US Army Air Corps GB - Deadline extended again to June 30, 2009

Here are some progress photos showing my weathering efforts with enamel paints.  I've been trying a number of things that are new for me, such as paint chips and oil streaks.  The model is covered in a liberally-applied acrylic gloss coat.  This has fortunately allowed me to do quite a bit of "erasing" my mistakes with enamel thinner without damaging the undercoat. 

I am nearly finished with the weathering.  Soon I will try airbrush on some exhaust stains (another personal first) before I apply the final flat coat and finish her out.  I've read that some modellers prefer to put the exhaust OVER the final flat coat, but that scares the willies out of me.  I need the option to erase, I think.  Besides, I'm not entirely sure why a flat coat over the exhaust would diminish it's appearance.  Would anybody care to enlighten me?  What about the silver enamel that represents the paint chips.  Anybody think it will loose it's luster under the flat-coat?  I can always touch it up afterwards, I suppose.

Edit: Nevermind, I COMPLETELY didn't even think before I posted this, lol. I'm doing it up in U.S. Navy decals sooooo that wouldn't make sense, lol.

Josh

Thanks for the encouraging words, guys.
Yeah, I put a wash layer on and it looks a whole lot better. 

Next is all of the targetted weathering: paint chips, oil stains, exhaust stains, etc.

Thanks for your advice, mucker

I don't know if it's the decals, or just the glosscoat, or what...  but so far my P-40 looks kinda cartoonish or toy-like to me.  There is too much contrast.  I hope that the weathering layers help to take the edge off.

Looking good, IL. Remember to go slow with the weathering....it's easy to overdo. I'd suggest doing a little at a time, then stepping back and reviewing the model. After that you can decide if you want to add more or not.

Decals applied

Next will be perhaps the most challenging part of this build for me: desert weathering.

My experiment with silver enamel underneath the acrylic camo did not pay the dividends I had expected with regards to paint chips.  The enamel was too easily removed, typically exposing primer instead of the desired metallic layer.  For the record, I had better results using MM metallizer on a test piece, so I might try that on my next build. 

So.. paint chips will go on next, followed by exhaust stains and other gunk :)

Feldmarschal,

Yes, that looks like a USAAC bomber to me.  Welcome aboard!  How far along are you on it?

Started on my P-47 yesterday. This Tamiya kit is truly amazing. Very good detail for an out of the box kit. Got the cockpit done; painted and assembled. I added some belts made from the common household tinfoil instead of the kit supplied decal. I didn't feel like getting a PE set and messing with all the small pieces. Used Microsol on the instument panel decal for the first time and I must say that that stuff is amazing. It is like no decal is there. I also assembled the wings and propeller. Thinking I would like to paint this like Col. Neel Kearby's Firey Ginger I (fiery is misspelled on the real plane).All in all, it is coming along pretty well now.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures. My camera kind of stinks.

Aggieman wrote:

Anyone know what color the cockpit area was on between the wars aircraft?  I'm building the P-26 and have the exterior figured out, but the interior color is another story.  The instructions call for bright green (they also called for olive drab on the exterior but that was wrong).  Is it zinc chromate green, interior green, bronze green, or is it green at all?  I have the P-26 Mini In Action, but it's hard to determine color in black and white. I don't know specifically about the Peashooter, but there are photos in my P-40 Detail & Scale vol. 1 book of the P-36 with an all aluminum interior.

Thanks Steven.  A couple of guys over in the Aircraft Forum said the same thing.

Big Smitty,

Welcome aboard, and Gig 'Em!

Edit - I did the same thing, 20 years or so away from the hobby while I finished high school and five of the best (and most difficult) years of my life in Aggieland, and then started my career.  Class of '89 here.

Yes you can!  Welcome aboard WarHammer!

I'll add you to the front page list some time over the weekend.

Aggieman,

Can I get in on this with a 1/72 Tamiya P-47D Razorback?

Anyone know what color the cockpit area was on between the wars aircraft?  I'm building the P-26 and have the exterior figured out, but the interior color is another story.  The instructions call for bright green (they also called for olive drab on the exterior but that was wrong).  Is it zinc chromate green, interior green, bronze green, or is it green at all?  I have the P-26 Mini In Action, but it's hard to determine color in black and white.

I don't know specifically about the Peashooter, but there are photos in my P-40 Detail & Scale vol. 1 book of the P-36 with an all aluminum interior.

Looking good, IL. I'd say your trial with Silly Putty went well. Beautiful paintwork.

After many iterations, the camo is finally done.  The results of my first try were a bit un-nerving, as the "hard-edge" camo looked really bad and the color looked even worse! 

Then I went to walmart and bought about 8 packs of silly-putty to try the "soft-edge" method for the first time (see first picture, where I am over-painting the original coat).  A few more applications were necesary until I finally arrived at what looked like the right colors for sand camo.  I think the end result looks pretty nice, even though it's not perfect.   I expect to heavily weather the aircraft, so hopefully any blemishes will be less noticeable afterwards.  Note that I still have to paint some of the canopy frames.

That's a gorgeous P-40, Aggie!

Might make for a neat what-if scheme.

You mean like this one?

I found this exact scheme in the second volume of the P-40 Detail & Scale book, and these decals were coincidentally included with the kit.  It's the Eduard kit of the P-40N.

I'm going to spray the camo scheme over the silver, then I will scuff & scratch it off to weather the paint by revealing the silver underneath.  Hopefully it works :)

I used to use the same technique.  It does work quite well.  I used it to great effect on my Tamiya Betty bomber, but it just seemed to be an expensive technique to use in the long run.

Nice progress on your P-40.

Progress Update:
I've applied a couple layers of primer and finished working out the surface blemishes (to the best of my abilities!).  Then I tried an experimental technique in which I've painted the entire airframe in silver enamel.  I'm going to spray the camo scheme over the silver, then I will scuff & scratch it off to weather the paint by revealing the silver underneath.  Hopefully it works :)

I think the P-40 could look rather nice in NMF.  I imagine it with a bit of olive drab on the nose, like a P-51.  Might make for a neat what-if scheme.

Control surfaces are installed and final puttywork is completed.  She's ready for primer.  I've already started painting the interior color on the canopy. 

The aircraft has the rod permanently installed, but it has not been mounted to the base yet.  I just held it in place to show the planned end result.

P-40F progress pics. Aircraft assembly is nearly completed.  I've sanded & puttied most (but not all) seams, and I'm about to close the cockpit.  The control surfaces will come next.  Note the antenna mast that I made from brass.  I prefer to fabricate small probes, etc from metal, because they are much more resiliant to accidental bumps and brushes.

We're still here.  Thanks for your concern.

It was a big storm with lots of wind and rain, it was loud through the night, we lost some shingles from the roof but that was about the extent of the damage we suffered.  We were without power for roughly 14 hours (missed nearly all of yesterday's college football, grrrr, and couldn't do much of anything modeling related either).  Actually I probably slept more yesterday than anything since I didn't get much sleep during the storm.

Aggieman,

You make it through the storm ok?

Aaron,

Let us know if you're ok?

I have heard of him in fact.  I'm a member of both of the clubs.  I am the VP for the Hawkeyes, and the former Pres of the Surgeons.  Great group of guys in both.  Lately we've had a lot of crossover members. I highly recommend joining both clubs.  The sites for both are in my sig.  I get great advice from members of both clubs.  If you ever need any other info, just let me know.

Yeah, we finally sold the T-28.  Right now we have the Twin Navion, we just finished the PT-19, and we have resumed the restoration of the N3N.  I'm trying to requisition us a UH-1H and an AH-1S. One of the benefits of being former IowaGuard andformer army aviation. lol