You're welcome Dave. I learned a great deal from the gents on forums and I am very happy to contribute back. :)

Best,

Nikola

Beautiful paintwork Nikola. Looks fantastic. 

Just found your thread and will be following closely.  Got this same kit last year, but couldn't start due to surgery.  Next week, school let's out and I hope to get back to the bench.  Thanks for the great tips so far in your build!!

Dave

Одлично! Заиста уживам у вашим објавама и фотографијама.

TheMongoose

THAT is an awesome looking checkerboard. Sooo awesome it deserved to be quoted and shown again! 

Hi gents,

Gloss coat on.

Exhausts painted with the first and main weathering pass complete.

Apologies for s%#ty photos.

Finally on to the decals 

Best,

Nikola

Nikola

Hi gents,

 

Finally got some free time (when I am not too tired) to continue working on the pony.

My first checkerboard pattern masking and painting done. I screwed up in one place but it's an easy fix.

 

Next is painting the exhausts, then a gloss coat and then decals. 

 

Best,

Nikola

 

 

 

THAT is an awesome looking checkerboard. Sooo awesome it deserved to be quoted and shown again! 

Hi gents,

Finally got some free time (when I am not too tired) to continue working on the pony.

My first checkerboard pattern masking and painting done. I screwed up in one place but it's an easy fix.

Next is painting the exhausts, then a gloss coat and then decals. 

Best,

Nikola

"I know that I might be boring you but as this is a very slow progress I am posting every little step.  "

I follow a similar approach. Gives me a chance to stopand look at what ive done, slow down a little and see what the critical eye of the camera shows. Have found a number of goofs that i could fix easier during the build rather than after. The other thing I like is thinking about where to go next when i post a wip. Post away Nikola we all enjoy it I bet!

All invasion stripes done, with some test weathering just for fun at the wing and horizontal stabilizer tips. 

Looking great.  Starting to come to life!  Love the invasion stripes. 

I know that I might be boring you but as this is a very slow progress I am posting every little step.  

Invasion fuselage stripes done. Next are the wing and horizontal stabilizer white stripes. Then the clear coat and on to the decals. Yay!

Ah, yes, and the red checkers on the yellow... 

Back to the bench

That's a nice looking Mustang you have going!

Also apologies for not chiming in on your complimentary color preshading technique that you have been developing in the other forum. I have found it very interesting and it has made me realize I need to start learning some basics about how color works. Looking forward to your next photos.

 

Thank you! Appreciated. Glad that you like it so far. :)

Colours are very fun for me to work and experiment with in any medium, especially in scale modelling. :)

Best,

Nikola

That's a nice looking Mustang you have going!

Also apologies for not chiming in on your complimentary color preshading technique that you have been developing in the other forum. I have found it very interesting and it has made me realize I need to start learning some basics about how color works. Looking forward to your next photos.

I love how she's coming along!

lawdog114

Coming along nicely Nikola. Interesting preshading color choices. Are you planning on painting on the red nose checkers?

 

Thanks LD! Glad you like it so far. Yes, I am planning on painting the checkers. It's going to be a b#&ch but nowhere near as complicated as you had it on your P47. :)

Any tips for that?

As for my pre-shading, I started experimenting with complementary colours some time ago. If you are interested here is the link to the thread that I started in 2019:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/tools_techniques_and_reference_materials/f/18/t/183439.aspx

Best,

Nikola

This is I think as close to reality as I could get with phone camera. I guess we'll have to wait until proper photos in the end. :)

Mopar Madness

Now I can see it better. I sure do like an olive drab Mustang.

 

The hardest part for me now is judging how much to cover initially knowing that weathering and subsequent coats will affect it. It's just like regular pre-shading only more difficult because if it is with black, no risk of too much of it showing through since it only gives a darker tone of the base color with no hue modulation. Still long way to go until I master this one.

In reality, the red is more subtle but it's very hard to get it right with phone camera and regular room lighting conditions so you guys can see it properly. I'll keep trying to take better shots without all the fancy setup. 

Best,

Nikola

Now I can see it better. I sure do like an olive drab Mustang.

And a few more where the effect of complementary pre-shading can be seen slightly better:

Best,

Nikola

I can see some of the variation in paint you've built in, looks great!

Wow! That looks great!. Awesome work, Nicola!

OD finished.

My phone camera and the dining room light bulb just can't capture the subtle differences and tonal variations that well, but they are there, trust me. 

Oh well, pics below. 

Neutral Grey base over blue pre-shading on the belly finished. I try to keep the pre-shading effect very subtle initially and then modify where required with post-shading afterwards.

Well, here is some contradictory information for you:

The painting instructions say that the checkered pattern only goes to the front end of the exhaust stack:

The decal disagrees since it has a cutout to go around the stack past the front end of it:

And if I see it correctly the truth is somewhere in the middle as the pattern only slightly goes past the stack front end:

So, I painted the nose yellow and will either bite the bullet and paint the damn thing or cut out only the red squares of the decal and apply them to the painted yellow (this should make the decal easier to conform to the shape as well. I'll see.

Hi gents,

White primer and complementary pre-shading done 

Looks like you blended that canopy in really nice! Definitely on the way to being a beautiful Mustang 

She is finally ready for priming! 

I had to do some windshield-cowling gap filling, and panel line and tire threads re-scribing, added some rivets where I thought appropriate...

I will go with white Tamiya Liquid Primer or white Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500, followed by desert yellow shades, my complementary pre-shading using various reds and aluminium where appropriate for future chipping. Then goes the OD base coat. I chose to go with white primer since it will require less coats to achieve good OD coverage without it looking too dark.

Best,

Nikola

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