Hasegawa P-40E after a bit of rework

Regarding the earlier post about the P-40 and how I was'nt happy about the finish, here it is after a going over with various oil paints to try and lighten the base colours;

 So comparing the photo's below it would seem the oil paint HAS made a difference to the tones;

Much better! :o)

Hasegawa 1/48 F-104C finished

Well it's finally done after a lull in the DIY around the house. I hope you like it;

The model depicts a Lockheed Starfighter F-104C 60910 of the 479th TFW (Tactical FighterWing), assigned to 8th TFW at Udorn RTAFB, Thailand 1967. Again if you look close up there's a few niggly points that I've missed but on the whole I quite like the end result. 
I did'nt weather it too much (some might say "what weathering???) but I've taken it as far as I can without buggering it up any more.

Hasegawa 1/48 P-40E

I did this a couple of years ago and at the time I thought the colours looked too dark with the green being exceptionally horrid ( I used Humbrol enamels before they brought production back to the UK).
So with a day off between household DIY duties I'm going to give it a going-over with oil paints to see if I can improve the paint finish as construction-wise it did'nt turn out too bad considering the stupid insert for the cockpit area in the fuselage. Also the sharkmouth looked a LOT better after going over it with Vallejo acrylic. Here's the 'before' shots;

If it all goes to plan I'll post some 'after' shots later this week. If it does'nt you'll be able to find it in the bin :o)

Edit; Well it's not later in the week but here's a sample of what I've done so far;

I've applied yellow, light green and light brown dots of oil paint and blended them in with white spirit on the starboard wing and it's lightened the original paintwork somewhat. At this rate I'll have a half-decent model to put on the club table at the next show. YAY!

It's showtime!

Well after a couple of months doing stuff around the house I had a day off and went to the Staffordshire Moorlands show at Stoke-on-Trent. This is only a small venue as it's held in a T.A Centre but it's always a good show and many thanks to the IPMS branch who organise it.
I attended as part of the 580 Modellers and here's a selection of pics, mainly of stuff on our table but also of models that caught my eye;

Its all gone quiet...

Due to work being done on the house, specifically the room where I do my modelling I have'nt been able to get anything started or finished. The house will be a mess for a couple of months at least as the walls in the back room need skimming with plaster plus a new gas combi boiler is being installed in the back bedroom (I only live in a small house you see). Once that work is completed we then have to redecorate so...erm....yeah...loads of fun.
I did clear some space in the loft so when there's a lull in between bouts of stripping wallpaper, repointing exterior walls when it's not raining, removing skirting boards etc I'm hoping to do some paint spraying up there as the F-104C only needs another coat of matt varnish to get that near finishing and the French EBR-11 is up to the weathering stage. I recently discovered a Tamiya 1/48 Fw190F-8 that had been built but put away due to lack of interest so that was cleaned and then undercoated the other day plus I am itching to start the 1/35 Hobbyboss T-26 that I got for review last week. I would love to get something done as I need to put something new on the 580 Modellers table in time for Scale Model World at Telford and although November sounds a long way off at the time of writing it bloody well is'nt in modelling terms :o)

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)