dmthamade

Well, i did save some of the pics!! http://www.916-starfighter.de/Large/2393.htm http://www.916-starfighter.de/Large/2601.htm http://www.916-starfighter.de/Large/2382.htm http://www.916-starfighter.de/Large/2110.htm There is one pic with tip tanks fully painted orange, though this is a Zip with the towed target, maybe they wanted the tow plane as bright as possible?

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. You all are right, there is always that one kit that goes sideways. Glad i went back to this one, for the longest time(decades!!) I've wanted a Luftwaffe Zip in this scheme. Tried the Hasegawa and Revell kits, but inexperience and lack of decals stopped me. The Italeri kit for me is a better base than the other two kits, this is the fourth Italeri Zip i've finished, all schemes i've wanted for a long time. The orange underwing tanks is indeed a rare sight, Rainer. IIRC on 916(?), i did find maybe four pics of the tanks painted this way. Give me some time, i'll find them. Don't think i saved them so i'll be a while. Don

Sometimes you can use old brass from shooting, sizing may be limited. Don

Done with this. Lost more than a few parts when i put it away, been cleaning up, have a bad feeling i went too far. Still haven't found the exhaust can...final assembly i couldn't get one wing tank to stayed glued, first time the tank/pylon fell over, dried that way. I "gently removed it", reglued it, knocked it off... get the picture? Nothing to do with the kit itself, fourth Italeri Zip i built, so nothing new, just the builder(me) made "some" mistakes. Anyway, some pics. Don

Have to say, i would never have known the stripes are incorrect. All i see is a great colorful build!! Reminds me of a JV44 bird. Don

I usually have to apply more than one coat of gloss, two, sometimes three. i found if i tried to do it in one, i got sags, filled in panel lines...never found any prep work needed other than clean for dust/dirt. Practice with pressures, tip size, pressures. Better painters than me should be along soon, to give you more specific ideas. Don

Woodwork paint really well done!! Looking forward to the candy cane color scheme. Don

You picked a great scheme!! Very colorful. Back in the day, the Aggressors and Top Gun planes had such a variety of schemes, miss those days... Don

Have to say, i treat EVERYTHING in our hobby that's paint/glue/thinner/etc as a hazard to my health, and act accordingly.....usually. As for chemicals i've used in my life, the ones in my job are a lot more frightening and lethal than my hobby stuff. Carb dip, degreasers, brakleen, gas, diesel, used oil....they'll kill me first. Don

It's been really busy at work, even with the stay at home orders and non essential closures. Have had very little time or energy for models, just enough energy to lurk a bit. Saturday morning, started in on the paint, and by tonight, sunday, i had all the paint down on the build. I stayed with the Norm 72 scheme, want to see it through to completion. The last time it looked like this was just over 2 months ago. All paints again worked great, really like the AK Real Colors and the Tamiya Lacquer Paints. Hope to clear coat it Wednesday, then decals Saturday. I was going to strip the tanks, but they look workable and i'm almost out of paint. This paint is pretty tough, but stripped easily with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. No hard scrubbing or scraping, soaked a paper towel and wiped away. Don

Great build, in colors not seen often if ever on a 190. Can't remember the last time i saw a early 190 build. Don

Tired of looking at this one on the SOD. Got a hand full of paper towels, cup full of Mr. Color Leveling Thinner and sat out on the rear porch. Half hour later, i got this. Stuff took off the paint, clearcoat and decals quickly and with no damage anywhere. Will have to refill a couple of spots, but this is close to repaint as is. Now i have to think what i will do for decals. Really want the Norm 72 scheme, i'm pretty certain i have the needed decals, but after the trouble with silvering, may rethink this...anyway, i will restart this build. Don

Well, this one went to the SOD. Clear coat did some weird things, to fix this means a complete strip and redo. I should have enough decals to do a redo, but not going to happen for a while. Doing some cars now, also a move will happen within a year to year and a half. Don't want to do an expensive build only to trash or break it due to a move. Don

Well, it's been 6 days of stencils. A quarter of the stencils went on ok, the rest have been either a little or a lot of work. They are either a mix of the Daco or kit decals, some needed a single pass of setting fluid, some needed a shot of Future. Tried 5 different setting solutions, the one that was the most effective on decals was the Tamiya Decal Adhesive, Softener type. After all this, after the gloss clear coat, there are still two or three that have silvered. Also managed to apply two or three in the wrong spots....I'm going to let the clear harden 'til sunday, then hit it with a panel line wash. Don

This has triggered long forgotten memories!! Late 70's-early 80's i was in auto trade school. Campus had an aircraft maintenance course among others. They had aircraft and helicopters for hands on training (non airworthy) One of them was an Avenger. I remember going for lunch, occasionally they would start them up, including the Avenger, lots of smoke out of that one!! Didn't understand the significance of what was there, wonder where that plane went... Don

Color scheme is a surprise!! Are you going to paint the fuselage spine/upper surfaces as well? Any mottling on the sides? Don

That's a nice build!! I did one of these, but i cheated. It was a curbside build, so, easy to do. Don

Have to admit, if you hadn't said anything, i wouldn't have noticed. Did go look at my completed build, just to make sure... Don

Very interested in the tutorial!! Thanks for taking the time!! Don

Good to hear you have a handle on Techmod decals. Can't help too much with the weathering, imagine some chipping/scratches/oil staining? typical stuff. Darker than Dark Earth? Don't think that warrants a strip and repaint. Again. Don

I need to add some history of this aircraft. It still exists, in a museum in Niederalteich, Germany. Named after Gerhard Neumann, engineer with a colorful life. https://f-104.de/geschichte/gerhard-neumann/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Neumann The aircraft i'm building has a brief history http://www.916-starfighter.de/Large/2373.htm Don

Cockpit does look great, hopefully you can save it. I just sprayed a build with AK Real Colors Modern, and had no issues with paint pulling up. I did prime with my go to, Tamiya spraybomb primer. I wish i had far better ventilation, i would definitely use these and other Acrylic Lacquers, they spray so nicely. Don

Thanks, guys. Have to say, the build took a slight wobble. The stencils silvered, badly. Did everything as per SOP, then the usual fixes for silvering failed. First time using Astra decals, the stencils are all on one sheet, crosses and numerals on different sheet. The stencils that failed all have large areas of clear on them, so when they silver, they SILVER!! I do know the kit stencils work OK, have used them before. Will use them, drawback being they are in english with exception of some specifics. Small enough to be ok(for me, anyway) Time to get back to it. Rainer, what was your association with the Starfighter? Don

Those colors are really an eye opener!! Don't think i've ever seen a spitfire in those colors. Look forward to more progress. Don

aki? Is this AK Interactive? IIRC it's an acrylic paint? Think you found the answer, you need to prime the build. After having some disasters with acrylics, EVERYTHING gets primed!! Tamiya spray bomb primer, even the Tamiya XF series airbrushed on i've used as primer under various acrylics, no more pulling off paint. Don