MikeMaben Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Gettin' pretty close Alex Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) The PE cowl flaps were easier to install than I had thought they might be. While trying to add some engine oil stains aft of them, I ran into a problem that I have never seen before - the coat of matte acrylic varnish I had put down began to peel in spots. I'm using a new (AK) white spirit to thin my oils, so maybe that's it. Anyway, need to rethink what I'm doing to the upper surfaces. I think I'm going to call the lower side done, except for some pastel smoke stains aft of the shell ejection chutes after everything else is done. If I try to do more I fear I'm going to make it worse rather than better... A view of the nice cowl flap control struts that Eduard provides with their kit. Next Warhawk I may try to scratch-build the ducts that should extend from the back of the radiators to near the cowl. Edited April 25, 2020 by Alex misspelled Troy Molitor, LSP_Kevin, johncrow and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 That looks awesome Alex. Thanks for sharing your build with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepp Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) The P-40 is my dirty little secret.. I love 'em, and your build is fanning the flames I like the panel line/rivet detail, nicely subtle; ditto the chin oil dribble ... next thing on this newbie's how-to list. Chapeau! Edited April 25, 2020 by Sepp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 14 minutes ago, Sepp said: The P-40 is my dirty little secret.. I love 'em, and your build is fanning the flames I like the panel line/rivet detail, nicely subtle; ditto the chin oil dribble ... next thing on this newbie's how-to list. Chapeau! Glad you are enjoying it! Go get the trumpeter kit and make yourself one! I have a P-40F kit in my pile for later that I may do as a Commonwealth bird - RAAF or RNZAF. Sepp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Starting to work on adding some depth to the topside finish. I'm using a method that the AFV guys introduced - the oil paint "dot filter". One thing that's clear from in-theater photos of these planes, especially the rare color ones (the Osprey P-40 Aces of the AVG has good ones, and there are more on the web), is that the paint was super-blotchy and variegated. Part of that is doubtless just wear, but some of them really look like they were painted (or re-painted) with a paintbrush. Given the technology available in Burma in 1941, that may not be far from the truth. So I'm trying to get a bit of that look here. One thing you don't see in those photos is a lot of bare metal, even in the places like wing roots that WW2 modelers love to swab down with aluminum-paint "chipping". So we won't be doing that here. [But wait until I do my IJA Ki-43 - there are some spectacularly worn examples of those due to green paint being swabbed over factory bare metal finishes in the field and then just abrading away in flight. I'm going to have some fun with that.] This is one side of the tail done to check the color mix. The photo makes it look a lot more yellow than it actually is. After my experience with the oil wash on the underside, I'm doing this right on top of the Future gloss coat that sealed the decals (which I KNOW is thinner-proof). One nice thing about this method is that if you decide you don't like it, you can take it all off with mineral spirits and try over. I will probably go back and blend this a bit more before calling it done. One thing that's annoying is getting the accumulated paint out of rivets. I use a sharpened toothpick dipped in thinner. dodgem37 and scvrobeson 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Here's an example of the oil paint dots before blending. I just dab it on with a toothpick. And after. It really starts to cut into the "toy" look of those uniform colors. The gloss of the Future shining through is still distracting. I will end up waiting a couple weeks for the oils to fully dry before adding a final acrylic matte coat. Still need to clean up those rivets some. This is fidgety work that needs focus - I'm going to stop for today and do more tomorrow. Lothar, scvrobeson, dodgem37 and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 It seems as tho the effect is to stain the gloss before making it a wash. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 1 hour ago, dodgem37 said: It seems as tho the effect is to stain the gloss before making it a wash. Sincerely, Mark it definitely does tone down the shine. Based on past experience, not all of shine would return if I completely removed the oil paint. It may be that just blending it around with a Q-tip cuts the gloss of the Future layer by abrading it a bit. It definitely does not impart any color to the Future - mineral spirits will take all of the color off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 26, 2020 Author Share Posted April 26, 2020 Used book store find. Giving me all sorts of ideas for future projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 Finished (I think) the oil dot filter step. I will look again in a day and see if I want to blend a little more. But now it needs to sit for a week or two (I will wait until there's not even a slightly "greasy" feeling to the surface) before I can shoot I final matte coat. In the meantime I'm going to try and finish up my B737 project and think about what the next WW2 plane is. It's definitely Japanese - you can help me pick: I have 1/32 kits from Special Hobby for both the Ki-27 "Nate" and the A5M "Claude". If I do the former it will be an IJA 77th Sentai plane providing air support for the invasion of Burma in early 1942. This would be the counterpoint to the current AVG P-40. If the latter, a 12th or 13th Kokutai plane - IJNAF aircraft originally assigned to aircraft carrier Kaga but based at airfields in Shanghai in 1937. It will eventually be paired with an I-16 in CAF colors, piloted by a Soviet volunteer supporting the ultimately doomed Chinese defence of Nanking. But for now, this is the AVG Warhawk until I come back to it: LSP_Kevin and Troy Molitor 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Hi Alex, I'm really liking your build sequence. Awesome efforts. Question for you. The oil dot filter effect. Looking at the pictures up close, I can hardly see any difference before and after. Not a negative comment in anyway, just in your opinion is it all worth it? I can’t really tell a big difference in the pictures but perhaps in person there is a big difference? Thanks for your response. Thanks for showing this build with us. Troy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 Troy, the difference is subtle but in person maybe a bit more visible. The straight-up coat of paint is very uniform - to my eye it looks like a toy plane. With the dot filter applied it has subtle variation that looks at least a bit more like the beat-up surface of the real thing: Looking at this photo, I might even want to go in and apply a bit more scratching/staining. I do plan to apply a dusting of pastel over the final flat coat and then scratch that up to simulate soot on the airframe being rubbed off in places by people climbing around on the plane (this is very obvious in other photos). Troy Molitor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 Compare this: With this: That's enough more realism for me to be willing to spend 4-5 hours doing it. Which may say something about my level of modeling OCD. There are people who get similar effects just by airbrushing a lot of very subtle different color effects, but I'm just not that good at airbrushing. Gotta keep practicing. Lothar, scvrobeson and johncrow 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 The rivet detail does pop more in the second picture. For sure. Thanks Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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