Revell 1/48 Scale F-105D Thunderchief

Acrylic rods are nice as you can drop them in boiling water for a bit or use a heat gun and bend them to desired shape.

Here's an old article: https://finescale.com/how-to/extra-articles/2018/06/builder-basics-acrylic-rod-display

Hi keavdog, thanks for the info.  The more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards acrylic rods for my homemade stands.  I found 3/16" diameter rod 6-ft long for $1.56 at McMaster-Carr.  Being able to bend the rods will definitely give me some good flexibility of the display angle.

It's 51 degrees outside, so I am sitting inside drinking a hot cup of coffee instead of freezing my ass off trying to apply a smooth coat of acrylic base coat.  Yes, I know we LA folks are spoiled wimps lol.  I have a few free minutes before I call it a day, I have some photos of the stabilizer repair.  I managed to drill the 1/16" hole pretty centered.  I was really scared of breaking through one side, but I managed to keep it straight.  Am I really getting the hang of it, or was I just lucky?  I guess time will tell.

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Started spraying the acrylic base coats a few days ago. First I did the light gray underside. As usual, I got impatient, sprayed too much, and ended up with a grainy finish. I had to do a light sanding with 3000 grit, then buff with blue jeans. The second attempt took a couple hours, but I stayed patient and got acceptable results. Then I started the tan, got better results by going slow with very light layers. I got halfway through the tan patterns, will continue as time allows. Then will move on to medium green, then finally dark green.

Here are some of my lessons for spraying Mig Ammo acrylic.

1. Needs slight thinning, I am using distilled water. May get some Mig thinner if absolutely necessary.
2. Best results are at 20 psi or even a tad higher. Lower than that doesn't let the paint flow.
3. Atomization is not so good. Spraying from too far gives a grainy finish.
4. Spraying closer gives a smoother finish. However, splatter is a constant worry due to the thinned paint and higher pressure.
5. Oversprays are quite forgiving. It seems to level out on its own. Once dry, oversprays will usually blend fairly well.
6. Need more practice with the dual action trigger. The paint delivery seems to be almost none, then a slight increase suddenly gives too much. Need to find a way to get a more gradual delivery, especially for the feathered edges of the camo pattern. I want to spray from close without spattering.
7. Tip drying is very rapid. Need to keep a damp Q-tip handy.
8. May have to get Mig thinner or transparator to get better results.

Will probably spend the next session practicing on a flat styrene sheet. Before I get to the more intricate portions of the camo pattern.

My plan was to pratice on flat styrene sheet, starting with Mig Ammo acrylic straight out of the bottle and 20 psi.  Then gradually add distilled water and increase pressure til I found the sweet spot.  Surprisingly, I was able to get decent control with the first try.  So I proceeded with the rest of the tan pattern using the unthinned Mig Ammo at 20 psi.  As long as I kept wiping the tip drying with a damp paper towel every few passes, I got good results.  I still need to work on my edge feathering technique, but I think I am getting there.  On the right side of the fuselage there are a couple spots where the tan gets feathered into the light gray.  I practiced but stopped about 1/8" short of the actual edge.  I will finish that up tomorrow, then also use the toothpaste trick on the windscreen and canopy so I can attach them to the fuselage and paint those.

So far I am happy with the Mig Ammo acrylic, it seems very forgiving and I have gotten smooth results, even though my technique still needs a lot of work.  Once I get better with the feathering, it should work pretty well.

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Today I used the toothpaste to temproarily attach the canopy and windscreeen and it worked like a charm.  I did some touchup on the light gray and tan, with the Mig acrylic it is fast and easy to switch colors.  Just shoot some water until it comes out clear, then go to the next color.  Then I started on the medium green.  My airbrush skills are definitely a work in progress, but I think I managed to get through it ok.  One thing I noticed about the Mig acrylics, it tends to look inconsistent and grainy immediately after spraying.  I learned to resist the temptation to add more to even it out.  Once you let it dry for a couple of hours, it almost always evens out very nicely and smoothly.

Next I will do the dark green.  In real life the medium green looks correct, but in these photos they look kinda dark.  On my workbench the photos make the medium green a weird lime green color.  I guess it's the lighting.  I know I have too much tan at the moment, but it will get reduced as I spray the dark green.  Then I will do some touchup to adjust the camo patterns slightly, then apply Quick Shine.

One thing I am noticing with the raised panel lines, if you give the base coat a light sanding, the primer on the raised panel lines can really stand out.  But even without that, the panel lines stand out pretty well.  I think I will do a very light sanding before the Quick Shine, then some very minor post shading.  I want some weathering, but I don't want to overdo it.

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Today I finished the camo base coat.  I still need a lot of work on my airbrushing skills, but overall I am happy with the results.  Some people are driven to strive for perfection and are not satisfied with anything less.  I am most assuredly not one of them ;)  Tomorrow I will do some minor touchup, paint the fuel tanks, and try to sand the panel lines to expose the primer.  If all goes well, I will apply the Quick Shine.  After that is weathering, which for me is the probably the most enjayable part of model building.

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Looks like a pretty good finish.

Looking good, Burrito King!  You've got me wanting to break out my F-105G again.

Man you've got the whole camo thing looking great BK! Will be watching this one.

Looking real good in the camoufalge warpaint! Very nicely done sir!

Won't be too much longer before she is ready to head downtown

Thanks to all for the compliments and encouragement. The Mig acrylic does seem to provide a smooth finish, even for a novice airbrusher like me. Just a minor complaint, the Mig tan seems a little too much on the orange side. But when I google FS 30219, there is some variation in the results so I can't say whether it's right or wrong. Just my personal preference is for a slightly less orange tone like the model master enamel had. But overall I love the Mig's smooth finish and ease of use.

I will definitely keep my eyes open for a 105G build in the near future, can't wait to see it. And that's a great photo of a Thud refueling on its way to downtown Hanoi. Every time I work on the model I think about the pilots who flew those missions. One day I hope they make a movie about it.

Just a few points about the camo, my camo pattern is a bit off compared to the instructions and the photos. But overall I think I have the colors in the right places. And there is a lot af variation among the planes, so I guess no two were exactly alike anyway. Also, my feathering is way off scale, it is way to fuzzy. But it looks better to me that way, so I am happy. Finally, I had some spattering at some of the feathered edges. Seems like this happens when I get tip drying or when the air pressure drops. So I had to do a lot of touch-up. I started the fuel tanks and I am having trouble with those feathered edges. I just can't make the airbrush do what I want, I am still trying to get the hang of it. I see some touch up in my near future.

Finished painting the fuel tanks, what a disaster.  For some reason I had far more difficulty than the plane.  I really need to work on control for the dual action airbrush trigger.  Too many problems to list here, I hope I will get better as I get more practice.  Eventually it got to the point where the more I tried to fix it, the worse it seemed to get.  So I had to decide, do I remove all the paint and start over, or try to get it barely acceptable and move on.  I chose to just get it barely acceptable.

When it comes to panel lines, there seems to be two schools of thought.  Some say panel lines should not be highlighted, since at proper scale they are barely visible, if at all.  Others seem to highlight each and every panel line.  My personal preference lies somewhere in the middle.  I like to show the panel lines, but I don't like them to dominate the model.

Way back, I used gray rattle can primer on the plane.  Then I sprayed the base coat acrylic camo.  By lightly sanding the panel lines with 1000 grit sandpaper, I can expose the gray primer underneath.  It isn't the same as the raw umber panel line washes I use with recessed panel lines, but I actually like it almost as much.  Especially considering how fast and easy it is.  Later today I will apply the Quick Shine, then be ready for final weathering.

The picutres show the panel lines on one side of the model, while the other side still needs to be sanded.  The other picture is a closer view of the right side of the engine area.

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burrito king

Thanks to all for the compliments and encouragement. The Mig acrylic does seem to provide a smooth finish, even for a novice airbrusher like me. Just a minor complaint, the Mig tan seems a little too much on the orange side. But when I google FS 30219, there is some variation in the results so I can't say whether it's right or wrong. Just my personal preference is for a slightly less orange tone like the model master enamel had. But overall I love the Mig's smooth finish and ease of use.

I will definitely keep my eyes open for a 105G build in the near future, can't wait to see it. And that's a great photo of a Thud refueling on its way to downtown Hanoi. Every time I work on the model I think about the pilots who flew those missions. One day I hope they make a movie about it.

Just a few points about the camo, my camo pattern is a bit off compared to the instructions and the photos. But overall I think I have the colors in the right places. And there is a lot af variation among the planes, so I guess no two were exactly alike anyway. Also, my feathering is way off scale, it is way to fuzzy. But it looks better to me that way, so I am happy. Finally, I had some spattering at some of the feathered edges. Seems like this happens when I get tip drying or when the air pressure drops. So I had to do a lot of touch-up. I started the fuel tanks and I am having trouble with those feathered edges. I just can't make the airbrush do what I want, I am still trying to get the hang of it. I see some touch up in my near future.

 

Not bad at all, drop tank excluded. There is always a learning curve, be it with new equipment or materials. You'll master these paints soon. 

Hi stikpusher, thanks for the encouragement.  Yes, I am still at the bottom of the learning curve, and trying to learn from my mistakes.  It's kinda frustrating, I can make pretty good practice lines and other shapes on my flat styrene practice sheet.  With decent control of thickness, shading, etc.  I also did ok on the plane.  But when I start spraying the drop tanks, I can't see what's happening, and I usually don't notice the spatter, pooling, overspray, etc. until it's too late.

This afternoon I said F it, just get it good enough where I can barely live with it and move on.  I needed a break, Tommy's is having chili cheeseburgers on sale for $2.49 each, so I got a couple with some chili fries.  For those of you in the LA area, the sale ends tomorrow night so grab your $2.49 chili cheeseburgers while you can!  My attitude usually improves with a full stomach, so I think I will try to fix the tanks tomorrow.  I read about a technique where you roll some masking tape into a thin cylinder and use that to mask feathered edges.  I admit defeat for now, I am clearly not able to freehand this yet, so think I will give the rolled masking tape a try.

For the plane, I added the Quick Shine (future) clear coat and letting it dry overnight.  So I will be ready to start post shading, fluid stains, etc.  This is the part of model making I enjoy the most, and that gives me the most satisfaction in making the model look real, at least in my eyes.  The hard part is knowing when to stop, it is so easy to overdo the weathering.

A hint on weathering... apply the markings first, seal them in with another gloss coat where needed, then do your weathering. The markings would be subject to the same conditions and weathering at the same pace as the rest of the airframe.

Hi stikpusher, thanks for the advice.  I will apply the decals before I start weathering.  I'm usually in a hurry to start weathering, so I usually apply the decals afterwards, then apply a bit of weathering on top.  But if I do the decals first, I can do a more comprehensive job of making the decal weathering match the rest of the airframe.

I did some experimenting with the rolled masking tape and discovered that having the tape around 1/4" above the surface gave me the feathering I wanted.  I applied the masking tape to the drop tanks, then sprayed the light gray.  I can't believe how easy it was, and how well it worked!  The main problem is I made it too high, it is almost halfway up when I think it should be about 1/3 up.  The location of the line can be adjusted by the position of the tape, and also the angle of spraying.  So I think I can fix that when I mask and re-do the dark green.  The other problem was a bit of overspray, but compared to before, I am happy to live with that.

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Yeah, the compound curves of such surfaces can be a challenge. Its all about the angles.

Hi stikpusher, yeah the angles are challenging, even with the masking. I am fixing the paint one side at a time. I think I will finish the tanks tomorrow. Then I can apply the decals and start weathering.

Not too much time for the model over the past few days.  Applied quick shine to the drop tanks.  Got the nose cone painted.  Noticed my camo was off, needs to go all the way to the wing roots instead of the tips of the intake fences (that's what the Revell instructions call those flat things inside the intakes).  Free handing that would've been a complete disaster, so I made masks using a similar technique as the drop tanks.  The results are definitely amateurish, but way better than it would've been if I tried to free hand it.  So it's a big win in my book!  Then I masked and painted the port for the 20mm cannon using Alclad aluminum.  Finally I painted the exhaust nozzles with Alckad pale burnt metal.

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I applied the decals and started post shading over the weekend.  I used Tamiya Dark Gray heavily thinned with IPA, with the air pressure at 15 psi.  It's supposed to be so thin that you need two or three coats just to start seeing it.  But like usual, I went too heavy on the trigger and way overdid it.  I think I need better lighting in my work area.  When I looked at it in better light, I was horrified.  It felt like those lines were just screaming at me.  With recessed panel lines, I just apply a thin white wash to tone things down.  But that doesn't seem to work with raised panel lines.  So I tried the Tamiya make-up Snow color.  It helped, but since the color was different you could see it.  So I tried dry brushing with the Mig light gray acrylic.  That was better, but still not what I wanted.  I ended up airbrushing over it, with several thin coats until it was toned down to what I like.  Then I started the oil and grime stains.  I am using the actual Thud below as a guide.  The gunpowder stain is just about the biggest and darkest I have ever seen, and the oil and grime on the light gray is just filthy.  I'm not going to make this model that dirty, if I try I'm sure it'll look teribble.  Just gonna try to keep it toned down.

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To me the first picture of your shading looked the best, but that's just me.  These birds were "dirty", so a grimy finish suits them.  Still, I'm sure it will be fine once completed!

Gary

Hi Gary, thanks for your feedback. I definitely see your point, the Thuds and also the F4s tended to be very stained abd grimy. I think for me it was sort of a shock seeing it so different in normal light from when I was painting it. I think the problem is the work light is a bright LED light. It is so bright it washes out faint stuff like the post shading. When I am airbrushing, I do a test spray on flat styrene, and it almost always goes on just the way I want, with pretty good control. But when I go to the model, it seems like the paint just stops. I try to gradually apply more, but I don't see anything and eventually get scared that I'll apply too much and get spattering and pooling. But maybe it's going on just fine, I just can't see it until it builds up. So I'm going to get a different light and see if that helps me see better. Maybe the curved surface of the model isn't as visible as the flat practice sheet.

Once I can see better, i will continue weathering. At least it's usually easier (and more fun) to add rather than tone it down.

A method I learned painting big things like trucks and airplanes was to cary a light in one hand and the spray gun in the other, so I could see just when the paint was starting to gloss.  I basically do the same thing when I paint a model, except I hold the model up and turn it so the light gives me the best reflection.  An unpleasant paint application shows up instantly, as well as a good one.  And there can never be enough light when painting.

Hi jeaton01, thanks for the tip!  I am not an experienced painter and I never would have thought of that.  But it seems pretty obvious in hindsight.  Being able to learn from other people's experience is a great benefit of the forum.  I still have some dark gray post shading to do on the underside, and I am ssupposed to receive my Tamiya XF-1 black and XF-90 red-brown on Friday.  Those will be for applying panel line shading and stains on the dark uppersides.  Gonna need great visiblity and control to keep from messing that up!

BK,

The good thing about shading is you can always add more if it seems too light! 

You're doing good work!

Gary

Hi Gary, thanks for the compliment!  Haven't had time to work on the Thud during the week, but today I used jeaton01's tip to get better visibility of the post shading while I sprayed.  What a huge difference!  I was able to get the right amount of post shading, then added some other stains and streaks.  Weathering is very tricky for me, it seems like everything is going well, then all of a sudden a magic line is crossed and it looks overdone.  So I am going slow and easy.  I also did the grease stains under the wing roots.  Next is the 20mm cannon powder stains and upper post shading.  Then attach the drop tanks, bomb rack, nose cone, exhaust nozzle, and canopy.

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Today my goal was to use post shading technique to apply the gunpowder stains for the M61 Vulcan.  I had to run some errands in the morning and race the clock before the rain storm arrived.  I don't like to work in the garage while it's raining.  Used one drop of Tamiya dark gray and one drop of Tamiya Black heavily thinned with IPA at around 18 psi.  I think I got it pretty good on the first try.  Then applied some Tamiya make up Soot for the stains to the lower right of the ventilation openings.  I saw this staining on my "dirty Thud" reference photo.  Idk what it is, I am guessing hydraulic fluid from the cannon drive motor, or maybe residue from ejecting shell casings.  I am pretty sure most Vulcan installations cycle the spent casings to an internal storage drum, to reduce the risk of FOD of ejected cases.   But maybe the Thud ejected them externally.  The colors in the photo are not totally accurate, in natural light the powder stains appear darker than the photo.  But I think I got the pattern OK.  I didn't want to go as extreme as the photo, I think I got the medium effect I was looking for.  And I got it done just before the rain arrived.

When the rain stops, gonna use my Tamiya black and red-brown to add random post shading and stains to the upper camo.  My personal style is to try to be random, I think that looks more realistic to me.  I try, but I don't always succeed.

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Finished the Thud, ready to go to downtown Hanoi.  Overcast in SoCal, so the weathering details may not be fully visible.  Maybe I'll take more photos on a sunny day and post later.  Overall I am happy with the weathering.  I feel like I hit the balance between making it look used and war weary without oversdoing it.  I learned a lot with this build, but still have so far to go.  I am looking forward to the journey.

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Great photos of a well made model!