I'm going to say the Mavis is done. I tried to get some rigging on it but at this scale it either looked too big or the rigging was to small for me to see. So here it is.

Thanks Gam, I'm looking forward to next year.

Oh wow, she looks fantastic PJ! Great work!!!

Nice work on that Val PJ.

Cheers Tony

Jack

Sounds like the pores on the pad are clogged. Soak it for a bit in water and do the toothbrush trick.

Great, I have the same set of sanding pads.  Was expecting a simple answer, but just wanted to be sure.  Might have to scrub with a toothbrush, the paint on some of mine looks to be burnished to the surface.

regards,

Jack

Thanks Jack! I rinse the pad with tap water and use a paper towel to dry it.

PJ, that looks really good that weathering.

What do you do to clean up that sanding pad to extend it's use?

regards,

Jack

Impressive job as usual Steve. You are the 'Water Master"!

The Akagi looks fantabulous Scott.

I finally was able to get some work on my Val so I sprayed some MM hull red enamel paint with a few drops of bright red for the red primer color. Then decanted some cheap hairspray from the buck store and shot that. Double click on the images for closeups!

Tamiya IJN Grey and Green were sprayed on the aircraft. The cowling was sprayed Tamiya Nato Black with a drop of blue.

A few minutes later I used a small stiff brush and water to attack the hairspray.

Being early in the war I believe the weathering would have been subtle. The red primer and a hint of the metal pop up on heavily used areas. I also polished out the paint with a 2400 grit pad for an ultra smooth finish.

I read somewhere that Tamiya acrylics are fragile and scratch easily. Well, here I used a sanding pad about an hour after spraying the paint and got no such results. It sanded out even smoother to a semi gloss finish. I find the Tamiya paints to be VERY durable.

BTW: Watched the Chinese movie 'The Flowers of War' a fictional tale set in the Rape of Nanjing during the Japanese invasion on Netflix a month or so ago (they've dropped it now) and loved it so much I had to pick it up on DVD.

Fantastic movie and I guess it's sorta related so I'll throw up the trailer if you guys don't mind (if you do just ignore me ).

Looks really good Scott, maybe I should give one of these a go. 

Deck is painted and getting ready to install.

Tony,

This carrier always looked intimidating to me, but if I was to recommend a first carrier kit, this one would be it.  It is the easiest 1/700 scale model I have built.  

Hey Scott, very cool!

Nice work Steve!!!!

My update today is that I got the shaded topoat applied on the hull of the Akagi.

simpilot34

MC that is looking great!!! I have that kit in my stash as well, how was the fit for you? Any major issues to deal with?

 

No, It went together very well. The decals are very thin so be careful for that but the fit was very good with very little filling needed.

Cheers Tony.

Gam, you would be surprized how easy it is. You just need to be willing to ruin the build to try it. You won't, but you need to be willing to.

Steve

WOW!!! Love the spray effects, I'd never have thought about using this with the cotton, nor would mine have looked anywhere near as believable! 

MC that is looking great!!! I have that kit in my stash as well, how was the fit for you? Any major issues to deal with?

Thanks Gam,

After applying the decals and a little weathering I attached the plane to the base and added some spray using cotton. I then sprayed Future to the cotton and will let that dry. I can then trim and form it a little more. I also added some more acrylic varnish to the water to deepen the look of the water. One of the wing decals broke while weathering but fortunately the kit come with extras.

Love how she's coming along there Steve. 

I painted the red anti foul hull paint and applied the Future for the portholes. It seemed to work well and I'll add another drop tonight. The liquid mask worked well as usual. I forgot about the anti-glare black in front of the windscreen but can get that and hopefully to the decals tonight as well.

Thanks Scott and Gam,

I'm using a diffrent cotton, and for the love of Pete I can't remember who on the forums here turned me on to it. It dosn't have any lumps in it and it's much easer to form using the acrylic gel.

Looks awesome to me!

Interesting look Steve.  Its either just landed and coming off of plane, or running up on take off and getting up on plane. The wave compression you replicated due to the weight of the fuselage really makes it convincing.  

The base isn't quite dry but I wanted to see if everything lined up. Yep it does. Tomorrow I'll work on the red anti-foul paint to the planes hull and maybe get to the decals and canopy unmasking.

Steve

Thanks Simpilot, Gam and Scott,

I sprayed the black and the Alclad White Aluminum. While that was drying I started to add the cotton to the wakes to form the waves. I will add some more cotton to the troughs as soon as this dries.

Steve,

Its wonderful to see your work in progress.  You make it look easy.

Scott

Oh wow Steve, looks awesome!!!