Birdcage Corsair the Hard Way!

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks, fellas. I've done the oil paint fading now, and once I'm satisfied that it has dried enough, I'll give the entire model a flat coat, and then the final stages can begin.

 

Kev

[Kahunaminor]

Thanks, fellas. I've done the oil paint fading now, and once I'm satisfied that it has dried enough, I'll give the entire model a flat coat, and then the final stages can begin.

 

Kev

Just in time for Xmas mate. Nice timing!

 

Regards,

Edited November 24, 2017 by Kahunaminor

[Martinnfb]

Kev. this is highly regarded work in my eyes, kudos to you for your skills and persistence. Most likely the nicest Trumpeter out there and it is not even done, I really like to peek in once in a while.

Cheers

M.

[LSP_Ron]

I think it looks great!

[tchwrma]

Kevin, after read all the pages of your build, I feel happy to have the Tamiya Birdcage kit.

With it it will be much easier to have my Jolly.

What a work extense! And as always well done!

Congratulations!

Cheers, Paulo.

[Gazzas]

Looks good, Kevin.  When you mentioned what happened to your deal after you applied the heavily thinned clearcoat, I was reminded of the time I opened the green-topped bottle of my deal solvent and began to brush it on the decal.  Wherever the brush went, the decal disappeared... It was only one stroke, but destroyed the decal.

 

To my horror I realized I had opened my bottle of Tamiya Extra-Thin!

 

Gaz

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks, Gaz. I've actually had this issue once before, with some corrogard decals for a 1/144 767 - it didn't matter what I over-coated them with, they bubbled horribly. In the end I was able to fix them with a similar approach to the one I took here, but it's definitely both frustrating and mystifying. I just don't understand why the wing decals had a problem, but every other decal from the same sheet was fine!

 

Anyway, I've pretty much finished the weathering to my satisfaction now, so will post an update with photos later today.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks for those kind and generous words, Dan. I'm not sure I'm worthy of them, but I certainly appreciate you saying so! One day I'd like to tackle a project that doesn't throw me any curve balls, but I think I'm too addicted to the challenges of a difficult build.

 

I'm pleased to report, however, that this particular difficult build continues to creep towards the finish line. As far as I'm concerned, all the main painting and weathering is now complete:

 

 

 

I added some fuel staining forward of the windscreen with a dark brown oil wash, and some judicious chipping with coloured pencils:

 

 

 

I found a yellow-green pencil in my daughter's copious collection that I thought would be a convincing match for the primer colour, and added some additional subtle wear in relevant areas:

 

 

 

I didn't really want a heavily-chipped finish, as it just didn't seem appropriate in this case, so I kept it in check. In the close-up above, you can see that I haven't bothered to reinstate some of the missing panel lines, and various other flaws. I made a conscious decision about that, but I may revisit some of them if the mood strikes. The area over the wheel bays is wafer-thin, so I'm really reluctant to take anything sharp to that area at this point!

 

I've begun work on the landing gear, cleaning up the G-Factor brass and getting the resin wheels sorted out. Just the engine and prop remaining as the last major areas to complete, then.

 

Thanks as always for looking!

 

Kev

[Shaka HI]

Kev, the weathering is just superb. I am very impressed!

[LSP_Kevin]

Kev, the weathering is just superb. I am very impressed!

 

Thanks, Shaka. I think the pencil chipping below the starboard cockpit sill is a little unconvincing, so I may remove it yet.

 

Kev

[Daniel460]

I like it Kev. I'm sure you will pick it to death and I'm sure you are not done with the weathering. Once you get the legs on her and the engine in and the exhaust staining on her you will like it more.   

My only thought is to maybe knock down the white on the decals with a little dust.

 

Dan

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks, Dan. I'll consider dulling the markings further, but the photos make them look brighter than they really are in person. I've already done the exhaust staining, but you did remind me that I still haven't installed the exhausts themselves! Let's hope I can still get them in.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

A quick question if I may: what colour for the main gear legs? Underside colour?

 

Kev

[Allan Peters]

A quick question if I may: what colour for the main gear legs? Underside colour?

 

Kev

Definitely bottom colour, in your case light grey. Very good colour photos in Dana Bell's Birdcage book confirm this.

 

Allan

[Durangokid]

Dang Kev, I gotta hand it to ya.  With all the issues you ran into, I woulda given up a long time ago but you stuck with until the end.  It's really starting to look the part especially with the weathering.  Good work man...

 

Bryan