MikeA

This build started as amazing in a very challenging way and has just gotten better and better. Absolutely superb work. Those Wingnut kits fit together so well that there is no wiggle room in the assemblies, and then you go and convert it to end up with a finish as seen in the last few posts. Wow! Mike

Unfortunately key elements of the Eduard interior set are arguably not even suitable for the two seater. The forward instrument panel in particular is incorrect and will also not be correct for the majority of single seaters - if the details are of concern. The kit details, with some assistance from Airscale or similar, are a better bet. Always a trade off between fussing over the details and getting something that looks close with much less work I guess. Cheers Mike

I wonder if that is the Canadian Warbird Museum one that was restored in NZ and shipped over a few years ago. I was at the airshow in NZ when it had its flyover. There was the Lancaster, a Spitfire, a Mustang and a Mosquito all in formation and at low altitude for the flyover. The sound and feel of those Merlins was beyond description! I guess in the war everyone just got used to it. Made the classic jets pale in comparison. Cheers, Mike

That’s one beautiful base and very well thought out. Really looking forward to the eventual light show. Have a feeling it’s going to be spectacular with that base and stand. Cheers

This looks irresistible! I was always loathe to do more than one model of a particular plane. I spent what seemed half a lifetime correcting and detailing the Hasegawa kit before I’d even heard of PE etc. Now very tempted to spring for this one when it is out. Whatever faults there may be, as with the Revell two seater, it will be a damned fine kit to work with. Cheers

I very rarely use tweezers for PE like this, as I rapidly tired of trying to determine where a piece may have pinged to. My "go to" tool for this sort of stuff is a blunted toothpick moistened with saliva. Then my only problem is that often the saliva is stickier than the minuscule amount of glue required to attach the PE to the work - patience...... I also use the toothpick to hold PE when making the bends required. The PE work on this is stunning! I'm also amazed how well you have preserved an enhanced the detail with painting. I always struggle with not getting the detail smothered by the paint. Those directors and quad bofors are mind boggling when you look at their size. Great stuff! Mike

I may have been a tad stupid and simply launched into foiling without any prior practice, but managed to pull it off anyway. There are some incredible resources and resourceful people on this site, as mentioned in this thread already. Foiling in itself is not difficult and, if it stuffs up then just remove the foil panel and redo it. What is important is that you plan how you want to do the job and have a routine for each step of the process. It is by nature fiddly and quite repetitive, but immensely rewarding. Having said all that, I wouldn't be attempting narrow drop tanks without some prior practice on a similar shape. The process of foiling is in reality very forgiving, in the sense that mistakes are immediately and easily corrected. Which is certainly not my experience with most of the paint finishes available. Almost any air frame will do, especially where the number of tight compound curves are limited. Be prepared to have several goes at areas like wing roots. Cheers Mike

Not really much into the Japanese aircraft but there are some beauties amongst them. This is one of them I reckon, and your model has certainly done it justice!

That is one absolutely amazing paint finish! Incredible how you have managed to replicate the worn and patchy look. Have you got a build post somewhere?

Wonderful start to this one! Personally I found that spraying the foil gets by far the best consistent result. I cut the glue with 50/50 with 90% alcohol and sprayed two light coats on each piece of foil, allowing the first one to dry before doing the second. Always sprayed across the foil in two different directions. I did try using water, but also got some beading, plus it took too long to dry. Had no issues using alcohol - story of my life really! I also never had any problem with the glue drying in the airbrush. I used my double action brush and had the glue sitting in there for typically up to an hour before shooting alcohol through it and refilling. I'd fully strip it at the end of each session. For burnishing, artist paper blending stumps are great. I also used rounded toothpicks for the fine details. Always start from the centre and work out. Using the paper pencils allows you to use their edge to work the foil over the edge of the piece without tearing. For those pieces like ailerons I used two methods. The best was foiling both sides using one piece of foil by placing the piece on the foil along the sharp edge and working it over both sides of the part. Took some practice! The other way was simply taking the foil over the sharp edge to the first panel line on the second side, trimming it and then doing the rest of the second side. Easier, but not quite as nice. You're right though - keeping everything clean is the biggest thing. 90% alcohol is your friend. Using vaseline to protect the panels beside the one you're working with is the next biggest thing. Enjoy! Very therapeutic. Mike

Just a suggestion around getting the best finish for this very sad weathered variant of Mustang. Kitchen foil treated with lead fishing weights soaking in bleach will provide this finish very well. The foil dulls quickly to matt silver/gray and will typically have an uneven discolouration, which is exactly what you are after. You quickly get a feel for how long the foil should be left, as the bleach will actually dissolve the foil and perforate it. The time taken depends largely on how dilute you make the bleach. I found the heavy duty Reynolds foil to work very well and allowed for decent discolouration before being dissolved. Ordinary foil tends to get too thin. The foil is also very resilient to and takes paints and oil washes very well. There are some striking examples of older Russian jets on LSP finished in this way that I came across when doing the homework for my foiled Starfighter. Fiddly and time consuming, but very rewarding and imho gives a much better finish than any paint will. Cheers, Mike

Sublime paint work!

Looking good! Very sharp. I’m part way through my Tirpitz, but haven’t posted it as it is such slow work. A 3D jigsaw puzzle doing the late summer ‘43 scheme. The Revell Tirpitz is still the best of the 1/350 scale, but it is not entirely accurate in terms of fitout for any one period of the ship’s existence. Takes a lot of searching to sort it all out! Really looking forward to seeing this all come together. Cheers Mike

Definitely the best looking Spitfire! That finish is amazing. Would be great for an airbrush; just beggars belief with a brush. Very well done!

Two beautiful clean builds! Neither are common it seems and both turned out great. Cheers