mdeanstrauss Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 Mitch Nice job in tackling the belts .. they look spot on. Peter Thanks again, again Peter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) This afternoon (one of my last before classes resume again on Monday) I worked on one of the cockpit side sections... I had a little difficulty laying down the X-18 black paint with a brush as it wanted to act sludgy... I've become spoiled by the near perfection of air brushing but I couldn't see how I could mask off the interior green sections to spray on the black... I also marfed up the air canisters trying to apply some PE straps from Eduard... I made a mess of the straps and when one broke apart I said "the heck with it!" (sort off) I sanded down the canisters and now they look a bit corroded... The fact is, when I dry fit the cockpit into the fuselage, the canisters were pretty much obscured, so only you know and I know what a mess I made... What you can see when the cockpit is enclosed in the fuse, are the nice resin seat and the micro-textile belts... THOSE are the money AM purchases! Edited January 10, 2013 by mdeanstrauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KallistiUK Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Ooo this looks good! I built the Mk IX spit a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it and now I have a Mk VIII also in my stash to complete at some point as an 81 Sqn in Burma aircraft. I went and bought the same barracuda AM as you have plus some PE etc so interested to see how you do with it. However, not wishing to be critical, but is that the right shade of cockpit green or is it the lighting? On my screen its showing up quite bright and quite green whereas every photo I've seen has it more muted and pastel shaded... I've also got the HobbyBoss 1:32 Mk Vb that I plan to convert to a Vc with the resin wing conversions from Grey Matter Figures - will be doing that after I complete my Hurricane IIc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 (edited) Ooo this looks good! I built the Mk IX spit a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it and now I have a Mk VIII also in my stash to complete at some point as an 81 Sqn in Burma aircraft. I went and bought the same barracuda AM as you have plus some PE etc so interested to see how you do with it. However, not wishing to be critical, but is that the right shade of cockpit green or is it the lighting? On my screen its showing up quite bright and quite green whereas every photo I've seen has it more muted and pastel shaded... I've also got the HobbyBoss 1:32 Mk Vb that I plan to convert to a Vc with the resin wing conversions from Grey Matter Figures - will be doing that after I complete my Hurricane IIc The interior green I use is from a Vallejo RAF paint set... You probably know better than I how accurate it is... nevertheless, this is the color I committed to... thanks for looking in... btw, other pictures of the interior green are not as bright... the aforementioned one was a quickie with my iPhone which makes it a little more apple greenie... Edited January 11, 2013 by mdeanstrauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 (edited) Mitch Nothing like jumping to plan 2 when plan one falls off the cliff. As long as the canisters won't be seen, it's no biggie. One idea I had was to sand them down and just make new straps from Tamiya masking tape, a bit of paint and you're home free. Side wall details look real good. I normally find thinning out the Tamiya paints with a bit of water and then brushing on a few light coats, keeps the paint smooth and easy to work with. Keep 'em coming Edited January 11, 2013 by Peterpools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 (edited) Mitch Nothing like jumping to plan 2 when plan one falls off the cliff. As long as the canisters won't be seen, it's no biggie. One idea I had was to sand them down and just make new straps from Tamiya masking tape, a bit of paint and you're home free. Side wall details look real good. I normally find thinning out the Tamiya paints with a bit of water and then brushing on a few light coats, keeps the paint smooth and easy to work with. Keep 'em coming Here you go Peter... great idea... looks better and I feel better! thanks again, m. Edited January 11, 2013 by mdeanstrauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KallistiUK Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I find the X-18 paint is a bit "sludgy" at the best of times! I tend to use the Nato Black colour for black now as its actually very dark grey and IMHO it looks more in scale than pure black The canisters look great now with the new straps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I find the X-18 paint is a bit "sludgy" at the best of times! I tend to use the Nato Black colour for black now as its actually very dark grey and IMHO it looks more in scale than pure black Actually, NATO Black is a very dark green. Any of the 'off blacks' are generally better than pure black on scale models, but my favourite at the moment is Tamiya's XF-85 Rubber. FWIW, the Tamiya acrylics are all terrible for brush painting, and best avoided for that. The best acrylic I've found so far for brush painting is the Vallejo Model Color (not the Model Air range), but my experience is admittedly limited. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Thanks guys for the paint advice... I agree that the Vallejo brushes on better... I have switched, at least for now, to Vallejo black... Today I scored a macro lens... strange beast with very shallow depth of field, but made for close up work... here's one of my first shots with the lens of the cockpit partially dry fit... must soon put a was on the various sections... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloorwestSiR Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Looks good to me. I haven't been brave enough to try those belts yet. I've also switched to using Vallejo when I have to brush paint small details. If I have to brush paint Tamiya, they make a retarder that seems to help it go on smoother. I just dip my brush in the retarder and then into the paint I'm using. You don't much. Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 (edited) For this WIP, I wanted to work almost exclusively with my Nikon D700, but I found with all my lenses that I could not get close enough to take an image without being backed way off as a result of lens focal differences... I think the Full Frame sensor/FX lens combination is less forgiving in extreme close-ups... so, I sold the farm and got a Nikkor micro (macro) lens which allows a 1:1 close up... i.e. filling the full sensor with the chosen image... all well and good, but the depth of field capture is now a challenge to manage... still those parts of the image in focus are really very nicely captured... Shown below is the dry fit of the main office with the left side attached attached... just finished this tonight... the Eduard "stick-on" PE and some of the Barracuda decals really pop out and give life to the interior... it's, by far, the most interesting interior I've put together... I still need to give the pit a wash to add a little real world wear to it... Edited January 12, 2013 by mdeanstrauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KallistiUK Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Wow that lens does make a difference - superb! I get frustrated with my camera - its not a clever one and its macro function is very basic. Looking great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 Wow that lens does make a difference - superb! thanks, K... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 Looks good to me. I haven't been brave enough to try those belts yet. Carl Thanks for looking in... those belts were intimidating at first... but doable with the correct tools... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Cockpit wrap-up... Well... after a week of fairly intensive focus, the Spit's cockpit is done... next step will be to enclose it in the fuselage... Below are some shots of the final pilot's office... The first two are of the fuselage sides, with the cockpit sides attached... You'll note that I gave each side a light burnt umber/mineral spirits wash... I have, in the past, "over-aged" my kits, but this time I wish to go for a more subtle approach, which I think I achieved. The next two shots are the fuselage sides with the central cockpit attached... It's nice to capture these images because once the fuselage is buttoned up, the details of the cockpit will not longer be quite so visible... You'll note in the image just below the resin air hose from the Barracudacast cockpit upgrade... the hose is perhaps the best item in the upgrade because this particular bit does not exist at all in Tamiya's kit... Finally, some shots of the office from overhead... In sum... is this the best Tamiya 1/32 cockpit ever? No... but, it is the very best one I think I could produce... I am pleased with it... What brought the cockpit to life was a baseline of excellent design and engineering by Tamiya... Secondly, the Eduard "stick-on" PE bits and pieces add some nice pop to he pit's appearance... Equivalently important are some excellent "placard" decals provided with the Barracudacast upgrade... Finally, the resin seat, resin air hose, and the incredible HGW belts finish off the effort in a very nice way...The cockpit was a lot of fun... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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