scvrobeson

Update!!!! Blue Shades- 1$ to Frank Tichelli Hey guys, I had a bunch of time today with the break in my finals schedule, so I was able to move along with this build. Today, it was time to spray the Kazakh camo scheme on. I purchased the AKAN set, thinking it would have all of the colors I needed, except it only provided the underside blue and the medium blue for the top. So I had to mix up the grey and the navy blue. The grey was mixed from Tamiya Acrylics, XF-19 Sky Grey with a little XF-53 Neutral Grey put in to darken it, then post-shaded it with some really thinned down Sky Grey, to weather it a bit. The blue was the AKAN medium blue straight from the bottle, then some white was mixed in for weathering. I found out that the AKAN paint sprays well using Gunze Mr. Leveling Thinner, although I had a little trouble getting a really tight spray pattern, although that's probably the fault of my airbrush getting to the end of its life. The navy blue was mixed up from Model Master Enamels, using Blue Angels Blue, Dark Sea Blue, and a little True Blue. This sprayed much nicer using the Leveling Thinner, and finally I had a completed scheme down. Once the paint gets a chance to harden, I'll mask it back up to do the radome and tail surfaces using the radome grey. Enough of my rambling, it's time for the pictures! I really am digging this scheme, it looks so cool with the Kazakh colors on it! Now that the paint has dried up, I can start unmasking this beast, and see what's under all of the tape. Can't wait to see the finished product! That's all for now, I hope you all enjoy it. Hope to get the rest of it done soon now that school is all over on Thursday Thanks for reading in guys, all comments and critiques are welcomed and encouraged! You guys make it all worth it! Matt

Thanks Jason. I stuck to the standard prototype scheme of light grey on the plane, it seemed like the best idea instead of trying for a what-if scheme and having to source decals. Matt Thanks Maru! I'm glad you like it. It's a nice kit, so it was easy to put it together quickly. Sometimes you need a small project like this to clear the pipes out and speed up production after a big project. Matt That's awesome! Thanks for finding that Lee! I've seen that build, but scratch-building a whole kit is way out of my league, but maybe someday we'll get a kit of it in 1/32 Matt I know Jason! Maybe we'll get a resin kit at some point, probably too much to ask for a mainstream plastic kit, but I can wish.... Hope to get some progress on here soon, hopefully once I'm done studying for finals next week. Matt

Thanks Hans! I actually found that the AKAN paints weren't too hard to work with, just different than what I've worked with before. I tried them with alcohol, although I did some tests with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner, which seemed to work great. I'll probably try that with the other shades from the range. I did find that they did flake a bit if I touched it, so I have to touch up a couple of spots on the horizontal stabilizer. You can really see the difference between the blue on the underside in these shots between the russian scheme and the kazakh scheme, it really is a stark change. In these shots you can see how the AKAN paint came out, it's really nice and smooth, and when thinned with alcohol, actually dried and hardened very quickly. I know the front isn't perfectly centered, but I'll fix that by the time the paint goes on the top, since the radome is a different color than the rest of the plane on the kazakh side. That's all for now, I hope that you all enjoy this build. I hope to get the light grey on the top soon, then move on to the free-handed camo scheme on the top, which looks like it will be challenging. Hopefully I can pull it off without too many issues. Thanks for reading in everyone, I hope you all enjoy this build. All comments and critiques are welcomed. Matt

Thanks Harv! I'm glad you like it. The plan is coming together quite well actually, and I think it should come out well enough once the rest of the colors are added onto her. Hope to see some work on your builds coming up here soon! Matt

Thanks Jason! I'm glad that you like it. It really is a cool scheme, the Russian Falcons scheme is really bright, will contrast well with the Kazakh camo on the other side. Matt

THanks guys. I didn't know that Flightpath had anything in production, now I just wonder if it will be PE or resin? Because I personally prefer the resin bits, have more detail, and I like painting my own parts more. Hopefully Aires will get one on the market soon, wouldn't mind the extra detail for the Hawk. If all else fails though, does anyone know of resin seats for the Hawk? They're the MB-10s right? Matt

Hey everybody. Today I got the underside bright blue done on the Russian Falcons side of the plane, so that side is now complete! It's so cool to see that side of the plane all done, now it's just for the actual camo scheme once the AKAN paints are here. Anyone have any tips for working with those paints, I don't have any experience with them. The color really isn't that green in real life, I'm not sure what made the picture come out like that, it actually looks pretty close to the actual color I've seen in pictures. The color on the underside is actually really nice, and the demarcation line came out great! And the topside with all of the tape off!!!! This scheme is so cool!!!! I hope you all like how the scheme is coming out. I'm having tons of fun working on this one, and I hope that you guys are enjoying watching and reading about it. All comments and critiques are welcomed and encouraged. Hope to get some more progress done either next week or the week after, once school is done for the semester. Matt

Thanks Taff! Glad you like it. The airshow colors sure are bright and colorful. It's okay, it doesn't really look like a camo scheme, but I know that the other half will really look like a camo scheme, with the four colors on it. Hope to get on it soon. Matt

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy it. I'm really enjoying the Flanker, now I just need to figure out where I'm going to put it once I finish it, this thing is massive! Matt

Thanks Harv! Hopefully it'll be done in time for the Stockton show next year, so you can check it out! I'm really liking your P-38 too man, it's really coming together! Matt

Thanks Florin! I'm glad you like the paint scheme. I've got it unmasked now, and it came out great, didn't really nee any touch-ups from the other colors. I'll give it all a few days to harden up, hopefully giving the AKAN paints time to show up, then I can move on to the Kazakh scheme! Matt

Hey guys, I was looking at my Revell Hawk kit last night, and I was wondering if anyone had heard anything about a resin cockpit coming out? The Revell kit parts are nice, but there is a lot more scope for detail, especially with the blank sidewalls and average seats. Just thinking if Aires or CMK had taken up the helm to do an update? Matt

Thanks Hans! I'm glad you like the build, I'm having a ton of fun with the Flanker. I think you should give it a shot, jet modeling is good to do. I've never really been into jets, but they've got so many different techniques needed than props, especially with the engines and afterburners. I hope that I won't screw up too badly with the other scheme, I have to wait for the AKAN paints to arrive though, hopefully within the next week or so. Matt

Hey there Taff! I'm glad you like the blue. I went with the red first, then when that had hardened, I masked up for the light blue/dark blue camo. That's actually why I'm posting today. I sprayed the red on, using a mix of Guard Red and Russian Marker Red, both model master. Once that had set up, I went and masked that with even more tape, I'm running low on Tamiya tape again.... After it was all masked up, I started in on the blue. The lighter blue is a mix of Model Master FS Bright Blue, Ford Engine Blue, Flanker Medium Blue, and Flanker Blue/Grey, all to give me the proper light blue color. I had initially hated the shade, thinking it was way too dark, but once it dried, it looked right. And it's pretty close to the current Russian Flacons scheme, which seems to be pretty hard to nail down actually. The blue ended up being a mix of Ford Engine Blue and FS Bright Blue, with a splash of the Flanker Blue/Grey, all cut with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner, and sprayed free-hand. Once this sets up, I will do any touch-ups that are required, then move on to the Kazakh side of the plane. I hope you all enjoy the progress on this one. I'm having a ton of fun with this paint scheme, can't wait to get to the other half of it, I'm hoping this one comes out as well as I'm imagining in my mind. Thanks for reading in everyone, all comments and critiques are welcomed. Matt

I'm finally back to work on the Flanker!!!! I finally found some time to work on this one, and I started on the painting for the Russian Flacons side. I used a mix of Model Master Enamels, since no one seems to make the blue I needed. It's mixed up from RLM 24 Dark Blue, Ford Engine Blue, and a little splash of FS Bright Blue to give me the right color. It was all thinned down with Mr. Leveling Thinner, and lightly sprayed on. I think it came out pretty well, and once it's hardened, I can mask it up and spray the red. I probably won't get any more done it until Monday at the earliest, since I'm gone on a trip this weekend with the band. How does it look guys? A huge thank you goes out to Florin for providing me with a ton of pictures of the Russian Falcons planes, it really helped me get the masking and colors right. That's it for this update. I just want everyone to know that I am still plugging away on this build, it probably won't be done by the deadline, but I will get it done. All comments and critiques are welcomed. Thanks for reading in everybody. Matt

That's an interesting story Kevin. Maybe, just maybe you could stick two of them together to do an F-89Z, kind of like the F-82. Well guys, I've got more progress. I was able to get the cockpit put in place, and the fuselage sealed up. Revell designed the kit so that the fuselage would be closed, and then the cockpit would be inserted from underneath. It's a good system, and allowed to get the cockpit aligned in there, which is usually a problem for me. The kit parts come together very well, the slight warp went right away once the glue hit plastic. I used superglue to join everything together, since it also closes any seams between the parts. The only place really required filler was the instrument coaming, and a little strip along the spine. That just took some Squadron green putty and Mr. Surfacer to level out, and it's on to the next steps. It's a pretty big airplane, much larger than I guess I originally expected. For nose weight, I stuck four of these big guys in the nose, it should hold it down very well now. Sorry, I can't really get many good pictures of the cockpit now that it's sealed up in there, it's dark inside the fuselage. That's all for now. I hope to get the rest of the fuselage put together so I can re-scribe all of it. I figured it would be easier to re-scribe once the fuselage was joined, we'll see if that works or not.... Thanks to everyone for checking out this build and reading in, and all comments and critiques are welcomed. Especially if someone has some scribing tips, those would be great to hear. Matt

Thanks Christian! I'm glad you like it. I think this might be my best build as well, a lot of things came out exactly how I wanted. The weathering really came out just how I wanted it. Thanks for the kind words man, I hope you're doing well, along with your Ju-52. Matt

Thanks Kevin! I'm glad you like it! I think you should try re-scribing the Scorpion, I'm dry-fitting the parts, and it looks like some filling and sanding is in my future, and it's far easier to fix recessed detail instead of raised detail. Matt

Thanks Jason. I might actually take you up on that offer. How does the decal look? Is it fine, or does it look thick? I hope to see your RF-80 on here, that big resin nose should really help take care of any weight problems you have with the kit. I had tons of fun with this one, I hope you enjoy your build as well. I'm really glad you like how mine came out, I like these Korean War fighters, they were so bright and colorful, and the NMF are so fun to do. Matt

Thanks Kevin. I'm glad you like it! It was a great build, I had tons of fun weathering the NMF. Thanks John. I'm really enjoying your P-63 build, and working with the resin should prep you for the F-80, especially if you add any aftermarket. Keep going on that Kingcobra though. Thanks Maru! I'm glad you like it. It's not exactly flawless, but I'm sure happy with how it came out. I'd probably rank this as my best build so far. Thanks Harv! It wasn't too much of a bear, just getting through that fuselage warp was a problem, but nothing some(a lot) of putty couldn't fix. And a few re-sprays, since the Alclad showed any imperfections I had left in the finish. It was a great build though. I'm happy to get it done, so I can move on to something out, like my Scorpion. Matt

Hey Harv. I'm guessing you mean the build by Ralph Reise? Yeah, his work is out of this world. I hope to some day being even 25% as good as that guy. His builds are just exceptional every time. Can't wait to see how this one comes out. This kit was great to see in person, can't wait to see it painted up in black. Matt

Hey guys. I've finished up my Czech Model 1/32 F-80 Shooting Star. I added the True Details wheel wells and gun bay, and the Avionix cockpit to this build. The extra detail in the wheel well was really necessary, but maybe the cockpit wasn't so needed. The build itself was not too bad, there were some fit issues, but in a limited run kit, you kind of expect that, right? The biggest problem I had was that one of the fuselage halves had warped, and was significantly smaller in depth than the other side, but that just took some filling and sanding to fix. Finish is Alclad for the metal portions, and Model Master enamels for everything else. Hope you enjoy! Thanks guys. Hope it looks okay. All comments and critiques are welcome. Matt

Hey guys. I'm back with a little update. I've spent them morning detailing the instrument panel. There are no instrument decals in my kit, so I went in with a very fine paintbrush and some toothpicks, and did it all myself. Then went in and put Future on all of the gauges, to look like the glass on the instruments. Have some more detail painting to do, but I can do that later. Also started on the seats, putting the first colors on it. This is the radar operator's panel. That big hole in the middle will be occupied by the radar scope, which I haven't added in yet. And the main instrument panel. It looks better in person, my camera isn't the best, so i can't get in to capture the fine detail of the resin part. I hope you guys like it though. That's all for now. I hope you all are enjoying this build, and I'm doing an okay job on it. Hope to be back son with some more work on the Scorpion. Matt

Thanks Mike! I'm glad you like it. It's a great kit, and I think it would look OOB, I'm just one of those people who likes detailing stuff, and the kit came with the resin cockpit, so I didn't want to miss the opportunity. I hope you post your build on here when you start on it. Matt

Hey Kevin. My kit is actually in pretty good shape. There is a small warp, and the decals were a bit yellowed, but nothing major. The decals are in the window already to bleach, and the warp should fix itself when the fuselage is glued together. Knowing the fit of these Revell/Monogram kits is the reason for the re-scribe, since it's easier to scribe a couple of new lines after the putty stage than try to re-do the raised detail. Thanks for looking in on this one, if I find any helpful hints, I'll be sure to post them on here so anyone that needs them can use them. The Walkaround is probably the better reference, unless you need the panel line guide, or some black and white photos, which the D&S has lots of. What do you mean by 1.5 vac kits? I've looked at the 1/32 one, but scratch-building is not one of my talents, so I'd probably have to skip. Plus, it would be MASSIVE. It's a big plane in 1/48. Matt