chuck540z3 Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 (edited) Chuck, Looking forward to your next update. It might inspire me to get back to work on my Spitfire, as I've done almost nothing on it for a while. Love the engine. What sort of weathering washes did you use? Cheers, Michael Great work on the engine Chuck! To be honest, part of me was sad to see the gloss black (which is really striking) go away! Beautiful work though... it's hard to work in tonal variation on black subjects. Thanks Guys, Weathering a black engine can be tricky, because almost everything you might want to use as a wash won't show up very well. Even a brown wash will only show up on the lighter aluminum. To weather this engine, I sprayed a flat coat on first to knock down the shine of everything, followed by dry brushing with silver to pick out many of the screws and bolts that are quite bright when the engine is new. You don't want to overdo it, however, or the engine will look toy-like with too much bright work. I then scraped a bit of Tamiya "Oil Stain" pastels into a shallow container and then added a drop or two of water. These pastels dissolve in water really well and can even be used as a sort of paint, as I did on the blue portion of the F-15 exhausts below. For the Merlin, I used a micro-brush and dabbed the brown/grey pastel wash all over the place. If you don't like how it came out, the pastel wash can redistributed or removed completely with water. The other benefit of using pastels is that I don't have to worry about the wash attacking the paint. Cheers, Chuck Edited April 2, 2018 by chuck540z3 airscale, sandokan, chukw and 15 others 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 Good one buddy!.......Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share Posted April 3, 2018 April3/18 2) Your lately posts are visually beautiful but they almost don't allow for interaction. For example: You went "from shiny museum looking engine.... to a dirty and weathered engine that is used constantly" withour any "in progress" picture.That's a striking difference with your "in progress" posts of years ago. Now it seems that every post of yours is a self contained article ready to be published on a magazine.Showing more of the building process would give to people like me the possibility to ask you more questions about materials, tools, and techniques and to express our amusement.That's my two cents... You're right Lucio, so here's a mini-update of the engine cradle and firewall as it sits now. As with the cockpit, everything was painted gloss black, some parts were masked off and then sprayed with RAF interior green. Any loose parts- and there were several of them- were painted separately to avoid masking. Just about all these parts have seam lines and pin marks that should be removed, although some that are facing the interior where the engine will parked can be left as is, because you will never see them. As with the engine hydraulic and electrical detail, I generally followed Wolf's lead about 75% of the time and followed pics of the real deal 25% of the time. After putting all the parts together, this is how it looks. The hose clamps are made from thin strips of Bare Metal Foil Aluminum, followed by a good coat of Future to seal them in so that they don't unravel later. The next step will be a good coat of X-22 to seal all of the paint, then I will use an oil wash to get the parts fairly soiled. When I'm happy with the weathering, I will spray a flat coat on almost everything to knock the shine down like the engine. One thing the eagle eyes out there might notice is that I am missing the starter connector, Part H41 in step #50. I have no idea where it went, so I'll have to fashion something from scratch to replace this tiny part later. Bummer, but it could be worse. Now some random pics.... The Eduard Exterior set has some nice rivet detail on the cross members. Here's an important tip. The oil pump, Part #X-17 in Step #49, has a great deal of play when attached to the main frame. Unless it is perfectly aligned with the coolant lines X7 and X-8, the fit will be off and will leave unsightly gaps. If you glue the pump to the coolant lines first, then attach everything to the engine frame, you can paint it separately and fill the small gaps easily. Many of the firewall parts have holes drilled in them in preparation for additional plumbing and electrical connections to the engine. For my next post, the engine will be parked in the weathered cradle with additional detail added. Cheers, Chuck allthumbs, Lucio Martino, TorbenD and 21 others 24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Buddee Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Oh my, do those last photos bring back memories! I had soooo many questions as to what went where regarding plumbing and wiring. It took me a long time to get most of it figured out. Have fun my friend! Cheers, Wolf chukw and chuck540z3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Lund Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Beautiful work chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Damned nice, Chuck. Sincerely, Mark chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackCanopy Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 (edited) The Eduard Exterior set has some nice rivet detail on the cross members. Quick question(s): Could, or do these interfere with the proper sit and alignment of the cowling panels (so that you have to compensate by removing plastic before installing the PE parts), or do you plan to let the panels permanently off, anyway? Spectacular painting prowess ... hats off, Joerg Edited April 3, 2018 by BlackCanopy chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Chuck Beautiful detail work and love those tips Keep ‘em comin Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerhard Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 (edited) Awesome Chuck. One question, what octane fuel are you going to use? Edited April 3, 2018 by Gerhard chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloorwestSiR Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Chuck, PM your address to me and I can send you the missing part. I've got the part in my stash as I built 3of mine with closed cowls. Carl chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share Posted April 3, 2018 Thanks Guys! Quick question(s): Could, or do these interfere with the proper sit and alignment of the cowling panels (so that you have to compensate by removing plastic before installing the PE parts), or do you plan to let the panels permanently off, anyway? Spectacular painting prowess ... hats off, Joerg Good question and the answer is, "I hope not". Having said that, I spent a lot of time detailing the Merlin on my P-51D build and the cowls are left off in my display cabinet and at past model contests, even though they fit perfectly. There's no point doing all this extra work and then hiding it. I will also be adding several small Eduard PE parts to the cowling frame which might get in the way as well, so if they do, I'll load up the cowls with all the other PE parts which will for sure get in the way, since there's no downside at that point and they might look good sitting next to the front of the aircraft. My gut tells me that I'll still be OK, but time will tell. Chuck, PM your address to me and I can send you the missing part.I've got the part in my stash as I built 3of mine with closed cowls.Carl You are a Prince Carl! PM incoming. Cheers, Chuck levier and BlackCanopy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dpgsbody55 Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Lovely work, Chuck, and thanks for the update as to your weathering of the engine. My engine cradle is starting to take shape too, and I'm starting to see the end in sight for my build. Cheers, Michael chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 (edited) In spite of my personal restrictions, I did buy a Tamiya Spifire in the hope I'd finish it as a civilian one (G-ASJV). I always thought, being Tamiya, it would be an easy build ...Now, with your build and Wolf's I realise I may want to go to town on the AMS side ... not a quick-and-easy build any more ... and the worse is I know I'll never come close to you guys !Still taking plenty of notes there Hubert Edited April 5, 2018 by MostlyRacers chuck540z3, Shaka HI and Rocat 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 man oh man.. i am not sure what to say when I look at these pics Chuck. I know I have a vocabulary and in most circumstances I can articulate a response that is appropriate to the situation I find myself in, but then I come here... ...I stare... ,,I wonder.. ..I try to reconcile what I am looking at.. ..I come over a bit nauseous.. ..and slide off my chair.. there really is no way I can describe how impressive your work is... so I won't even try.. Peter levier, chuck540z3, ax365 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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