Daniel460

thank you all
small progress on the pit
The only aftermarket im going to use are the belts from hgw





 
Thats it for now
 
Mark

Trying to build a plane after losing intrests in this subject en more in to cars at the moment.
Here the progress off the great sws kit.
Building starts with the engines
Paints used are tamiya valejo and mrp.
 
I have finnishd first one engine before i started the next one

 

 

 

 
start with engine 2

 
And almost there with engine nr2

 

 

 
Next up will be the pit
 
Mark
 
 
 
 
 

Finally I got the chance to work on the Hog.
Since i have decided that I will improve some areas, the nose gear wheel well is the first to get surgery.
So far:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Look what came last night!
 

 

 
Thank you Dave for the suggestion.
 
 

Yep, like we have been for many years. I can't remember a show that didn't
have boxes of SSs for sale. I doubt they'll ever reach collector status.
They were cool tho 

Yes, unfortunate. I remember when you either filled out an order form and mailed it or paid for a long distance phone call to order from the flyer.
 
I remember (long time ago) when I ordered a kit from the flyer that pictured the Thunderbirds but when the kit arrived it didn't include Thunderbird decals. I called about it and was sent a Micro Scale (I think) sheet with Thunderbirds on it. I don't imagine the more modern management would have done that.

Perhaps, but I'm grabbing hardbound versions whenever I can now.
 
 
I agree 100%, Mark. Almost the moment the new team took over, things started going downhill. While for many years I ordered from them almost exclusively, that soon gave way to intermittent purchases, then finally almost no purchase at all toward the end. No stock, sales that weren't really sales at all, silly shipping costs, you name it, they all killed the joy for me. Perhaps the big shot management team, can now move on to trash another business.

I hate to say it but this was kind of brought upon themselves by the poor business decisions they made (IMHO). I WAS a customer for some time before going to other options who could better fill my needs.
 
Still sad.
 
Mark Proulx 

So just the serial number to add then she's finished painting:
 

 
I'm really pleased that there's only one small area where the wing and fuselage masks didn't quite mate together as planned.  Five minutes work to correct.  My Hawker Fury is just behind, it surprised me how similar it is in size to a Spit!

Final stages, whole roundels put back in place then red centre removed, replaced and blue outer done:
 

 
The transfer piece here is sold for Cricut machines - low tack, completely clear (which is a distinct advantage) and with the grid on it which helps: 


 
and before very long at all:
 



 

 

Fuselage roundels; firstly the "empty" mask in place:
 

 
.....then the base white coat, quickly followed by:
 

 
the yellow outer ring area.
 

 
Tomorrow I'll put the whole roundel back in place then firstly "weed out" the red inner circle, leaving everything else as is.  When that's dry, the red centre mask goes back in (easy to get this correctly centred) and the blue outer weeded out and the area sprayed.  Hey presto....with luck.....simple perfect  roundels! 
 

Available (for free) at a store (well a website) near you Richard! 

Steady now, I'll probably print your masks onto paper, cut them out with scissors and spray them with enamel...
 
Richard

Really rather delighted with the way the camouflage masks have worked out.  It's the first time I've used such things, let alone made my own so it was all a bit trial and error, but I think it's turned out quite well.  Inevitably there are one or two areas that need a bit of a tidy up, most notably at the port aft wing root where the masks didn't quite marry up as intended, but that's a minor issue.
 
Talking of masks, the downloadable fuselage ones that I put on the Scale Masks site have been updated.  When I was applying these I found that I hadn't included the area on the port side above the tailplane, so that's now added.
 







 
Hopefully doing the fin flashes and fuselage roundels tomorrow plus the engine panels and nose top section.

Thanks, but at this stage I would be buffing X-22 clear coat which will do nothing but maybe dull the finish.  A little deeper, and I'd be buffing Alclad Chrome that is so thin, it comes off with just my fingers, so I'll pass on that.  Maybe the look below is a bit better?
 
 
Well I thought about the weathering some more (all of 8 hours!) and decided the metallic finish was never going to get scratches after all, but it needed a bit more of something.  Not much, but something, when it dawned on me that I should be using a darker metallic wash than the light aluminum ones I had tried before.  Here is the line-up I have used before from TrueEarth.com, with the "Warm" one on the left used on my Tempest build.  These washes are water based and come off with water on a damp rag, but be careful if you don't have an acrylic clear coat on the paint, because they sometimes stick like snot to an oven door and no amount of rubbing will take them off.  The key is to just do very small areas at a time and not let the wash sit for more than 30-45 seconds or so before you wipe it off.  If you do get an area that won't rub off, use a little paint solvent on a rag- hence the need for a clear coat if you use enamels or lacquers- and it will come off easily.
 

 
As advertised, these washes give off a metallic sheen that blends with the paint underneath and are better for this application than just a regular wash that will jump into panel lines I didn't want to emphasize. I chose the darkest one on the far right, because the lighter ones didn't do much for obvious reasons and real metal always has areas that look darker than others, depending on the lighting and the reflections.  My application was specific to recessed detail and open panel areas, trying not to get the dark wash into panel lines until the wash was wiped off.  After trying the wash on a small test area, I really liked the results and ultimately did the entire top surface and the sides.
 
The bad news is that this change doesn't photograph very well at all, and you would be hard pressed from these pics to see much difference from the earlier pics from yesterday, mostly because the changes are subtle, but to my naked eye, significantly better.  The finish looks a lot more like real metal now with darkish highlights all over the place that change with lighting, more or less like real metal does.
 
Anyway, a few more pics and sorry for so many, because I have tried to show just about every angle under various lighting conditions.  Consider the metallic weathering DONE!
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Cheers,
Chuck

Thanks again everyone for your kind words and tips!  This topic is one we modelers always struggle with, when art collides with the practicalities of what we can and can't do with weathering.  Sometimes weathering is underdone, sometimes just right and too often it is overdone in my eyes, so "less is more" applies.  I know for certain that I could have easily created the scratched look if I had just sanded the black undercoat a bit before the application of Alclad, but would that have looked natural, or a bad paint job?  I think the latter.
 
One piece of advice I am going to take is to just let it sit for a day or two while I think of an alternative- or not- while I play around with other parts of this build that I haven't even started, like the canopy.  The idea of a wash in the panel lines doesn't appeal to me, because the panel lines are too wide already, so why draw attention to them?  A wash in the recessed fastener detail, however, could look the part and that's exactly what my metallic washes were made for.  Those panels on the spine are often removed and the fasteners appear to be quite dark.  This could be the "closer", so that I can call the finish done.
 
One good thing as I look at the model this morning, is that I generally like the addition of something and it does break up the artificial look of the plain Chrome.  Also like all models, my paint finish has a few areas that are not perfect by any means and with this mottled look, I can't find them anymore! 
 
Cheers and again thanks,
Chuck

Thanks Guys and Bring It!  You can't hurt my feelings on this subject, because I can wipe it all off in less than 5 minutes.  Having said that, it's clear I'm not really happy with it, or I wouldn't ask the question.  Maybe a darker shade?
 
BTW, I tried to actually scratch the paint with a fine sanding cloth on a test part.  All it did was dull the paint and look like crap, so that's not going to work.
 
Thanks,
Chuck
 
 

March 16/21


 
Thank you Gents, very much!  This journey is getting near to the end as you will see below.


 
With the decals on and sealed with clear X-22, it was time to “weather” this bird, but I use the term loosely, because most of the pics I can find of CF-104’s in the mid-60’s are very clean.  Checking these references, I did the following to try and make this model look a little more realistic:


 
Applied Tamiya Dull Coat lacquer to the black on the nose cone, front windscreen and the front of the intakes.  While restored CF-104’s may be shiny, these areas look flat to me.
Applied Tamiya Semi-Gloss lacquer to the wings.  While the wings are supposed to be gloss white, the large roundels are way too glossy, so they needed to be toned down a notch, blended in with the wings.
Applied Semi Gloss to most of the decals.  See above.  Very tricky to do and avoid significant over-spray on adjacent metallic areas.
Applied Dull Coat to specific panels at the rear, especially the titanium panels.  This is not only more realistic looking, but it makes the areas that should remain shiny “pop” a little more.
Applied Semi Gloss to most of the decals.  See above.
Dirtied up the antenna panel behind the avionics bay.  These things are usually quite dirty.
With the spraying of any paints finally over with, I removed all masks.  This late step is always scary, especially in the cockpit area where overspray may have leaked inside the windscreen or other parts of the cockpit and avionics bay.  Other than the usual small touch ups required, everything came out looking great.  Whew!  It is also cool to see all the work I had done in these areas earlier.

 
So, I was on a roll until I tried to add scratches to the polished aluminum finish.  My plan was to dry brush some water based metallic washes I have, but all they did was dull the paint.  What they are really meant for, is to fill panel lines and recessed fastener detail with metallic colors, but with everything already filled with Alclad, I didn’t need that.  Thankfully they wiped off easily with water.  Now what?


 
Earlier in this thread, a few of you suggested adding scratches by dry brushing metallic paint, so I gave that a whirl, using Testors Silver/Chrome/Steel Enamel (they all look the same to me).  This is fairly safe if it doesn’t work out, because with the acrylic X-22 sealing the paint, I can easily wipe it off with ordinary paint solvent.  It worked alright, but it looked too contrived to me and like the washes, dulled the paint quite a bit, so I wiped it off too and was at a cross roads of what to do next?  While I really like the Chrome finish I applied, it doesn’t look natural to me, because it’s so monochromatic and toy like.


 
So I decided to just add random dry brushing with silver all over the top and sides in more of a mottled than scratched look, but still one that broke up the monotony of the Chrome.  This is where I’m torn and would like your feedback.  Does this help the model or hurt it?  I can always remove it all with some solvent.  Or, I can add even more!


 
So here’s a quick walkaround, to help explain what I’ve done above, which is very hard to photograph due to lighting and the metallic surface.


 
I pretty happy with this angle, which shows the results of the rivet work I applied to the sides of the windscreen after sanding it narrower, and the addition of that little L-shaped curve at the rear.  You can see the start of the dry brushing of silver on the left above the decals.


 

 



 

 
Pretty clear windscreen


 

 



 

 
Flat Black intakes.


 

 



 

 
This is one of the best shots of what the mottled paint now looks like.  Does it add or subtract from the finish?  Reminds me a bit of salt weathering.


 

 



 



 

 
This look is very light dependent.  Now you see the mottled look.


 

 



 

 
Now you don’t…


 

 



 

 
A few more angles


 

 



 



 

 
The rear I like, because a lot of these panels are supposed to be dull.


 

 



 



 



 

 
So what do you guys think?  Leave it, add more dry brushing, or wipe it all off!?


 

 
Thanks,

Chuck

One more tip David, or whoever else might be trying these rivet decals.  Assuming you use Microset as a decal solution, you will find that the odd rivet might not stick, which leaves a gap.  It was very few for me once I figured out the importance of using a decal solution over water, but it happens.  Repairs are super easy by just cutting a thin slice of decal film to replace the missing rivet or two.  What wasn't easy, was remembering where the heck they all were, because they were all over the place while I continued to add more rivets elsewhere.  Being so tiny and with clear film, many of them completely disappeared which would have been OK, but after a coat of Alclad a few of them showed up again and I had to do repairs, which is a real pain with this metallic finish.  Thinking I was finished with all them, a few more popped up again after I applied the X-22 clear coat, with the thinner in the X-22 no doubt reacting a bit with the decal film, making repairs even harder when they were removed, leaving a black background.
 
So what would I do different next time?  Place a tiny piece of tape beside each and every rivet repair to remind you where they are, and all of the decal film is removed before paint.  If I had done this it would have saved me a lot of grief.
 
Cheers,
Chuck

Thanks David!
 
For those who may be interested, below is the Prime Portal website of images by Luc Colin that I used the most for this build.  While not a CF-104 but a F-104G, it shares many of the same characteristics of the Canadian version, although likely much more weathered than it would have been circa 1965 or so.  This is the main reference I used for rivet placement and where the dark wash idea came from, because this bird is quite weathered and dark overall.
 
Cheers,
Chuck
 
Prime Portal Luc Colin Photos of F-104G

Thanks Guys!  Checking out the metallic finish again this morning, I'm pretty happy with the results which as Marcel pointed out, are subtle, but it gives the finish that little extra "Oomph" I was looking for. 
 
While I always appreciate all of your comments and compliments, I got the very best one from my wife last night.  Like most modeling spouses, my wife sort of just puts up with my hobby and my laser focus on it, which sometimes can be all consuming to the detriment of more important things in life.  Guilty as charged.  Anyway, when she was in my work area looking at this model she commented, "I think this is the best model you've ever made.  I really like the metal.", which is very cool since it's still far from finished.  To me it's not my best model by a long shot, mostly because the wide kit panel lines hold it back, but I think it will look killer when I get all the control surfaces, landing gear, canopy and wingtip tanks attached. Fingers crossed!
 
Cheers,
Chuck

Thanks Andy, been a bit busy recently so modelling time rather limited......gardening!!   However during a few moments, the Tale of Two Roundels!!
 

 
Absolutely everything about these two were identical; preparation, application, drying time, masks used etc etc but on de-masking the blue paint peeled on one but not t'other!  This was no big deal for correction but annoying nonetheless.


 
And talking of masks I've "organised" them all so that I know what's going where.....I confused myself at one stage, well several stages if I'm being honest:
 





 
These are all to the correct scale and size and fit quite well; where needed (ie on the fuselage) they include overlaps onto the other side.  I'm applying the masks to the fuselage at the moment but the wings are done:
 



 
It was a challenge doing the roundels on the underside because:
 



 
Not perfect, a tiny bit of overspray but I would imagine impossible with decals to conform?!  Need to "get on" with Maureen too! 

Thanks John, our hobby really is a great place to be right now, especially with so many goodies available in our scale.  Figure painting especially is a different ball game in 1/32 to 1/48.

Progress!  The size and proportions of each mask are adjustable by grabbing hold of the "handles" of the shape and pulling/pushing as required, so some may need to be stretched to accommodate the curvature of the fuselage, and overlap sections will be added where necessary along the top line.  I'll be cutting paper test pieces later to assess the fit.
 





 

Thanks Dennis   I'm working on the fuselage masks right now (since it's pouring outside and gardening on hold! ), a more complicated affair.  I scanned the profiles then flipped the starboard side having scaled everything up.  The front firewall is a great datum:
 



 

 
I'd hoped to do a port/starboard "wraps around" but that's not going to work easily so the port and starboard sides will be separate with a join down the middle.  More shortly on this progress!
 

Wing masks worked alright, I have a plan for the fuselage ones but we'll see how successful they are later!