Hasegawa Ju87B done

YAY! Finally finished my first model for this year, Hasegawa's 1/48 Ju87B. Quite a few mistakes on this one but what the hell, it's done. Next up is the F-104C Starfighter.

So things I've learned from this? Apart from don't bother making planes if I was to do this scheme again I would try and tone down the sharkmouth more. I did overspray it with an off-white but it's still too bright. Also don't put the model upside down as the aerial mast does'nt like it and I had to make a new one from styrene aerofoil shaped strip. Also the cockpit colour is wrong as I used a match for RLM 02 Grey rather than RLM 66 Black Grey.  Sue me! :o)

Hasegawa 1/48 Ju87B update

I dragged this from the Shelf of Doom (tm) the other day with a view to getting it finished so I masked off the underside then gave it a couple of coats of AK Interactive Worn Effects fluid quickly followed by matt white Mr Hobby acrylic paint. Using a cheap stiff paint brush dipped in warm water the white paint was scrubbed off to reveal the green camouflage to try and achieve a worn winter finish.
Fast forward to tonight and using Mig Productions Dark Wash, this stuff was run into all the panels lines top and bottom with any excess washed off with a clean brush dipped in B&Q's own brand white spirit. The excess was also brushed in the direction of air flow with added streaks aft of the engine cowling to simulate oil stains.

Next thing to do is the exhaust stains on the fuselage sides and maybe I can get it finished :o)

The new Humbrol Clear varnish.....Wow!

I took the plunge and using a flat paint brush I've applied the first coat of Humbrol Clear on the Starfighter and it is VERY smooth, no brush marks whatsoever. I can safely say it is an excellent replacement for Johnsons Kleer AND being water soluble you can clean brushes and airbrushes a lot easier, rather than use ammonia or something equally toxic.

I think another coat will do the trick very nicely and I shall use it for the decals too. Johnsons Kleer is great for bedding down decals but decal setting solutions like Micro-Sol have caused a reaction with Kleer so it will be interesting to see what happens with the Humbrol stuff. Stay tuned folks :o)

F-104 camo done!

Well the camo is done and the masking is off so next stage is a touch up were paint has crept under the tape then a coat or two of gloss varnish for the decals. Chuffed to have got it this far so quick. Ya gotta love Mr Hobby paint :o)

Edit; I tried to recreate the soft demarcation line between the top and bottom colours afterward but it did'nt quite work out, mainly due to my inability to get acrylic paint to work the way I want them. In future for jobs like this I'll be using enamel paint as I can get more control with fine lines and overspray. Acrylic paint is fine for hard-edged camo schemes and single colours and I'll still use it but I'm going to have to accept that I have reached my limit (and patience) with acrylics.
Anyway the next job is to gloss coat it, ready for the decals.

First topcoat on.

This is the first of the three colours to go on the uppersurface and after spraying the tan I put a few drops of white in the mix then sprayed in between the panel lines to make it look a bit arty :o)

Hopefully I can get the two greens on this week in between going to the model show at the RAF Museum, Cosford on sunday and work. This will involve masking off the camouflage pattern so it can't be rushed and it's worth letting the paint harden off too.

Starfighter painting started

YAY! I've managed to get some paint on it the other day starting with light grey for the underside and I've just finished masking it off today so that I can do the upper surface colours. The paints being used for this model will all be from the Mr Hobby range but what exactly I'll use for varnish is another thing as I still had problems with the stuff frosting.
The favourite at the moment is Winsor and Newton with matt and gloss from the Galeria acrylic range although I will be doing some tests first on an old model. The matt varnish needs a couple of coats and works well but I've yet to try the gloss, having said that I received a bottle of the new Humbrol Clear varnish for review (which is VERY similar to Johnsons Kleer) and initial tests with that were very good.