ClumsyDude

Having scampered out to my workbench at every opportunity to finish the light blue, I was constantly fighting my impatience ... I worked from home yesterday and was itching the whole time to ditch the dopey conference calls and get out to the shed! Eventually after getting the girls to bed, I made it out at around 8:30 for the big unmasking. The problem I was most worried about was lifting paint along with the masks. The red had been on there for three weeks, and lacquer dries pretty hard; I was concerned it would come up, leaving jagged edges. So I figured I'd try something new. I cleaned out the airbrush first, to ensure there was no colour contamination; then I sprayed pure Mr Levelling Thinner on the mask edges. Not a lot, just enough to give off a sheen when held at the right angle (misting, misting). Then, with immense trepidation, I peeled the first set of masks off the inner flaps (I figured these would be easiest to touch up if I messed them up). The result ... IT WORKED!!! This exceeded even my wildest dreams ... my obsessive masking paid off, with no overspray, no fuzzy edges, and no lifting. I'm calling this a win! Here are all the flaps unmasked. There are a few spots that need touching up, but I reckon it's four or five hours work, not the month I'd been expecting. Here's a comparison to the equivalent decal. Not unhappy with the colour matching. Then it was time for even more trepidation and the unmasking of the whole beast. I was sure there would be fuzzy edges, lifted paint, and half a lifetime of touch ups, so I was thrilled to get this ... A few more pics ... in these you can still see paint ridges around the edge of the masks. I think these vindicate my policy of spraying thinner over the mask edges before lifting them, as they indicate that there was some paint buildup ... the good news is, they are hardly noticeable after a rub down with a microfibre cloth. And check this out - I was certain the intake masks would be a disaster, as that compound curve is a bear to mask. But, again, hours of obsessive masking paid off - perfect! And the rest ... I'm particularly pleased with how the excellent surface detail on the academy hornet shows through. Few more in a sec ...

All right y'all ... finally got something to share after a month away from posting. You'll recall that last time we were here, with the masks down and ready for paint. All ready to go, of course, and then I realised that I didn't have the nav lights done. So, out with the clear red and green for the lenses, and some alclad chrome underneath. Then finally masked that off, and it was my moment of truth ... plan was to lay down the red first, then mask that off, do the grey, then the blues. As with any gloss coat, I approached it carefully with lots of very thin coats, over a couple of days. Here we are at the end of coat one: After a couple more coats of red, it was on to the grey. Much to my annoyance, it's not possible to find that shade of grey in gloss, in either a water based acrylic or a lacquer (I have no experience with enamels so didn't want to go there). On the flip side, you get better coverage with matte paints, so I did one coat with about 25% clear gloss added, then another with 50%. Here's the result ... Then I masked off all the red and grey, with a wrapper of paper towel to keep the grey safe from scratches and overspray. Here it is: Then it was time for the Oxford blue. This happened over about three nights, constantly fighting my impatience and desire to lay down a big wet coat. Misting, misting, misting ... a single coat took about 45 minutes, and I did five. I didn't get any shots of the light blue going down, but I managed that in the first half of the week. It's a custom mix, with a base of Gunze light blue, darkened with character blue and a little Gunze gundam light blue until it matched the Leading Edge decals. Coming in a second: the big reveal!

Hey Jack can't wait to see it ... I bet the engines are more of a pain than you'd forecast! Cheers Jim

Looks great Gaz! Well done. Jim

Wow, Shawn! Looks like the real thing. Most impressive. Jim

So. Good.

That wood effect is terrific ... looks like you could get splinters off it! Jim

Craig, can't tell you how much I enjoy watching your work. Balls of steel to even try the ribs - let alone cut through them like you did!!! Amazing work. Jim

Holy moly! That's amazing, from the fairings to the tail skinning to the intakes and (gulp) turbine face. Wow!!!!! Jim

Superb, superb, superb ... that oil canning effect is simply brilliant. Weathering on the pods is awesome too. Jim

I have the Olfa one ... it's essential! Jim

Pretty awesome Mark, I like it. Jim

Phwoarrr Brad, awesome precision at any level - not to mention using home cut masks! I'm impressed. Jim

Looking good Lenny ... count me in! Jim

Awesome stuff Oleg. You've really done a great job on the old kit. Jim

Seat looks great! What did you use for the belts? Jim

awesome Milan! This is the moment you worked for ... looks terrific. Jim

Amen Gaz.

Looks terrific, well done! Jim

Hey Steve, welcome ... I'm a huge fan of custom masks, currently using a brilliant set made by another LSP member in my hornet build (see the link in my sig). It's always really welcome to have a new mask maker in business! Cheers Jim

Wow Radders, great to see you still posting given your recent news ... I got smashed and didn't build anything for a long time after my first was born. For the second, I did quite a few night time feeds, and would do half an hour on my tomcat dio after each one ... made some great progress that way until Ally started sleeping through! Cheers Jim

Mate, welcome back! Really good to see you on the forums again. Jim

Super crisp work Mark. I'm doing the same kit myself right now, yet to get to the landing gear but I'm looking forward to it. Jim

Steve, love the tomcat ... love even more that you have an Aviation Room. Jim

Ok, I can see it now too - and what a view, terrific work on the nozzles! Jim