75th Anniversary of 1943 (World at War)

Bish:  I've stuck with enamels because I've read a lot on the forums here about problems with it pulling up after masking and some difficulties spraying it.  I suppose this old dog doesn't want to learn 

As for drying out in the tins, I store paint in glass bottles, which can be bought empty from various suppliers.  You can find them in 1 oz and 1/2 oz sizes.

I've read the cautions against doing it, but I thin new paint 50-50 with lacquer thinner, then put it into a glass bottle with a couple of B-B's.  It's always ready for airbrushing then.  From time to time I add a few drops of thinner after a painting session.

Despite what I've read against storing thinned paint, only very rarely have I had a bottle of paint go bad, and I use the same system for Testors MM, Humbrol and Colorcoats.  Mostly, the paint lasts for years and years.

When I use a wash, I've been using acrylics.  That does require a gloss coat first, but that's not usually a problem, since you need a gloss coat for decals anyway.

checkmateking02

Thanks for the information, Bish.  The Hobbyworld--USA website did come up when I tried it today.  Seems they have quite a few paint lines--and new paints always interest me.

 

 

I have been looking for a new paint to replace my enamels for a while. I do like the enamels but with all the hassel of trying to do oil washes plus the amount of paint i lose with dried out tins and such, i figured it was time for a change and after seeing the results of Mr Paint, i thought i would give it a try.

Griffin, yep, those can be a real pain. But then i have had pour stubs attached to as part of the leg, trying to remove that and not lose detail can be a pain. I do the same as jack, and i also fine a small grinder attached to my miny drill helps as well.

Jack,

It probably did, but I can't find a color pic of her deck so I go off drawings. Their probably wrong though.

Griffin:  it does make you wonder sometimes why manufacturers locate the pour stubs where they do.  I haven't worked with resin figures bigger than 1/72, so I haven't seen this issue before.  Sounds like Jack has good advice.

Looking forward to seeing how you progress.  Good luck!

Yeah, that is the downside of some resin figures, but the stubs are placed such that it keep surfaces details free - well except for the helmet.  Simple to clean up though, since you are dealing with a smooth surface and not details like on cloth.  

I usually use a utility knife and whittle away as much as possible.  A wood carving  chisel with a concave tip helps finish it off.

regards,

Jack

modelcrazy

 

 

jgeratic

Steve, that is great looking colour on the wooden deck.  Will you be weathering it any further?

 

 

Jack, the deck?..no. Probably a little more on the hull when I get the PE railing on near the end. I'll add some small rust streaks then.

 

Had to ask as I was sure I read somewhere that the wood turned a shade grey.   Maybe that isn't the case here...

regards,

Jack

Why do they do it like this?? Ugh. This is going to take some surgery skills to get the giant resin block out without damaging the belt and ammo pouches. Its not scribed or anything. I'm getting the dremel out. It's actually recessed down past the belt line. Both figures

 

 

jgeratic

Steve, that is great looking colour on the wooden deck.  Will you be weathering it any further?

Jack, the deck?..no. Probably a little more on the hull when I get the PE railing on near the end. I'll add some small rust streaks then.

Thanks for the information, Bish.  The Hobbyworld--USA website did come up when I tried it today.  Seems they have quite a few paint lines--and new paints always interest me.

Great looking subject matter, Griffen.  Should turn out to be a chilling display.

Chers Jack. And good news about Hobbyworld. I checked the Mr Paint site and Hobbyworld is the only US seller listed.

Steve, that is great looking colour on the wooden deck.  Will you be weathering it any further?

Bish, excellent progress on the half track, nice work on the crew compartment.
About MRP (Mr.Paint), couldn't log on last night to the US site, but seems to work today:
http://www.hobbyworld-usa.com/Store/index.php

Griffen, intersting subject choice.  Don't see Royal Model figures often, but I'm sure you will be quite happy with their quality.

regards,
Jack

Looking forward to seeing what you do with that Griffin. I did a set of 3 Royal Model figures a couple of years back and rather liked them.

Thanks for the information. Perhaps it can be purchased directly? So here's what I'm starting with for my vignette. It is going to represent the Italian breakout from the Stalingrad area in Jan. 1943. The Italian Alpini Tridenta division was pretty much the only fighting force that made it out of the Stalingrad area some what  intact. Mussolini recalled the entire Italian forces on the Eastern front soon after. 

 

I managed to find the 2 UK sites. The first is the one i got my 3 bottles from, but these are the guys which don't seem to carry the full range and every time i have checked lately they are out of stock.

http://www.blackbirdmodels.co.uk/mr-paint-474-c.asp

And these guysarewere one of the members at the model club i belong to gets his, he is the one who got me on to these. About 75p a bottle more, but they seem to have the full range and have most of them in stock.

http://www.hmhobbies.co.uk/all-paints/page/1/

I noticed rooster put a post up about Hobby world because he wanted some. Hopefully its just a temp glitch.

Thanks Chad.

Griffin, it is from Eastern Europe, and yes, i think from Slovakia. There areonly 2 sites in the UK which stock it. One of those, the cheapest of the 2, does not carry the whole range and always seems to be out of stock of most what they do sell. I'll post a link to the 2 tonight. I have only bought 3 bottles so far, but i liked what i saw and will get some for another German armour build i am doing later in the year.

Check, it does not need thinning. It is very thin already, i think lawdog tried it and was not to keen on it as i think he felt it to thin.

Thanks for the information, Bish.  If it's a lacquer acrylic, does it thin with lacquer thinner for spraying?  Or is it pre-mixed and good to go?

Griffin:  when I googled it, a hit came up for Hobbyworld--USA; but I couldn't get their page to come up.  Said the IP address could not be found.  Maybe it was available in the States, but distributer went out of business.  Can't say I ever heard of Hobbyworld--USA

Bish I agree your weathering looks great. Is Mr. Paint a Slovakian company? Is their stuff readily available in the UK? I was trying to look into it but I dont think they have it here in the states.

Bish, the streaking in the crew compartment looks really good!  

Thanks Check. I am useing Xtracolour on this, their Dark Yellow on the inside, the outside will be DY with small streaks of green.

Mr Paint is a lacquer acrylic. I have only used it once, on my 32nd Ju 87G. It went down really wel, though i did primer first. It lays down very thin, which i was not prepared for and the surfice was not perfect and the paint shows up every litle scratch. A guy at the model club i belong to swears by it and does some amazing work with it.

They have the full range of German aircraft and armour colours, once i start useing it on aircraft i can use oil's on them as well, but i don't want to risk it at the moment. I jst need to use up my large stock of enamels.

Looking good, Bish.  Paint and weathering are quite effective, despite the issues.

What color is that you're using?  Same on exterior and interior?

I haven't heard of Mr Paint, so I looked it up.  They have quite an extensive range, and seem to be available on this side of the pond.  Being acrylics, how well do they stick to the plastic? 

Time for anotehr update. The buld has been going nicley, though i did once again have an issue when it came to the oil wash. But first, i forgot to add pics of the lower hull before painting, so here it is after.

I had also fitted the front suspension. Unlike the Dragon kits which pivot in the middle and the wheels can be turned, this is fixed.

And the upper hull also got painted. Just in time i realised i had not masked the vision blocks, so i applied liquid mask.

And then the weathering. First some dry brushing, a clear gloss coat and oil wash. Ever since i swictched from future to Alclad clears, on every armour build i have had small patches of paint effected by the wash, bubbling up. And this was no exception. I have tried a thick coat of clear, multiple thin coats, make sure i am very precise in geting the clear in every spot. But, it happens every time. Fortunatly, its in areas that are hidden and it setteled back down. I finished off with a flory wash, not the look i had intended but it will suffice.

So with that done, the seats weapons and other parts were added and the upper hul fitted.

I also got started on the gun. After some thoguht, i decided to use the kit shield rather than the Eduard one. The PE shiled is a better scale, but what should be raised rivets are reccessed. I decided the work to correct it was not worth it and the kit shield was just fine if a little bit thick.

Well, this build has setteled it. I am switching to Mr paint for armour as well as aircraft. I'll just use up my stocks of enamel on builds i want to be on the cleaner side and can use flory on.

Thnak you Check, Bish and Scott,

Scott, I did at the very last. Since Turpenoid dissolves enamels and oils I sprayed an acrylic flat coat over the base. I used Testors MM Middlestone enamel as a base, then sprayed the acrylic. I used yellow, white, burnt umber and burnt sienna for the filters. I sprayed the acrylic again. I then used a black oil wash but due the number of acrylic coats and the kit's already thin deck plank detail there wasn't any detail for the wash to highlight, so I just applied it like I did the filtering. The Scharnhorst did have the swastika molded in which helped in painting, but I added the red to complete the flag. I also went ahead and painted the hull complete with weathering before lightly hitting it with the acrylic over coat one last time. That way I can start to prep and even glue it in the base if I wanted to keep from breaking the PE. Since I'm going to add a second subject to the base I'm still debating whether I should glue one down before completing the other.

Nice work Steve.  I'm starting the deck paintwork on my Prinz Eugen tonight and I think I will use your approach and paint the emblems on instead of the decals.  They look too much of a hassle.  

Did you use a dark wash to bring up the deck detail?

That deck looks great. Really nice depth to it. Good idea with the dot filtering. 

Nice job on the markings Steve, good paint work.

Hand-painted!  Good job!

Thanks Check,

I'm done with the deck, now on to the superstructure and PE. The kit comes with the swastika molded into the deck with decals that are supposed to be laid on top. The kits decals are yellowed and crusting so I hand painted the flag