SH Tempest Mk V "Kicked Up A Notch". January 14/21 New eBook!

[Neo]

@chuck540z3 Wow i love the result of that true earth wash!! 

 

love following your builds,

 

so as my standard luck goes, ive been wanting Flory wash for years now and yesterday i pulled the trigger and got a bunch, and today i discover this new product! 

 

there goes more modeling budget!@!!

[Huey195thAHC]

Chuck, I wanted to ask you about decanting the Tamiya TS-14.  Do you just decant what you need for the session, or do you decant the whole can and use it for d=several projects?  

[chuck540z3]

Thank you Gents!

 

2 hours ago, Neo said:

@chuck540z3 Wow i love the result of that true earth wash!!

so as my standard luck goes, ive been wanting Flory wash for years now and yesterday i pulled the trigger and got a bunch, and today i discover this new product! 

 

there goes more modeling budget!@!!

 

Sorry about that Neo!  The Flory washes work very well, but make sure you have a good gloss coat before application, because if the finish is rough, they stick like snot to an oven door and you can't remove all of it.

 

59 minutes ago, Huey195thAHC said:

Chuck, I wanted to ask you about decanting the Tamiya TS-14.  Do you just decant what you need for the session, or do you decant the whole can and use it for d=several projects?  

 

Good question that I have some experience with.  I used to use decanted Krylon enamel paint which worked very well, but over time it starts to separate in the jar, so it's best to only decant what you need for a month or so.  With the Tamiya lacquers in the can like the TS and AS series, I have left them in a jar for over a year and they still spray beautifully.  While other thinners may work just as well, use Tamiya lacquer thinner with them, which appears to be the same stuff in the can for obvious reasons.  For these reasons, I decant a lot of paint at once (maybe half the can) so that I always have some on hand. 

 

Decanting is pretty simple and takes only 5 minutes, so it's no big deal.  While there are lots of methods to decant paint from a can, I keep it super simple:

 

1.  Get a clean jar and place it where you normally paint your models that is well ventilated- and maybe make a bit of a mess.

2.  Get a large and clean straw-like tube between 3/8" to 1/2" and maybe 3" to 4" long.  The plastic core of dog poo bags work perfectly!

3.  Shake the can of paint and using rubber gloves, spray the paint through the tube into the jar, holding the can, tube and jar with both hands.  Keep the hand covering the jar (left for me), over the jar, but loose enough so that gases can easily escape.

4.  As the pressure drops from the can to the jar, you will feel the jar get cold- real cold!

5.  Spray until the jar is about half full, then stop.

6.  LOOSELY cover the jar with the lid, so that propellant gases can continue to escape.  I usually leave this overnight because this step cannot be rushed.

7.  Add Tamiya lacquer thinner, in roughly a 2/3 paint, 1/3 thinner mixture, then shake.  If you don't let all the gases out first, you and your surroundings will be covered with paint when you open the lid!  

 

That's it.  Like I said, this takes only 5 minutes tops and I now can do it with no mess, other than a bit of paint on my gloves.  Over time, I usually need to add more lacquer thinner due to evaporation from the jar.

 

HTH,

Chuck

 

Edited October 30, 2020 by chuck540z3

[Huey195thAHC]

23 minutes ago, chuck540z3 said:

Good question that I have some experience with.  I used to use decanted Krylon enamel paint which worked very well, but over time it starts to separate in the jar, so it's best to only decant what you need for a month or so.  With the Tamiya lacquers in the can like the TS and AS series, I have left them in a jar for over a year and they still spray beautifully.  While other thinners may work just as well, use Tamiya lacquer thinner with them, which appears to be the same stuff in the can for obvious reasons.  For these reasons, I decant a lot of paint at once (maybe half the can) so that I always have some on hand. 

 

Decanting is pretty simple and takes only 5 minutes, so it's no big deal.  While there are lots of methods to decant paint from a can, I keep it super simple:

 

1.  Get a clean jar and place it where you normally paint your models that is well ventilated- and maybe make a bit of a mess.

2.  Get a large and clean straw-like tube between 3/8" to 1/2" and maybe 3" to 4" long.  The plastic core of dog poo bags work perfectly!

3.  Shake the can of paint and using rubber gloves, spray the paint through the tube into the jar, holding the can, tube and jar with both hands.  Keep the hand covering the jar (left for me), over the jar, but loose enough so that gases can easily escape.

4.  As the pressure drops from the can to the jar, you will feel the jar get cold- real cold!

5.  Spray until the jar is about half full, then stop.

6.  LOOSELY cover the jar with the lid, so that propellant gases can continue to escape.  I usually leave this overnight because this step cannot be rushed.

7.  Add Tamiya lacquer thinner, in roughly a 2/3 paint, 1/3 thinner mixture, then shake.  If you don't let all the gases out first, you and your surroundings will be covered with paint when you open the lid!  

 

That's it.  Like I said, this takes only 5 minutes tops and I now can do it with no mess, other than a bit of paint on my gloves.  Over time, I usually need to add more lacquer thinner due to evaporation from the jar.

 

Thanks Chuck.  I will try that next time.  

[LSP_Kevin]

6 hours ago, Huey195thAHC said:

Chuck, I wanted to ask you about decanting the Tamiya TS-14.  Do you just decant what you need for the session, or do you decant the whole can and use it for d=several projects?  

 

I'm not Chuck, but when I do it, I just fill an empty Gunze or Tamiya glass paint jar, and treat it like a jar of paint off the shelf (follow Chuck's tips for the process, however).

 

Kev

[turbo]

4 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

 

I'm not Chuck, but when I do it, I just fill an empty Gunze or Tamiya glass paint jar, and treat it like a jar of paint off the shelf (follow Chuck's tips for the process, however).

 

Kev

 

Yep, that's what I do. The only further modification I do to reduce mess and aerosols a bit is to secure some cling film over the top of the jar with a rubber band then pierce the cling film with the straw to keep most of the paint in the jar!

Edited October 31, 2020 by turbo

[Thunnus]

Always a pleasure to see your work again, Chuck!  The Tempest is looking fantastic and your descriptions of the work is publication-level, as expected!  Am I the only one that decants Tamiya spray paint straight into the airbrush cup?

[Marcel111]

Taking notes and really loving the weathering techniques you have tried here!

 

Marcel

[MikeMaben]

12 hours ago, Thunnus said:

        Am I the only one that decants Tamiya spray paint straight into the airbrush cup?

 

John, you must have a really big cup !!

 

 

 

[chuck540z3]

November 2, 2020

 

 

Time for some insignias and in this case, painted on ones.  I used Maketar painting masks on my Spitfire build and although they turned out great, there was a learning curve, so I’m doing them differently this time.  Here is the set I’m using, made especially for this kit.

 

 

 

 

I’m also using MRP paints this time, rather than the Model Master enamels and Tamiya lacquers I used last time.  These MRP paints are MUCH easier to use and they are the correct colors, which was always a bit off on the Spitfire.

 

 

 

 

The first learning is to not even try to remove the entire mask assembly for each insignia, because you will make a mess and likely damage some of them.  Further, it’s almost impossible to position each mask correctly, relative to the details on the model, if you try and place the entire mask assembly.  What I do now is to carefully remove the central mask only, place it in position, then reassemble the mask set.  For example on the roundels, I removed the main Blue mask, placed in in position on the wings according to the kit instructions, then carefully reassembled the red, white and yellow rings around and within it, followed by the outside mask.  To remove each mask I very carefully use the tip of #11 knife, being careful to not cut the mask as I lift a corner, then use tweezers and finally my fingers to pull it away from the backing.  As the masks are reassembled, I burnished them all down with a soft Q-Tip to remove any gaps or air bubbles.  You must try and do all this a perfectly as possible to be successful, so this all takes a long time to do.  Finally, I removed the central red mask.

 

 

 

 

To prevent over-spray, I added a lot more masking tape.

 

 

 

 

Then painted the central red on all 6 insignias, which was done in 2 thin coats. 

 

Note:  The roundels on the top of the wings are smaller than usual and identical to the ones on the sides of the aircraft, which is unique to NV724 at the end of the war, along with the Cross of Lorraine on the chin.  This is confirmed by the photograph below and the kit instructions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next learning is to cover the central red with a mask, but leave the next white ring alone and remove the big blue mask instead.  This is for two reasons:  First, the thin white ring is fragile and removing it repeatedly will damage it.  Second, it’s better to paint the white ring on top of the residual red and blue, to create a sharper and demarcation line.  The roundels were then painted blue in one coat, because it covered so easily.  Note that I’m also painting the banner on the tail at the same time.

 

 

 

 

After the blue paint is dry and covered with a mask, I removed the white and yellow rings and painted them both white, along with the leading edge of the wing.  Again, make sure you burnish the masks down after each step with a Q-Tip!

 

 

 

 

This is because I want a good light base for the yellow paint, rather than the dark colors of the camo scheme which are hard to cover.  I applied one coat of white for the yellow and two coats for the white inner ring. 

 

 

 

 

After a good coat of “Marking Yellow”, which is the perfect shade.  Here I have removed the mask that was covering the inner white ring, which is easier and more effective than using the ring mask again.

 

 

 

 

After everything dried for a few hours, I removed all the masks- but don’t throw them away just yet, since you might need a couple.

 

 

 

 

Voila, Insignias without decal film!

 

 

 

 

If you’re lucky, you will only need to repair a few of them, which is why I kept the masks. Here I need to fix the yellow at the top, while the rest below didn't matter.

 

 

 

 

The Cross of Lorraine was added at the end of the war, so it will need to be kept a bit cleaner than the rest of the insignias, but certainly not snow white like this one.

 

 

 

 

The squadron codes and serial numbers will go on next, another learning.  I tried to do everything at once on my Spitfire and it proved to be more work than it should have been.

 

 

 

 

Now some walk-around close-up pics.  While none of them are perfect, they are pretty darn close and they will soon be getting dirty anyway.  I lightly sanded all of them with #2000 grit sandpaper to remove any ridges, which are common on the thicker white and yellow coats of paint that were needed to cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tail banners were located just slightly up from the bottom panel line and forward from the rear.  This was to ensure a good masking surface to prevent paint bleeding into the panel line- another learning from my Spit.

 

 

 

 

 

I temporarily removed the masks from the wingtip lights, to ensure no paint bleeding had occurred underneath.  It did on this one, with easy clean-up with solvent.  Note the width of the front yellow leading edge is a bit thinner than you often see on other models, which appears to match pics I have of the real deal.

 

 

 

 

The cross on the other side, which is the only side it has actually been photographed.   Placement on the other side as well is purely a guess.  Again, the lip over the forward part of the wing is intentional, to replicate the real deal.

 

 

 

 

Next step will be the excellent HGW water slide decals, after I paint on the squadron codes and serial numbers.  Good thing too, because those big code letters should be “Sky” light green and not light tan-brown.  I wish I had this decal set when I made up the instrument panel, because these decals would have been much easier to apply than the kit ones.

 

 

 

 

That’s it for now boys.  Take care of yourselves and wear a mask wherever you go!

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited November 7, 2020 by chuck540z3

[turbo]

They look great Chuck! Masks sure give a superior result to decals in this scale. I never use decals any more, only for smaller stencils, etc.

 

Just curious, I have avoided kabuki tape-based masks because they are fiddly to position and manipulate as you have shown above. Do you prefer them or were there just no vinyl mask sets available for this scheme?

[chuck540z3]

27 minutes ago, turbo said:

They look great Chuck! Masks sure give a superior result to decals in this scale. I never use decals any more, only for smaller stencils, etc.

 

Just curious, I have avoided kabuki tape-based masks because they are fiddly to position and manipulate as you have shown above. Do you prefer them or were there just no vinyl mask sets available for this scheme?

 

I much prefer Kabuki masks for the reasons described below, but for tiny masks, vinyl is the way to go since it can be cut so fine, while Kabuki can't without leaving little ragged edges.  Kabuki also resists stretching, which is easy to do when you are applying and removing masks multiple times.

 

The info below also explains why pre-cut vinyl masks for canopies often don't fit very well, since they shrink over time.  I had a vinyl set for my Harvard build and used the outside masks for the inside and threw away the inside masks, because they were so small and useless.

 

I am often surprised to see how perfect the Maketar Kabuki masks fit each other so well and on a circular roundel, it really doesn't matter what direction you apply them and every roundel set is almost identical.  They aren't perfect though, because they often have not been cut cleanly through the circle, causing a little imperfection when you separate the masks.  My paint repairs above were caused by this, which left a little divot in the outer circle that needed touching up.

 

From the Maketar website:

 

Kabuki:

– Thinner than vinyl
– Slightly translucent
– Pressure sensitive adhesive
– Absolute winner for all kinds and sizes of paint masks – except for ultra small elements smaller than 3 mm!
– Kabuki masks will last FOREVER! Just store them back in resealable bag!
– Extremely fine masking edge.
– Can be printed on for custom design and hand cut!
– With acrylic adhesive Kabuki can be left on a model for days without interacting with paint!
– Kabuki tape is 0.06 mm thick!
– Our Kabuki is highest quality masking material – Made in Japan!

 

Vinyl:

– More flexible and translucent than Kabuki.
– Thicker than Kabuki
– Vinyl shrinks after a couple of days/weeks depending on atmosphere conditions. Faster in the summer.
– Not suitable for masking elements larger than 10 mm in diameter.
– Perfect for ultra small masking elements smaller than 3 mm.
– Cheaper than Kabuki.
– After a couple of months vinyl masks are virtually unusable as adhesive become more like a gum and becomes stronger. Can peel the paint off!

 

On my F-5E build, I used Kabuki masks, but the fine details around the stars were not as sharp as I would have liked.  After this shot was made, I wound up ordering some vinyl replacements and re-did a few of the insignias.

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited November 2, 2020 by chuck540z3

[AlbertD]

Sweeeeeet. The paint and markings look amazing. The colors look perfect to my uneducated eye.

[fastterry]

Another master class for us mere mortals. Looks like masking of markings and codes is the way to go in 1/32 and above. A couple of things that may be of interest. The banner on the fin is called a 'fin flash' in RAF terminology. The C.1 roundel type was gazetted to be applied in all six positions to all aircraft in the 2nd Tactical Airforce on the continent from the 3rd Jan. 1945. The kill markings, name and Cross of Lorraine were applied after the war. A lot of colourful markings were applied, particularly to Typhoons, but only after the war. 2nd Tactical aircraft were really bland for the last months of the war having no sky fuselage band, no invasion stripes and black spinners. They did however retain the yellow leading edges on the wings. Anyway looking forward to the next installment.

TRF

Edited November 3, 2020 by fastterry
made a mistake about the yellow on the wings

[chuck540z3]

8 minutes ago, fastterry said:

Another master class for us mere mortals. Looks like masking of markings and codes is the way to go in 1/32 and above. A couple of things that may be of interest. The banner on the fin is called a 'fin flash' in RAF terminology. The C.1 roundel type was gazetted to be applied in all six positions to all aircraft in the 2nd Tactical Airforce on the continent from the 3rd Jan. 1945. The kill markings, name and Cross of Lorraine were applied after the war. A lot of colourful markings were applied, particularly to Typhoons, but only after the war. 2nd Tactical aircraft were really bland for the last months of the war having no yellow leading edges on the wings, sky fuselage band, no invasion stripes and black spinners. Anyway looking forward to the next installment.

TRF

 

Thank you sir and all very interesting, which ties with what is found in the Hawker Tempest Website about Pierre Clostermann’s Tempests.

 

"JF-E, Le Grand Charles"

 

Within it, can be found this:

 

"In response to an increasing number of ‘friendly fire’ incidents over the battlefields of NW Europe, the 2nd TAF decided to change the markings on all its combat aircraft. The order was issued on 2nd January 1945 and decreed that all wing roundels (both above and below to the wing) would be National Marking III (the type now known as ‘C1’) i.e. the same as the fuselage roundels already carried – with narrow white inner ring and a narrow yellow outer ring. At the same time all remaining ‘invasion’ stripes were to be removed, the rear fuselage ‘Sky’ bands were over-painted with camouflage and the ‘Sky’ spinners were painted ‘Night’ (black). Some units had already adopted coloured spinners and these too had to be painted ‘Night’. These markings had been applied to all 2nd TAF aircraft by 5 February 1945 and were strictly enforced until the end of hostilities."

 

Which brings me to a small dilemma.  If the white cross, yellow leading edges, kill markings, 3 Squadron Badge (on tail) and roundels on the top of the wings are all new or fairly new at the end of the war, should they be a bit dirty and worn, or not at all?  A bit dirty might be OK, but worn would be overkill, which will stick out as not blending in with the rest of the heavily weathered fighter.  Stuff like this can hurt you at a model contest, unless you make a big deal about documenting same.  In any case, I'm going with "accurate" and to heck with the future critics!

 

Cheers,

Chuck