ringleheim

Is it just me? It seems like WNW generates an enormous amount of conversation at this forum, but very little in the way of build threads or finished models!

That's a great looking Stuka and I LOVE this color scheme!

I was wondering if you were going to use a wooden deck or try to paint it. Looks fantastic. These big 1/350 ships can be pretty impressive display pieces. Keep up the good work!

I find Vallejo paints to be pretty poor representations of the RLM color range in general. Some of their colors are not even close to accurate. One of the best model paint manufacturers for RLM color fidelity is Mr. Color, though those are lacquers and not acrylics.

I'd be shocked if WNW makes another WWII subject again. I think the Lancaster was a total anomaly, but an understandable anomaly as you point out.

The Advanced Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance System (ATARS) is designed to provide U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18D aircraft the capability to fulfill the airborne tactical reconnaissance role left open upon the retirement of the RF-4. It will provide near real time high resolution digital imagery in day, night, or under-the-weather conditions. The F/A-18 Tactical Reconnaissance System is a real-time/near real-time imaging system for image acquisition, data storage, and data link. It consists of the Advanced Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance System (ATARS) with infrared and visible light sensors, two digital tape recorders, and a Reconnaissance Management System (RMS); an interface with the APG-73 Radar Upgrade (Phase II) which records synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery; and a digital data link mounted in a centerline pod. ATARS fits in the nose of any post-Lot 14 F/A-18D in place of the nose gun, with a small datalink pod mounted on the centerline station. The digital data link will transmit imagery and auxiliary data to any Common Imaging Ground/Surface Station (CIG/SS) compatible system including the Joint Services Imagery Processing System (JSIPS) or Marine Tactical Exploitation Group (TEG) based ashore and Navy JSIPS (JSIPS-N) aboard ship. http://www.mcara.us/FA-18D_ATARS.php

I have the Academy legacy hornet in my stash and have gone through the kit components many times. It looks like one hell of a nice model kit. It's a massive project so I need the right motivation to begin work on it, but I'm a huge fan of that kit. I can't speak to the Trumpeter offering at all.

Rather than hope WNW does kit X for the next 20 years or so, wouldn't it be nice if a bunch of other, new competitors came into the hobby and made kits as well as WNW? I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the landscape of aircraft model kits is pretty lame. Military/Armor model builders have it a LOT better.

I agree the "blue tack" technique doesn't work that well in the sense that I don't like the painted edge effect you get with that technique. It varies from place to place. I now photocopy the paint chart and enlarge as needed to match the scale of the model. Make 4 or 5 photocopies so you have plenty to work with in case you make a mistake. Cut out the camouflage patches and tape to the model. This method works well IMO.

I almost always use Mr. Color leveling thinner and then tend to go with the higher grits of the surfacer; it's the best primer I know of and very easy to work with. I don't think the exact grit # is very critical, though I would probably avoid "500" or the really low numbers. I also keep around cheap lacquer thinner purchased in a huge can at Home Depot. I generally use it only for cleaning things, but sometimes I spray with it too, if you deliberately do not want the retarder effect of the leveling thinner. Anything that is thinned with normal lacquer thinner from the hardware store will dry MUCH more quickly than stuff thinned with Mr. Color leveling thinner. It depends on what you are trying to do. When I was doing a 1/24 Ferrari car model, I wanted some of my color to cure quickly b/c I had to tape off areas and then apply a second color. Using normal lacquer thinner meant I could relatively quickly apply tape without leaving any marks or goo on the painted surface. I have had bad experiences taping too quickly on paint thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner...it leaves a texture of sorts in the paint finish if you don't wait long enough.

Stefano, I have used hot water and also a hair dryer! It seems like hair dryers usually have 2 temperature settings: high and low. I use the LOW setting. I have melted and badly warped plastic parts with a hair dryer on the hottest setting, in maybe 10-15 seconds of direct application. I was surprise at how quickly the plastic was affected by the heat. I think hot water allows more control, as you can vary the temperature of the water a LOT, but the hairdryers only shoots out air in 1 or 2 temperatures... I would start with a low temperature and see if it works, then make the water hotter and hotter. You can always make it hotter and re-apply to the model, but you can't undo warping or melting if the water was too hot at the beginning.

Sorry so late with a reply; I forgot about this thread! I only use true lacquer clear products, thinned with Mr. Color Leveling thinner. Usually Mr. Color in the little bottles, or decanted Gunze spray cans or Tamiya clear spray cans. I gave up on using acrylic clears a long time ago as they just don't match the performance of lacquer products. The lacquer stuff will not harm your acrylic paints as long as they are dry.

It won't work with any of the "True acrylics" that tend to come in the squeeze bottles with built in dropper. Vallejo, MIG, AK Interactive, Life Color, etc. It works very well with tamiya acrylics, the new "REAL COLORS" by AK Interactive (they mimic the Tamiya acrylics in most ways) and any lacquer based stuff.

I use this product shown below: Tamiya 74092. It comes with 3 lenses: 1.7, 2.0, and 2.5. I use the weakest magnification for almost everything. I had to go up a notch to middle magnification for threading .5MM OD/ .3MM ID tubing for rigging up some WNW biplanes. I think that is the most visually demanding thing I have done to date in the world of modeling. I have never used the 2.5 lens for anything! Haven't needed it yet. Your mileage may vary!