DoogsATX Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 On to the upper gray! Gunze C335 Medium Sea Gray (as called for in the painting guide), lightened with a bit of C338 Light Gray. Honestly I probably could have stood to lighten it a bit more and may revisit that tonight. Next up - if I don't go back for lightening or blending of any kind - is painting the non-slip surfaces on the wing stubs and tops of the engine doors. Some Vipers also have non-skid on the skids, but that seems like a super pain in the rear so I may skip it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lothar Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Your WIPs are always something to enjoy, admire and learn - now you've triggered my desire to get on of them KH Vipers Lothar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 That is sharp Matt! Your black basing technique is really bring out the best in this kit. I must give it a go sometime. I take it that it's most effective of light colours? Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 That is sharp Matt! Your black basing technique is really bring out the best in this kit. I must give it a go sometime. I take it that it's most effective of light colours? Craig Yeah, it's most effective on lighter colors, but works well for basically every color save black (where it gets really hard to see where you're spraying). It's definitely not as stark, but it still helps prevent the "cover the gray" issue with gray primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Got into some of the smaller painting concerns last night. First up, non-slip areas. Black cut back a bit with some light gray, but not too much. These are pretty new birds after all. Also tackled the base metallic for the exhausts last night. This is Alclad Pale Burnt Metal mixed with Alclad Steel. The exhausts test-fitted. Also masked and sprayed the hard upper/lower dividing line on the rotor cuffs to match the real thing. I've seen a few AH-1Zs with some dark gray stripes on the upper surfaces of the rotors and am thinking about reproducing those, but still sorting out how to get distance and perpendiculars aligned across all four. While I'm posting - anybody know what color Hellfires are painted? They look way darker than your usual olive drab. somnas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usmcski Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Wow, PHENOMENAL build!!! It's a good thing I have another one waiting in the wings, because there are definitely some things I'd do differently on my Z after watching some of the "in progress" threads on the net. BTW, Hellfires are all black with either blue (inert) or yellow (live) bands. Some would argue that they're CARC Green, but after handling several hundred of them, I can tell you that they're definitely black. Pay no attention to the green dummy HFs used at airshows... Semper, Ski somnas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 wow fantastic paint work, love the subtle shading effects. They may be 'new' birds, but they still dirty up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 BTW, Hellfires are all black with either blue (inert) or yellow (live) bands. Some would argue that they're CARC Green, but after handling several hundred of them, I can tell you that they're definitely black. Pay no attention to the green dummy HFs used at airshows... Semper, Ski Brilliant! Thanks! One more question - any Hellfires with solid seeker heads? The KH missiles have solid heads, but it seems like every Hellfire I can find pics of has a glass nose. Would really rather avoid having to buy a Hasegawa Apache to steal missiles from... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 Remasked and resprayed the non-slip areas last night, and also masked and sprayed stripes on one of the rotor blades. 90% of the pics I've found showing the tops of the blades show only one of them striped. And the pattern seems to vary, so I just decided to wing it. I try to ration how anal I get about accuracy, and this strikes me as an area where it's just not worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somnas Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 It saves you a lot of headache to let some things go. Anyway, it looks terrific! /Erik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 It saves you a lot of headache to let some things go. Anyway, it looks terrific! /Erik Yep. I can get really spun up about some things, but others...eh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Matt Some mighty nice progress Viper and all the extra work you're putting into the detail painting paying off. Looks tremendous Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Last night was lots of piddly work. Final cleanup and priming on the rocket cans, priming and painting some little bits I'd left off (pilot and gunner steps and such). Also got the first paint on the AIM-9s and their launch rails. I have to say, I'm rather impressed with these Sidewinders. I was going to use some Eduard ones, but when I cracked the package I found they were all horribly warped. Ugh. That's what happens when you shove things into packaging that tightly. Anyway, the Kitty Hawk AIM-9s are actually rather good and probably some of the better injection Sidewinders I've seen. The only ones I can honestly put above them would be the beautiful Great Wall AAMs that come with the F-15. Paint is Mr. Paint Light Gray FS 36375 (Light Ghost Gray, basically). I LOVE this paint. It's the only paint I've used the sprays better than Gunze or Tamiya. But man do I hate the supply chain. So far as I know, you can only order from Uschi or from Mr. Paint itself. Shipping from that part of Europe is expensive, and slow. I only got this paint yesterday, after ordering it way back when I was gearing up for the Mirage 2000. With US distribution and a stable supply, I could see switching largely over to this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 More ordnance fun...details on the Sidewinders and paintwork on the Hydra cans. Working my way up to the seeker heads on the AIM-9s and more aggressive weathering on the rocket launchers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lothar Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 When will you finally stop to turn my face green with envy ?? Lothar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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