S-3 Viking

I'm in the middle of doing the panel lines using Migs Panel Line Wash. I got a couple to see what the fuss is all about but actually I'm quite pleased with the results so far;

After the washes are done the model will be matt varnished and I can move onto more weathering. Getting there slowly!

S-3 Viking

As you will recall I had some issues with the large decals breaking on the fin and upper fuselage walkway. The lightning bolt decal was more problematical as the black fin showed through in places plus it would'nt conform to the top (which I knew would be an issue).
To seal the decal I sprayed the fin with Tamiya X-22 Clear and when dry I VERY carefully masked the white outline with Tamiya masking tape and used paper to cover the 'NF' code letters and the five chevrons before taping over the top of them;

The 'double nuts' (or 00) and eagle emblem were masked with Winsor and Newton masking fluid, bearing in mind I had a nightmare with the stuff on the Miniman SS-23 a while back however with the design on the decal I had no other choice.
I mixed a near-as-dammit match of Tamiya XF-7 and white with a couple of drops of X-22 to give it some shine and sprayed the fin. After this I VERY carefully removed the tape as it could have easily ripped the decal and at this point things were either going to go very well or very badly (and usually for me it's the latter).
Therefore I'm pleased to say that it worked! I did rip a small part of the white trim but touched it in with Vallejo paint. YAY for me!!

This is a good as it gets and the model will be what I call a 'four-footer' (i.e it will look great from 4ft or more), anyway I can now get on with the weathering and try and get it finished.
Maybe next time I won't pick such complicated colour schemes :o)

S-3 Viking; Decals are on

I've managed to get the decals on the model yesterday evening and this morning and even these decided to put up a fight. The smaller decals were OK to apply (apart from folding up on themselves a few times) but the main decals for the fin and upper fuselage broke into a couple or more pieces. I knew I would have problems with fitting the decal around the fin top but I did'nt expect it to break apart.
I was hoping to get away with just touching in the fin top after the decal was applied but what this now means is after cleaning up the fin top I have to get a paint match to fill in the areas that broke, which should be fun as masking will be tricky;

The main thing is that the decals are on so the model will get a further coat of Tamiya X-22 to protect them while the model is weathered and to assist the masking of the fin;

Edit; No going back now;

I've trimmed off the excess decal and all I need to do now is get an exact match of red paint. How hard can it be? :o)

S-3 Viking painted

Today I got the model painted totally, all it needs next is a coat of gloss varnish ready for the decalling and weathering;

After spraying the model with Mr Hobby H308 (FS 36375) it was lightened with white and sprayed with a random mottle pattern in between the panel lines. The two panels behind the cockpit were sprayed with H307 (FS36320) and the gear bays and wing fold insides sprayed white.
Another mix of the base coat was made using a couple of drops of Dark Earth and this was sprayed over the radome and various other panels. This was done to try and create a patchy finish as the aircraft I am modelling had a very worn paint scheme.
Once the decals are applied I will be using various grey panel line washes and then with a sponge or brush I will attempt to add the patches of light grey spray paint that you see on US Navy aircraft as a measure against corrosion control.
To be honest I'm very pleased with the finish as I've had major problems at this stage with a grainy or sandy texture in paint and I've put it down to either air pressure, paint drying out too fast as it leaves the airbrush, the distance from the model when spraying, over thinning paint, under thinning paint etc etc etc.
I had sort of solved it with the addition of acrylic retardent and flow improver liquid to paint mixes but after the ease of spraying this particular model I'm now wondering if there is a problem with Tamiya paint quality.

S-3 Viking, E-50 with Heimdall turret and Jagdtiger

The S-3 has got some paint on it at last! YAY!;

The base coat is Mr Hobby FS26375 (2 at the front because it's semi-gloss). I was aiming for a patchy effect as this aircraft will be weathered, the fin is masked off as this will stay in the black primer along with the cockpit canopy and wingtips.
Regarding the wing tips, the decal placement instructions show these as grey but I've found picture reference that shows them black, the only thing is the time frame as the decals are for an S-3 onboard the USS Kittyhawk on its Westpac cruise from April to June 1999 and the pictures I found are dated from September onward. Anyway they are staying black!
These two are up to the same stage in the weathering process;

The  Jagdtiger at the top is Dragon (kit number 6827) and was a proposed variant fitted with the longer 128mm PaK 80 L/66 gun however it never went into production. To enclose the breech of the bigger gun the rear of the superstructure would have been extended so really this kit is complete bollocks, luckily the original 128mm barrel is included so you build it as a regular Jagdtiger.
The E-50 has had the MG mount on the engine deck painted in Dunkelgelb to add some contrast to the scheme. The Jagdtiger has had a pin-wash of dark brown applied and I will be doing the same on the E-50 later tonight.
As an experiment I tried the new acrylic Vallejo wash of dark brown on the engine deck of the Jagdtiger. I apply a coat of gloss varnish to tanks as without it pin washes just leave tide marks in my experience and it's something I would like to get away from if possible so after watching a Youtube vid about these washes I got some to play with.
The Jagdtiger was left unvarnished so I applied the wash, wetting the area with water and working in small areas as shown in the vid. This was the result;

As you can see the wash is everywhere and looks pretty crap so the engine deck was resprayed then the model was given a coat of gloss varnish. Once dry I went back to the trusted Mig brown wash and the results are far superior as I could easily clean up any excess;

I just could'nt control the Vallejo stuff at all and as it is acrylic it was drying far too quickly. I will try again on a test subject as it is the way to go in future and next time I will mix it with acrylic retardent to see if it makes a difference to controlling the wash, however for now I'll be adding gloss varnish to base coats and sticking to Mig washes.

S-3 Viking and E-50 Heimdall

Happy new year people!
First post for 2017 and although I'm still plugging away at the S-3 Viking and E-50 I needed a new chair which will be kinder to my fat arse when spending time at the model bench as I am hoping to get more done this year;

First up is the E-50 as I've been attempting to make the four intake covers look rusty. For this I first sprayed them black then used a mixture of pastel chalks, Mig weathering powder and AK Interactive Rust Streaks to try and create a rust effect;

I'm happy with how they have turned out so I can progress the model to the weathering stage.
The S-3 Viking has given me some grief with that damned wing coming adrift and after two attempts at fixing it and thinking "that will do" it was still bugging me as I could see and feel the join.
Attempt number 3 has finally worked, the joint looks (and feels) much better and definitely 'will do' so I need to mask off the canopy, tail and wingtips as these are painted black on the actual aircraft and get on with painting it;

While reworking the joint I took the opportunity to rescribe some panel lines as I had put that much primer on some of them had flooded with paint.
I have lots of plans, ideas and techniques I want to try this year so hopefully this blog may be a bit more interesting to you lot out there, although of course real-life will probably get in the way at some point.