Fleet Air Arm Group Build

Gentlemen........

its the weekend!

Have a good one fella's

TANGO 1 wrote:

Frank, I honestly don't know what to tell you mate, thats a tough break. I recon the gloss coat is the culprit but the only cure that I know is to strip the thing down and start again. Get some oven cleaner and smear it all over the plastic, then place it in a sealed carrier bag and leave it overnight. Next day wash everything off with some water. Its a messy job-but it works. Hope this helps somehow.

Thanks Darren.  I think I'm gonna try a few more light coats of flat this weekend, and hope that works.  If it doesn't, then gonna try sanding it down.  If THAT doesn't work, well, I'm still working on plan C.

Frank,

I was doing some reading the other night and came across something that relates to your cracked paint.  Paint cracks when coats of paint shrink at different rates as they cure. Paints that are especially prone to this condition would be gloss acrylics.  It also stated that incompatible paint, thinners, poor paint adhesion, or a formula of paint that doesn't allow the paint to flex.  It said that this may show up a day or two later.  It also said that the only cure would be to remove the finish and start over.  I hope this helps.

Roy

Roy,

Thanks for the info!  As I recall, the gloss coat did have a slight tackiness when I held my fingers to it for awhile, guess I just thought that I had some stray thinner on them or something.  Looks like my problem was much more serious- prolly an uncured glosscoat.  I'm gonna play with it later this weekend whenever I get a day off, hopefully Sunday.  I'll post how it turns out.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Hey all, and happy weekend! Just stopping in to say hey to all of y'all!

Now whos got the bottle?

Hey Roger-

here's one for you

Hope you are well mate,

Well lads here we are for another fine Monday morning back at work , I hope everybody had a great weekend and got in lots of bench time.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) the weather was fantastic here over the weekend so not much building for me but I did manage to progress the Seafire and the Gannet a little.

Frank I hope you've found a resolution to your clear coat problem.  There's nothing more soul destroying than having a kit go bad at the last step.

Cheers

Hi Everyone,

quick update from me, I still have not finished the decals on the Hellcat due to discovering a last-minute painting error, so paint/drying/gloss/drying has slowed me down there.

As for the Corsair......... Putting the wings on in the unfolded position has been quite the challenge. I am still sanding a bit at a time in or to save a s much detail as possible, and it is starting to look "OK". I will get some pics up later on today if all goes to plan.

See you later,

Ever had one of those days?

Yeah...........thats what has happened to me. I got the decals on the Hellcat and the port side codes and roundrel look like they have been put on by a 3 yr old! Its all one decal and it stuck to the surface of the model like superglue before I could position it properly.

In the end, this is the best I could do........

As for the Corsair, this is how she looks right now. I am not happy with  the wing attachment, but its about as good as I'm going to get it.  I'm hoping  paint and carefull weathering will hide my sins!

Hey Darren, I've had the same thing happen. What I will do is just start applying water to it until it starts to move around freely and then wick it away and press the decal down when I know it's in the right postition. It's difficult to tell that it's out of position from the pics, but what is noticable are the invasion stripes underneath it. Those are always a tricky call, because there's no sure-fire way of determining just how opaque or translucent a decal is until it's applied.

Still looks good, though. That's a complicated paint scheme with a lot of markings, made even more difficult with the addition of the invasion stripes, but you're doing a fine job with it!

....and the Corsair should look fine after it's painted.

...and to answer your origional question.....yes, I've had plenty of those days, too. The trick is to see them coming and just walk away from the workbench to leave it for another day...it works for me.

Yes Darren, I've had those days too.  Hang in there buddy, I think it looks great!

Luckily, Mike came to my aid when I was having one of those days.  Thanks again bro!

OK guys....here she is, so tell me whatcha think. Overall, I'm satisfied with the way she came out, but there are a few things I'd definitely do different next time around. Still, it was a fun build and a subject that, if not for the theme of this GB, I may never have attempted. Now, I'm happy to add it to my collection. Enjoy the pics, and as always, comments and critiques are welcome.

Now....where'd I put that Spitfire kit?

I do appreciate the open time frame, since although I am nearly finished with the Corsair, as you know the last few items can be the worst part.

As I was about to do the final anttanae/rigging,etc., I noticed a gap behind the cowling flaps.

So in order to "improve on perfection", I had to detach the cowling, and cut down the boss that they mount on the fuselage firewall to get the spacing correct.

Of course, having done this, I thought I would try making the cowling a flaps look better, and so now that I stripped the paint, it doesn't want to go back on as nicely as it did the first time.

Meanwhile, one of the exhaust pipe set tips "jumped off" the plane while I was performing the surgery, so now I have to figure something for that.

Also, I have been in the middle of re-organizing my complete hobby work and display/storage areas to make them distinctly seperate, since it is inconvenient to fully vent the display area for certain hobby work and keep the dust to a minimum.

That and having broken my foot a few weeks ago, and having to go through that as well as looking into possible shoulder surgery have slowed me down as well.

If possible, I will also throw in a HobbyCraft Seafire.

Tom

TANGO 1 wrote:

Ever had one of those days?

A lot more often than I would care to admit.  Hang in there Darren!

Mike, the 'cane looks fabulous   I really love the subtle shading that you've done. 

ruddratt wrote:

OK guys....here she is, so tell me whatcha think. Overall, I'm satisfied with the way she came out, but there are a few things I'd definitely do different next time around. Still, it was a fun build and a subject that, if not for the theme of this GB, I may never have attempted. Now, I'm happy to add it to my collection. Enjoy the pics, and as always, comments and critiques are welcome.   Now....where'd I put that Spitfire kit?

I'll tell you what I think Mike, thats bloody fantastic mate! The painting and weathering are superb. You are very talented sir, well done!!

Dave & Darren....thanks so much, guys! That kit was a blast to build! I got a feeling that the Spit I'm going to do (or should I say have already started  )will be just as much fun. We've got a great and very talented group here on this build (and on our upcoming Spitfire GB as well), and I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing everyone else's work. 

Tom....Wow!! Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. Sorry to hear of so much misfortune. Hope things start turning around for you quickly!

Mike,

That Hurricane looks AMAZING!!!  Your paint and weathering skills truly are wonderful.  Once again, you have raised the bar for us.

Thanks for the compliment Frank!

.....oh, and your stuff is on it's way.

Very nice Hurricane Mike.  Well done.

Regards,  Rick

Wow Mike! Your hurricane looks absolutely beautiful! I really like it. Someday I would like to try a hurricane but have been afraid to up to this point - to get rid of seams I tend to be a little sanding happy and worry I will sand away all of the fuselage ribbing...is this something that is hard to avoid on a hurricane, or do I worry for nothing? Anyway, your build looks really nice.

As for the bad day / builds going wrong...I hear you guys' pain. I am still waiting for the build where some point of disaster doesn't happen...

Leon 

Steady there Leon,

Us lads don't have builds that go wrong......we have alternative building methods.

Its our determination to get the job done thats makes us better modellers......eventually!

Hang in there, we are all in the same boat.

Quick update:

Got the gloss coat on top of the Hellcat, will do the weathering when its dry.

Started painting the Corsair, underside done-camo next! I'm going to enjoy it.

Looking forward to seeing the pics Darren.

BTW, Congratulations on your 3,000 Posts.  Well done Sir .

Regards,  Rick

rjkplasticmod wrote:

Looking forward to seeing the pics Darren. BTW, Congratulations on your 3,000 Posts.  Well done Sir . Regards,  Rick

Wow, good spot Rick.

Yes Congrats on 3,000. Just shows how much cheer you have spread. Cheers to you.

Leon 

gwaihir wrote:

Yes Congrats on 3,000. Just shows how much cheer you have spread. Cheers to you.

A  BIG to that!

ruddratt wrote:

gwaihir wrote: Yes Congrats on 3,000. Just shows how much cheer you have spread. Cheers to you. A  BIG to that!

Way to go Darren!