AIRCRAFT - Battle of Britain Group Build (Jan 1st 2005 - May 31st 2005)

Tom, I've never had MicroSol remove paint, but it will sometimes discolor Future. If you apply a top coat of Future to seal the decals, chances are the worn paint appearance will magically disappear.

Regards, Rick

thanks Rick! no actually it let the rivets poke through the decal as they softened so much... so now it looks like the underlying paint color of the body is showing through the roundels... so it actually added something.. might add a little drybrushing to the rivets around it to give it that worn look... dont like a lot of wear on an aircraft... but this actually kinda took my fancy!

OK Tom, now I understand. Actually a nice little bonus if your happy with it . How's Rudy & the other canines doing ? My little Corgi is getting cabin fever cause it's been too cold & snowy to give her the usual long walks.

Regards, Rick

OK OK since I can't toot my own horn enough I'll say it ere too; I is published!!!! My tip is the last one on the page in the mach 2005 issue... BTW who do I contact about getting paid? (there's my greediness kicking in)

I know we have done this already but I can't take the dog for a walk because it's too hot. She's an eight year old Labrador and the temp is here is 94 again today so it's a bit much for her (me too for that matter).

Cheers
Darren

QUOTE: Originally posted by darson Jules, welcome back and be very careful when using goo gone because it will take the paint off you canopy just as quickly as the goo if you're not careful. I normally use a 000 or 10x0 brush and very carefully apply it and remove the goo. You are right about the Tamiya Spit and the door, but I had to order one for my Hase spit and you get two in the pack.. Cheers Darren

Darren 2 in the pack eh + the one you get with the Tamiya kit........Hmmm does that mean you have a spare

Goo Gone where do i get that stuff from
Incidentaly i'm an impatient bugger so i mixed 70% metho with 30% water and attacked the Hellcat canopy with that, it did remove the goo and a tiny amount of paint from the frame but nothing that wasn't easily fixed, i used a fine microbrush to get it off

If anyone is interested in seeing the F6F-3 Hellcat i'll be posting up pics in the aircraft forum

[b]Tom[/b} I had similar problems last night with Gunze Mr.Setter & Mr.Softener (Where do they get these names?) eating chunks of paint on my Do217.

I've bever had that before, but luckily the damage should be easily repaired.

Can't see any pictures of the builds at the mo, as I'm at work and all I get are little red Xs. I'm sure they all look great though.

Karl

QUOTE: Originally posted by Tankmaster7 OK OK since I can't toot my own horn enough I'll say it ere too; I is published!!!! My tip is the last one on the page in the mach 2005 issue... BTW who do I contact about getting paid? (there's my greediness kicking in)

Takes a couple of weeks after you see your name in print. If nothing by then, I would drop an e-mail

QUOTE: Originally posted by j.s.harrison Darren 2 in the pack eh + the one you get with the Tamiya kit........Hmmm does that mean you have a spare Goo Gone where do i get that stuff from Incidentaly i'm an impatient bugger so i mixed 70% metho with 30% water and attacked the Hellcat canopy with that, it did remove the goo and a tiny amount of paint from the frame but nothing that wasn't easily fixed, i used a fine microbrush to get it off If anyone is interested in seeing the F6F-3 Hellcat i'll be posting up pics in the aircraft forum

Jules,

If you're asking do I have a spare UC door unfortunately no I don't I'm using number two from the pack on this Spit (number one was last years Aussie GB). If you're after a spare Tamiya door, no probs I have at least one floating around. If you want it, say the word and I'll chuck it in the post for you.

The product is actually called Goo Off 2 is marked "Safe On Plastic" and is in an orange pump pack bottle. You can get it from just about any Bunnings store down here. If you're having trouble finding it give me a hoy and I'll pick up some for you.

BTW, do you have broadband?

Cheers
Darren

QUOTE: Originally posted by rjkplasticmod OK Tom, now I understand. Actually a nice little bonus if your happy with it . How's Rudy & the other canines doing ? My little Corgi is getting cabin fever cause it's been too cold & snowy to give her the usual long walks.

Rudy, Tito and Frank are snoozing right now in between bouts of glaring at each other... unfortunately it is raining too hard for them to go outside so we are in the same boat... I think Rudy finally fell asleep which is a good thing... he keeps me working when I am home just trying to keep up with him and his little mouth.. loves to chew anything! preferrably my nose when I lie back and try to relax for a sec.. it's a rude awakening!!

Congratulations Tanky. I'll take a look when I pick my copy up.

Regards, Rick

Tanky-please pardon my manners in my earlier post regarding your "Tip"-congratulations are due.

I wonder if anyone has come across this. I can't seem to find a source colour for the wheel wells on the Hurricane Mk1, I've seen models built by some that have painted it green and some a whitsh colour. Also, I found a cool restoration website with lots of building photos that shows the wheel wells a metallic.grey colour , any ideas? I have finally built the cockpit! and next is the wings. Photos to come soon.

This is the link to the Hawker Restorations website:
http://www.hawker-restorations-ltd.co.uk/
Click on their completed or current restorations links to get tons of colour photos.

Some were painted the same as the underside color, but most were unpainted, natural metal.

Regards, Rick

I am stupidly toying with the idea of starting yet another model, a Hurricane Mk.I actually and I’ve been doing a bit of research on the subject of the wheel wells as well. I've pretty much come to the same conclusion as Rick, in that for early Hurricanes the wheel wells were mainly left bare metal.

Cheers
Darren

Well I got a lot done today.. I am down to gluing in the landing carraige, putting the gun sight on waiting for decals to cure, future and dull coat! I'll post some pics tonight... gotta go feed the dogs and take a nap. (been a long day and have been nursing a sinus headache...) hmmm nursing... Kremps.... nevermind...

It looks good, the sqn insignia look like they are in a different alignment than the decal placement sheet shows... however because of the body shape they had to go there... also they look like other RAF/FAA craft I have seen with the letters on one side of the roundel slightly higher or lower than the other side...

Been a good build! I am thinking of doing my Aussie GB kit next then back to another BoB subject...

Great, natural metal it is, thanks guys.

Say, what happens if you run out of room for all the finished models, the way it sounds, some you can build like 10 or more a year!? I need to get some shelves for my new ones, the old ones I unpacked and set out. It is really neat to see the progression of skills and techniques picked up over time.

Tom, looking forward to looking at the pics.

Jay, I have about 400 finished models, mostly 1/48, and they do use up a lot of storage space. I can display about 80, the rest are carefully packed away in storage.

Regards, Rick

QUOTE: Originally posted by tho9900 cool Tanky! I was wanting to do one of those but they are hard to come by... finally it's starting to sound like a more rounded build... a little of everything... Good luck and can't wait to see pics! On a side note Lunchalot noticed you were missing at breakfast today.... better avaoid the old windbag like the plague!

That's because I didn't want to have to eat the soup after what I did to it!!

QUOTE: Originally posted by Tankmaster7 [brThat's because I didn't want to have to eat the soup after what I did to it!!

[:0][:0][:0] That was you?????? I thought Sean... er.... wow.... ::shaking head:: good thing I looked in the pot first...

HEre's a poor shot of my build so far... note the interesting way the slate grey camo strip ends at the wing root on this scheme.. the decal painting sheet had this on here - just like this, so I left it.. and if you look at it from directly above it does form a "y" on the starboard wing... so I guess it works out... just not used to them not wrapping around like this... there was so little research material on the Martlet I decided to stick with this, as it looks like the reference on the FAA website...

she'll look better when she is dullcoated, and the smoke is going to get feathered later with a charcoal dabber (don't know what you call it) the paper pencil thing the artists use to smudge charcoal... ok I got up and looked.. "Blending stumps..." sounds like what old lady Kravitt does before she makes possom leg stew!

now all is left is for the undercarraige to dry so I can glue it in, have to cement the prop in (it is kinda just handing there for effect right now) future, dullcoat and then glue the canopy on... WOOHOO!!! of course there are probably half a dozen touch ups I wanna do before futuring but nothing major, a dab of paint here or there...

and of course I will get out all the lamps and the white paper to photo the finished product... just giving sneak peaks for now...

What exactly is the point of futruing OVER the decals again before dullcoating? is it okay to future then decals and the dullcoaty directly?

a lot of decals tend to shrivel like you haven't seen when you dullcoat on top of them Tanky... I mean they look like a Sharpei in December in Gander, Newfoundland.. when you decal over them no chemicals, or whatnot can get to the decal or the underlying paint so it keeps on looking nice! It also helps prevent/slow yellowing and silvering of the decals over time...

So I always future after painting now... (I learned the hard way )

Tom, excellent job on the Martlett so far. Looks really good. I agree with you on the topcoat after decals. Adds a lot to the longevity of the model.

Regards, Rick

Thanks Rick... there's a few things I wanna work on but overall it came out ok for the masking dillema I had.. (first time masking Vallejo) .. which by the way had no trouble whatsoever... in fact less trouble than I have had with MM in the past..

I really am contemplating spending the $167.00 or so and just buy the complete line... there is NO waste with these... everything is metered out in drops so no overfilling the AB and losing some of the paint because of it... no pull up on masking whatsoever, and they just look good! Good bye to all my other colors when I get the money and the urge to do it! And the complete line is something like 134 colors... so I don't think I would be at a loss for accurate camo patterns!

I have used Vallejo for brush painting for a few years, but haven't tried airbrushing it. Are you using the standard Vallejo or the new Aircraft Colors line designed for airbrushing ?

Regards, Rick

Rick -

actually it is the "Color of Eagles" set made for a company of the same name out of Miami I use mostly (supplied by Vallejo)... the rest are the Air colors by Vallejo.. I DO use the Vallejo thinner with them... and for airbrushing it works like a charm.. 3 parts paint, 1 part thinner.. so for the Sky underneath of my Martlet I used 30 drops of color, 10 drops of thinner and it covered the entire thing!... so you can see why I like the bottles in dropper style... none of the three main colors look like they have been touched! unlike the 1/3 or so bottle of blue/gray I have left over from my SBD which was MM... it took all of that in coating and the little left over each coat wasnt worth putting back in the bottle... no waste with Vallejo!

The vallejo thinner I bought came in a 1 oz bottle and again, it's hard to tell I've used any!!!

Only thing to note... with Color of Eagles the colors are named standardly.. with Vallejo Air colors you have to get a conversion chart... i.e the color they call Sand Yellow in Vallejo doesn't quite match Sandgelb in Color of Eagles or Model Master... it's another color that does.. kinda confusing... There's a couple of online vendors for Color of Eagles out there if you are interested I can get them to you. They are also "Toned down" which means they are lightened a bit for the "scale effect" of models... some people complain they don't match the FS equiv exactly... but once they are on a 1/48 or ESPECIALLY a 1/72 model I think they do! (I think using the exact FS equiv makes them too dark)

Thanks Tom, I have the links OK. How about tip dry problems with Vallejo ? That's always been a problem for me when I try to AB Acrylics,

Regards, Rick

I must recommend Vallejo as well, they rank right there with Polyscale in my opinion.

cheers

Mike

ok guys dont forget about me. i am still going to do this just waiting on the kit now. actually rather anxious to do this. i have never done a british plane and i have three on the way.


joe

Rick, I have no problems at all with it (dry tip), but I use the Vallejo thinner as well... And needle lube as well.