BX 32nd Albatross D.III

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

Hi Guys;

 

Cheers for the compliments.

 

Koala:

I've been using Griffin Alklyd oils from Winsor and Newtons, and they are superb. They dry much quicker than normal oils and are not as opaque. here isa link to a write up on them to save me babbling on...

 

Alklyd babbling

 

I know it isnt very vogue at the moment to be using oils, but I cant see how anyone would be able to get the wood grain effect without them. They remain pliable for a few hours and I go back to them after an hour or so and play with the"grain" to get it finer and add "knots" and stuff, and it will not remove what is already there. It is hard to explain but if you've used oils before you will know what I mean.

 

The only thing that worries me is that the blurb above says they can be varnished in 30 days. Oops, that is the other trick to how I'm working so quickly. After they have been on overnight I give them a coat of varnish then do the nexr bit. That is the trick to the prop.

 

I used Tamiya tape ( after de-tacking it of course ) to mask the areas to be darker on the blade. painted that Raw Umber, left it to dry overnight, then varnished it, flipped it and repeated the process. That was a few days ago and the varnish is fine.

 

Matt:

 

Having grown up with Catholic school girls I can imagine quite vividly just how happy you were.  ...they both had a smile on their dial...  ...

 

They were always such willing learners werent they?

 

 

Cheers guys,

 

Jay

[Koala]

Alklyd... Okley dokley - that answers it. Hmmmm - every time I think I have now purchased all my modelling essentials, something new comes along that I just have to track down and purchase Looks like money well spent though

 

Ta.

[LSP_Mike]

Jay, been a while! nice looking bird! I always vote for the lozenge cammo, but what the hell I guess you're building it... the props were a laminate- if you look at the side of the hub, you should count 9 laminations. but nice looking work; I still think Roden has a DVIIcomming! That will be cool! Are you doing the Barons albatros???

[Haggis]

Jay, that looks absolutly stunning. You're a bit brave using cotton wool to mask aren't you, especially with Xtracolour!

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

the props were a laminate- if you look at the side of the hub, you should count 9 laminations. but nice looking work; I still think Roden has a DVIIcomming! That will be cool! Are you doing the Barons albatros???

Hi Mike;

 

Actually I found a great deal of variation in the props as there were no fewer than five different manufacturers,and this one is by Wotan. I did the smart thing and found a picture and did that one, although it isnt exact as I had some trouble with the slight curvature of the lamination. If you dont believe me I'll gladly scan in the Windsock pages for you. there were some pretty elaborate ones with curves etc. but as I've said before this is an experiment so I didnt want to overstretch it.

 

This isnt going to be the Barons albatros, as if I see another Red Baron plane I am going to puke.

I like the one on the box so I may do that or there is one with a skull and crossbones on it that appeals to me.

Roden is very exciting as they also have plans to do an Se5A amongst others and I like those. It would be nice to see someone do a Vickers Gun Bus as well. the only problem with the British stuff is that it isnt very colourful. However, I have the BattleAxe D.VII and it will be an adventure to build that one so I'd rather see roden concentrate on some stuff we dont already have.

 

Jamie;

 

I know it's a bit dangerous ( said in a "bubbles" voice ) using the cotton wool, but it was the simplest solution for filling the pilots compartment. It's out now and I had no dramas so I count myself lucky! Also I use my Xtracolor with Terebene and this makes it dry as fast as humbrol if I mix it carefully so it isnt tacky for very long.

 

Cheers guys,

 

Jay

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

Last night before bed it was the job of finishing the wood grain efect on the fuselage, and this morning it was dry enough to photograph. The varnish will be added in a few hours and then it will me the metal surfaces added.

 

As I mentioned earlier, when leaving the paint on for an hour or so, then going back and essentally "dragging" it out, I have found I can make the grain finer and add "knots" and variations in the wood grain.

 

Here is the result. I am hoping the wash will tidy up the demarkations a bit.

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

Tonight saw some fantastic progress and I am very pleased with the results.

 

Firstly I painted the tail black, after masking the wood grain and I thought I would see what happened if I dragged some Maskol from the tape just onto the grain to give the paint a slightly chipped effect. I saw where I went wrong but still, I thought it looked pretty good and I know what I will do right next time.

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

After that had been left for a couple of hours to dry, I decided I would paint the metal fuselage components. Out comes the alclad, and as there were some questions the other day about shading with alclad I decided I would do a step by step guide to my method of doing it. It may not work for some, but here is my method, take it as you will.

 

Firstly comes the Dark Aluminium...

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

Followed with Steel around the lines and edges...

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

Blending and centres with bog standard Aluminium...

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

Then garnish with some Polished Aluminium in the highlight areas.

 

I did the same with the photoetched parts and will be adding those tomorrow children permitting. roberta starts her new part time job tomorrow so I get the joy of "the School Run" which is an hour walk each time.

 

Cheers guys,

 

Jay

[AngoMango]

beautiful work Jay! I'm loving this build. Can't wait for the next installment.

 

keep 'em comin mate!

 

Cheers,

Ango.

[Chris Hannover - Germany]

Great Jay, as i already told you, mate! I can´t get over the wooden parts. That looks so real, one can just think, it is a wooden kit! Simply amazing. Stunning work on the metal parts with the Alclad too! What means "bog standart Aluminium"?

 

You should buy some rollerskates for you and the kids for the school run...

 

Cheers mate,

 

Chris

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

Hi Chris;

 

Sorry about that mate! sometimes I forget that some of the sayings in languages don't translate to easily. what it means is it is regular, as it comes from the bottle, aluminium.

 

Thanks for the compliments on the wood effect. It was alot of work and I am pleased it has come up well, and that I'm not the only one who thinks so .

 

He he, the school run wasnt so bad, and there are a couple of "fit Mums" down there that arehnt so bad to look at. I'll need to do it again next frifay so perhaps I will have a haircut before then

 

Thanks for the encouragement Ango, glad you are enjoying it mate!

 

 

 

Cheers guys,

 

Jay

[Ole]

Looks great Jay.... and thanks for the mini tutorial.. I see what you mean and the effect you created looks great. I will try that for my next NMF project - whenever that is!