Ironwing Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Kev, With all the incredible effort you put into the site, its a wonder you have time to build anything; not only build, but do such a beautiful job on everything you touch. Superlative work Bud. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 25, 2014 Author Share Posted May 25, 2014 Thanks for the kind words chaps. The gloss black is already touch dry, but I'll have to judge carefully when the right time is to do any polishing - especially on the blemishes. I've managed to pull the two large hairs out of the paint work, as they weren't as embedded as they appear to be in the photo. That section will still need some remedial work however. It will also be interesting to see how the decals perform over the Alclad Polished Aluminium. My guess is I'll have to gloss coat them... Kev Girlscanplay2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutik Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Really nice bird and paintjob As for the hairs: I should consider wearing a bandana or a surgeons headwear when starting my next airbrush session Well, I wear goggles (have to every time, the old eyes) and a protective mask when using an airbrush, so a headgear more or less wouldn't make any difference... Regards - dutik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 25, 2014 Author Share Posted May 25, 2014 Thanks Dutik. With 2 dogs, two cats and a (almost) teenage daughter, hairs are an ever-present threat in my household. The ones that landed on the model came off one of our dogs, via my jumper. Rather than wearing headgear, I'd have to change clothes after every pat! Kev Girlscanplay2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 26, 2014 Author Share Posted May 26, 2014 Thanks Peter. I'll give it a sniff when I get the chance. I'll have to make sure no one's watching first... Kev Lee White 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 26, 2014 Author Share Posted May 26, 2014 Thanks again chaps. Dan - a test shot of the HK Do 335 is waiting for me at the post office, so that's excuse enough to put the Texan aside for a while to let the gloss black fully harden. Peter - I did the sniff test and couldn't detect any kind of paint fragrance, but I was still able to leave a mark in the paint with my gloved thumb. So while touch dry and smell-free, it's not ready yet. I did give the outer wings a good polish with Micromesh pads, and a light re-coat all over with the gloss black, followed by a light 'flash' coat. No more hairs as far as I can tell, and it's all looking pretty good. I did find a couple of flaws along the wing trailing edge, but I'm not going to fix them. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillip1 Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Kevin, You have made some really good progress on this build. You have chosen a difficult subject/color scheme and what you have done to get this far is impressive. Also, your continuous support to the other modelers here is appreciated. I look forward to seeing the finished product. Phillip1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 OK folks, the moment I've been dreading: the Alclad is done! If I'm honest it doesn't look anywhere near as good as I'd hoped, which was too achieve a similar highly-polished aluminium finish to the one on my Hughes racer. Still, I don't think it looks bad, and I've now committed to having it ready for the show next weekend. For some reason though the Alclad came out noticeably patchy, and I can only presume it was due to inconsistent surface preparation. Since the kit's surface isn't perfectly smooth, working around all those rivets and raised details with polishing pads is very awkward, and I clearly wasn't as successful as I'd hoped. Next time I tackle a project like this, I'll use some polishing compound and a buffing wheel in the Dremel. The other issue I had was that the tape I used to mask the undersides decided to - literally - make an impression in the gloss coat. I've had this happen before, and it's a sign of insufficient curing time for the paint - always a trap with acrylics! Anyway, it's not at all noticeable in the photo below, and I suspect another gloss coat or two will go a long way to addressing the issue. And here's a final shot hinting at what it might look like finished: The main issue that hits me immediately is that red on the tail rudder decals is noticeably darker than the paint I used everywhere else. Oh well. Kev Out2gtcha, SirBlueHenry and Rdrunner 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Lovely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr b Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Wow.....really looking good.....the finish looks very smooth n clean Colourful bird .....hope to see it done up soon Looks like we are around the same progress on our texans Just can't find the motivation to get the last bits done on mine Maybe this weekend.......mind is on other things Great work thus far Kev Rgds Mr b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Wow Kev, Stunning, seriously, stunning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 That looks really great, payback for your perseverance. Cheers Den Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 Thanks fellas - you're all too kind! I'm pleased with it though, and even more so now. After a marathon decalling session, they're all on, and the finish line is in sight. The decals themselves are really strange beasts. They settle down beautifully with near invisible carrier film: But the secret is to land them so you don't have to move them, because they just don't want to move once they've landed. I originally got the port-side national insignia on a little crookedly, and my attempts to relocate it resulted in some damage: I've just gotta decide whether I repair it with paint or spare decal. Anyway, here's a glamour shot summarising the current state of play: It's not perfect, but given how things have gone so far, I'm really happy to be at this point. A question for my fair readers though: clear gloss coat or not? Kev KUROK, jgrease, Whitey and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 That's a real knock-out, Kevin. Great work. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 Thanks Mark, I appreciate your looking in! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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