LSP_K2

I too am wanting to do a Hellenic Rhino one day. I already have the BB pit, as well as a whole mess of P.P. stuff, in addition to various resin bits. I REALLY like the ghost scheme, and it’s my intention to do a really grungy looking one; I just think they are SO cool. Kevin

Spinner and props have been painted. I used a 50/50 blend of MM aluminum and dark anadonic grey to reduce the glare from a bright spinner on an otherwise drab airframe. Controlled oil wash was used to recreate fluid staining around spinner hub. Rear of blades have been painted tire black w/some dark pastels smeared around, as well as some LE dings with silver pencil. Metallic sides of blades were lightly scuffed with Scotch-Brite, and scratches/dings added with pencil.

Thanks for the favorable comments, I appreciate it. Yes, pastels were used for exhaust staining, laid down on top of a sprayed pattern of medium grey faded from front to back. I have a sneaky suspicion that this bird will end up looking pretty spiffy (I hope), especially for OOB. Kevin

Splotchy appearance has been achieved by spattering dark grey and black pastels on airframe, then blending with a large, soft brush. Some scuffs and dings have been added with pencil. Entire bottom still to receive wash, (soon I hope).

Rivets lost during sanding of wing to fuselage have been replaced with 0.3 mm drafting pencil. Only those rivets lost have been replaced using this method; all others will be accented with a darker grey wash.

I have sprayed cowling with Gunze clear blue. It doesn’t really show up in the photos, but gives a nice bluish cast to cowl from certain angles.

Still in need of clear coat and wash to make panel lines and rivets pop a little. An inverted view of botton to enable a perspective more or less head on.

Bottom painted and some preliminary weathering applied . This has been dull coated to protect the pastels while I paint upper fuselage area. I really wanted to add bombs to this plane, but bomb racks are so cheesy, I elected not to.

A tad off topic perhaps, but is anyone aware of any plans for a 1/32 Mirage 2000? I’ve also got a “thing” for delta wing birds, and I think the 2000 is awesome, to say the least; so graceful and sleek. Kevin

I had the exact same problem. I believe I followed the instructions properly, but engine front ended up rotated about 15 degrees or so. I don’t really recall exactly what my fix was, but it ended up with everything aligned to my satisfaction. Kevin

I may well follow your advice regarding cowl; thanks. My biggest issue will be the fuselage color(s), I've chosen; I absolutely can’t stand IJN green, so I’m using a dark green base as an alternative. Technically inaccurate, but ultimately, I have to be pleased with appearance. Kevin

Cowl was painted with Gunze tire black straight out of the bottle, then some very dark grey and black pastels smeared around, scrapes and dings added with dark grey pencil, (cowl still not finished). Kevin

One of the things I truly love about acryl blue, is that it feathers like an angel when wet sanded. Kind of pricy, but well worth it in my opinion. Kevin

Rear wing to fuselage area needs some serious attention. Between acryl blue and superglue, I still have some shallow spots. One more application of blue, and I’m ready to start slinging paint

Cowling has been pulled slightly forward to show pipes in this shot. Well, back to my cave! I seem to spend so much time in damp basements, one of my old girlfriends used to call me Dracula! Kevin

While fitting and eyeballing, I realized exhaust pipes are visible from behind through open cowl flaps, so pipes were sprayed with MM exhaust, followed with a dusting of burnt iron. I’ve been using this technique for years, and am perfectly content with the appearance. Fortunately, cowling is a friction fit, allowing for removal during painting process.

This picture actually illustrates two things at once. For one, on some un-restored Zeros, firewall and structural interior details between cowl and windscreen have traces of the metallic blue showing, so I have sprayed these areas. When adding dark green to fuselages, I intend to spray straight on only at this area, hopefully leaving some of the interior blue showing. Also, port wing root has been prepped for painting. The leading edge adjacent to the fuselage was giving me some trouble, but my diamond file made short work of it.

At long last, the mating of the fuselage to the wings. There seems to be a minor step at wing root that I hadn’t noticed before. This will be blended in with acryl blue. Rear of back canopy section is a really poor fit, so has to have a fillet of putty added to blend into fuselage. With any luck, I’ll be able to throw some paint at this tomorrow. Kevin

Sanding area of fuselage crown under rear canopy removed a mass of rivets. These have been replaced using a 0.3 mm drafting pencil and a portion of an index card. Kevin

As I prepare to attach the wing assembly to fuselage, I remembered that one issue with this kit as OOB, is that cockpit has no forward bulkhead. No bulkhead translates to looking at the interior portion of the lower wing, so this area needs to be painted. I’ll smear it up with darker greens and grays to help it disappear.

Thanks for the favorable comments guys, I really do appreciate it. In fact, it inspires me to keep going, so I may actually finish this one. Kevin

One more before I go back to the dungeon.

Another with different lighting.

Wing floats are for the most part finished. I thought about this a bit, and determined that since their primary function was no more than providing stability, I kept the weathering effects to a minimum. Sometimes, I think it’s all too easy to weather everything in sight, and this seems inconsistent with reality. Still, I enjoy trying to at least simulate a sort of war weary grunge, even if it is minimized. I applied a wash of slightly darkened base colors to make the rivets pop a little. I’m fairly content with their appearance, although again camera makes it appear more contrasty than it really is. . Kevin

Weathering of the cowling has commenced. I’m reluctant to say it’s finished, as I’ll undoubtedly tweak it at the end to maintain consistency with entire aircraft when project nears completion. Kevin