Too shiny to be NMF?

[Gazzas]

 

Of equal interest to the sheen is the offset in the national insignia.  Might have come from another machine.

 

Gaz

[Southern Bandit]

Good picture, yup that panel must have come from another aircraft I guess, that's the kind of detail us modellers would never think of doing.

Also it just goes to show the different shades or types of aluminium or whatever skin cover it is, some seem more shiny than others ... going from mirror like to dull shades, bet no two aircraft were the same?

 

Edited September 14, 2018 by Southern Bandit

[MikeMaben]

Depends on how long they sat out in the rain, wind and snow.

Could conceivably be pretty shiny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gazzas]

1 minute ago, MikeMaben said:

Depends on how long they sat out in the rain, wind and snow.

Could conceivably be pretty shiny.

 

Or whether they actually got wiped down on a regular basis.

[Southern Bandit]

19 minutes ago, MikeMaben said:

Depends on how long they sat out in the rain, wind and snow.

Could conceivably be pretty shiny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I wonder what the 4309 on the two adjacent panels signify's? There is a reason for every thing ... bet the Tamiya kit does not have that stencil. heh

[Mark_C]

35 minutes ago, Southern Bandit said:

And I wonder what the 4309 on the two adjacent panels signify's? There is a reason for every thing ... bet the Tamiya kit does not have that stencil. heh

 

I could well be wrong, but I see the panels as reading 4309 and 4303, respectively.  But I have not seen a larger picture, so my guess is based only on the one you posted.

[Southern Bandit]

10 minutes ago, Mark_C said:

 

I could well be wrong, but I see the panels as reading 4309 and 4303, respectively.  But I have not seen a larger picture, so my guess is based only on the one you posted.

 

I think you are right Mark, my eyesight is not so good these days, fortunately I have an eyesight test booked for early next month as my two yearly test and I'll now need glasses for general use rather than just reading books use ETC I needed last time ... and that was with me on a 4K monitor too ... I still wonder what the numbers mean though?

[Gazzas]

2 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To me, this model shows some of the key effects needed for a believable NMF finish.  That's the slight pucker around the rivets and other textural and irregular contours caused to the metal itself as the plane ages.

 

But, trying to keep these in scale would most likely be the most difficult part.

 

I've seen a few tin-canning tutorials and though helpful, I'm not sure that I've yet to see it done in a completely believable manner.  Might be one of those "too difficult" things to accomplish in scale.

[MikeC]

7 hours ago, Southern Bandit said:

Good picture, yup that panel must have come from another aircraft I guess, that's the kind of detail us modellers would never think of doing....

 

If you did, no-one would believe you without a picture placed next to the model.

 

Interesting discussion.  My overwhelming memory of seeing NMF aircraft, at airshows in the 1960s and 70s, was how dull they were, a sort of whitish shade of metal.  Humbrol 11 silver, which was all we had in those days, just didn't look right.

[John1]

8 hours ago, MikeC said:

If you did, no-one would believe you without a picture placed next to the model.

 

Interesting discussion.  My overwhelming memory of seeing NMF aircraft, at airshows in the 1960s and 70s, was how dull they were, a sort of whitish shade of metal.  Humbrol 11 silver, which was all we had in those days, just didn't look right.

The pics above aside, the vast majority of NMF aircraft where not that shiny.   Check out an aluminum canoe that’s been stored outdoors for a year or two. The finish is closer to a silverish matt light grey.  Very hard to accurately replicate.   I think I’ve seen only 3-4 models that (IMO) got it right.   

 

In the top pic, wouldn’t be surprised if he was washing down that aircraft with avgas.    Today, the unit EH&S officer would have the poor guy up on charges!  

[Gazzas]

I remember reading that the blue-nosed unit had theirs polished, too.  Can't remember who they were but they were in Europe.  Perhaps it was more prevalent than is thought?

 

 

[MikeC]

9 hours ago, Gazzas said:

I remember reading that the blue-nosed unit had theirs polished, too.  Can't remember who they were but they were in Europe.  Perhaps it was more prevalent than is thought?

 

 

352nd FG, part of the Mighty Eighth.  http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/groups/352nd-fighter-group/

 

Plenty of photos in the gallery http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/galleries/352nd-fighter-squadron/

Hard to tell sometimes, but I don't think these look particularly polished.

[Gazzas]

1 hour ago, MikeC said:

 

Hard to tell sometimes, but I don't think these look particularly polished.

 

Mike,

    Thanks for the links.  I imagine the photographers would have done as much as possible to take photos from angles to eliminate glare as much as possible.

 

Otherwise you get photos like this:

 

Make me wonder how many "poor" photos got thrown away.

 

Gaz

[Gazzas]

I guess, if you don't want to cope with "shine" issues you can model this one:

 

Gaz

[MikeC]

1 hour ago, Gazzas said:

I guess, if you don't want to cope with "shine" issues you can model this one:...

 

Yes, but then you get into the whole "They painted the stripes quickly so they were all ragged-edged" debate