Out2gtcha Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Thanks so much everyone! I was lucky enough to have a few days at home with the family away up the coast, so will post some progress when I can. I'm just figuring out now how to get the paint on the main body, but first I'll have to do the main gear wells ... Thanks Brian. It's a very tedious process, but then I guess your 300 SC will have a lot less surface area to work through ... Cheers Jim Indeed! Its a super DUPER tiny thing compared to a bug! Here's an Idea of just HOW small.................Flanker for size comparison: Looking forward to that sheen on the rest!! Might need my sunglasses spyrosjzmichos, ShelbyGT500, ClumsyDude and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClumsyDude Posted July 19, 2017 Author Share Posted July 19, 2017 That flanker is so awesome ... one of the first models I drooled over as a lurker years ago. The 300 SC is going to be so small, I suspect you'll need to be really crisp with your polishing - I'm finding that the nooks and crannies are actually pretty tough to get the polish into, but they can make a big visual difference (eg with the lumps and bumps at the top of the hornet tails). Watch this space, I have a few thoughts on how to address the corners and crannies (mostly involving cotton buds and elbow grease). Jim Out2gtcha and monthebiff 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 That flanker is so awesome ... one of the first models I drooled over as a lurker years ago. The 300 SC is going to be so small, I suspect you'll need to be really crisp with your polishing - I'm finding that the nooks and crannies are actually pretty tough to get the polish into, but they can make a big visual difference (eg with the lumps and bumps at the top of the hornet tails). Watch this space, I have a few thoughts on how to address the corners and crannies (mostly involving cotton buds and elbow grease). Jim Will be watching! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periklis_sale Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Amazing work Will it be possible to write the steps to achieve this finish? I assume you sand after every paint coat? Thank! ClumsyDude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClumsyDude Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share Posted July 20, 2017 (edited) Thanks very much Periklis! I'm planning (eventually) to restore the photos lost through the Great Photobucket Massacre ... but in the meantime: - once the surface was ready for prep, I primed it. I went with black base (Surfacer 1500 black) before realising I needed a white base, so I overlaid the black with Mr Base White. In hindsight this was an error and has filled in too much surface detail - should've kept it to one coat. - I then laid down the colour. Due to either the complexity of the masks or my ineptitude, I wound up with quite a lot of spray sessions to get it looking neat. I was very leery of sanding this as I was worried I'd go through one of the feather-thin coats and ruin the appearance. BUT - I did lay down the colour in many very thin layers, with LOTS of retarder, to keep it smooth without needing to sand. - I then laid the gloss down. My gloss mix is Mr Super Clear Gloss, mixed about 1:1:1 with clear:thinner:retarder (I use Mr Levelling Thinner so there's effectively an extra dose of retarder). Two mist coats, leave for 10 mins, then 2 wet coats. Because of all the retarder I gave it a good couple of weeks to dry. - then sand with 1500 grit, 2000 grit, then tamiya compounds from coarse to finish (three applications of each). I have a pack of 100 microfibre cloths which I use for the compounds and then throw out (this polishing is very tedious - patience is absolutely required). I'm also thinking of ditching the 1500 grit as it leaves scratches in the gloss that need lots of polishing out - might try 6000 or 8000 grit micro mesh for the next stage. - finally I applied Tamiya wax - this fills some of the small scratches. Hope this helps. Right now it's a bit of a golden age on LSP for gloss finishes - Brian (Out2gtcha) is rocking a world class enamel finish on "Mimmi", and Chuck is doing a brilliant acrylic X-22 (with tutorial) on his F-15. So you're spoiled for choice, good luck! Cheers Jim Edited July 20, 2017 by ClumsyDude Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periklis_sale Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Thanks matey What retarder did you use? What microfibres as well? Where did you get them? ClumsyDude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periklis_sale Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I was using cotton swabs to apply the compounds I am planing to make a gloss black Draken How do you clean the dry compound that stays in the recesses panel lines? ClumsyDude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClumsyDude Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share Posted July 20, 2017 Hi Periklis, I used alternately Tamiya retarder and Mr Retarder, I haven't noticed a difference. As for the microfibre cloths, I bought them on eBay. It cost about $3 for a pack of 100 - I think it may have been under lens cleaning or something like that. They're about 12cm square. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periklis_sale Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 Thanks Jim ClumsyDude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClumsyDude Posted July 25, 2017 Author Share Posted July 25, 2017 Ok all, not much of an update, but then there isn't much time for modelling at the moment. I got the polishing finished on the vertical tails. Here's the right hand one, all polished up. You'll notice the tiny circular scratches from the sandpaper; these disappear after a day under the Tamiya wax, if you believe that. So I said that one of my goals was to be able to see the vertical tails reflected in the horizontal. Moment of truth: So then it was time to wrap up the shiny bits and put them to bed, while working on the main body of the hornet. Then, it was on to the main body. Having (foolishly) black based a model that needed a white undercoat, I had to go over the Mr Surfacer black with Mr Base White. This meant LOTS of thin coats, so the effect you see took about an hour and a half Ok ... now it's off to the start of the thread to begin repairing shitty old photobucket links. Wish me luck! Cheers Jim LSP_Kevin, jgrease, F`s are my favs and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Hi Jim, so glad to see you managed to get rid of those pesky little pin holes in the finish..... looking super smooth now! This is going to look amazing all said and done; good luck with the long journey to repair the PB damage. Craig ClumsyDude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokeyforgothispassword Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Looking fantastic Jim, especially now that you've polished out your reflection:) Shane ClumsyDude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClumsyDude Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 Hi Jim, so glad to see you managed to get rid of those pesky little pin holes in the finish..... looking super smooth now! This is going to look amazing all said and done; good luck with the long journey to repair the PB damage. Craig Thanks mate ... in the end I think I pretty much polished through the clear to get the pinholes out (probably a good couple of hours work with the Tamiya compound). Looks ok, I just hope I don't unwrap the goods in a few months and find it's all got some other issue. Looking fantastic Jim, especially now that you've polished out your reflection:) Shane Haha can't argue with that mate, anything that rough could use a polish! Cheers Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr b Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Really awesome gloss there.....nice work all around Rgds ClumsyDude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyrosjzmichos Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Jim that's one fantastic looking Bug! The shine is amazing! ClumsyDude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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