Alex Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 OK, after a couple work days when there wasn't time/energy afterwards to do anything model, I got some work in today. Here's the piebald look of three different gray tones applied in randomish chunks over the base plastic. And then with all of the panel lines shaded. I REALLY need to practice my freehand airbrush technique more. Having the paint flow control on the new 0.2 mm Mr Hobby airbrush helps with this task, but I still have trouble getting model + hand into an orientation where I can consistently paint straightish lines. So as intended the control surfaces are the lightest tone of all, so should end up that way after the topcoat too. I do worry that the fabric "shadow effect" on the control surfaces is too faint as-is under the white and will be completely lost once the top color goes down. I really should have done it *over* the white. Live and learn. I'm not re-taping that at this point. Not much left to do now. I need to decant my Tamiya rattle can IJA Gray and *carefully* build just the right amount of color over that patchwork of pre-painting. Also I should probably put the antenna mast and pitot tube on now so the get the topcoat along with everything else. Then it's just messing with getting that gunsight on... I had originally thought that I'd do panel line wash now, but I think the shading will hide it too much. I will either do the usual and put it on after the topcoat OR I may try to paint MOST of the top color on, lay down a coat of gloss clear lacquer, then panel line wash before finishing the top coat and painting the insignia. I really like the way it looks when the PL wash is sunk under a little bit of paint, like under the oil dot filter layer on my Warhawk - blends in really nicely. Lothar, MikeMaben, Kagemusha and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Ok, let’s see the magic turn out here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 28 minutes ago, Troy Molitor said: Ok, let’s see the magic turn out here. Fingers crossed. I’m staying focused on the fact that I have a bailout option - just hide it all under the topcoat if it doesn’t look good. Troy Molitor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Cool Alex, be good to see how that pre-shading turns out! 3 hours ago, Alex said: And then with all of the panel lines shaded. I REALLY need to practice my freehand airbrush technique more. Having the paint flow control on the new 0.2 mm Mr Hobby airbrush helps with this task, but I still have trouble getting model + hand into an orientation where I can consistently paint straightish lines. Don't stress it Alex, I intentionally make my pre-shade lines rough and irregular which I believe gives a superior result to neat straight lines which result in a geometric pattern which, in my humble opinion, simply doesn't look real. 3 hours ago, Alex said: I do worry that the fabric "shadow effect" on the control surfaces is too faint as-is under the white and will be completely lost once the top color goes down. I really should have done it *over* the white. This is sometimes best done as a post-shade too, using a darker shade of the topcoat or Tamiya Smoke. Look forward to seeing how it turns out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Some nice progress Alex. Had to look up piebald Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 That looks pretty strange, hope it works out, should be something special if it does but as you say it could all be covered over if necessary. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Cheers Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) So this is not yet at the final color density I want, obviously, but I'm thinking it may be the right stopping point to gloss it, do the panel line + rivet wash, and then build the rest of the topcoat color. I put this layer down with the airbrush (paint decanted from the spraycan you see there), and shot it pretty wet, about 40% thinner, so I could build density slowly. Even still I would up with a bit of a dusty surface, especially in the wing roots where that happens easily. I then went and sprayed it down heavily with Mr Leveling Thinner, and voila it smoothed right out (lacquer's secret superpower). I'm now a bit concerned that the dense white underlayer on the control surfaces is going to leave them too stark in contrast to the rest of the plane. If necessary I may try to mask them and apply more paint just to them to bring them closer to the overall color. We'll see. So far it's not a disaster, but we're not done yet... Edited June 18, 2020 by Alex shadowmare, 109, Landrotten Highlander and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 Also, in the future, I need to do this panel line pre-shading with lighter colors. I used extra-dark sea gray this time and it might as well be black. Everything is a learning experience... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 This is after a coat of Alclad Gloss Clear and a black enamel PL wash. The panel lines are too stark here, but there's still more IJA Gray to come over them to tone it down and blend it in. This exercise also revealed that some of my rivet repair was sub-par (mostly on the underside of the nose) so I need to redo that and PL wash them again before proceeding. I've struggled to make a tool that impresses good replacement rivets that look like the molded-in ones. My needle tool makes them too narrow and deep. I can go over those with a tiny drill bit, but it takes an eternity. Maybe a blunter, carpet-type needle? I need to keep after this (suggestions are of course welcome!). Also noted that the Alclad Gloss got ever so slightly tacky in response to the white spirit that I used with the PL wash. Next time I need to do this I will try Mr Color Gloss Clear. Normally I would use Future but did not like the idea of inserting an acrylic layer between lacquer coats. Gazzas, Out2gtcha, Kagemusha and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 (edited) That should look great with a top coat toning it down, the lines and rivets look really crisp and should peep through the top coat nicely. The rivet tool that I use is made by MDC https://www.modeldesignconstruction.co.uk/54282-tools Cheers Dennis Edited June 20, 2020 by dennismcc Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 I like where this model is going. Ever tried a beading tool? Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 Looking really good Alex! Iain Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 3 hours ago, dennismcc said: That should look great with a top coat toning it down, the lines and rivets look really crisp and should peep through the top coat nicely. The rivet tool that I use is made by MDC https://www.modeldesignconstruction.co.uk/54282-tools Cheers Dennis I’ll have a look at it - thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 2 hours ago, Gazzas said: I like where this model is going. Ever tried a beading tool? I have not but I’m going to check this out, thanks! Gazzas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 (edited) Ready to start painting insignia... I feel like the hinomaru color is off in some way - it's just too strong. I mixed primary red with gray to get it, and I think I used too dark a gray. This is actually very close to the red of the kit decals, but I really need to get something that's more "scale grayed" to be completely satisfied with it. My next model is also a Japanese subject, so I'm going to do some more work on this color before then. Also, as you can see in the foreground, I ran into a tiny problem when painting one of the hinomarus, and then committed the cardinal sin of trying to fix it quickly, rather than stopping and coming back to the situation after the paint was dry. As a consequence, I turned a small problem into a big problem that I then had to fix... Here's partially fixed, but still needing some little cleanups and fixes to the shading. I ended up also repairing a few small chips to the paint that got pulled off by my masks. I am not super-happy with the adhesion of the Tamiya spray lacquer, at least as I applied it via airbrush. Perhaps I over-thinned it and that's to blame. I know for sure that Mr Color lacquer would not have come up like that. It was a few tiny spots, but still. Live and learn. At a minimum the hinomarus, if loud, are distinctive. Even my wife, who has no interest in this stuff at all, asked in passing "Is this one Japanese?" Now I just have the blue chevrons of the Sentai insignia to paint, and it's on to the endgame. There are a few stencil decals from the kit that I will use, and I need to install a few last parts (note the funky pitot tube is on already) and then try to rig the antenna wire in a way that doesn't look awful. Then it's on to the next kit(!) I was thinking for a while that it might be the 1:48 Loire Colonial flying boat that I've had in the stash for a while, but I don't think I can segue straight into another Special Hobby build. So I'm going to do the 1:32 Tamiya A6M2 Zero that I've got, done up as a plane from one of the carrier air groups that attacked Pearl Harbor. Looking forward to fewer fit issues on that one, I hope... Edited June 24, 2020 by Alex Alain Gadbois, Dutch Man, MikeMaben and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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