mywifehatesmodels Posted February 22, 2023 Author Share Posted February 22, 2023 Last night, my daughter and I were able to make a set of masks on the Cricut, using a scan of the kit decals as a guide, for the tail codes and fuselage number. I applied the masks and sprayed the yellow..... However, the paint was a bit thick. When I went to unmask it, I found out that it wasn't quite dry yet. A lot of it peeled when removing the masks. My first thought was to just use a brush and fill that paint back in. However, the more I looked at it, I realized that it would be hard to blend back in and I thought the numbers were sitting a touch to low, as well. So, it was time to strip the tail and start over... I used 91% IPA on a paper towel and gently rubbed off all the paint on the top portion of the veritical stabilizer/rudder. Then I primed it again, but this time I shot yellow first, then used the mask numbers that were left over from my first attempt and painted the green around them. Much better... Next up was the fuselage number. I used Mr. Hobby Off-White. I'm working on touch-ups and filling in the centers of the "4s" now. Already messed one up, but it's coming along. Last up for the tail will be the white band. I thought about doing it at the same time as the white numbers, but decided to just take things one step at a time. After that, it's final weathering and finishing the small bits. Almost there....almost. Thanks for watching! John denders, Phantom2, BradG and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Nice work, John! Kev mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif8 Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Good save on the masks John. The build is looking good. Ernest mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Nice work on the tail numbers the reverse masking can be a lot easier than the normal route, I'm pretty sure that was the way I did it as well Cheers Dennis mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggernut Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Nice work. I hate when stencils don’t behave. mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted February 24, 2023 Author Share Posted February 24, 2023 (edited) I've been snowed in for the last couple of days, so there was plenty of time to keep plugging away on this. It's pretty much done, spare a few small details and plenty of needed touch-ups. It seemed that everything I attempted to finish today, messed something else up that I had to fix! I did take some pics along the way, so I 'll walk through those.... The last major item that needed to be painted was the white fuselage band. References suggest that it was more likely something similar to what I have, than what the kit's decals represent, which is an odd sort of chevron. After this was done, it was time to add the kit's stencil decals. While they aren't perfectly thin, they seem better than the older Hasegawa decals that I'm used to. Also, the printing is very clear and legible, even on the smallest examples. Once the decals were applied, I decided that the white print was quite bright, so I shot them with a highly thinned coat of the Kawanishi green, just to blend them in a little better. It worked quite well. I also tried the AK Interactive Pigment Fixer, using to add some pastel chalk dirt and dust to the traffic areas. A little bit more oil washing and blending of the paint was done, also. I kept applying extremely thinned coats of the base Kawanishi green and it started to take a bit of a darker appearance, which I was happy to see. I took this opportunity to finally glue the Master cannon barrels and engine in place and get a couple glamour shots of it, before gluing the cowl in place..... By this point, I had already applied the clear coat, being MRP's "Matt Clear". To be honest, it turned out as more of a satin, at best. However, I'm also glad I didn't lose the semi-gloss look of the finish. It's kind of appealing to me. It should look a little more dry as it ages and I have to say that it went on extremely smooth and leveled better than any other clear I've used, straight from the bottle. After all that, it was time to get the other small parts completed. The flaps, gear and drop tank were painted and attached, as well as the steps and antenna mast. The lights fought me the whole way. Lost one of the tiny wingtop bulbs, so I'll have to replace it with something else. The wingtip lights were stubborn. One of those cases of parts that fit perfect....until you grab the glue! I'll just post the rest of the quick pics I took. Next post will be at completion, when I have some RFI pics ready. Thanks for everything! John Edited February 24, 2023 by mywifehatesmodels BradG, LSP_Kevin, Dpgsbody55 and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif8 Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 Very nice work John! The weathering of the paint looks great and I think the satin look is probably more correct than a dead flat look. A real beauty of a build overall. Ernest mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom2 Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 That turned out great, a really beautiful model! Stefan mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 Looks great, John! Kev mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokey Pete Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 That looks real good. I’m really liking the slight satin finish, something I’m into myself just lately. I don’t know a huge amount about this era of aircraft but can certainly appreciate the work you guys put into them. mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themongoose Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 Oh those are some great colors. Nice work! mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 Looks great, a very big well done is in order. Cheers Dennis mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 I'll save my comments for the RFI post mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted February 25, 2023 Author Share Posted February 25, 2023 (edited) Thanks, everybody! I'll put a couple more pics here before posting in the RFI forum. I got a batch of photos, but with the LED lighting in the shop and no decent indoor photo setup, I'm not thrilled with the photos. This plane is begging for some outdoor, forced perspective photos, but it will have to wait until the weather warms up. By the way, I just realized that I forgot to add the landing gear indicators on the the top of the wings. I'll get to that. Thanks again, everyone! John EDIT: RFI thread located here: Edited February 25, 2023 by mywifehatesmodels Rockie Yarwood, themongoose, LSP_Kevin and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokey Pete Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 That looks seriously nice John. Great job. mywifehatesmodels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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