Regia Aeronautica GB II (06/15/09 to 06/15/10)

chris hall wrote:

with the sunburst wing stripes. I notice that on all the online build articles, though, the modeller has chosen a camouflage finish....

There you are Bondo. I was hopeing you would stop by and watch my video and explain to the rest of these non Italians that I do not look like Scott Baio! I think they believe all of us Italians look alike and I am only half Siciian!

Chris no worries mate. One of our favorite pastimes is to wind Guy up a bit about his favorite football team because he is very passonate about Manchester. Steve and i enjoy it only because he has told some Irish jokes I am also half Irish {Fitzgerald} so we feel its only fair. Steve knows a bit more about football and explained how he felt about  Manchester and he was banned but only for a a brief time. So say what you will about Manchester and Steve and I will about back you up 100%!

Steve if you can not find anything Regia Aeronautica that stikes your fancy at the hobby store tell me what your looking for I might have it. I have one of just about everything in my stash and I would be happy to send it your way.

                                                                                           Soulcrusher

I can't get Firefox to host your viddy. Any ideas?

EDIT: opened your post in IE, and very nice. Scott Baio, NOT.

Eddie DeBartolo certainly. Even a little Pacino.

I'm not even one DNA strand Italian (I'm Scot), but I go to sleep every night with one in my arms, so hell with the rest of them, and my late Mother-in-law, "eat, eat, what's wrong? Don't like my food???" didn't kill me, though she could have.

Thank you Bondo. Someone who knows his Italians! Al Pacino I could live with but not Scott Baio!

I recently dumped Firefox for that reason. They have decided on their own that we the browser useres are to stupid and must be saved from ourselves. So they have created a browser that you can not copy cut paste or run videos on from linked sites. So I went back to IE. Its a little slower but everything works. Firefox developers, how stupid are you?

You must learn one thing right away if you are going to date an Italian girl. When you meet her Mother and she is going to want you to eat something. It is a huge insult if you do not. its all good though because the food is always great!

                                                                                       Soulcrusher

Wow SC, that was a very generous offer and thanks mate. I do use internet shoping as of late and I may have a brouse for something that strikes my fancy. There used to be 3 shops in my area but they have all slowly died out and closed. There is one left and they moved to a new and better location and I went there on the grand opening and to my absolute horror they no longer deal in military subjects. Can you believe it sold off all the inventory and now only deal in railroad and r/c cars. I work in Va Beach every two weeks and there is a brilliant shop there that carries everything. I will look for some RA stuff next week. You guys here are the best.

Steve

soulcrusher wrote:

You must learn one thing right away if you are going to date an Italian girl. When you meet her Mother and she is going to want you to eat something. It is a huge insult if you do not. its all good though because the food is always great!                                                                                        Soulcrusher

They're Croats, as I've gone on abt. Lot's of meat and peppers and tomatoes. I've got 4K photos of our last trip to their town. God, it's a great culture.

Here's the bone. Mussolini built a lot of infastructure, but he was a mass murderer. Here's the public school that her uncles all went to "A X1". Anno Imperial 11, dating from 1934; the eleventh year of the Imperium.

Woo hoo, looks like we got Chris well hooked. (Havent you fiinished that monster kit yet?) Im liking the 2nd up model. What scheme are you going with then? The camo or the stripes? It takes a real man with big cahooners to attempt the stripes, and an even bigger man with an even bigger set, to attempt an NMF with red stripes. Eh Bondo? And he's a sweaty as well, now i hear (Sweaty sock....you do the math) lol.

Do i really look like Scott Baio?...you vain numpty. LOL Is that why your Siggy is SC? Shouldnt it be SCB? Right ive had my dig at Crusher. Thatll learn him for bringing up te Mancs. As we all know, there is only one club worth supporting in the UK,

Oh and if you have one in your stash, ill have an MPM Dornier Do24T, while your in the giving mood.

Came home today and found a big package on my coffe table. Yey, my G.55 has arrived. On inspection it says it comes with Resin and PE. LOL, thats resin in the loosest sense of the word.....theres a gunsight!! Thats it. The cockpit looks like its going to be fun. Theres a largish PE fret full of knobs and whistles. Its only let down by the fact that the canopy comes as one piece and will either need to be replaced with a vaccy one or cut open to display all the goodies. Anyhoo, need to finish my Mustang sos i can get started on the beauty.

Keep up the good work.

...Guy

Hi Guy,

if I do it, it'll be the stripes. Adding sufficient interior detail will be at least as great a challenge! But not for a while yet. At the moment, I'm looking at a RoG 1/72 RAF Eurofighter Typhoon (any colour you like so long as its Barley Grey) and an Academy 1/72 Dragon Wagon (so that'd be Olive Drab, then)...

Waiting for the Giallo Mimetico 4 to dry on the C.200...

Cheers,

Chris.

BTW, what's the big deal about stripes on  NMF?

We now live in a world of nice, tough, maskable, Alclad II!

Steve I know how it feels to have a lack of kit selection. There is only one hobby store in my area. I happen to be luck that it is only a mile away from my house and owned by a family freind. Unfortunatly the cost of real estate rental space is just absolutlely absured here so his inventory is small but he does order about once a week from Squadron so I just give him the item number and I usally have it in a week without paying the shipping cost. It can still be tough to find Regia Aeronutica stuff so that is why I made you the offer. Pacific Coast is the only place that stocks a decent amount of RA stuff.

Bondo I enjoyed those pics everytime you post them. I would love to go to Italy someday. Thanks fo setiing Guy straight about the Scott Baio thing to!

Guy if I had a MPM Do 24T I would ship it to you mate. I am not that much into floaters anyway. I will leave them to you and Bondo. I just have to educate you a bit more on the Italian culture and the big differnce between Al Pacino and Scott Baio!  The Special Hobby kit is a bit short on resin but believe me it is alot better in shape and detail than the Classic Airframes kit that I am building now. We should both be starting it at about the same time so we can compare notes. The CA kit came with two vac canopies so I will be using the second one on the SH kit to pose mine open. That and the fact that SH forgot to put a canopy in the box! It was still sealed in plastic so it was definetly thier fowl up.

Chris I think they are refering to the Alclad lifting with the masking tape. I never had an interest in the product due to the huse amount of work involved in using it. I had stayed away from NMF for years until the Talon line of paints came out. No black base coat no stinky fumes because they are Acrylic. Plus if you use the poslishing powders with it you can control the amout of shine. I build a Academy Ha 1112 Buchon with it to try it out and I was impressed. I goofed up a couple of things on the model being it was my first time using the product but I was still very impressed. I maske d over it several times and no lifting at all.

                                                                                Soulcrusher

SC, I reckon, personally, that you should go round Macneals house dressed as a postman. When Dee loses it and races at the front door, quickly nip round the back and nab his one. Its far too nice a kit for the likes of a train driver to have. Then to save on postage you should swim it over the UK. Ill lend you a towel.

...Guy

fSC - I've found that if you lay down a good base coat (doesn't have to be black unless you're using Chrome) and then sand and polish it smooth, Tamiya tape doesn't lift Alclad II.  This Hobbyboss 1/48 MiG-17 PFU

is finished in four differnt shades of Alcald II, anad scarecely any part of the airframe wasn't masked over at some point.

Cheers,

Chris.

soulcrusher wrote:

Thank you Bondo. Someone who knows his Italians! Al Pacino I could live with but not Scott Baio! I look more like this in my newest movie release!!!!!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FECFb1_YdII           Soulcrusher

The Mig looks great Chris. I am really sold on the Talon paints though. Much less work for the same results and no toxic fumes. Just really good prep of the model of course and spray directly on the plastic wait and hour. Put a small amount of the polish on a soft cloth and buff. You can buff out a 1/48 scale plane in less than an hour. After then you can do what ever you want to it tape it decal it. It is very tough once it has cured. They make a full line of metal colors and of course you can mix them to make your own shades to. really great stuff.

                                                                               Soulcrusher

sfcmac wrote:

soulcrusher wrote: Thank you Bondo. Someone who knows his Italians! Al Pacino I could live with but not Scott Baio! I look more like this in my newest movie release!!!!!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FECFb1_YdII           Soulcrusher

Ok Sarge Very funny! Carefull or I might just come down there and nick that Do 24T and bring it to Guy!

                                                                             Soulcrusher

soulcrusher wrote:

Much less work for the same results and no toxic fumes. Just really good prep of the model of course and spray directly on the plastic wait and hour. Put a small amount of the polish on a soft cloth and buff. You can buff out a 1/48 scale plane in less than an hour. After then you can do what ever you want to it tape it decal it.                                                 Soulcrusher

SC, I'd like to respectfully disagree with you about the amount of work compared to Alclad. While both products require similar prep work for a good, flaw free finish, once Alclad is applied, it's done. There is no buffing or other work required. Anyone using a gloss black paint undercoat with anything other than chrome is wasting paint as it's not required. Only a perfectly smooth finish is needed same as any other NMF product. I normally use Tamiya fine gray primer shined up with fine paper or in come cases, my denim jeans. I've used Alclad for many NMF projects and have never had a problem with any kind of lifting with tape at all and hearing of this is news to me. While one may have to wait an hour to mask or polish Talon, I've masked Alclad in twenty minutes without ill effect.

My main reason for not trying Talon NMF paint is the extra work required actually. I don't care to be taking the time and buffing the stuff. And I certainly don't need fine powders sitting around to make a mess with and I'd figure out how to mysteriously incorporate them into the next camo job somehow for sure. This is the first time I've heard of problems such as you have mentioned with Alclad. Well, other than the smell thing. Nothing smells worse than Alclad in the model paint world other than maybe Dullcoat.

On a more on topic thread topic matter, thing, subject, er whatever, I've returned from the dead with a small amount of progress on the CR32. Blew off the bench the other day and started with the paint. This one is getting the brush since I have no idea on how to attack the thing with an airbrush. First five colors are applied via paint brush, more to follow.

Its good to see the Cr32 is still alive. I forgot all the work you put into fixing the nose and all.

I myself have never tried Alclad. I was just really turned off to NMF by alot people posting about lifting but I think that might have been the MM Metalizers that alot of people were talking about. Either way I do not want anything to do with any paint that is not Acrylic based due to fumes and clean up mainly. So basicly I was not build anything in NMF. The the Talon paints came out and now it has open up alot more subjects to me. I am not putting down Alclad I just prefer Acrylics. The powder does get a little messy but you only need to use it if you want a shiny finish. If you want a in service NMF then you just spray it and leave it alone. Just a preference of type of paint not lack of quality of the other product. They same rules still apply though about the prep no matter what NMF product you use. If there is a bump or a seem you will definetly see it with any product.

                                                                               Soulcrusher

Oh, yeah. MM Metalizers are a PITA. They don't technically lift, as the paint doesn't come completely off the surface. They do something worse. It's as if the paint coat splits or shears and half of it stays on the surface and the other half stays on the tape. Really ugly.

I've seen many nice models done with the stuff but how I don't know. I used it back in the day when it was that or SNJ and still have a few 72nd scale subjects in the case that need a rework with the stuff applied. When I do it'll be with Alclad.

One thing I'll say about Talon. It makes about the best looking polished metal finish I've seen aside from real polished metal. If I were to build a racer or airliner or something I'd use the stuff. Forget about Alclad chrome. Stuff is impossible. Can't use decal sovents on it, it's very delicate. I bought a bottle to tinker with but learned really quick that I'll never use it.

There are so many people out there with so many differnt techniques for NMF and they all swear by their way it really scared me off for along time. When I saw the Talon product I though let me see what I can do with it. I chose an inexpensive kit the 1/48 Academy Ha 1112 so if I goofed it up I could just scrap it without destroying an expensive kit. it is a little different to spray on. it is very thin so low air pressure is a must. You also must lay down a mist coat wait a minute to let it set up then lay multiple thiin coats and build it up slowly for the best results. I layed it on to wet and though I ruined it but when it dried it looked ok. I then decided to try out the polishing powder. It takes on a nice shine very quickly but it definetly will get everywhere and on everything you touch. I t looked great until I got stupid doing the panel lines. I used Warpig washes and they are also Acrylic and they marred the finish a bit. Real stupid on my part. I do'nt know what I was thinking but I polished it agian and in the end came out with a finish that is probally more realistic though I was really liking the shiney one. The only other thing I noticed is you can not touch it with bare hands once it is polished either but I thing tat goes for all of the systems. I learned alot an I am definetly going to try another NMF soon. Here is a pic

                                                                               Soulcrusher

Ok I finally smoothed out all of the spots on the G 55 and I have it all in primer. Tomorrow preshading panels lines then finally the fun part, camo time!

                                                                                 Soulcrusher

Hi SC. Those Talon metallic acrylics seem impressive:

http://www.hawkeyeshobbies.com/talon-acrylic-paints.htm

with useful colours and good prices. Pity there doesn't appear to be a stockist on this side of the pond. Seems I'll have to continue to use Alclad II (which one of my LHSs has recently begun to stock) for a while yet.

Cheers,

Chris.

Chris the Mig looks fantastic. Funnily enough it was Tamiyas Mig 15 that was my 1st attempt at a NMF and it came out awfully. I think i used Tamiya silver which explains a lot i spose.

YEY, Shooters back and his CR is still going. That camo is going to be a corker. I think you chose the right route by handpainting it. God knows how youd spray the thing. We've missed you, big boy. While youve been gone there has een a vid or 2 posted, soo no pressure but wheres yours?

Crusher, im loving the HA1112. Were they refered to as Buchon's? I think i need one. And in an NMF....talking of which, Guess what i finished,

As for other products than Alclad, i can comment. Here in the UK the only readilly available NMF is Alclad. Im not averse to trying another type, its just, with me anyhoo, use whats at hand.

So now its back on to real subjects. Wheres that G.55?

...Guy

Guy,

thanks for the comment about the MiG. The NMF did work quite well. Apart from Alclad II, Humbrol Metalcote paints are widely available in the UK. For those not familiar with them, they'te buffable metallics, and their polished and matt aluminium are quite good for a basic NMF, as in this Hobbyboss T-6G:

I did this as a eview build for SAMI, and chose Humbrol Metalcote above Alclad II because most of these kits would be bought through toy shops and LHSs, and Metalcote is the best NMF reliably available there. They also do a polished steel, which can be buffed, with a buffing pad  in a motor tool, to a lovely deep metallic shade which works particularly well on jet exhausts, as per this Fujimi 1/72 F-4J:

Anyway, back to La Bellissima Italia!

The smoke ring decals are on the C.200:

It took about 12 hours from beginning to end, mostly waiting for the Micro Sol to set up after each piece of decal had been applied to the model. The tail surfaces, cowling, fuselage, and port and starboard wings were all decalled separately - I didn't want to risk handling a decalled surface until the decal had dried properly. As you can see, there are several surfaces which feature sharp 3-dimmensional curves. The cowling was particulalry fun, and ir took three applications of Micro Sol for the decal to settle down properly.

I'll now let the decals dry overnight, before sealing them in with another coat of Future. Then white ID fuselage ID band and the House of Savoy cross for the rudder. Finally the ret of the smaller markings after maybe another coat of Future. Time will tell.

Cheers,

Chris.

Thanks Chris the Talon paint line is still a bit of a cottage industry I think. There might be some bigger hobby shops that stock them but it was easy to order them directly from the web site you posted. Gerald is a forum member here and a good guy. If you read through him website he gives you great instructions on how to achive the best results with his products. It looks like the Alclad produces a pretty nice finish too from the pictures you posted. I am just really commited to acrylics. My workbench is in my bedroom due to it being one of the only rooms with an air conditioner so I really try to keep the fumes to a minimal. The tiny Macchi is looking good. All of those tiny decal would have driven me nuts!

Guy the Mustang is looking really sharp. It looks like the Alclad really works nice. The Ha-1112 was refered  to as the "Buchon" it is Spanish for big mouth which referes to the large opening for the chin radiator. The Academy kit is a real turd. It took alot of time to smooth out everything good enough for a NMF but even that will not make it a nice kit. Almost all of the small detail parts are either inaccurate or very poorly done. The canopy is a pure work of ficton as there was never any version of any 109 that had the frames done in the way Academy has depicted them. If you really want to build a nice one you will have to rob the detail parts froma Tamagawa kit along with the early style canopy to make a decent Ha 1112. I also have the Academy Avia 199. The offical name was "knife" but the pilots renamed "mule" due to its sluggish performance because it was built with the Jumo engine intended for bombers.

                                                                       Soulcrusher

Chris, VERY nice builds my friend!!!! The decals on the C.200 seem to have cooperated rather well! Looks great!

HK What scale is the CR.32?? I have a 1/72 I got off ebay awhile back.

simpilot34, the kit is the Classic Airframes 1/48 RA kit. I don't build many CA kits and this one reminded me why.

Tonight I was trying to translate the instruction sheet color call outs for the camo to no avail. There is not enough differentiation in the printing for me to be able to tell what color goes where so I pulled up Stormo! and found it there. Since CA's website is offline I can't go there for the color plates either.

After looking at it I've decided now that it's dry, the Tamiya Red/brown is to brown for the job and I should have used Hull Red. or mixed my own. It's staying the way it is, however. Possibly tomorrow I'll work on the wheels and prop, maybe some other small bit painting then it's on to decals.

Shooter the Tamiya red/brown is a pretty good match in my eyes to the color photos I have of WWII Regia Aeronautica planes. I'm sure it looks great. Just the fact that you build a Cr 32 makes it totally cool in my eyes. I definetly have to build my soon. I have no iilusions that it wo'nt be a tough build but she is a sharp looking little fighter.

                                                                               Soulcrusher

After seeing the lovely resin nose that comes with the 32. I definately need one in my collection. My LHS has a fair supply of CA kits so i feel a trip coming on. Maybe tues or wed, as there my next days off...Boooo.

...Guy

 Soory I have been dashing in and out fellows.  Got a bum back and I try not to sit still very long at the computer.

 Excellent 109! Simply Premo work!  Makes me just shiver! Mikester!

 Very glad to see the Ro-37 again! It is a cool Aircraft and you did a perfect job repairing the resin to my eyes!

 SoulCrusher! Glad you have a sense of humor! I think the Saturday Night fever gag got by just about everyone but you! Watch the hair watch the hair!

Dave it is still your fault! I saw that has spread throughout the whole forume that is too ritch!

 Guy your still a building machine! Pass some of that mojo this way I got RA kits waiting in the wings as well. Think I will have to grab one to get a break from all that FAA Dark Sea and slate gray colors soon!  The 3 swordfish will make 10 builds since 1 May there.  That dog gone Frank signed me up for everything in my stash, Said Dave told him to do it!

 I got these for RA part 2! I am going to do that new Italeri Re 2002 to get a break from things English.. No offense Guy... It looks to be a new kit all together from what I can see and has a 48 page illustrated booklet of info as well! You fellows have to make FRAnk stop posting pics of these things dag burn it!

Guy PM has been answered!