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

[Brett M]

Looking sharp as usual, Chuck. MRP looks like it’s working great for you!
 

Time to chuck my Montex masks.....this explains why it took an hour of cleaning after I did my canopies this past weekend!

 

 

Quote

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!

Edited November 3, 2020 by Brett M

[Troy Molitor]

This is really coming together for you Chuck.  Lovely efforts all the way around.  I have a Lithograph called the "Rat Catchers" somewhere between Palm Springs, CA and Chattanooga Tennessee which P. Clostermann signed back in the 80's???  I read the Big Show as a kid more than a couple times growing up.  I even bought the first edition book off Rick on his site.  I'll admit, the book is part fiction but still a good read.  

 

Great Show going on here mate!  

[fastterry]

Regards weathering on the Tempest, Clostermann's Tempest NV994 is the one photographed by Charles Brown and is reproduced in 'The Big Show' in the flying sequences and as shown it is standard 2nd TAF with no special markings. After the war it received the name, scoreboard, red sinner and 3 Sqn badge. As can be seen by the photos there is some wear showing around the name. This aircraft was damaged and replaced by NV724 and this is the one shown previously in this post with Clostermann on the wing. As you can see by the sheen on the photos by Charles Brown the paint is in pretty good nick. It appears that in the photo of NV724 that the spinner is gloss black and the paint is a satin finish with minimal weathering and only a 'show' of exhaust colouring. I think these aircraft were looked after pretty well as by this time Clostermann was a senior pilot. Also Tempests suffered attrition like all combat aircraft and there were plenty of new replacements that could be flown over from England so there wasn't too many scruffy ones about. I know the Colosseum won't like it but I think minimum weathering is the way to go.

TRF

[chuck540z3]

Thanks TRF.  This is the pic I'm going to focus on for weathering.  It still looks quite weathered with some late post-war lipstick to me.  In any event, I'm going to have some fun with it!

 

 

I just ordered "The Big Show" which I've read is part fiction and part reality, along with the number of kills he claimed.  In any event, he must have been a hell of a pilot if only half the stories and kills are true.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[Kagemusha]

Regards weathering, you could do it theoretically a month or more after the additional post-war markings were applied, thus displaying wear if not tear.

[Alex]

Very impressive on those roundels.  Both your super-crisp result AND the opacity of the MRP white going down over dark blue.  Gotta give those a try...

[tchwrma]

My friend, one question: How are you going to do with the inscription "Le Grand Charles", absent in the decals?

 

Cheers, Paulo.

[chuck540z3]

3 hours ago, Alex said:

Very impressive on those roundels.  Both your super-crisp result AND the opacity of the MRP white going down over dark blue.  Gotta give those a try...

 

Thanks.  For the record, all colors other than yellow are painted over camo colors.  Paint sequence was red, blue, white (on second circle, outside yellow one and wing leading edges) and yellow.  Red took 2 light coats, blue one heavy coat, white was 2-3 (depending on location) and yellow was 2, mostly because it had white underneath already.  The thicker white and yellow coats created small paint ridges, which were easily removed with super fine #2000 grit sandpaper.

 

2 hours ago, tchwrma said:

My friend, one question: How are you going to do with the inscription "Le Grand Charles", absent in the decals?

 

Cheers, Paulo.

 

Good question Paulo and the answer is "I'm not".  This particular kit doesn't come with them and neither does the HGW decals, which is another reason I have selected NV724 in the pic above, because it doesn't have this inscription either.  No big deal, since Charles de Gaulle didn't fly a Tempest anyway!

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[fastterry]

Hi Chuck, I first read the Big Show probably 50 years ago when I was a pre teen, before there was much if any research on WW2 stuff for the general population. Clostermann kept a record of his daily life in the RAF in journals (which was forbidden) and the early years are pretty accurate as far as I can tell (except he did not fly the mission that shot down the recon Bf109G). However when he resumed flying with the 2nd TAF a fair amount of fiction crept into the narrative. Chris Shores and Chris Thomas have written a 4 volume day by day history of the 2nd TAF from its formation until the end of the war. For what its worth in Vol.2 there is a nice photo of Clostermann's Mk IX LO-D in France after D-day. Vol.3 covers his time when he rejoined the 2nd TAF until the end of the war. looking through the pages it seems he spent more time with 274 & 56 sqns than 3 sqn. Planes he flew with 274 are EJ893 JJ-W & JJ-B, 56 sqn are NV979 US-O, NV968 US-G & EJ536 US-W. In 3 sqn he flew SN222, which is apparently the only one that carried the name, NV994 which is the one with no frills and NV724 which he only flew post war. I won't go into whether his score is accurate however the losses in personnel and aircraft he describes in the last chapters are grossly exaggerated, presumably for dramatic effect. It's a bit of a shame really when the man flew something like 400 missions and was wounded in combat and claimed a sizeable number of enemy aircraft. A coward he was not. This doesn't add much to the camouflage debate however.

TRF

[spyrosjzmichos]

Exceptional work as always! 

[FunkyZeit]

Chuck, you actually used the paint. Well done my friend. Talk soon.

 

Justin

[Jamme]

Hi Chuck.

Really nice job.

I will copy your fantastic job when doing mine ( If I may!)

Not exactly same kit as yours.

Mine is ref Nr 32070.

Cheers,

Jamme

 

[JayW]

Man - that paint job is just.....can't find the words.  I just shake my head.

 

[JayW]

Chuck - in the past when painting camouflage, I have used precut pieces of newspaper and then rolled up little pieces of masking tape under the edges of the newspaper to both attach the pieces, and provide a space to the surface for overspray.  The hard parts are one - to cut the shapes in a convincing manner, and two - to make sure there is space around the entire periphery of each piece.  So my results can be not entirely satisfactory.  My 1/18 Corsair is going to get three colors (white on bottom, light shade of blue middle, darker blue on top), and down the road I will be faced with the same thing again.  So I looked with much interest at your method of using putty or clay.  You think that's the way to go?  Your results certainly suggest so.  

Edited November 7, 2020 by JayW

[chuck540z3]

2 minutes ago, JayW said:

Chuck - in the past when painting camouflage, I have used precut pieces of newspaper and then rolled up little pieces of masking tape under the edges of the newspaper to both attach the pieces, and provide a space to the surface for overspray.  The hard parts are one - to cut the shapes in a convincing manner, and two - to make sure there is space around the entire periphery of each piece.  So my results can be not entirely satisfactory.  My 1/18 Corsair is going to get three colors (white on bottom, light shade of blue middle, darker blue on top), and down the road I will be faced with the same thing again.  So I looked with much interest at your method of using putty or clay.  You think that's the way to go?  Your results certainly suggest so.  

 

Hi Jay!

 

The "poster putty" method is fairly well known and I've been using it for years.  Here are some tips:

 

-  New putty can have a bit too much tack, so getting it all off the model can be tricky.  Just use more putty and press it to the residual bits to remove it.  Conversely, older putty that has been used over and over can actually be better than new putty due to easier removal.

 

-  The diameter of the putty "rope" obviously influences how much of a fuzzy overspray look you want to achieve, but the angle you spray does as well.  I like to spray slightly underneath the rope to get a sharper edge than from straight above.

 

-  Spray light colors first, followed by darker colors to improve coverage.

 

-  After the first color has been sprayed, arrange the rope slightly back from the edge so that the first color is exposed.  That way you overlap the first color without leaving a gap.

 

-  Cover the first color with masking tape to avoid overspray from the subsequent colors.

 

-  When you have both all colors painted and putty has been removed, you will find areas that need repairs.   Arrange small ropes and redo them, as well as to add more curved details. 

 

-  With all putty removed, I freehand each color to fill in light coverage and overspray.

 

So that's about it!  Here are a few more examples of camo painting using this method.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HTH,

Chuck