Decisions Decisions

So it feels like every couple of years I do something on here and it rapidly fades out. I guess a lack of visitors really does impact enthusiasm, when I get plenty of clicks on my Facebook modelling page, and lots of comments. So I gravitate back there. 

I get it, I really do - Facebook makes engagement EASY. Everyone has it, everyone is but a click away from my ramblings or, more engagingly, some pictures. Coming here requires, first of all, remembering it exists, then thinking what I do is worth the effort, however minor that effort is, it's still more than simply opening your facebook app. So, like I say, I get it.

But I loathe Facebook with the fire of a thousand suns as an experience these days. Algorithms actively sabotage you unless you pay one of the world's richest robots for access to people. He HURTS you to try and make money. He saps your enthusiasm for his bottom line. 

Hey, his playground, his decisions. But I'd love to get enough going here to make it a place to share more constructively what I'm up to. 

Maybe, we'll see. Shall we build a model? 

Academy A-10 first steps

 So I've been waiting for this for a while, and finally picked one up this morning and started immediately. 

The kit is beautifully moulded, in typical Academy fashion these days. There is a bunch of slide moulding, which can be really clever. But it still leaves seam lines to deal with  the trick is to ensure you check for them! Have a look at the following pictures to see them. The ones on the sides of the rear fuselage are so fine I've highlighted them with the dreaded red line. They will have to be dealt with.

The good part is that as a one piece moulding you will not have to worry about ghost seams or similar - the bad aide? Well, often slide moulding is done to preserve or include fine details. As the seam still needs to go you still risk damaging that detail when dealing with them! So care is needed

The first step for me is to run a line of dark paint along each seam line - this just means you can see exactly what you're doing when removing them, so as not to go overboard with the sanding sticks. 

Eduard A6M3 Hamp , 1/48th Scale

 

So here we are done. After the initial mottling I sat back and looked at the model, and whilst I really liked the mottled effect, I had to admit that it wasn't actually accurate. These aircraft weren't so much mottled as badly sprayed over their upper surfaces - the idea was to paint them dark green on top, not mottle the amber-grey. So I had to revisit it.

So the PS771 airbrush was loaded up with more Mr Color C124 green, and I carefully went over the model to deepen the mottle.

In the end I went back four or five times over the space of a day or so. It can become to formulaic and regular if you attempt this sort of thing in one sitting, so doing one pass and walking away for an hour before going back pays dividends in both keeping it random and allowing you closely monitor how heavily the overpainting is getting. 

Ultimately I was extremely happy with the result. I managed to incorporate the initial mottling into the overspray to achieve a highly variegated finish which matched what I was visualising very nicely. It's irregular and blotchy but heavy enough to look like a badly sprayed aircraft, not a heavy mottle.

I added a  wash to the model using payne's grey and raw umber oil paints mixed with odourless thinner. There's so much surface detail and riveting to highlight that a pin wash is not going to capture it well, so it was more a sludge wash totally covering the model with a wide Filbert brush, allowed to dry for an hour or so and then polished with lots of kitchen towel. 

The chipping was done with Ammo Of Mig 0194 flat aluminium applied with a fine brush, again building it up very gently over multiple sessions to try and achieve something I was happy with - heavy on the wing roots and around removable panels and fasteners elsewhere. Pretty happy with it although it could be refined more - something to work on! With the chipping done the model received two liberal coats of Mr Color GX114 super smooth flat coat with some GX112 mixed in to add a slight sheen. 

When the varnish was dry some areas of chipping and other wear had some Ammo oilbrusher earth dotted around and worked with a slightly moist brush to dull the shine down and make it look slightly more lived in!  Final weathering was drybrushed oils of various colours including my very favourite Starship filth, with some black and other browns for other stains and streaks. The pitot was made from Albion Alloys telescoping tube and painted before supergluing in place, and with the masking removed there was my Hamp. 

There's not enough good things you can say about Eduard toolings these days - they are an enthusiasts' dream. Superbly detailed inside and out, comprehensively researched and tooled as near perfectly as it's possible to be. At around £30 for this model in the UK, superb value for money as well! The decals are still a sticking point, they're getting better but I still think they are by far the worst aspect of modern Eduard kits. 

Hugely recommended, and an interesting addition to the Zero family, I can't wait for the Rufe!

Monday Paint!

 Nothing much to report today, except for a few hours this morning using my GSI PS-771 airbrush to apply the field applied topside green. Carefully sprayed around all the marking to make it look, well, field applied! And then an overspray of the green all over the topsides to blend it in. I think the real thing may have had a heavier mottle, but I'm stopping here for aesthetics! 

Gloss coat before washes next, see you soon!

Hamp Paintwork

 And so to paint! Initially the model was given a solid coat of AK Real Colours RC303 Amber Grey

With this done postshading was done using a lighter shade, in this case Mr Color H45 Sail Color

Mostly this was misted into panels, with some picked out specifically.

Then a darker colour was sprayed on, here using Mr Color H369 Dark Earth. This was not sprayed into panels as such, but more a general and random collection of lines and faded areas not following the detail for the most part. Both post shading colours were picked to hopefully by sympathetic to the base colour, in the hope that the result would be visible but not too starkly, and wouldn't need so much work to blend it in.

With this done the model had misted coats of the base colour applied to blend the shading in and make it look like weathered paint rather than something applied afterward. This requires care to not over - or - underdo it. 

As much of the base marking were than sprayed as possible using masks made on my Silhouette cutter and sprayed with lacquers. Although I did use the kit decals for the tail number and makers plaque on the rear fuselage.

All paints were thinned with Mr Color Rapid Thinner on this model so far. 

Hamp Day Six

 A few days where little got done due to work and, on Thursday at least, extreme tiredness (I hate earlies!), but plodding through an hour or so's work per night on tidy up, seem checking and some masking and stuff. 

Obviously the engine and cowling will be popped off prior to painting! I just like adding them for pictures. The plan is to complete the model with all markings in the overall amber grey with all markings added (mainly sprayed on) and then spray the dark green mottle on top to allow it to look field applied.

I'm trying out a more complete assembly before painting here. For twenty or more years I've ribbed my good friend Craig Sargent on how incredibly complete he gets his models before painting. . . it always looks like a recipe for disaster to me, with so many fragile parts to work around. But on the other hand he is one of the very best modellers I know, so there must be SOMETHING in it, right?!? So we'll see how clumsy I am, and how much I'll break painting it!

See you after paint. . . I hope.

Hamp Day Three

 I have to say, this being my second one of these this year, that unless something pretty spectacular happens in the next two months, of the kits I've built in 2022, this is going to be my KOTY. It's simply delightful. Two tiny dabs of filler on the fuselage in front of the windscreen on the top. And I could have avoided that with more care. 

And on the underside, a shim of .25mm plastic sheet at the rear of the lower wing join was all that was needed to make fit pretty much perfect. 

And with that most of the assembly is done in three days from opening the box. Some details, canopy and masking, and we're off to the paintshop.

Stay tuned!

Zero Sum Game From Eduard

 Earlier in the year I picked up the Eduard A6M Zero kit. I generally don't have much interest in Japanese WWII subjects - nothing against them, just never really moved me that much. So I thought I'd do the Zero as a palate cleanser, knowing that being a new tool Eduard product I would have few problems building it!

It turned out to be one of my favourite subjects of the last few years, an incredibly enjoyable build and one of the most rewarding painting and weathering jobs I'd done in a long while. It just went right. It also piqued my interest in the subject matter, so when the Type 32 "Hamp" was released this month, I grabbed one from Andy at Antics, and with my ast project finished earlier today I set about it. And here we are.

As you can see, not much to say at this point, just a few hours spent gluing bits together, but the detail levels on Eduard's latest toolings are little short of spectacular.

And then some paint added to start things off - all Mr Color lacquers and some Tamiya lacquer in this case, to set the base for detail painting and weathering. I'm not using much of the included etch on this one, I'll see how paint and decals look in the relatively small cockpit. See you soon!

 Is Klear Still Viable in 2021?

Simple premise - I first saw Klear used by the late Ted Taylor in Scale Models International more than 35 years ago. I was 14-15 at the time and wondered what this wonder gloss he was using was. Imagine my surprise when I found that you got it in the cleaning section of the Supermarket! And it was as good brushes as airbrushed?!? I was still three-four years from my first serious forays into airbrushing so it seemed perfect.

You know what? It was brilliant - once I'd worked out that you didn't use white spirit as a thinner or brush cleaner it clicked into place. And ever since I've been using it almost constantly for various things in modelling - I've certainly never applied it to any linoleum! One thing I have rarely used it for in years is glossing prior to decals. I simply moved into lacquers and my processes changed. I tend to go back to it when glossing large models as it it easy to apply in large quick coats than lacquers in my experience, less demanding of that wet edge, less likely to get vortex grit in sharp corners on large subjects. But largely not used anymore day to day.

Yesterday I was at a low motivational point, and decided to experiment with it as a gloss finish again, using some test pieces ad painting over Tamiya acrylics. I had been playing with greys and green for a while, so decided to gloss them up. The process was simple - the paint was applied (thinned with Tamiya lacquer thinner) and very lightly wet sanded with Trizact 3000 to smooth it. Then two light coats of Klear at low pressure thinned again with Tamiya lacquer thinner, and again sanded between and at the end with Trizact. 

The basic gloss. Certainly good enough for any decal application. Almost fool-proof application at low (10-12psi) pressure, the thinner keys it to the gloss, dries hard in a couple of hours. Another coat, another polish, done. Absolutely solid, hard coat and nice shine - more coats will, of course build more shine.

Then I decided to polish one of the test pieces with Turtle Wax Light-To-Medium polishing compound. The paint and plastic prep was nowhere as thorough as I'd do for an actual gloss finish - but I think the results are clear. It's as good as any other gloss I've cut and polished. 

My verdict? Yes, it's still totally viable and useable in 2021 as a glossing medium. It's no more or less risky than any other paint coat (i.e. basically anything that goes wrong will be something You've done, not the product - and I've failed in applying finishes many times in my modelling career - if you're not failing occasionally you're probably not pushing or learning).

Still useful, still relevant. Will I go back to using it regularly? Probably not, but it's a nice tool and skill set to refresh yourself with, and I may try it a few times on upcoming builds and see where it goes. 

Airfix Beaufort

 Airfix 1/72nd Beaufort Mk.1

Great box art invites the modeller in!

So, time to get this thing started! The one thing I had decided to do fairly early on was to give the model a full rivet job. I can generally take or leave rivets in small scales, but I wanted to busy this one up some using simple techniques. so out came the pencil, some straight edges and dymo tape and the RB Models riveter!

The basic tools of combat when riveting.

You can use straight edges for long runs of rivets, but in all honestly, as long as you have some sort of guide line like an adjacent panel, you can work slowly and carefully freehand - if your rivet wheel isn't overly sloppy it won't tend to wander. But using a straight edge gives an insurance of sorts, so your choice!

I prefer to do most riveting before assembly commences, individual parts have fewer corners and awkward spots to deal with. I stay away from thing like seam lines on fuselage halves - I'll do them after sanding the seams to make all the detail marry up.

And the results - I didn't follow any plans for this, so it's basically an "added interest" feature that is imagineered from the detail provided. I couldn't find any plans covering rivet patterns, so as long as it busies up the surface, I'm happy. A light oil paint wash highlights the panel detail and rivets for the camera.

 Zvezda 1/144th Boeing 757

My very favourite airliner. I've waited a LONG time for this. I built the Minicraft kit that was released in around 1998-99 a few times, but to call it "disappointing" is to understate things slightly. So here we are, in 2021, with an all new tool Zvezda 757. Worth the wait? 100%! Beautifully moulded, fine but consistent detail, looks every inch the sleek, sinuous and predatory beauty the 757 is. I've been on the kit two days, and most of the major subassemblies are done. 

The wing and tailplanes aren't glued yet, but this is the basic model. I did scrape a vee in the fuselage halves at the join so I could fill the seam with black CA - glossy airliners mean you have to make the seam go bye-bye better than most others, and this will help prevent ghost seams opening up later. 

The satellite internet antenna on the spine fits perfectly too! 

Underside view showing fit of wing lower section. The kit includes standard wingtips and winglets as an option, and both RR and GE engines are ins the kit. Basically you can do any -200 series 757 from this model as provided. Clear cabin windows have a section to be cut off for the -200, indicating clear plans for a -300 down the line a bit (2022?)

More soon, nearly ready for some paint!

 "Tamiya Decals Are Thicker Than Aftermarket Decals"

"You can never hide the carrier film". This is an ongoing trope in modelling circles. That Tamiya decals are too thick to effectively hide the carrier film, that you always wend up with a visible edge around them. That you should always seek aftermarket decals for your Tamiya kit in order to overcome this issue. Yada yada yada.

I've had some issues in the past when I've used water that is too cold. Apart from that I have thirty years of using them with no issues whatsoever. But. . . . when it all blew up again this week I decided to actually *test* the hypothesis. You see, I work in aerospace manufacturing. This gives me access to accurate, calibrated measuring equipment. You can see where this is going can't you?

So I picked a spare Tamiya decal (part of the anti glare panel from the 2016 F-14A kit). I picked a spare Cartograf decal (an upper wing roundel from the very recent Special Hobby 1/32nd Whirlwind). I soaked both in water until they came free from their backing paper. I then laid each face down on a piece of non-woven lint free paper (the sort that we use in aerospace to clean and wipe delicate things with) and then carefully cleaned the adhesive off of each with a cotton bud soaked in water. With both thoroughly clean I placed them on a piece of paper to dry. And then I took them to work. 

And here's how they looked once dry. The roundel is wrinkled but not creased, so would measure just fine. 

My weapon of choice is a digital micrometer. I prefer manual micrometers, but for this test decided to use a digital scale. I set it for metric (because I'm not in a third world country and don't use bananas day to day) and zeroed the display with it closed on the ratchet. For info this mic was calibrated in May 2021 and is next due for calibration in May 2022. So it's good enough for helicopters. 

First up the Tamiya decal. Again tightened until the ratchet clicked. 

That measures .013mm thick. For those who insist on using bananas, that is just over a half a thou (or one two-thousandths of an inch). It's THIN. 

Next up the Cartograf

That measures .017mm. Again, for those using bananas that is just under seven-tenths of a thou. 
Yes, you're reading that right. While there is less than two-ten thousandths of an inch in it, the Cartograf decal is THICKER than the Tamiya. And I measured this in several places. It's thicker. Simple as that. 
So whatever issues you're having, it's not because the Tamiya decal is thicker. Japanese decals use a thicker, gloopier adhesive, you can FEEL it on the sheet when wet. Remove that (or activate it properly with very hot water) and there's nothing to choose. 
The decals are fine, you may need to adjust your technique, but they're perfectly useable. 
Well, that's one myth destroyed. Next?

Edit - As expected someone said I didn't know what I was doing and that black is thinnest and it was an unfair test. So here's a multi colour decals from the same Tomcat sheet, using the same layers and colours as the Cartograf decal:- 

So, let's test it.

My god! It's thicker. . . by .002mm (banana counters that's less than one ten thousandth of an inch). The decals are NOT the problem. But someone will have moved the goalposts again by lunchtime to promulgate the myth. 

Ultimately I'll carry on using Tamiya decals because I know how to. 

ICM KDA-1 Drone 1/48th 

ICM's little range of drones started to appear early in 2021, and they are typically modern ICM - that is to say beautifully moulded, beautifully presented (good sturdy boxes count!) and great value at around £13-14 each of you look around. This quick build will cover the first release, that of the KDA-1 variant, a stumpy little jet target used in it's thousands since the early 1950s.

As you can see it's a neat little package, starting from the box art and carrying through the entire model. The intention is to do this one quite quickly - sort of "between projects" palate cleanser, so I will be using a few speedy techniques. 

The first thing was to deal with a few little sub-assemblies. The intake has a piece of trunking for each half - beware that it doesn't sit flush to the fuselage except at the front, it's creating a tunnel that doesn't follow the inner fuselage contours. As you can see I used a thick CA for this - it's a technique that speeds things up, but you do have to be sure of your fit, as you don't have much play time! But if you have the confidence, extensive use of CA can speed up the process greatly

Once in place I added a dab of CA with acrylic resin powder in to each space at the top - this is for nothing more than reinforcement when cleaning the joint up, it's not strictly necessary, but I'm a "belt&braces" kinda guy so in it went!

The intake seam was dealt with using some 400 grit wet and dry wrapped around a suitable tubular form - in my case a micro chisel handle. Wet sanding and polishing dealt with this in minutes. In fact  the total time from opening the box to having the seams in the trunking dealt with was less than 30 minutes - speed!

There is an intake bullet on this drone, and it comes in two halves. Again, for speed I used CA. I can't stress enough how important it is to test fit and be absolutely certain of your join before running CA into it - get it wrong and you have a major recovery job in your hands, but with care it's a great way to build. I slightly bevel each edge of the join to give the superglue a channel to run into. A couple applications and you can sand the seam perfectly smooth. It also means you won't get a ghost seam - EVER. 

The wings are in simple halves, and were glued together with Tamiya's white label cement. This is a slightly thicker cement than their extra thin or quick setting, but I find it very useful for lots of tasks. I applied a thin coat to each wing half and then let it sit for a minute or so before bringing the parts together.  This allows it to soften the plastic but also allows the majority of the solvent to evaporate, meaning you end up with slightly softened plastic, but hopefully none of the solvent will be trapped and end up causing sinkage or rippling on the thin parts when bought together, 

When dry the straight leading and trailing edges were lightly sanded with some wet and dry taped to a piece of tee-al to ensure it remains absolutely straight. Keeping a straight leading edge is especially important on this type of model, as any variation will be very apparent. With the bulk of the material removed on the seam, one can switch to sanding sponges or wet & dry to finish the surfaces off.

The interior was given a quick spray with Alclad jet exhaust after assembling and cleaning up the jet pipe. Little visible here so no more than a quick blast through in case anyone decides to inspect it!  The fan blades were sprayed Tamiya  LP-11 silver and given a wash with Tamiya black panel line accent

This is just an image to again show how the mating edges are slightly bevelled when I'm going to use superglue for joining. The area behind the upper fairing will be joined with a very small bead of Tamiya quick setting because there's some detail there that I want to preserve with minimal sanding, but the rest will be done with CA. 

After dealing with any seams that needed attention, any that were eradicated were restored with a needle in a pin chuck and some vinyl tape as a guide. The model will be painted almost entirely in subassemblies and bought together at the end. So things like the intake bullet and tip pods were mounted to toothpicks for painting

Shot showing the seam lines and where the bevelling edges allows superglue to flow in allows perfect seam sanding and polishing.

You can see the intake seam dealt with here. Clearly visible is the way the rear bulkhead and fan face has a quite visible gap between it and the intake trunk - this is not something I worry about as the bullet will hide nearly all of it when inserted, and it will allow easier masking. 

I also took the opportunity to assemble the cart the Firebee attaches to when complete (and not on a pylon!). It's an easy quick assembly and gives a good way to show the drone off as it has no  undercarriage.

I did remove the main part of the towing bar and replace it with some Albion Alloys tube, as it was probably simpler and quicker than trying to deal with the seam line on that bit!

And so to painting! I'm uncertain whether I will simply add it here or do a new blog entry for painting. . .to be determined! Thanks for looking, stay tuned and please drop a comment.