Weathering GB - 2/1/2011 - 1/31/2012

For the next Hellcat, I've read that a people have found it easier to install the wings before joining the fuselage halves. Haven't built one yet so I don't know, but it could work I guess?

Not much to report on my end. It was COLD last night. Yeah, I realize Austin's 18 degrees/0 wind chill is peanuts for those living up north, but keep in mind that I work in my garage, not some cozy basement. Didn't want to break out airbrush, so I confined myself to puttying the rear canopy area on the 109 and working on the Sherman.

I started the filtering last night...

The cold's supposed to be around for several more days, so the 109 is probably stalled out until it eases up somewhat. Guess in the meantime I'll be working on the Sherman and maybe breaking into another armor kit (or something that doesn't need priming/painting right away!).

Thanks owl you saved me on that one.

CallSignOWL

jbrady: just Google "f6f hellcat"..... you are sure to get some 3 view drawings that include a head on shot.  

Sometimes the quickest way to Google a pic/image is to use Lycos!

Owl: Been doing that for an hour. I get a lot of text about the reason for the gull wing design. More stuff about a proposal for a change in wing design to eliminate the gull wing. And every picture, drawing, diagram is either top, bottom, side, or a quartering view. This is what I came up with. I haven't used the plasti-weld yet so If I find something between now and the next round of shoveling I can pop them off.

jbrady: just Google "f6f hellcat"..... you are sure to get some 3 view drawings that include a head on shot.  

Doogs: wait until you try to get the dihedral on the wings right. I had to walk away from the bench and shut down for the night... think I got it though... medium super glue when it sets flood the joint with plasti weld. I wish they had included at least one head-on shot. It would make me feel a lot better if I had something to reference.

jbrady

Doogs: I don't understand why they didn't mold the cowl in two pieces instead of three. There are no positive locators, it's like trying to stand three playing card on their sides end to end with no supports. Kind of wierd because one of the strengths of the kit is the shape of the chin. It's taking some very careful sanding not to change the shape of the nose.

Crap, don't tell me that, I've got three of them Hellcats in the stash!

I'm starting to think the lack of positive location is an Eduard thing. My Yak-3 didn't even HAVE locator tabs. At all (even on the gear struts...). But it was dead-simple so it didn't matter. More complicated kits like the Hellcat or 109 and yeah, your playing card analogy is dead on.

Doogs: I don't understand why they didn't mold the cowl in two pieces instead of three. There are no positive locators, it's like trying to stand three playing card on their sides end to end with no supports. Kind of wierd because one of the strengths of the kit is the shape of the chin. It's taking some very careful sanding not to change the shape of the nose.

Julez - the 190's looking good - are those Eduard belts? 

jbrady - First the 109 and now your Hellcat - Eduard seems to have cowl issues!

Robert92562 - That's one slick looking F-150! Unfortunately I can't put it on the front page since this GB is all about WIP pics and "seeing behind the magic", as it were. But I'd love if you could expound a bit on your process, and by all means dive in with another!

Julez72

Doogs, cheers The tamiya 190 is an A-8, i'm also building an Eduard A-5 for the no aftermarket GB as well so i'll post up the odd pic of that one as i go...The spitfire MK VIII is still my prime build for this GB but it will have to wait until later in the year, i still have to order the Aires merlin for that one....

How are you finding the Eduard 109??? The 190 is a tricky little kit but the detail is superb... Your Sherman looks very nice, the drybrushing came out greatdrybrushing is a skill that i've struggled with..

The 109's been pretty good so far. This is my first "modern" Eduard kit, and I'm kinda surprised that they're still so vague with locating tabs and indents and the like. I'd have preferred a more solid fit, especially on some of the fiddly parts like the stabilizer supports, but for the most part it's pretty awesome. Though I think Dragon's new E-4 eats its lunch (and could be built into an E-7 Trop if they'd included the tropical filter...everything else is there)

I've got an Eduard 190F-8 in the stash...looks like an absolute monster of a kit, especially side by side with the Tamiya. 

Robert 92562: You gotta tell us how you did that man. I'm still not sure its not a real truck.

I know this is the first day of the GB but can I post a Ford F-150 that I just completed.

Bob

Looking forward too seeing these Hellcats finished...Love that plane

WIP pic of the Tamiya office...

jbrady

Sanderson 91 and DoogsATX: Steve, if its all right with you, I'd like to model the particular airplane shown in the photo. It is so rare to have a good color photo to work from and that plane cries out to be modeled in that condition. The information I have is that it is a field repaint of a plane originally done in intermediate blue-grey over light gull grey. The plane is the CAGs LtCdr Jimmy Flatley on the Yorktown in August 1943.

Doogs: Last change I promise. Will you add the F6F 3 as well as the F6F 5.

jbrady - go for it!  I think that it's a great picture and you should be able to build up a nice F6F-3.  I like the F4F - I think I'm going to what you did and mist several lightened shades of the sea blue and intermediate blue.

Doogs: I agree that the insignia as a whole is still too dark and needs to be toned down.  I'm going to let the oils set a few more days then cover with future.  I am going to take jbradys advice and try to mist on several lighter colors of the sea blue and intermediate blue once the future is cured.  After that, I'll apply a pin wash of burnt umber to darken the panel lines as well as give it a bit of a dirty appearance as well.  I know what I want to do I just hope that I can pull it off!  Thanks!

Steve

Cowling is bit of a pita. Took a while to get a somewhat close fit.

Now I hope I can get the exhaust stubbs in. For some reason the instruction call for them to go in before the cowling... they'd be bear to mask if I did it that way.

Doogs, cheers The tamiya 190 is an A-8, i'm also building an Eduard A-5 for the no aftermarket GB as well so i'll post up the odd pic of that one as i go...The spitfire MK VIII is still my prime build for this GB but it will have to wait until later in the year, i still have to order the Aires merlin for that one....

How are you finding the Eduard 109??? The 190 is a tricky little kit but the detail is superb... Your Sherman looks very nice, the drybrushing came out greatdrybrushing is a skill that i've struggled with..

Doogs: They're from the Eduard Royal Class boxing... got it for 65 bucks on e-bay a few months ago.

jbrady

Doogs: Last change I promise. Will you add the F6F 3 as well as the F6F 5.

Both have been added. I'm assuming they're both Eduard cats?

Added my Sherman, as well as an ICM Spitfire VIII I'm planning to build as a battered RAAF ship operating out of Indonesia. Scored it for all of $5 on eBay, so I've got room to royally screw it up!

Sanderson 91 and DoogsATX: Steve, if its all right with you, I'd like to model the particular airplane shown in the photo. It is so rare to have a good color photo to work from and that plane cries out to be modeled in that condition. The information I have is that it is a field repaint of a plane originally done in intermediate blue-grey over light gull grey. The plane is the CAGs LtCdr Jimmy Flatley on the Yorktown in August 1943.

Doogs: Last change I promise. Will you add the F6F 3 as well as the F6F 5.

Doogs: Will you please add the F6F I'm doing... VMF(N) 542 Okinawa May 1945. I'm going to add it to the night fighter build also.

jbrady

Steve: I have to agree with pepper on the fading thing. I add about 25% of alighter color (in this case light grey to the base intermediate blue) to fade back the colors.

Now that looks mighty tasty ... I love that method of 'bleaching' the upper (and sides) surfaces ...

pepper

Well, it's February 1, so the GB is officially officially underway! 

To, uh, kick things off, I got the canopies sprayed last night, and found out that I'll need to do some filling around the rear canopy before I can go on. Boo.

I also put the prop together. Looks pretty slick on the plane.

Couldn't do much more while waiting for the RLM 02 to dry, so I drybrushed the Sherman (which has made enough appearances now that maybe I should just add it...):

Julez72

I've been lurking around in here and keeping an eye on things and i have to say there is some absolutly superb work going on in here

Doogs, if it's ok with you i'd like to finish my Tamiya FW190 A in here, it has been started but there is still a long way to ggo on it....

Done! Which flavor of A? 

EXCELLENT UPDATS EVERYONE!

Hey guys sorry i have been quiet as of late, I started my new job on Sunday and i work between 10-12 hrs a day Sun, Mon and Tues. So after tomorrow night i will have some more updates as I will need to unwind =D

Ruddratt,

thanks man, being my 2nd real armor piece that has seen paint i am happy so far, i will get more into the weathering, but i am totally dreading the tracks, hell I'm considering the fruilmodel ones or if theres a easier better option out there i am open to it! Suggestions welcome!

Dave

Steve: I have to agree with pepper on the fading thing. I add about 25% of alighter color (in this case light grey to the base intermediate blue) to fade back the colors. This is the base coat before fading.

This is the first faded coat. In addition to the lighter color I thinned the mix so it was about 60% thinner and lowered the air pressure so I could mist the paint on.

The overhead shots don't show the effect on the sides. The heavier layer of lightner is on the top of the fulselage and the wings. The sides get less and the transition area between the two camo colors get even less fading. The area under the horizontal stabilizer is just about the same color as the base coat.

The nice thing about this method is that you can use the light coat to highlight individual panel areas by getting in close then you can soften the effect with a misted coat.

I like the idea of using oils as filters but I have no experience with them so I can't comment. I've seen some nice effects using oil filters.

Doogs: I found a set of Eduard dive flaps for the Dauntless... $25 at a Brit online store.

Steve - I agree that the insignia still look a bit too vibrant...the one that jumps out at me is the port fuselage insignia, the top red border in particular.

I think you're getting close, only thing I'd watch out for would be "anti-washing" the panel lines. May want to go back with a darker pin wash and/or post-shading to kill down the lightened panel lines...

pepper kay

Hi Guys:

Here's something that works for me on railroad cars ...

Spray the areas you want to bleach with 70% isopropyl alcohol ... if you don't like the effect you get, then spray those same areas with DullCote ... poof ! ... the bleachng disappears ...

Or overspray everything with your base coat with lots of white in it ... be sure to follow the tip you got about the elevators and ailerons ... I think the flaps may be included as well as they move up and down all the time on every flight ... p'haps less white in the overspray for them ...

Maybe the way to go is to overspray the flaps first and then add some more white to your base color to overspray the elevators and ailerons ...

pepper

PS Don't  foregt the rudder ... it also moves a lot ... less than the elevators and ailerons and more than the rudder ...

Pepper - not sure I understand the 70% iso/then dullcote method. Does the ISO bleach things out?

As for the elevators, ailerons and rudder...they were fabric-covered, so tended to bleach out differently even on top of constant wear.

Hi Guys:

Here's something that works for me on railroad cars ...

Spray the areas you want to bleach with 70% isopropyl alcohol ... if you don't like the effect you get, then spray those same areas with DullCote ... poof ! ... the bleachng disappears ...

Or overspray everything with your base coat with lots of white in it ... be sure to follow the tip you got about the elevators and ailerons ... I think the flaps may be included as well as they move up and down all the time on every flight ... p'haps less white in the overspray for them ...

Maybe the way to go is to overspray the flaps first and then add some more white to your base color to overspray the elevators and ailerons ...

pepper

PS Don't  foregt the rudder ... it also moves a lot ... less than the elevators and ailerons and more than the rudder ...

I've been lurking around in here and keeping an eye on things and i have to say there is some absolutly superb work going on in here

Doogs, if it's ok with you i'd like to finish my Tamiya FW190 A in here, it has been started but there is still a long way to ggo on it....

sanderson_91

jbrady:

Steve: The question I have is are you modeling a plane based on land or a carrier. Even with a high operational tempo carrier based planes were a lot cleaner thatn their land based counterparts. As for the weathering itself, remember that the ailerons and flaps are moveable surfaces dirt wouldn't accumulate heavily in those areas. I would try a darker wash around the flap aileron area to highlight them and the lighter pigments around panel lines to simulate the dust and grime you'd see on a sandy, dusty aircraft... my two cents

 

Here's a photo that I found online at wikimedia commons which is pretty much what I'm trying to get my Hellcat to resemble:

I think the pigments are getting me there, but right now look too much like dust than fading. 

Steve

So I've gotten some work done on the Hellcat - trying to get it to resemble the photo above.  Here's what I've gotten done over the weekend

I thinned Titanium White and Buff oil paint and layered  these filters on the fuselage and wings in several light coats.  I reapplied the filters to build up the layers trying to replicate the faded bleached out look.  I'm reasonably happy with the results, though the blue of the national insignia is still too dark to me.  I still need to weather the undersides and apply exhaust stains as well as add the gear doors and brake lines.  Let me know what you guys think.  Thanks!

Steve