EmperorKai Posted May 2, 2014 Author Share Posted May 2, 2014 (edited) Ultmo- Funny that the B-25H came up. I noticed yesterday that Sprue Bros just got these in, so I ordered one right away. I've already got some of the aftermarket waiting for the kit, but there's a few pieces I still need for that project. As a kid, the Mitchell was one of my favorites too. Ah yes, building models and "flying" them around the back yard The Stuka on the other hand... I've been steadily building up everything I'll need for the B, so that one is definitely on the list. I'm very appreciative and pleased that I'm able to give back a little to the forum that I've gotten so much inspiration from. There are so many incredible builds and talent going on here that it is hard to keep up with I'm really on a roll with the Sturmovik- I always get very energized at this stage of the project, which helps bringing them to conclusion. I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to spend a lot of time on this right now, though having done this a few times, I know I've got about 3 weeks before I get the itch for the next project... Added some minor chipping on the underside around the primary ammunition access panels and shell ejection ports. Much of this will disappear during the post shading and weathering process. The initial post-shading, which was applied via airbrush using a very thin mix of MM Russian Underside Blue with a dab of Testor's Flat Black. Because the effect is so subtle, I've taken the pictures are a little darker so it can be seen. A close up of the port side wing. On this first pass, I'm mainly adding shadows and color variation around areas I intend to fade or highlight later. Thanks for looking! Kai Edited May 2, 2014 by EmperorKai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 Worked on the landing flaps a bit today Here's a close up of the interior side of a landing flap from a recovered IL-2 wreck. I found a number of images that indicate that the landing flap can be unprimed silver metal, green zinc chromate, underside blue or this brownish-olive color. This seemed (to me at least) to be not only the most interesting of the possibilities, but appropriate for the time frame I am depicting. There are a number of different colors going on here. The chips near the center appear to the the bright yellowish ALG-1 primer. Aside from the corrosion and rust, on top of that is an olive-tan paint that in part may be aged primer, which had a tendency to turn brown. While I was targeting the picture above (I actually have 3 of this flap, but that one show the colors best), I had set in my mind that I would be satisfied if my result was a finish that had a number of different colors as well. I started off with a base coat of Tamiya XF-4 Yellow-Green. Once this was dry, a coat of AKI chipping fluid was applied. I then applied a thinned coat of MM Raw Sienna. Care was taken to not net a solid coat, but rather semi-transparent coating with some of the Yellow-Green poking through. I then heavily chipping the broad surfaces only- the vertical surface that are on end in this image were left the Raw Sienna color. Also, in wetting the paint for chipping, I heavily tinted the water with Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black (basically a wash), which added shadows and started to blend these diverse colors a bit. The water-Tamiya wash was extremely forgiving and very easy to clean up where necessary. Another shot (a little on the bright side- sorry) that shows to good affect how terrible this finish looks. I then mixed a thinned mix of MM Raw Sienna and MM SAC Bomber Green in about equal parts. I was initially looking for something a bit more tan, and in retrospect SAC Bomber Tan or an adjustment in the ratio may be a better choice. Nevertheless, I'm pretty satisfied with the net result. The Raw Sienna shows nicely. The final overspray was applied only to the larger surface areas, and avoided concave corners. A final pic. A couple of areas chipped down to the metal and will need a bit of clean up. Thanks for looking! Kai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultmo Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted May 4, 2014 Author Share Posted May 4, 2014 (edited) Spent a little more time on the underside- here's some pin wash before-after pics The post shading is complete here. A Tamiya Clear Gloss was airbrushed and the kit Russian star decals applied. I believe the most appropriate (typical) underwing stars for Zavod 18 for this time period had a white border. The kit decals at first seemed like they might be on the thick side, but they reacted well to Solvaset. It was necessary to burnish them a bit with a wet toothpick. A pin-wash with Mig Dark Wash was then applied. Clean up was achieved by gently rubbing it clean with my finger and a dab of spirit. A closer look at the nose area and air filter. A few steps remain- Some pin-wash at areas I missed, and then clean up and fading. The stars will be toned down as well. Thanks for looking! Kai Edited May 17, 2014 by EmperorKai Learstang and Kagemusha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mz826 Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Looks awesome Kai! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Awesome paint work. Especially on the flaps. Your photos are great, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urs Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Stunning results with the flap, great reading with some learning effect on my side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultmo Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Kai... I really like your painting style. I think it really gives a nice effect. Can't wait to see it all come together... Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 (edited) Thanks for all the kind words! I hope my step-by-step is not too boring. I know you guys probably already know a lot of these techniques, but I tend to forget project to project, and might need to refer back to these postings. The project is moving along pretty quickly now, though it has had its moments. To facilitate handling of the model while working on the underside, I masked a couple of areas with Tamiya tape. Unfortunately handling wore away some of the paint where I missed, and worse yet, the tape peeled away some of the paint. The moral of the story here is that one should NOT mask over areas with chipping fluid. The portside incurred similar paint damage as well. However, lesson learned and it all cleaned up well enough with another session with the airbrush. As this is not yet the final paint, I'm fortunately able to get away with quite a bit at this stage. The landing flaps are now nearly complete as well. Here, a shot with the flaps in various stages- the top with just the Tamiya clear coat. The flap in the middle has the Mig Dark Wash applied, and the bottom flap has been cleaned up. A coat of Tamiya clear was applied to the upper surfaces in preparation for markings. While that dried, I spent some time working on the markings. I have the Montex masks (K32194) for Zoob's aircraft, however the masking for the number 2 is too big. After careful scaling with the photo of Zoob's plane, I calculate that the 2 should be about .803 inches tall- the Montex 2 comes in at 1.05 inches. So I cropped the photo, printed it to scale and then cut a correctly sized 2 from Friskit masking. At this point, I think applying the number 2 marking after the white wash will be the best approach. While considering the sizing issues with the number 2, I also scrutinized the Russian stars as well. As it turns out, the kit supplied stars scale very appropriately to the photo (numbered 6 and 7 on the sheet, no border). The rudder star should have a span of 1.15 inches, and the fuselage star a span of .64 inches. I did notice though that almost all the documentation shows the fuselage star too far forward- the top point of the star should be about 33% of the length between the stabilizer root and the vertical rear fuselage seam just behind the cockpit. The star on the rudder was cut down the center so it would lay down better. As with the wing decals, the markings laid down well with an application of Solvaset. They are also all too bright and will need to be faded. Very close now. Still need to address the bort numbers, but then a dull coat and then start on the white wash. Thanks for looking! Kai Edited May 6, 2014 by EmperorKai Zero77 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Too bad about the masking mishap, but it looks like you recovered quite well. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 (edited) Thanks for the encouragement! I'll be looking forward to your build John Spent that last day or so getting a good dull coat down in preparation for the whitewash. The scary part about this next stage is that the process entails an "oh my God, what have I done?" step. I think this is part of what makes whitewash finishes challenging. Applied the bort numbers to the tail (just above the forward arm of the star on the fin) and the landing gear fairings. Was almost at at the point where I thought I might need to make my own, but then found some serial numbers for a 1/48 AIM-54 Phoenix missiles that look pretty good. Which brings me to my next thought, even though the aircraft didn't have many markings, the kit really could use a follow up decal sheet with all the markings that get missed. Bort numbers, variations on the Russian stars, armament markings (uncommon, but occasionally there really was stenciling on the bombs and rockets), maybe the aiming lines on the windshield, etc. To start, I mixed a batch of "killed" white that should get me through the entire whitewash. Colors used were Tamiya XF-2 Flat White (1/2 of small jar), XF-58 Olive Green (1 dab) and XF-19 Sky Grey (3 dabs) It was thinned slightly with water and hand bushed around the stars and rudder to serve as a background for the aircraft number. Note that the chipping fluid hasn't been applied yet for this step. The homemade mask made from Friskit was then positioned carefully and the surrounding area masked off. Here you can see the rough application around the markings. The left leg of the star was intentionally cut short with the whitewash. The aircraft number applied and the masking removed. It turned out a slightly darker red, but I think it still works. And for comparison. Of note is the left leg of the star, the angle of the 2 and the bort number. The portside. The 2 was basically lined up with the trailing edge of the rudder. The mass balance on top of the rudder broke off during the painting process (the only casualty fortunately). Instead of using AKI chipping fluid, I decided to use 2 coats of Tresemme Fine Mist hairspray, which sprays very nicely over the larger area of the topside. I ordered a 6-pack of this (a lifetime supply) for about $20 and have had great results with it. I'll be working on the whitewash over the weekend, so more to follow! Thanks for looking! Kai Edited May 17, 2014 by EmperorKai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted May 10, 2014 Author Share Posted May 10, 2014 (edited) Was able to put in about 9 good hours of hobby time today (or about 12 episodes of Star Trek) Since quite a bit transpired, I'll break this into 2 posts. So, part 1: Oh my god, what have I done? A quick shot of the paints used for the white wash, which was mixed in a partial jar of Tamiya Flat White. As mentioned in my last post, 2 coats of hairspray were applied. To have my reference photos readily accessible, I printed them off, cut them out and taped them to poster board. The board was then setup on a sheet music stand that I normally use for instructions, books, etc. The mix was thinned slightly with water and applied with a small brush. This is about as bad as it gets, and honestly, it was hard to take pictures of it much less look at it. The tail end of it The propeller and canopy I then airbrushed the same mix over the whole mess, which took several sessions to build up slowly. The nose cone for comparison, which is already starting to look better. Edited May 10, 2014 by EmperorKai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted May 10, 2014 Author Share Posted May 10, 2014 (edited) Part 2: Whew! Once everything had dried, I started chipping away with round toothpicks, a small brush and water. The front half of the airframe done. For the most part, I tried to stay true to the Zoob picture, but ultimately I incorporated elements from all the images into the process. From 11 o'clock high. As noted previously, more was worn away on the portside walkway than the starboard. Most of the chipping was done around the engine and crew access areas. Not very much was done on the outboard wings, though they were very lightly wet sanded with fine sandpaper. Also completed the propeller and was able to finally glue that together proper. For these photos, it has been dry fitted for now. A final shot from the front quarter. Will be working on the rear fuselage and tail next. Thanks for looking! Kai Edited May 10, 2014 by EmperorKai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Wow, what an amazing transformation! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Fantastic whitewash, some of our finest politicians would be proud! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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