Gamera

Spray Aqua Gloss straight from the bottle and do not shake it to avoid bubbles. It sprays really smooth and apply in several light coats to build up the gloss. You can decal within a couple of hours if you want unlike Future. As Bish posted its acrylic and works just like Future.

Bish

G, the Aclad Aqua gloss is acrylic, its not lacquer like the rest of their range. Thats why its used as a replacement for Future. It does protect agaisnt solvent washes, my issue is getting a proper coverage.

 

Oh really!?! Awesome! I hadn't opened the bottle yet, I guess I should have read the instructions on the side.... 

G, the Aclad Aqua gloss is acrylic, its not lacquer like the rest of their range. Thats why its used as a replacement for Future. It does protect agaisnt solvent washes, my issue is getting a proper coverage.

Thanks PJ! 

I've got a bottle of Aqua Gloss I ordered along side the Alclad matte. So far haven't used it simply because the MM acrylic works fine and prefer acrylic. Less trouble to spray, clean-up, and less nasty on my lungs. Plus most of my washes are solvent based and I'm worried they might dissolve the AG.  

I'm going to have to try the Aqua Gloss just because I did buy it and I don't want to waste it though.

Gamera and Greg

I also tried to spray Future and also get a pebbly finish but Aqua Gloss sprays beautifully. The problem mentioned with Aqua Gloss may be a bad bottle or batch like their gloss black paint

I handbrush the Future and get really good results. You just need to build up the gloss with multiple coats.

Everyone's comments of Future are interesting...

I've tried spraying it a few times and it always goes down with a horrible pebbly orange peel finish if I go with multiple light coats. If I spray heavy it runs all over the model to the point I got huge gobs on the bottom of the model once where it ran and the drips dried. I haven't tried brushing the stuff on though. Right now I use it for dipping canopies and clear parts and that's it. 

I find Model Master acrylic gloss and semi-gloss to work great for shiny finishes. On the other hand I've had the matte dry with a white hazy finish no matter how well I mix it, even using a new bottle. Not sure if it's moisture in the air or what. So I went to Alclad matte finish and so far it's never let me down. 

Ernie, no worries re missing my question re Revell Level 5. I type too much stuff, its' my own fault not yours.

D, the Alclad clear coat products always get confusing. Did you use the acrylic one or the laquer? If acrylic, did it bother you that it went on "milky"-looking? That's just the nature of the beast, and it has to be layed down thick. As Don often says about clear coats, just before the point of running. If find all acrylic clear coats finicky at best to spray. Sorry you got annoyed, but things sure look good in the pics nonetheless.

I was just pondering Ernie's comments about brushing on acrylic clear (Future). I've done it to, and maybe it's time to just do it that way, I dunno. Never tried it with Alclad Aqua gloss though. I gave up on trying to spray Future a couple years ago. That's just me, some folk have no trouble at all.

Gamera, jeez, everyone is having trouble today!!! You'll get it sorted, my friend.

Thanks all for all your support and comments.

I have moved on, just needed to vent a little. Still, i can always use the Alclag to clean my wooden floors...

Damian

Damian,

Man,  Decals can be the worst sometimes. They  vary so much from kit to kit and AM providers. The absolute worst kit decals I've used were the Tamiya provided ones. They are thick and heavily printed and are very difficult to get to lay down. As a first try, Micro-sol, usually works , sometimes needs some coaxing, and as a last resort , Walthers will soften about anything made, but don't use first. its very strong and will destroy thin decals. At times even a little cider vinager does a good job. Mossy looks good though... your extra effort is paying off!

Take care... Doug

CMK02: Ouch, those are some big gaps! Looking forward to seeing how you fix this. 

Damian: She looks good in the photos, maybe I just can't see the issues? 

Finally cemented the cockpit inside the Tempest and went to attach the wings to the fusilage. And the fit is horrible. I had to grab some superglue and just brute force things into place. Now I worry with a bump or sneeze the seams are going to rip back open. I'm thinking about ripping the whole thing back apart and sanding the krap outta it to try to get parts to fit without using a hammer. 

Greg

I somehow missed your question about level 5? I really haven't noticed that till you pointed it out lol. 

EBergerud

If anyone wants a quick but very hard and very bright gloss, hand brush Future over the areas you want to put your decals. When sprayed, Future is satin. When hand brushed, it's very gloss. I know one good modeler that mixes Future 50-50 with water as a version of "micro sol" (not set, although I dropped a decal onto major irregularity on a tank with a puddle of future and it set great.)

 

I handbrush entire models with Future all the time to get a super gloss finish ready for decals and panel line washes. It takes several coats but Future dries very fast and can be recoated in minutes.

You can also brush on Future and immediately apply a decal on the wet Future for a super bond.

The only issue here is you have to let the Future cure no less than one day to avoid issues with decal setting solutions. I usually let it cure 2 days to be extra safe.

Thanks Bish,

Just needed to vent, maybe not the right place.

Damian

Despite your problems Damian thats looking really nice.

All the builds are comming along, well done all.

I have some updates on my Mossie build, sorry but this is me spitting the dummy! The Alclag Aqua Gloss went on like wet snot, I dislike the stuff and will most likely tip the remaining product down the sink were it belongs in IMO, end of story.

What can I say about DK Decals, absolutley nothing good. I had to hit some of them with a hairdryer to get them to soften enough to laydown to some degree. I tried Micro SOL which didn't do much, then hit it with Mr Mark Softer which helped, but not without allot of physical assistance. The print on the wing rondals ended up being extremely poor in print quality and colour IMPO. I had no choice but to use them as the build was an RAAF mossie flying in the RAF. If had taken the time to really look them over, I would have created my own, and done a far superior job to boot.

I am by my own admission a perfectionist at some things, modelling is one I strive to be that in!

You can't see here, but there are alot of "boogers" (painters term for dust etc) in the gloss coat.

Decals almost done.

Next steps are too add all the aerials, landing gear , minor weathering, touch ups and final matt coat etc etc.

Till next "whinge"...

Thanks, Bish.  That's good to know.

Now those ailerons bring back some memories of old Airfix kits.

I would not worry to much about the interior colours. A lt of hampdens were built before the RAf moved to night bombing, and while they would have re-painted the undersides, i can't see then doing the landing and bomb bays.

Working on the Hampden wings

Ailerons are each in one piece, but they needed a lot of clean-up for flash.

Test-fitting them to the wing shows a pretty huge gap.  

Looks like new holes need to be drilled, to bring them in closer to the wing.

Then these little brackets are supposed to hold the landing gear in position.

And the wing parts.  Again following Airfix's instructions, I painted them RAF Interior Green.  Likely they should be black.

Greg

Good to see you underway, Doug. Looking forward to following along.

 

Take care!

Doug

Bish

Add away, who will you be reviewing it for.

SPAModler

I have built the old matchbox Chinook, but would be nice to get a newer RAF version. But from what i can tell, none of the existing kits would produce one OOB.

Add away, who will you be reviewing it for.

Yea, I still want to get an EF-2000 and Chinook at some time.

I MAY be receiving the new Italeri /48 Hurricane Mk.1 Trop to review at some point. If or when I do I'll want to add that to the roster.

Thats it, thanks Steve. Just checked out the decal sheet, some interesting schemes on there.

Bish

Steve, can't wait to see that as wel. Can't remember if you mentioned it, which aircraft are you doing again.

 

31 Squadron 100th anniversary which should be perfect to the GB I should think

Eric, very good point about checking if the Airfix kit your loking at is new or old tool. Fortunatly hannants does mention it on their site, but of course thats only any use to what they have out at the time. So far i have bagged 5 of their new 72nd kits and they all look very nice, of course the proof wil be in the building, but i am pretty confidant i won't be dissapointed.

Just nice to be able to buy British with confidance for once, even if they are actually moded in India

Steve, can't wait to see that as wel. Can't remember if you mentioned it, which aircraft are you doing again.

Eric, 

I have to agree with the quallty of the new Airfix kits. I recently finished their B5N2 Kate and was exceedingly pleased with it.

I may just sell my stash and replace them the new Airfix products. I really wsnt the 17.

Bish,

I received the decal sheet for the Tonka and it looks exceptional. Can't wait to get to that point. 

I have the following Airfix kits - newest I believe from 2014. 1/48: BF109, P-40B, Hurricane, Ju-87: 1/72: HE-111, C-47, B-17. They all look great. (There are older models of most of these so make sure you check Scalemate for "new tool" date.) Phil Flory has video builds on both the 109 and Hurricane and praises both to the sky. (Speaking of which, the new C-47 is called Skytrain. When writing I interviewed several C47 pilots and crew flying in New Guinea and never once heard the term Skytrain. Not once. A nickname was Goony. But mostly it was "47." Americans during WWII still loved baseball and perhaps that explains why they were so keen on numbers for their aircraft. (Two of the names that stuck - Lightning & Mustang - came from Brits.) There's an excellent video build on the B-17 from a very good Polish modeler "Big Modeler" on YTube and he likewise praises the kit. Should note though, that Tamiya just came out with a new Ki-61 for about $5 more than an Airfix P-40. Tamiya is still king of the hill any time they want to prove it and I'd pay the exta $5 any day.

BTW: criticism for the otherwise highly praised Stuka? Injector pin marks. On your knees those who are fallen.

Eric

Good point there Doug, would be nice to see Airfix produce 32nd subjects.

Good to see you underway, Doug. Looking forward to following along.