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ClumsyDude

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Posts posted by ClumsyDude

    RAAF 20th anniversary hornet - the perils of polishing 23/12

    in Works in Progress

    Posted

    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 -

     

    39144630061_0fcee53ed2_k.jpgUntitled

     

    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.

     

    38262957955_06c144aeb8_k.jpgUntitled

     

    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.

     

    39144625851_9735a3bf70_k.jpgUntitled

     

    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:

     

    38262958105_7726af55d1_k.jpgUntitled

     

    After about a minute of polishing, the compound starts to take on more of a clay-like consistency.

     

    27366414809_41816cc81e_k.jpgUntitled

     

    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.

     

    24284267977_d7bd015b78_k.jpgUntitled

     

    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.

     

    25278079498_012b54cd9c_k.jpgUntitled

     

    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

    RAAF 20th anniversary hornet - the perils of polishing 23/12

    in Works in Progress

    Posted

    WOW! The paint and especially the gloss coat looks amazing.

    What did you use for a gloss coat?

    Rattle-can or airbrush?

    Also, can you recommend a good micro-fiber polishing cloth set?

    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.

     

      

    Man, that is gonna be one sexy build! 

     

    Totally awed!

     

    Gaz

     

     

    Thanks Gaz!

     

     

    What a nice-looking model.  Too bad it can't be in the 'Blue' Build.

     

    Sincerely,

    Mark

     

     

    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 ...

     

     

    AWESOME!!!!!!!!

     

     

    good to see this back

     

     

    Thanks! Got the next few days off so hope to show some polishing.

     

     

    Fantastic and courageous work, Jim! It looks sensational. I too am keen to hear more about how you did the gloss coat.

     

    Kev

    Thanks Kev!

    RAAF 20th anniversary hornet - the perils of polishing 23/12

    in Works in Progress

    Posted

    First I had to sand it back.

     

    38244145391_825ebb44fa_k.jpgHornet build-344

     

    Line up a mask:

     

    38244154641_78e3eebde9_k.jpgHornet build-346

     

    And spray ...

     

    38244158591_3857f4edf2_k.jpgHornet build-347

     

    38244162091_450bf62332_k.jpgHornet build-348

     

    Unfortunately the white was too thick, so I had to do it again:

     

    38244165961_ed12f078bf_k.jpgHornet 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:

     

    38979313021_69fb6c573d_k.jpgUntitled

     

    Gloss on the top fuselage, wet:

     

    27202158299_6222722676_k.jpgUntitled

     

    And dry ...

     

    38263483944_41bae51c5c_k.jpgUntitled

     

    Here's that roundel again:

     

    25108173808_f71e6b4f07_k.jpgUntitled

     

    And I even got a bit of polishing done ...

     

    25108173798_e5a3ea9c74_k.jpgUntitled

     

    Only about 100 hours of polishing to go I reckon ... got a Spotify subscription now, so that'll help!

     

    Thanks all for following.

     

    Jim

    RAAF 20th anniversary hornet - the perils of polishing 23/12

    in Works in Progress

    Posted

    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 ...

     

    38211941942_7d6d05b185_k.jpgHornet 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.

     

    38189208326_a7a3dbb464_k.jpgHornet build-334

     

    38189210536_e8bd8f575c_k.jpgHornet build-335

     

    Better!

     

    38189212736_3b364e2a43_k.jpgHornet build-336

     

    38189215536_6d8e5a1fba_k.jpgHornet 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:

     

    38189219306_c2eed2aac8_k.jpgHornet build-339

     

    ... and moved to the lower fuselage ...

     

    38189221586_46e598f0f8_k.jpgHornet build-340

     

    Upper flaps and slats:

     

    38189224766_17173ecca6_k.jpgHornet build-341

     

    Then I noticed a disaster - the white in the roundel had wrinkled under the gloss coat:

     

    38244141991_193f96652d_k.jpgHornet build-343

     

    No idea why this happened, but I had to fix it. More on that in a sec.

    RAAF 20th anniversary hornet - the perils of polishing 23/12

    in Works in Progress

    Posted

    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:

     

    38211902812_53dcd38962_k.jpgHornet build-321

     

    38211911462_d9f12d7fef_k.jpgHornet 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.

     

    38211914812_3ff537d347_k.jpgHornet build-324

     

    And the results ...

     

    38211918092_9c21f27596_k.jpgHornet 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:

     

    38211922042_6a25269b0f_k.jpgHornet build-326

     

    38211926472_a1b9a56a40_k.jpgHornet build-327

     

    And matching the colour:

     

    38244088411_e726ac16a5_k.jpgHornet build-328

     

    Printed on decal paper:

     

    38244091121_aee7e4eba8_k.jpgHornet build-329

     

    And on the model, next to the originals ... not bad I think!

     

    38244094471_8f126bec90_k.jpgHornet build-330

     

    38211939112_dafbe3dcc5_k.jpgHornet build-332

     

    More in a moment ...

    VFC-12 Ambush 06 - FINISHED!

    in Colour My World Blue

    Posted

    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

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