♠ Allied Aces GB (WW1 -WW2) April 2006 Start - Sept 2006 Finish

Just a little update on my John Meyer's P-51D Petie 2nd:  I got the cockpit done, fuselage together, wings on, etc.  I sprayed the base semi-gloss black base coat in preperation for the Alclad II.  I'll be using the Alclad for the first time tonight.  A question about Alclad, I heard that it dries pretty quick, how fast can I mask it after it's sprayed? 

Sorry, no pictures.  Perhaps tonight I'll take some before and after pictures of the Alclad.

Dave

TryintoModel wrote:

I'll be using the Alclad for the first time tonight.  A question about Alclad, I heard that it dries pretty quick, how fast can I mask it after it's sprayed?  Dave

Dave, Alclad dries almost immediately and can be masked over in about 15mins.

Cheers

Alclad2 is a hot lacquer & dries quickly to the touch, but that doesn't mean it's cured.  If I'm doing other shades of Alclad on panels, I let it dry for an hour or so before masking.  But if I'm using a different type of paint, such as enamels or acrylics over the Alclad, I let it cure at least overnight.  I don't believe in tempting fate .

Regards,  Rick

Thanks guys.  Some more questions about Alclad:

I had a problem with it clogging up the tip very fast when I stopped spraying for a few seconds.  Is that normal?  All it required was for me to point it in a different direction and spray until it smoothed out a bit, but I definately had to wait a few seconds before I started back on the model.  I know you shouldn't start your spray over the model anyway, but it took longer than normal to start free flowing again. 

Once it dried, it seemed gritty to the touch but looks pretty smooth.  I probably didn't have it clean enough before spraying the Alclad, but I was expecting more of a smooth, glossy finish.  It has very flat feel. 

On that note, how well do decals settle on Alclad?  I've heard you don't future over Alclad, so I hope that the decals go on ok.  And what about using washes for the panel lines?  Do I need to be real careful using the same techniques for panels lines I normally use on coats of future?  And if I don't seal in the decals with future before applying a wash, how do I keep the wash from accidentally getting underneath the decal?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks for the help.

Dave

Oh, here was a before pic and tonight I'll take a picture of it with the Alclad on.

Dave,  I've never had a problem with Alclad2 clogging.  Not sure what would cause that other than using a wrong thinner.  Personally,   I spray it straight from the bottle with no thinner added.  It's a Lacquer, so if you do thin it, only use Lacquer thinner.  If you are getting a gritty surface, you're probably spraying from too far away, allowing some of the atomized paint to dry before it hits the model surface.  Try spraying closer to the model at lower psi setting on your compressor.  Alclad works best with applying several light mist coats rather than heavy spray, so you could also be spraying it too heavy.  Let it build up gradually with a few minutes between coats.  You should get a smooth metallic finish, but not what I would describe as a gloss finish. 

Hope this helps.

Regards,  Rick

I sprayed it at about 15 psi at about 4-6 inches.  Perhaps I tried to get too much of a coat right from the start, but it seemed to take several passes to cover well (I could see the black underneath).  This is a 1/72 scale, however, perhaps that explains why it seems a bit rough since it's a small scale.  I'm not sure. 

Here is the progress so far.  Now I'm trying to decide whether to try and put the decals on the Alclad, or put a coat of future first.  I've heard varying opinions on the issue.  I just gotta decide.  I really want to keep the finish I have, but I don't want to get any silvering either.

Looking very nice.

Haven't used Alclad, but I've heard others use Future over the top without detriment to the look of the finish.

Karl

Well, I took a chance and just put the decals over the Alclad.  Even though they are Tamiya decals, I figured what the hay.  They actually did pretty well.  A couple decided to keep a few of their wrinkles after the first application of mircrosol, grrr, but luckily they aren't noticable.  I'm still trying to decide whether or not to do some weathering or just leave it be.

Nice looking Stang.  Well done.

Regards,  Rick

Thanks Rick.  I think I might be brave enough to tackle a 1/48 BMF after this. 

Great job on the Alcad from what I can see!

The Stang looks great from here.

I certainly can't see any wrinkles in your decals.

Karl

Thanks Karl and Dave.  The decal that wrinkled was the star and bar on the bottom wing, luckily.  It developed a couple of wrinkles in the white star and they never went away like wrinkles normally do after applying microsol.  I have no idea why.  But if there was a decal for it to happen too, that was the best one.

Very nice job on the Mustang.  Great job with the Alcad..

That Mustang is looking great Tryintomodel I have a nice BIG pullout poster in my AINCENT Air Classics P-51 special of the rebuild of Petie's 2nd and you nailed it to a T great job cant wait to see it finnished

well I finally got some work done on Liliya's Yak-1 today not much I just had time to start the pit really.but hopefully I can get some pics before I close it up

Thanks Bob and Chris.  Look forward to some pictures of that Yak!

Dave

Dave nice looking 'stang.  I really do have to try that Alclad someday.

Progress!  This is where I am at with Tamiya's 1/72 D model.  The small bits will be attached this week.  The next hurdle will be the prop spinner.

Joe & Tryintomodel  Great work on your builds keep up the good work

Progress report wound up having to scrap my original spit, started to remove the paint with the castrol superclean (works great)

and oops (I sliped) and the aircraft is BER (beyond economical repair).  I've  started on a back up build I  found in my stash.

I'm back in the assembly phase.  Not much has been done of late as I've been out with very bad cold (chills, fever, etc) more later.

 

Cheers

Bear 

Joe, nice work!  You painted the invasion stripes, right?  I've been wanting to do that one of these days, but haven't built a kit needing them yet.  This version of Meyer's P-51 didn't call for invasion stripes.  Interestingly, during my brief research on the plane, I found some references that show it having invasion stripes and a blue tail fin.  I'm not sure when or why the plane was painted differently, but I found photos of both.  I know that the blue tail represented the 487th fighter squadron of the 352nd fighter group, but I'm not sure why he had no blue tail at this point.  He was in the 487th.  The 328th fighter squadron had red tail fins and the 486th had yellow tails. 

I think there is some confusion over Petie 2nd and Petie 3rd.  I think his Petie 3rd had the invasion stripes and blue tail.  And I think his Petie 2nd was actually a P-51D-5-NA, which wouldn't have had the tail fillet (little fin in front of the tail fin).  The Tamiya kit has the tail fillet.  But oh well.

Sorry to hear about your model, Marc.  Good luck on this one.

TryintoModel wrote:

Joe, nice work!  You painted the invasion stripes, right?  I've been wanting to do that one of these days, but haven't built a kit needing them yet.  This version of Meyer's P-51 didn't call for invasion stripes.....actually a P-51D-5-NA, which wouldn't have had the tail fillet (little fin in front of the tail fin).  The Tamiya kit has the tail fillet.  But oh well.

Yes I did paint the stripes...I wanted to get a bit of a ragged appearance.  Tough to do to scale @ 1/72.  From what I have found through research those stripes were painted with everything from airbrushes to sawed off brooms.  This is also the Tamiya kit, I cut the fillet off my self.  I do have the Loon Models resin conversion, but got freaked out by it...I am gutless afterall...it actually was easier than I thought.

Marc, serious bummer about the kit...

Nice job on the Stang Joe.  Looks good.

Regards,  Rick

Thanks Rick,

The Tamiya kit is an aboslute gem.  Nice change of pace versus some of the all resin jobs and Airfix ones I have been working on as of late.

Tryingtomodel, looks great!  JoeRugby, I'll have to log on at home to chekc ou tyour pics.

PROGRESS! I finally! got the cockpit together!  I also got the wings together and now I have to get the fuselage closed up and then we're rolling.  I'll get some pics up soon. 

Joe: nice work on the stang! (thumbs up)

Bear hope you feel better soon. My cold that I had recently turned into a mild case of pneumonia and I was out of commission for almost a week.

Jay: Lets see some pics (I'm typing this in the second intermition of game 7 and it doesn't look good for the Oilers!

Dave Thanks, Doc says it's turned into bronchitis (yuck)  I was off most of last week and still feel crappy. I did feel well enough last night to finish of the cockpit of my back up spit (added the pe belts) and that's about it for progress.

 

Jay looking forward to some pics, to bad about the Oilers though.

 

Cheers

Bear

Yeah well the Oilers were not supposed to make it this far so even though I am sad and a little disappointed they didn't win it I still enjoyed every minute of the playoffs.  Maybe next year they can do it again!

Now bring on the World Cup of Football!  I am so into it this year.  All the games are on during the work day here in Canada so I have the world cup website up on my screen during the games so I can get updates all the time.  GO Portugal GO!

I'll try really hard to get some pics this evening.

Bear, get well soon.

Jay, most of my team are football (Soccer) mad, women included, so most of the matches are being tracked on the internet as they happen!

Progress Update

Guynemer's Nieuport 11 is complete......

'So where are the pics then?'

I knew you'd ask that.

Took a load at the weekend but they look really poor, so I need to take some more.

Here's one of the better ones as a taster.



The rigging is 34 gauge beading wire, courtesy of my wife.

I'll post a full set soon.

The Nieuport 17 is waiting on my order from MDC to arrive, as the fuselage is together, and the lower wing is on.

Karl

Looks good Karl.  Can't wait for the better pics .

Regards,  Rick

Great work Karl, yes lets see more pics please!

Bear, you couldn't have picked a better time to be sick. Stanely cup playoff finals, NBA finals and World Cup action (baseball too if you're in to that sort of thing).

Jay, too bad about the Oilers but you're right. It was a wild ride that should never have happened in the first place and there is always next year.