Thunnus Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 Thanks guys! Appreciate the input and comments! After a brief hiatus, Shiden Kai build grinds forward. The masked canopy parts are glued into place with Tamiya Extra Thin cement, being extra careful that the glue does not leach into the masks. FYI... the clear parts were dipped into Future prior to the application of the masks. The small PE shroud was glued into place onto the front of the windshield at this time. The clear parts were sprayed with the interior green color first and then black over that. It's important to make the frames as opaque as possible. Tissue paper moistened with water was used to mask the open wheel wells. Finally, we are at the painting stage. To prepare the painting surface (and hopefully stave off paint lifting at the masking stage), I've cleaned off the model using a soft cloth lightly wetted with Windex. The undersurfaces are given my usual pre-shading treatment. Alclad White Aluminum is used for the base color of the undersides. Some random panels are painted in other Alclad colors to give some tonal variation to the metal finish. The top sides are sprayed with Tamiya AS-12 Silver directly onto the plastic without a preshade. Since the topside green color will be chipped with hairspray, the preshade will be applied on top of the silver. The AS-12 is liberally thinned with Tamiya Lacquer thinner to help preserve the surface details as much as possible. Troy Molitor, Hartmann52, AlbertD and 17 others 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 John, It all looks great! I feel like every time I look at one of your updates I learn something new. Like the moistened tissue in the wheel wells, or the layer of black on your canopy to improve opacity. I'll be using those two for sure! Gaz AlbertD and Rockie Yarwood 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaxos345 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Looks great John!!! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Coming together brilliantly as usual John. Well done. Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncarina Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 It's great to see you approaching completion! It sure is a beautiful aircraft, and that silver really shows her off! Cheers, Tom Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted November 10, 2020 Author Share Posted November 10, 2020 Thanks guys! More tonal variation on the bottom and the fabric-covered ailerons have been painted JA Grey. Uncarina, Alex, Kagemusha and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlbertD Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Your doing an incredible job. So the pre-shading will go on over the chipping fluid on the upper surfaces? No need to answer. I'll just see how you do it as you go. As was said by Gaz above there is always something to learn from your updates. Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Wow, looks tremendous John! The contrast between the various NMF panels and the fabric ailerons is really interesting Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockie Yarwood Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 (edited) Looking fantastic, John! Plus one on Gaz's comment about the extra layer of black on the canopy frames - never thought of that... Thanks for sharing, Rockie PS - I've seen other examples of black basing used under metallics, and thought it never looked quite right. However, your effort looks great! Edited November 10, 2020 by Rockie Yarwood added PS Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 (edited) Thanks everyone! I think modeling mojo is really kicking in now with this colder weather! Yesterday, the upper silver surfaces were given a coat of hairspray, which was left to dry for a few hours prior to application of my preshading last night. Same deal as I did previously on the undersides except the order. This morning I started on the Green upper surfaces, which is a mixture of AK Real Color IJN D2 Green Black and AK Real Color RLM 83 Blue (3:1 ratio). In order to modulate the pre-shade effects, I thinned the paint at a 2:1 Tamiya Lacquer Thinner:paint ratio. The green color is built up slowly with multiple passes of the airbrush, generally working from panel to panel. The nice thing about pre-shading is that you can dial in the effect from 0-100. I like a very subtle effect so I'll be filling in the green until the pre-shading is almost imperceptible. If desired, you can eliminate completely. The AK Real Colors spray beautifully and are very easy to work with. I like the satin finish versus a matte or high gloss. When using this technique, it is important to shift perspective occasionally to see the finish from different angles. It's also important to account for the highly-thinned paint to cut into pre-shade layer over time as it dries. The finish may look different a couple of minutes after spraying. I decided to spray the demarcation line without the use of any masks, just freehand. The green is finished and I'll allow it to dry but not completely cure before I start the chipping. The fabric ailerons and rudder will be painted in a slightly different shade of green and after the chipping process. Edited November 11, 2020 by Thunnus Alain Gadbois, LSP_Kevin, Kagemusha and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monthebiff Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Looking really good John, starting to come together now! Regards. Andy Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaxos345 Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Great painting job John!!! John Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlbertD Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Very nice. Can't wait to see the next steps. I have bookmarked this build to use it as a future reference. Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 17 minutes ago, AlbertD said: Very nice. Can't wait to see the next steps. I have bookmarked this build to use it as a future reference. X 2 Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted November 12, 2020 Author Share Posted November 12, 2020 Thanks guys! Didn't want the Green layer to completely cure so I attacked the chipping a few hours after spraying. I found it best to work in small areas at a time and to not let the water pool too long the paint or the chips would get uncontrollably large. Japanese aircraft have been documented to experience very heavy paint chipping so I wanted to be fairly extensive with this without going overboard, keeping in mind that I can also add chipping later. Since water disrupts the green paint layer at its base, I waited a couple of hours to move on to the next step, which was to paint the fabric-covered ailerons and rudder in a slightly lighter green shade. Unfortunately, the green paint lifted in many areas. The effect is quite interesting... almost usable. After a similar experience on the combat flaps, I have to figure out a different way to repair these areas while trying to leave some chippings effects behind... salt chipping? Outside of those paint lift areas, I'm fairly satisfied with the chipping effects at this stage. My main worry now is the integrity of the green finish. I've got some large adhesive masks coming up. Starfighter, AlbertD, LSP_Kevin and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now