move them so I tried to remove them...bad idea.  Now I have two roughly 1" squares on the top of the model where I had to strip it to the plastic.  I don't know if I can recover from this one...but will try. 

5th time was the charm indeed!   Those panels look great- I really like the discoloration and staining- you did all that with weathering powders??  

I guess the fifth time was the charm.    I finally ended-up with some fairly good results that I can live with!

Here we have the starting point.  MM Metalizer Aluminum buffed to a nice shine.

After a couple of hours with some Tamiya weathering makeup...and then clear coat to protect my hard work.

Next Up: NOW maybe I can get to the decals...stay tuned!

How many times can I mess up these engines? I just can't get it right. After another failed attempt yesterday, I stripped it down to the plastic and put a new finish of MM metalizer on them. This stuff is incredible. I love it. Now if I can just get the stuff that goes over it right...   I also broke the cans off so I can work on them more easily (yet another lesson-learned).

Dean30

....I didn't know there were kits of computer game aircraft.

Check it out: Ace Combad Models

T3chDad I never saw the box art until now lol, I wondered what you meant when you said about the box I didn't know there were kits of computer game aircraft. I really like this build it's looking great, I think you should try a 1/48 scale Flanker if this is what you do with 1/72, it would probably turn out great, if you do, come along to the Big Russian Jet GB it's basically been an ongoing thing now and everyone is invited to post on it.

I see one excellent wash job, on top of one awesome paint job.   This model is killer.

Dont see anything wrong with the wash.  The paintjob is excellent!

Last update for a couple of days...it's my anniversary tomorrow.

Here we have it all masked-up for the painting of the little white parts/panels.

Here is the result after the final wash.  While I'm not  totally 100% happy with it, I do think it looks pretty good.  It has proven to be a worthwhile learning experience through online tutorials, forum posts and trial-and-error.  What do you guys think?

Next Up: I just finished the gloss coat prior to decals. 

T3chDad- outstanding camo work and beautiful engine panels.  I would have cried a little when smearing all that wash everywhere.

Looks fantastic...I've been building most of my planes wheels up for bit now (easier to hang them from the ceiling than sit on a non existant shelf) and I'll tell you that the majority of models take some....creativity, to get to look good with the wheels up....that technique that you did with the rolled up papertowel was brilliant and I'll have to try that.

Thank you for the complements gentlemen!  My last model was a 1/48 Tamiya F-15 when I was 16 or 17.  I was also painting figurines (hobbits/dwarfs/wizards and stuff) when I discovered girls.  I'm fairly OCD and I've done many hours of research before beginning this model.  I tried to set myself up for success. My RC building experiences didn't hurt either.

I've finished the first wash and I have some touching-up in places.  The wash really helps showcase all the imperfections in the finish!  I don't know if I'll have more pics tonight, but there should be some tomorrow definitely.

If this is the first model you have made in 32 years it looks great so far, I would say though one thing that sets models apart is the detail painting, don't forget it, things like the refuelling probe, the lights, the areas where there are antennas etc...

WOW, that's nice.

Brilliant work there!

THIS IS SCARY!  I've never done a wash before (probably shows) and this is a difficult thing to do to your brand new paint job.  I've been practicing on the bottom, so I'm fairly sure it will come out fine in the end.

Good progress and more lessons-learned this weekend.

Yellow accents done and ready to mask for the camouflage .

I started masking the old fashioned way...looking at the scheme and eyeballing little tiny pieces of tape.

It was difficult, slow, confusing and I wasn't happy with the process.  See, I'm lazy...so I had an idea! I took some extra transfer film I use with my vinyl cutter and overlaid a print I made by scanning and enlarging the scheme from the instructions and started cutting-out the masks but it was still tedious. I had another idea!  I took the enlarged image and used my vinyl cutter to cut all the masking at once on the transfer film.  That was awesome!  I only had to fudge a few bits due to the turtle deck.  Everything that was flat was easy as pie and I was happy.  I did fill in some some small areas with conventional masking tape.

After spraying...

Now for the moment of truth!

Wow!  I couldn't be happier with the result.  There were only two tiny little spots to touch-up.

Next up: Future and experimentation with washes.

If you dive into one of those big birds, I highly recommend the Eduard PE sets for it as they dress up some obvious weak spots in the kit.   The intake FOD screens are a bit wonky to set in place but they look the part as opposed to the big slabs of plastic that Trumpeter gives you.  The launch rail PE makes a huge difference in the look of those parts, which are very plain plastic otherwise.

Aires and Wolfpack make some fantastic resin bits to dress up the cockpit space(s), which are pretty visible under that giant canopy.  At the very least, a set of resin seats make a huge difference in the appearance of the cockpit.

Dean made a 1/32 K conversion some time back that is simply stunning.

I think you're right Dre.  Just a different set of decals and instructions in a new box.  I've seen the 1/32 kit and some build logs and it looks awesome.  I'll have to do that some day.  It seems the kits go for about $150.00 USD...not too bad considering what you get.