ClumsyDude

Thanks Mark, Pip and Zac ... much appreciated. @Pip - your Canberra is one of my fave builds, how are you tracking on that? Cheers Jim

Thanks Shawn and Jim! Means a lot coming from modellers of your calibre. Ok, so a bit more progress. I'm not sure what the point of this update is, if not just to highlight the sheer tedium of the polishing progress ... I find it strangely zen like, maybe I'm bonkers. Anyway, before we get on to that - I mentioned in my last post that I'd had a weird issue with the Oxford blue paint. For some reason it was only that blue which was affected - the red, light blue and grey sailed through. For some reason the clear coat seems to have partially dissolved the paint right on the shoulder of the ridge of the panel line - leaving the primer partially showing through. Take a look - Untitled I tried an enamel wash (Tamiya sea blue, if you're interested, which is a bit darker than the Oxford), but won't know how successful it's been until I get to polishing - the effect seems to be on the shoulder of the panel line groove, not in the groove itself. Might need a respray with blue. So, on to this morning's work. I mentioned in the last post that I had a nasty orange peel effect from letting my misted clear coat dry before laying down the wet coats. Here it is - probably the worst orange peel I've seen, and it was only lightly mitigated by drenching a couple of thick wet coats on to it. The good news is, it polishes out (I had the same effect on the outer flaps shown in the last photo, and managed a good shine on them) - if you lay down the clear thick enough you can recover it (but beware obliterating panel lines). The bad news is, it takes AGES. Untitled First step is to hit it with some 4000 grit micro mesh for about 10 minutes. You could shorten this time by using a coarser grade, but doing so includes two risks: first, that you'll sand through the colour somewhere (which breaks your heart, trust me); second, even such fine micro mesh leaves super fine scratches which only become apparent after polishing, usually an hour or so of it. Finer grades of micro mesh don't seem to solve the problem, so I decided the only safe way was to partially sand with micro mesh before grinding down to a smooth finish with compound. That way, the polishing that gets rid of the last of the orange peel also removes the super fine scratches. Here's the results after micro mesh. Untitled From here I start with a fresh microfibre cloth, and apply about a half pea worth of Tamiya coarse compound. At first it has a consistency like custard, thus: Untitled After about a minute of polishing, the compound starts to take on more of a clay-like consistency. Untitled After another minute of grinding away, the clay-like texture gives way to a glossy "window" to the part. That doesn't mean you have a smooth finish, just that you're through this application and need to lay down some more compound. Untitled After about thirty minutes and half a tube of compound, here's the result - more than halfway there, but with a few bits that need more work. Untitled I'm going to hit this again over the next few days and will post the step by step. Cheers, and thanks all for the encouragement - there's a serious risk I'll lose my mojo through this stage, so I really appreciate the comments! Have a good one Jim

Thanks Mike. It is a lacquer - I'm a huge fan of Gunze lacquers so I don't mind the respirator! Cheers Jim

No way ... you're such a pro Craig, it's a real pleasure to watch your work. Jim

Hi Brian, thank you! The gloss coat is Gunze Mr Super Clear, to which I add about 100% levelling thinner and the another 30% retarder (give or take). I spray it with an airbrush (my trusty old Paasche VL with the fat #5 needle), two mist coats first, then wait ten minutes, then a couple of wet coats. Repeat a couple of days later. You'll notice on the wings, I got called away once after the mist coats were on and before I could lay down the wet costs, and got some nasty, nasty orange peel, which will take hours of sanding but I hope be ok in the end. I also got one very weird effect with the blue where it affected the underlying colour - I'll show in a subsequent post, it didn't affect the back but affected the first patch I sprayed quite badly. Final thing on the gloss - with that much retarder in it, and laying down the coats so wet, it takes ages to dry. So I gave it about a month before even thinking about polishing - hopefully I won't uncover too many flaws. As for the microfibre cloths - I bought a pack of 100 off eBay for about $3.50. I use one until it's a bit gooey with polishing compound and then toss it. Thanks Gaz! Haha I agree Mark, I saw that one and wondered briefly if I could prevail on the mods to let me in under the 25% threshold, but even with a tailwind that was never going to fly. But then, when I do things like waiting a month for the gloss coat to dry, I'm never going to be a shot at a group build time frame ... Thanks! Got the next few days off so hope to show some polishing. Thanks Kev!

Super stuff Chris, you're inspiring me to get back to my hornet. Love the effect, it's really dramatic - as an air show bird should be! Jim

First I had to sand it back. Hornet build-344 Line up a mask: Hornet build-346 And spray ... Hornet build-347 Hornet build-348 Unfortunately the white was too thick, so I had to do it again: Hornet build-349 Fortunately the tiny kangaroos in the roundels for the tails were the perfect size (thanks again Randy) ... I didn't take another photo specifically of them, but you can see it here, with the gloss down over the nose: Untitled Gloss on the top fuselage, wet: Untitled And dry ... Untitled Here's that roundel again: Untitled And I even got a bit of polishing done ... Untitled Only about 100 hours of polishing to go I reckon ... got a Spotify subscription now, so that'll help! Thanks all for following. Jim

Next I wanted to do some texture work ahead of the gloss. I wanted semi-gloss finish on the slime lights, but didn't want to mask over my high gloss finish. So, some complex masking first, so I could put down a mask over the semi gloss ahead of spraying the gloss ... Hornet build-333 Then it was time to touch up some of the decals. For the squadron crests, I used the Model Alliance decals instead of the Leading Edge ones ... the gold is very prominent on the wreath around the crest, and I felt it was overdone. So I put a mask around them, and touched on some middle brown enamel paint. Hornet build-334 Hornet build-335 Better! Hornet build-336 Hornet build-337 Finally it was time for some gloss ... bit of pucker factor spraying the whole model, I don't mind telling you I was pretty nervous. Started on the flaps and slats: Hornet build-339 ... and moved to the lower fuselage ... Hornet build-340 Upper flaps and slats: Hornet build-341 Then I noticed a disaster - the white in the roundel had wrinkled under the gloss coat: Hornet build-343 No idea why this happened, but I had to fix it. More on that in a sec.

Hi all, can't believe it's been two months ... life has been pretty crazy outside of modelling land, so I guess that's my excuse. Anyway, work has progressed a little, and what time I've had has gone on modelling rather than updating. So, when we left it, the paint was down and touched up, and we were ready for some decals. So on they went: Hornet build-321 Hornet build-323 I then figured, in keeping with my masking theme, that I'd try to spray on the many "no step" markings around the plane. Here are some of the Eduard masks, taped down and ready to go. Hornet build-324 And the results ... Hornet build-325 A bit too agricultural, especially when compared with reference photos - this jet had quite fine markings, without any of the gaps in the letters on the Eduard set. So I sanded them off, resprayed, and looked to try decals. The problem with the decals was, all of the dark blue "no step" markings on the (brilliant) Leading Edge set are included in the massive decals, which I had decided to replicate instead with masks. So, time to learn another skill - this time decal printing. Here's my trial print, trying to ensure that my font and size were as close as possible to the other Leading Edge markings: Hornet build-326 Hornet build-327 And matching the colour: Hornet build-328 Printed on decal paper: Hornet build-329 And on the model, next to the originals ... not bad I think! Hornet build-330 Hornet build-332 More in a moment ...

Wow, Vaughn, that's some really super modelling. Well done mate! Jim

Dude, that seat ... really?!?? It looks like you braided Tamiya tape to get that effect - it must've taken HOURS! Jim

Looking super crisp Peter ... great stuff as always. Jim

Wheel well and belts both look good. A wash will really make the wheel well pop! Jim

Looks terrific - I really like the cockpit and seats. Jim

I love that you are varying the texture on the white ... great call. Matt/gloss is (IMHO) really underrated in finishing models. Jim

Dude, all RIGHT!!! You NAILED it! You must be on cloud nine looking at that, it is seriously totally awesome. Well done! Jim

Haha, I am so stoked to see another worshipper at the temple of complex masking ... it rocks my world that you spent 6 hours on that, I did the same on my hornet. You will be so pleased when the masks finally come off ... Cheers Jim

That last photo ..... waaaiiitt a minute .... that's not a MiG-23!!! Jim

Wow, Milan ... awesome and unique. As always! Jim

Looks AWESOME. Love an air show bird, and particularly one with custom masks. Jim

Yeah, I had to sand the bottom pretty hard to get it to fit - it was quite papery and translucent by the time I got it where it needed to be, but I managed not to sand through it. As with most things in modelling, taking your time and checking regularly is the key. I started with my Dremel but finished off with hand sanding. Jim

That looks like the Aires cockpit if I'm not mistaken ... I used it on my current hornet build and was thrilled with it, I'm sure you will enjoy it too. Detail is incredible, and fitting it wasn't that tough. Good luck! Jim

Wow, Milan, this is super ambitious. Good luck, I will be watching with interest as always! Jim

Brilliant Kev! Closer and closer to the finish line, and it looks great. Jim

Looks terrific, Mark - can't be far off the finish line now. Jim