Gamera- great job on the Vamp! I really appreciate how your preshading shows more on the underside! I also simply love the subject matter. Thanks for sharing it and allowing me at least to see a fine example of that bird.

Gonna show something that some might consider mundane. I thought I'd share in case it benefits anyone though? I used Bare Metal Foil to mask the canopy. I normally prefer a good tape but the mold lines for the framing were rather "soft" and BMF is so "thin" and conforms so well after burnishing it down that this helped me to see where the framing was in order to cut it out. With my ham fisted efforts it was still a challenge to get something close to good enough. But I've found in the past that I can carefully scrape paint from the clear to further shape and cleanup my masking efforts. I'll have to wait until after paint to see how all of that goes though of course.

I'm actually just about ready to roll this one to the spray booth.

The kit main gear was leaps and bounds better than the blob they gave you up front. I carefully cleaned them up to add some definition and then made up new brass "doors" again which entailed making some mounts for those. I used some reshaped U-Channel to help them conform to the struts and shave them down to be closer to scale. This allowed the doors to stand off from the gear. I also added brake lines and a clamp which doubled to add definition in that area. A couple of pieces of brass wire were added inside the wells just to busy it up again.

And with that- I think I'm ready for paint.

You work with a binoccular dissection microscope, right Squidy? Magnificent work!

I got a bit done to the Meteor, I masked the underside gray and sprayed the topside gray. She's a real shaggy dog now, with the green areas left unpainted to allow the preshade to show through when the last colour goes on. Hopefully the paintjob will be clean enough when it's finished, and the clearcoat will pull it all together.

I've no idea how long it'll take me to mask the gray for the green, I'll just keep pluging away when I have the chance. The Ocean Gray is flat, while the other two are satin, and that seems so odd! A couple of coats of clear satin should even things up, I hope.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

MrSquid: Thanks, the Vampire was a pretty cool looking plane which impressed me to dig her out and build her. The pre-shading was somewhat starker on the upper surfaces, I thought too much so and did some fading to tone it down some.

Those new landing gear look great! And I've tried masking with foil but never had that good a luck with it, always coming back to tape. I you have any techniques you'd like to share on the foil I'd love to hear them.

Mike: Looks like you're almost to completion. Funny on camo I do the pre-shading and then paint the entire upper surface with the grey or whatever and then do the pre-shading for the green. Which ends up with me spraying a bunch of coats. Doing it your way seems like it would go a whole lot faster.

MrSquid2U

 

 I used Bare Metal Foil to mask the canopy. I normally prefer a good tape but the mold lines for the framing were rather "soft" and BMF is so "thin" and conforms so well after burnishing it down that this helped me to see where the framing was in order to cut it out.

Hiya Squidy:

What knife blade do you use for trimming the BMF, leaving the frames exposed ? ...  using a # 11 blade always scratches the clear parts somewhere or another, not to be seen until pulling the masks off after the paint job so I've found to be the case ...

Would a # 10, the one that's rounded be better ? ... p'haps 'rolling' it across the BMF would preclude scratches ? ...

Thanks,

pepper

Gents,

 "Techniques" for BMF- just make sure it's burnished down real good before and after cutting? I've used toothpicks, paint brush ends and an actual burnishing tool to do so at different times. Yes, a sharp #10 used lightly can cut BMF cleanly but IMHO unless you wind up with a stray line the edge of paint usually disguises your knife pass anyways.

 Oh, I use my prescription reading glasses and an OptiVisor along with a bit of squinting and finally the tried and true biting of the tongue slightly sticking past the lips while holding your breath technique!

MrSquid2U

 Oh, I use my prescription reading glasses and an OptiVisor along with a bit of squinting and finally the tried and true biting of the tongue slightly sticking past the lips while holding your breath technique!

Thanks for the tips ...

Damn, I use all of the above just for wandering around the house or driving or ? ... and, of course, with modeling ...

My wife tells me I can make lunch from biting my tongue ...

pepper

MrSquid: It's not really the masking I've had trouble with when using the foil it's that when I remove it I end up with a pile of residue stuck to the canopy. The last time I used it I ended up taking several hours using Goo Gone and a toothpick to scrub the stuff off. By the end I'd chipped a bunch of the paint off and had to go back and retouch it. I tend to build so slowly that the masking stays on the canopy for some time, over a month or more in some cases. I wonder if leaving it in place like this is my problem?

Gamera

 I wonder if leaving it in place like this is my problem?

I think so ... I know I've had the same issue when just using tape - Tamiya - blue tape or otherwise ... betcha the same holds true with BMF ...

pepper

Gents,

 I've heard good things of Goo Gone but have yet to try it. I'll sometimes encounter the same problem when I not only paint but then weather and final clear coat with canopy masks left in place. But a long time ago I accidentally learned that Micro-Sol is a mild solvent that usually proves safe to mostly cured paint as long as you stay to the areas you want to effect. It doesn't attack clear parts so I'll either use that or rubbing alcohol- again, as "controlled" as I can manage.

 I'll never claim that techniques I use are the "right way" but I'm old enough that they are at least 'time tested' and for me prove effective.

MrSquid2U

Gents,

 I've heard good things of Goo Gone but have yet to try it. ~~~~~so I'll either use that or rubbing alcohol- again, as "controlled" as I can manage.

Hi All:

I used Goo Gone to clean up the canopy on an F-84 I built ... in addition, I've not tried alcohol to clean clear parts, but I do know that 91% alcohol will strip paint, so it might prove useful for doing the same on the clear parts ...

Worth a try, I'm guessing ...

pepper

I have to second Pepper on Goo Gone being good stuff. And you can get a small bottle fairly cheap too. I'll have to try using Micro-Sol. Since I generally use acrylic paints I'm scared of using alcohol.

Hey, the only 'right way' to model is what works for you! 

Guys, I remember usign Windex to try to clean masking residue from trnsparencies on a scratchbuilt model. They were done with .010" butyrate sheet, were exhaustively worked to get them into place and the joint eliminated, but when the masking came off (I had used paper labels) there was so much gunk on thre plastic I had to use something to dissolve it, and we were out of Universal Adhesive remover... Windex fogged the butyrate. I was mad, but all I could do was Photoshop the final pics...

M/TB379

Some great work going on in here, im happy to see the GB is still going strong...

Mike you'll have to forgive my absence for the last couple of weeks, things here have been a little hectic...I've managed to get a bit done on the 262 and i'll post up some pics shortly but i think i'm still 2 weeks away from completion

.

No worries, Julez -- real life does its thing and there's nothing we can do abourt it. I look forward to seeing progress on the 262 whenever you can get to it.

For myself, I'm feeling very browned off because I just found out the late-war RAF camo shades needed for the Meteor are now available in Tamiya acrylics -- there was no need to mess about with stinky enamels after all.

Ah well, only the green left to go... I'm making a dive to finish the M110 for Have Gun, Will Travel, hopefully after that I'll get my head around masking the Meteor...

Cheers, M/TB379

I have got more work done on the 262. Panel wash and I glued the canopy and landing gears on. I dont know why I put the canopy on before I put my flat clear on Now I will have to mask it. Not thinking.

Damon

Damon, very nice looking 262 buddy don't you hate those mind blanks, at least the 262 has a fairly easy canopy to mask

Hey everyone I got Nowotny's Me262 ready. Below are the finished Pics. I would like to say that there are some great planes being built here. Sorry I have not had alot of time to comment on everyones build but will try to get more involved in the future. I have learned alot from this GB and would like to thank you guys.

Damon

Damon -- congratulations on a superb build! A 72, I'd have taken it for a 48! Marvelous work and a great finish! Page 1 is updated.

Looks like I'll be finishing last!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Some really great work in here.  Wish I could have finished mine but it was not in the cards.  Annoying network security here sometimes allows photos and sometimes doesn't.  I finally got to see the finished work.  Great job done by all!

"Last"?

Ahem, I've yet to get back to it after being interrupted by snow?

Oh, and Damon- ditto, didn't realize that was 72nd! Very nice for that scale indeed.

MrSquid2U

"Last"?

Ahem, I've yet to get back to it after being interrupted by snow?

 

Oh, and Damon- ditto, didn't realize that was 72nd! Very nice for that scale indeed.

kind of, for me it was floods

I did manage to get my 262 in the painshop though...Mike sorry for the lack of WIP pics, the camera was with the missus at Bundaberg when she went to help freinds clean up....She ended up getting stuck up there for a week....

Anyway here is a pic, there is a Eduard zoom set in the office but other than that it's OOB...

Julez -- no problems, mate. Kudos to your missus for helping out in the disaster!

That's a very neat preshade job, mine looks like a worm slithered through ink and crawled all over the plane...

I MUST mask the final camo shade on the Meteor... I've been sidetracked on an old build that cried out for completion, especially as it gave me a chance to test some techniques afresh...

Cheers, keep plugging away...

Mike/TB379

So today was a beautifully warm and nice mid-60s! I went and got everything ready to paint and then while running a tack rag over the thing I popped one of the brass landing gear doors off. Dang if I can find it? I guess I'll be building another one? Man, I thought I'd be preshaded and moving into paint by this time too.

Mike, cheers buddy i gave this one a heavier preshade than i normally would given the darker green colours on the uppersurface rather than the usual 74,75 and 76 scheme...I'll be doing the squiggle camo this week so i hope that works out and looks good...

Squid, sorry you lost your part mate, only a fellow modeler understands that frustration

MrSquid2U

So today was a beautifully warm and nice mid-60s!

So was I, but by the time I got everything set up to paint, the temps had dropped 20 degrees ... boo - no painting this day and we're expecting the 'dreaded' Arctic blast to arrive starting this afternoon, with temps headed down to the low teens and snow for a few days ...

Oh, to be living at home in San Diego - 2 seasons - Summer and Not Summer ...

pepper

LOL- So I totally squandered away the couple of days which reached mid 60s! And today I got back to painting. We now have FREEZING rain falling and my garage is back to 'winter cold' temps?

BUT, I went ahead and preshaded followed by my color coats of RLM02. I really wanted the preshading just to give a panel effect since I'll still apply a wash to the panel lines. To that end it was effective enough.

I didn't dare share my preshading alone in a pic since that beautiful work just shown on the 72nd scale ME-262 put mine to shame. But like I said- this should satisfy my goals.

 I've applied the few decals that belong on this plane and given it a gloss clear coat to ready it for a sludge wash to bring out the panel lines. I'm working with enamel base coats (thinned with lacquer), lacquer clear and will use acrylics for the sludge wash followed by flat clear and maybe some pastels. So far this much painting only started less than twelve hours ago. All material choices made to speed up the multi-step process as much as I can in this cold weather. If things keep going well enough I'll get to calling this one done real soon.

Damon: Great looking 262! Great job on the camo and I like how the yellow band and engine intakes add a splash of colour.

Julez: Pre-shading looking good, looking forward to seeing you slap some paint on her.

MrSquid: Wow! Love how the subtle pre-shading breaks up the monochomatic paint scheme. She's going to look fantastic with the panel lines done.

Hey Guys thanks for the kind words on the 262 build I like how it turned out one of my favorite models. MrSquid nice work on the shading and a very interesting plane. Julez looking good on the 262.

Damon