I'm In!

[Guest]

Wow Shaka, looks wonderful....Harv

[Shaka HI]

Thanks Harv! It doesn't look as harsh in real life..I should calibrate the WB and get some better shots.

[mozart]

Straight black is too harsh for anything in my book Shaka, it's just too black for a scale colour so I always use a grey of some type depending on the location etc. Having said that your spraying technique especially of the areas around the gun ports looks spot on!

Max

[Shaka HI]

Agree Max! I lightened the original mix, but I'm afraid it's still a bit too stark....but I'll move on. Definitely learning a lot and building up my confidence level!

 

(Bloody hell,  I can't find one of the exhaust..I hope it's somewhere and I can find it in the AM!)

Edited May 11, 2016 by Shaka HI

[LSP_Kevin]

I like it! The black is a little stark, granted, but I think otherwise your execution is terrific!

 

Kev

[Shaka HI]

Lightened the gun stains a bit, but it's still a bit too stark. Also, accentuated the bottom of the aircraft. My initial plan was to moderately weather the model, but I'm finding that dirtying things up is fun and now it's starting to look a bit beat up. I'll need to study up on the streaking that occurs on the bottom of this aircraft -- if there's any fool-proof techniques, please share.

 

 

(This is a beautiful aircraft -- I can understand the passion for it!)

Edited May 12, 2016 by Shaka HI

[mozart]

The top looks really good Shaka, just right.  I'm no Spitfire expert but I can't see a reason why there would be smoke staining behind the shell ejector holes though on the underwing, perhaps you need to check out a couple of period pics?

max

[dennismcc]

Here's a very interesting thread on the subject of smoke staining.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/77840-gun-smoke/?hl=staining

and another

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234906674-spitfire-blast-tubes/

 

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[dmthamade]

Lightened the gun stains a bit, but it's still a bit too stark. Also, accentuated the bottom of the aircraft. My initial plan was to moderately weather the model, but I'm finding that dirtying things up is fun and now it's starting to look a bit beat up.

 

 

 

Weathering is a lot of fun and it adds a lot to a build. I tend to get carried away sometimes, I have to force myself to stop when I say "maybe a little bit more" because at that point it's usually enough. I've never had good luck with the Tamiya makeup kits for exhaust stains or powder stains, I use MiG pigments as they are easier to use and they are easily removeable if you want to retry. The Tamiya makeup IIRC I used a water dampened tissue to remove. Your build is coming along just fine, looking forward to the end.

 

Don

[Shaka HI]

Thanks for comments, guys. Not sure, Max..I did look for period photos and studied some drawings along with renditions from this fine site (and others) and tried to duplicate it. Is it accurate? Probably not. Did I overdo the bottom as well? Yes, to balance the the stains on top. Looks like I have get the exhaust replaced -- I'm not sure how I can lose such a large part, but I've looked everywhere!

[BloorwestSiR]

The gun stains look great to me. Maybe a bit heavy like some have mentioned but my builds tend to be on the cleaner side of things.

 

For the oil leaks, I used very thinned rubber black, put a small drop on the model and then used the airbrush to blow it in the direction of the air stream.

 

Carl

[Shaka HI]

I tried that technique Carl, but I just couldn't get it to flow in the direction I wanted. Are you doing that technique before the flat coat? Anyway...I got heavy-handed with a very fine brush with the same Tamiya washes I uses for panel lines/rivets...I should've used a larger brush! Doesn't look right to me, but I've resigned this build to mostly experiment and I am still happy with the results. Executing convincing weathering is far more challenging for me than keeping things "perfect"...(BTW, the model isn't as harsh as it looks in the photos).

 

[BloorwestSiR]

Shaka, I did it over the paint itself which had a semi gloss finish. This was there first time I tried it myself. I think I turned the pressure down a bit but can't recall. I did mask off the panel edges at the front but it looks like you did the same.

 

I don't think yours looks bad at all. I've seen some pics of Spitfires with a similar amount of oil staining on them.

 

Carl

[dmthamade]

A can of compressed air works well, too. The cans used for computer/camera cleaning give finer control than an airbrush. 

 

Don

[Shaka HI]

Carl, I tried it with a test model and couldn't make it work. I'm thinking its more the wash/flat coat. The wash would just sorta disperse rather than flow as your model did. No biggy. I like the control provided by the very thin brush and will probably continue to utilize this method again in the future.