Revell Fw 190D-9

[KOTR]

Products like rubbing or isopropyl alcohol don't seem to be as readily available downunder as they appear to be stateside, so I usually use metho (methylated spirits) as a substitute - I'm guessing it would work well here too, but will it affect the layer of Future on the canopy as well?

 

Isopropanol does, so I would expect it here too

[DaveJ]

You also have the option of using Windex or it's AU equivalent to remove the paint from the canopy. This *will* remove the Future also depending on how hard you have to rub it with a cotton bud, but you can re-apply the Future with a very clean brush after the fact. I had some bleed under the masks on my canopy and that's what I ended up doing to remove it. Becasue Future is so thin and self-levelling I can't see any difference between the area where I did this vs the original dipped coat. A very little dab'll do ya here...

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks guys. I guess I'll try the Windex first, as it's likely to be less aggressive than the metho. On the other hand, metho doesn't contain any ammonia, which is the real killer for Future.

 

I'm probably on a hiding to nothing either way, so we'll see what happens.

 

Kev

[Guest Rigor]

It's looking good i would paint the band's first

[LSP_Kevin]

OK, another update, and another case of a couple of steps forward followed by one step back (and less progress overall than I'd hoped).

 

I've managed to fix the canopy, which wasn't all that difficult in the end - I just moistened a cotton bud with as little Windex as possible, and then rubbed it gently on the canopy until all the paint was removed. I then followed up with a watery toothpaste mix polished on with another cotton bud. Not perfect, but it's a pretty poor canopy anyway:

 

 

I'll paint or airbrush some more Future on it down the track.

 

I've cut out the kit's wingtip lights, as they were just flat lumps of mismatched plastic top and bottom on each wing, and looked really poor. I fashioned new lights by dipping a short length of styrene rod in a puddle of super glue and then hitting it with accelerator. Two or three repeats and I had a decent enough bulb. When they were dry, I just dipped them in Gunze clear red and green respectively. I drilled holes in the wing cut outs to accept the styrene rod so I could just plug them in:

 

 

I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out, even though they are over scale. I can't claim to have come up with that technique myself, but I can't remember where I read about it either! Thanks to the modeller who posted (somewhere) about it.

 

Now to my next problem. I've begun painting the black and white fuselage bands, but on painting the black portion today, I ended up with this:

 

 

:angry:

 

There's some on the other side too, but to a much lesser extent. I used Gunze off-white for the white portion, which is masked, and the black is Tamiya NATO black. The area where the black cracked seems to correspond with the area of overspray of the underlying Gunze off-white. I thinned both with Tamiya X-20A, and the Gunze had 2 or 3 days to dry. Admittedly, the Tamiya black did go on a little wetter than I would have liked - is that the cause? Are there any known issues using Tamiya over Gunze acrylics?

 

Anyway, can I just respray some more black once the first coat cures, or will it require more drastic action?

 

Kev

[RWKennard]

Hey there Big Kev

 

Your wing tips lights and canopy look fantastic! I can't help you with the paint problem.

Its a bit of a shame, but you will find a way around it! Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

Keep us posted

Richard

[Guest Rigor]

you could sand and touch it up but you got me? i don't use acrylics

[Allok]

Hi Kev.

 

Looks like you are really fighting with this one!

 

I hate to say it but you would be best to remove the paint and start again. Sounds drastic but the end result will be worth the effort. Paint cracking like that is usually caused by low ambient temperature, although, many other things can cause it. Best option is to use lots of light coats of thin paint. I normally narrow down the nozzle aperture and move back a bit so the paint actually dries a fraction before it hits the model.

 

But then of course, I'm no expert.

Good luck,

Keith.

[LSP_Kevin]

Hi Kev.

 

Looks like you are really fighting with this one!

 

I hate to say it but you would be best to remove the paint and start again. Sounds drastic but the end result will be worth the effort. Paint cracking like that is usually caused by low ambient temperature, although, many other things can cause it. Best option is to use lots of light coats of thin paint. I normally narrow down the nozzle aperture and move back a bit so the paint actually dries a fraction before it hits the model.

 

But then of course, I'm no expert.

Good luck,

Keith.

 

Thanks Keith. I was attempting to get the paint on fairly dry, but failed. It's mid-winter here downunder so the temperature thing could be a factor. I've been having trouble airbushing any acrylics of late (don't use enamels all that much), so perhaps that's the root cause. Having said that, it should never get below 10 degrees Celsius where I model (at least, not while I've got the heater on), and I would have thought that that would be OK.

 

Anyway, if stripping is the best option, then I've probably got nothing to lose by trying another coat first. If it doesn't work, well, I was only going to have to strip it anyway!

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

Tamiya and Gunze acrylics should be compatible with each other, can I ask was the white completely cured before the black was added, or did you use the same sealant on the white area as the RLM 76? The crazing may be caused by different shrinkage rates of the black / white or whatever sealant is on top... this might also have relation as to why the RLM 76 took so long to cure. Also next time around, try thinning the Tamiya black with distilled water to lessen the chance of an adverse chemical reaction.

 

HTH, and keep plugging away mate, your doing great.

 

Thanks Wumm. There's a chance the white was not fully cured - I left it for about 3 days or so, but you never know I guess. My troubles with the RLM 76 curing was down to using Windex as a thinner I think, so for subsequent painting I've been using Tamiya X-20A, including the black and white of these bands. It's probably not the best time of the year for airbrushing down here in Melbourne, but I know guys manage quite well in much colder climates, so it's most likely down to user error ("replace user and hit any key to continue...").

 

Kev

[DaveJ]

Thanks Wumm. There's a chance the white was not fully cured - I left it for about 3 days or so, but you never know I guess. My troubles with the RLM 76 curing was down to using Windex as a thinner I think, so for subsequent painting I've been using Tamiya X-20A, including the black and white of these bands. It's probably not the best time of the year for airbrushing down here in Melbourne, but I know guys manage quite well in much colder climates, so it's most likely down to user error ("replace user and hit any key to continue...").

 

Kev

 

I was kinda thinking the same thing as Wumm but I'm pretty far from an airbrush Yoda. I was also curious if the white was a semi- or gloss being painted over with flat black? That might've cause the black to "slip" when curing, or at least it sounds possible in my head!

[LSP_Kevin]

I was kinda thinking the same thing as Wumm but I'm pretty far from an airbrush Yoda. I was also curious if the white was a semi- or gloss being painted over with flat black? That might've cause the black to "slip" when curing, or at least it sounds possible in my head!

 

Yeah, I had that thought too. The Gunze off-white is indeed gloss, and the Tamiya NATO black is very flat. The effect happened within 5 or 10 minutes of the black going on, and it went on wetter than I was aiming for. I suspect if I'd managed to get it on almost dry - like I seem to manage half the time without even meaning to - it probably would have been OK.

 

I'm going to strip it off today and repaint. So far all my second goes have been much more successful than the first ones, so here's hoping the pattern holds!

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

Well, I've repaired the tail band, but wow, what a hassle. Repainting itself was no big deal, but my airbrush decided to switch to temperamental mode right about the time I was attempting to do it. It wouldn't spray anything! (It's a pre-Aztec Model Master brush, but is basically an Aztec before the rebranding.) I tried two separate nozzles, one of them brand new, and still no go. I flushed the airbrush repeatedly - still no go. I soaked the nozzles in lacquer thinner. Nada. I followed the Aztec cleaning and maintenance instructions on ARC, and for a minute it seemed to be working, but then zilch. I dug out the weird red plastic cleaning tool and reamed out its every orifice, and then soaked and flushed it all again with lacquer thinner. It would spray lacquer thinner happily with no nozzle in place, but would only blow air if I fitted either one (including the brand new one).

 

By this stage I was decidedly less happy than I was when I began...and the room stank like the lacquer equivalent of a perfume store.

 

And then suddenly it started spraying lacquer thinner through the nozzle, but not paint. I thinned the paint some more and got a few spurts. Thinned it a bit more and tightened the nozzle slightly and it finally started working.

 

Perhaps I hadn't thinned the paint enough this time, as I was trying to avoid the wet coat I got the first time. I'm sure my airbrush is pretty gunked up inside too, so that may also have come home to roost for that painting session. WTFK, but here's the result:

 

 

For the record I swabbed off the damaged areas with some cotton buds moistened with Windex and let it all dry off for a couple of hours before attempting to repaint. I swear I must be jinxed!

 

 

Kev

[Allok]

Hi Kev.

 

Check that the paint bottle air intake is not blocked. This will stop paint from coming out.

[LSP_Kevin]

Finally got some more work done on the Dora, among a million other distractions. My airbrush problems turned out to be just a build up of gunk around the needle plunger that kept finding its way into the nozzle. After a lengthy cleaning process, it seems OK now (for now). I really need to disassemble the nozzle assembly and clean it, but I'm not game at the moment.

 

Anyway, I've finally got the bulk of the airframe painted:

 

 

I ended up painting all the camo freehand, partly out of laziness and partly out of expedience. It also allowed me to paint the 83 straight after the 82, without waiting for it to cure before masking. I deliberately went for a slightly patchy effect, but I can't help feeling that my feeble airbrushing skills only served to make it look badly painted.

 

Here's a picture of the starboard side:

 

 

Constructive criticism welcome!

 

I still have to paint the yellow on the rudder and under the cowl (I guess I should have done that first, huh?), and there's a bit of overspray from the camo painting to deal with, but I'm inching ever closer. Still don't quite know how I'm going to paint the exhaust pipes either yet.

 

Can't wait to get some decals on!

 

Kev