Thunnus

The camo has been restored around the chevron location. Electing to start with the white again, the mask outline is placed and the white is applied. Next the black areas need to be painted so I position the interior sections. I only need the thin border but it is MUCH easier to place with the components together than to try and place just the skinny border alone. The central portions of the mask are removed, leaving only the borders. Take lots of time to make sure the border part is seated flush against the painted surface. If you look closely, you'll see that the lowest edge of the chevron is not. After the black is sprayed, you can remove the masks and see the effect of not seating the border completely flush. So the necessary paint touch-ups are applied. The little "13" below the cockpit is sprayed and the painted markings are complete. Here's the model in the lightbox after the painting stage.

Yes, you could be right. Both the greens have patterns due to the spray texture which will disappear after a clear coat. There is no oil canning effect molded onto the model. Thanks Woody! I probably should have done a more comprehensive analysis of the chevron position before wiping it off but its too late now. Like Mike mentions, you could argue that I put the chevrons in the correct position. But without confirming measurements of the chevron in relation to the fuselage cross and the scale relation between the chevron and cross to the model, there are a lot of variables at play here. As for the masks of the markings, I used the Eagle Cal decal sheet 32-82, which has Nowotny's Double Chevron markings in 1/32 scale. I imported this decal sheet into AutoCAD, scaled them to 1/35 scale and then traced over them to produce the masks. Here is a photo of the port side markings. I've drawn some guidelines to help visualize relative positioning between the cross and chevron by extending the straight horizontal lines of the fuselage cross forward through the chevron. It's clear that the chevron is lower on the fuselage relative to the cross. But drawing the same type of guidelines on the photo of Nowotny's aircraft shows a very similar type of relative positioning between the chevron and the cross. I was actually pretty dang close! Our eyes are automatically drawn to this type of non-symmetry and I think it set off subconscious alarm bells in my head because it didn't look right. The problem was compounded by referring to another reference... a profile drawing, in this case. You can see that the chevron has been centered along the midpoint of the fuselage cross, which is our typical assumption when it comes to markings but actually not correct in this particular case. Being past the point of no return, the chevron will have to be re-painted. Based on my rough analysis, the previous chevron position was just a TAD too low and I'm going to use this opportunity to shift it slightly higher.

Disregard comment then... maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

More fun with masking! I masked off the swastikas and did them before I tackled the chevrons. They turned out decently. You can see how the raised hinge messed up a bit of the white borders. This can be fixed with some focused masking and spraying. Between paint applications, I masked off the panel behind the exhaust panels and painted it with an mixture of black/brown. Ok... on to the chevrons. The thin borders were very fiddly to deal with as masks but the chevrons turned out fairly well, I must say. Again, a raised hinge on an oval port caused some slop but overall, I was happy with how they turned out. Except... I think they are just a tad too low. It's close but it's one of those nagging things that your eyes gets a hold of and doesn't let go. I decided to leave it overnight and dwell on it but the nagging feeling didn't go away. So I'm going to shift it up slightly. Out comes the Micromesh. I don't have to eradicate all of the paint but I want to make sure the surface is level. For good measure, I sliced off the raised hinge on that oval port. The Micromeshed area is covered in Neutral Grey to serve as a primer coat for the camo. Once the camo is restored, I'll re-apply the chevron.

I think another reason that a flat base coat = smaller chips is the way that hairspray dries. It has a tendency to pool on glossy surfaces.

Yes!

Thank you for breaking down hairspray chipping in such a comprehensive way, Woody. I've taken notes from your previous study and it helped to quantify some of the more mysterious aspects of this technique (flat base paint = smaller chips than gloss). The wet paper towel over stubborn areas is another brilliantly simple way to apply moisture. And I always have trouble trying to chip gloss or semi-gloss white paint of any kind.

Well, you would know much better than I since you have been building the model and I've not really looked at since I took photos of the box contents. Honestly, I was underwhelmed at first sight when I opened up that huge box and saw how few sprues were included. The feeling continued when I saw how wide and deep the recessed panel lines were. I will get around to building it but I'm truthfully not as excited about it as when this model was first announced. But that's just me!

I draw the line at a single thin border around an object/text. Tough and fiddly to pull off but do-able. Double bordered line of text? I don't think I'd attempt that using masks unless it was for a large 1 or 2-letter code.

Thanks guys! Appreciate the conversations as always! Hi Woody! Not to belabor the point but I don't see how my steps are any more complicated than yours. Assuming that our masks are the same for a late war black and white Luftwaffe cross (and disregarding the liquid mask step, which isn't necessary if the mask fit is good), we are inserting and removing the same pieces, just in a different order. And I'm not applying the same piece more than once.

It's a very helpful guide for those wanting a more accurate Folgore. I'm hoping Roy Sutherland or another enterprising aftermarket company can address some of these issues. Most notably the spinner and the fabric-covered control surfaces.

The number of issues with the Italeri Folgore kit, as pointed out by Mr. Di Terlizzi, is disappointing. I can see that you've done a great job Quang in addressing a number of these things including the exaggerated fabric detail on the control surfaces and the heavy riveting along the nose gun troughs. But I expected a better effort from an Italian company on this iconic Italian fighter... at least get the spinner right.

The fuselage band was masked off and the rest of the upper fuselage camo of RLM 70 and 71 were sprayed on. I alternated between RLM 70, 71 and 76 for touch-ups depending on how well I could visualize the demarcation lines rather than the more logical lighter-color-first order. Here's the camo after the masking around the fuselage band has been removed. Next up will be the tricky double chevrons and tail swastikas. Tricky because of the thin white borders. I did a test on a paint mule but that was on a surface with no raised features. But that is not the case in real life. You can see how the mask is already lifting over the raised hinge on the oval port. This may not turn out pretty but hopefully I'll get something that I can work with.

Thanks Duane! I know exactly what you are talking about. I stopped model building in the early 80's and started back up about 10 years ago. So much has changed in those 40 years. For me, the most significant difference is the internet. The direct access to the international modeling community is something that I would never have dreamed of back then. Places like LSP give us daily plastic hackers a chance to converse with like-minded modelers around the globe as well people in the industry... the actual people that are producing the kits, decals, enhancement sets and tools. It's pretty neat to be a part of.

Another observation... looking at the photo of the subject aircraft EB-v, notice the exhausts... They are not the round exhausts that come with the LFD conversion set... LFD did provide the highback conversion with both round and fishtail type exhausts... So... a quick email was sent to Mathieu at LFD and was promptly promised a set of fishtail exhausts for my project. Thank you Mathieu for the quick customer service response!

I'm still not clear on this. MR32-020 are late style barrels for the E-wing. Same shape as the late barrels that I have (MR32-082) except different length. Are you saying that MR32-082 are ok shape-wise as early barrels but need to be longer? I'll also check the Tamiya kit to see what barrels are included there. Thank you! I chose to try the Quinta Studios cockpit set for this build... Good to know!

Thank you! We are both at the same stage in our builds and updates look very similar! Thanks Gaz! Appreciate it! Just an FYI... there is a big difference between the Portrait machine in the video and the Portrait 2, which I have. Portrait 2 has the AutoBlade and adjustments to blade depth are made differently. Obviously there a lot of different ways to use these masks and I'm not saying I've found the perfect one... just one that seems to work for me. In terms of number of steps, I don't think mine is more complicated. Mine: 1. Apply outer mask 2. Spray white 3. Apply inner masks 4. Remove cross 5. Spray black 6. Remove all masks Woody's: 1. Apply entire mask 2. Remove cross 3. Spray black 4. Re-apply cross 5. Remove elbows 6. Spray white 7. Remove all masks

Thank you Kevin! The upper wing and fuselage crosses were painted next. Although the Eduard 1/48 Fw190A-5 instructions as well as the Eagle Cals 32-82 instructions call out black and white for the fuselage crosses, I chose to use RLM70 Black Green instead, based on the photo of Double Chevron... The fuselage band will be masked off so I can complete the camo painting.

Thank you Kagemusha and Troy! Appreciate and always look forward to your comments! I'm confused! When first asked about the XIVe conversions, without having chosen EB-V as the subject, you said that I would need the EARLY barrels. But after I posted that I was doing EB-V, you said that this aircraft had the LATE barrels. Honestly, from my perspective of the photo of EB-v that I posted above, I could go either way.

Thanks to Tom, I was able to get my Silhouette Portrait working again. So it is time to paint some markings. The underwing crosses are first. When using multi-color masks, my default painting order is outside to inside. This is helps prevent seepage of unwanted colors on the outside of the markings. There are exceptions of course but this is a good general rule to follow. One tip that greatly eases the placement of these masks is to pre-apply strips of paper (in this case, Post-Its) to the edges of the mask. This "frame" allows you to slide the mask into position much easier than just the mask itself. And it gives you additional, adhesive-free masking. Try it! Once the outline mask is put into position, all of the paint edges of the mask are burnished down with a wood toothpick and the white is sprayed. To get a smooth edge, the paint layers should be thin but "dry". Avoid pooling of paint, especially at the mask edges as this will cause the paint to crack upon mask removal. The remaining internal mask components are taped to help hold them together. The idea is to place these components, connected as one piece into the painted area. The mask was pre-marked with a Sharpie for orientation purposes. Although the shape is symmetric, there may be very slight variations in how the mask was cut so keeping the orientation will ensure a better interlocking fit of the mask components. I use a sharp knife to help lift the pieces off the backing paper that want to separate. The internal mask components are then carefully placed back onto the mask outline. Make sure you give ample time for the paint to dry before putting a mask over it. Once the internal components are in position, the tape is removed, along with the internal cross shape that will be painted black. To ensure the black paint doesn't seep where it is not supposed to, I like to use liquid mask to seal those joints. The black is sprayed next. After the paint is dry, you can remove the masks. The liquid mask is not strong enough to keep the mask components together so you'll have to pull off the individual mask pieces one by one. If all goes well, you should have your completed markings. The used mask parts are kept handy in case any paint repairs need to be done but I don't think I'll need them for the bottom crosses.

Excellent work! Yes, it's hard to go back to decals after using these masks. And it gives you so many marking options! Lots of fun and creative ways to use the cutter... I'm sure you'll discover a lot more uses.

Thank you for those pics! Very helpful. LFD does include a scribing template for this port but it'll be interesting to try to reproduce the crazy amount of screwheads on it. I'm interested to see how this turns out too! Focusing specifically on the wing gun configuration, I'm assuming that the Hispano 20mm cannon with the fairings are in the outboard location and the Browning 50cals are in the inboard location. This is based on the photo of the machine that I am intending to build: This matches the gun configuration of the Tamiya XVIe kit... Does this sound correct?

You're welcome! Please note my difficulty with cutting masks after cutting the plastic. Since adhesive can build up around the blade after cutting masks, you need to check the blade after cutting styrene to make sure that there are no plastic fragments stuck on the blade or around the blade housing. Thank you for the comment, Martin! Good to see you checking in! Thanks Tom! You saved my day! After reading your first response about the Portrait Autoblade, I took a look at mine. First thing I notice was that there were little chunks of styrene stuck to the base of the blade. These were cleaned off with a brush. And I figured out how to adjust the blade depth settinigs as you describe... depressing the plastic base near the blade until it clicks, which moves the blade depth one setting per click. After this, I attempted another mask print for the Nowotny markings, keeping a careful eye on the actual blade depth setting. After the Portrait tapped its way to the final setting, I confirmed on the blade itself that it was correct and the mask came out perfect. I wasn't able to verify what was happening before but I'm guessing that the styrene fragments were preventing the AutoBlade from retracting to correct depth when cutting Oramask. With new Autoblades enroute, I will mark this one as my designated styrene-cutting blade. Next will be an update on the painting of the markings.

Thanks Tom! That sounds like it might be the issue. I was unaware that you could change the AutoBlade settings manually and just trusted the tapping action thing to set the blade correctly. Maybe cutting the styrene affected the ability to set the blade settings automatically.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the comments and the information regarding the differences between the XVIe kit and the XIVe that I'm trying to build. It helps knowing that the XIVe wing is based on the VIII wing since Tamiya has produced both kits. I'm hoping to be able to make the necessary modifications without having to buy additional parts. The LFD conversion set includes scribing templates for the leading edge fuel tanks and the fuel ports. It also provides three new underside lights (port wing bottom, fuselage and starboard wing bottom) so I'm assuming those are taken care of. Not sure about the drain port on the lower surface... where is that located? Great idea! I've overlayed the Tamiya kit instruction plan views of the XVIe and VIII kits in Photoshop and I can see some of the differences including the leading edge fuel ports, the shorter aileron, and underside light positions. The LFD conversion set covers most of these wing modifications. Looks like I've got some homework to do!