Lost - Your kit has been quite a fight! Don't let it beat you - the end is nigh :)
Nick - Fantastic job on the Meteor! A great finish after having to deal with paint run amok. I know your pain.
Johnny - Love the camo scheme on the Mossie. That's how I want to do the one I have.
Castel - Now I have to get one of those. Excellent build and you're a better man than I to use sprue for rigging and have it turn out so well.
Bob - Great progress on the P-40. It's one of my favourite planes and you're off to a great start.
Murph - Beautiful builds sir!
Jack - And still more incredible detail going into that plane. Just stunning work!
Stik - Excellent progress indeed. Keep it coming!
So here's some of what I've been up to...
The wings went on really well with a nice, tight fit. I moved on to puttying, which only required a small amount of Perfect Plastic Putty. Most of the "sanding" needed was done with a wet Q-Tip and rest cleaned up with 1000-grit sandpaper. There was some work near the wing roots and at the front of the wings where they connect to the fuselage. The saddle for the fuel tank needed a little work to make the join look right. There was also a panel line near the nose that needed to be removed as it doesn't exist on the real plane.
The biggest gap was the join at the tail. Again I used PPP and taped off areas to retain the change in depth along the sides. The puttying went well, but I should have used either CA glue or tried to "weld" it with plastic glue: when I went to re-scribe the panel line, there was some chipping, which wouldn't have occurred with a harder surface.
I next dealt with the radiators and painted the insides before gluing them to the wings. I used Aclad aluminum on the grills and then used a Flory Wash to give it some wear. I could have washed the insides of the housing as well, but it wouldn't be seen at all.
I prepped for priming. I had first considered using the unused closed canopy, but with the door missing, I'd have to tape anyway, so I just taped over the whole cockpit. The canopy will go in the spares box.
Again, I used Stynylrez gray primer.
Cleanup was minimal.
Then came the base coats: Mr. Hobby Aqueous Sky (Duck Egg Green) and Dark Earth. The colours looked great (to my untrained eye) and it was nice to not have to mix colours or use "close enough." This stuff goes down beautifully. The control I had with my airbrush was like nothing I'd experienced before and no thinning was necessary out of a .4 nozzle. While I still like Tamiya paints, this stuff is fantastic. It has a longer drying time and has a finish like an enamel - glossy, but not as thick. Coverage is excellent and only requires a few light coats. If I had tried black-basing or highlighted the panel lines, I think I would thin this stuff more to give it some transparency.
To mask for the Dark Green, I gave my plane worms. Do with that comment as you will.
I used blue poster tack, purchased at Dollarama. It's cheap. works perfectly and doesn't leave any residue or discolouration.
I then laid wax paper over the model and pressed it to adhere to the tack. I use wax paper as it's transparent and I can them see where to trim it. I just run a blade through the centre of the tack and remove the excess. I've tried using plastic wrap, but it doesn't cut as easily and more often just pulls with the blade.
On went the dark green.
There are two things to consider when using this method: keep the angle of the airbrush consistent against the edges of the mask so that there are no "steps" in the painted edge, and when you remove the tack, to carefully pull away at an angle parallel with the surface so as not to pull up any paint, as you would with masking tape. I had one small spot that lifted and one area where the paint stepped, but the spot was easily fixed and the step would be covered by a decal.
I've made more progress, but pictures and posts do take what little time I have for modeling - stay tuned!