The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

hi Stu. Really nice work you've done on the Venture and Hurricane cockpits. Impressive what a little bit of drybrushing (done right) can do.

Amazing how many modelers get this simple process wrong.

Nicely done, Stu. Dry brushing is indeed very effective at making detail jump out. I think where modellers often go wrong is in applying too much paint, the brush should be almost dry, and/or using a colour that is too strong a contrast to the base colour - being subtle with the effect is the key IMHO, I tend to follow the old Shep Paine dictum of when a contrast can first be discerned stop.

Thanks guys! I think sometimes I put more effort into the cockpit areas than I do the rest of the model but this is a part of the build that I really enjoy.

Stu

Wings attached on the Spitfire and Hurricane.

I’m happy with the Spitfire wing. Despite having to use filler around all the joins it was quite easy.
DSC_0865 by Stuart Smith, on Flickr

DSC_0866 by Stuart Smith, on Flickr


The Hurricane on the other hand has caused a few issues. The wing comes in 5 pieces. The outer wing pieces attach top to bottom and then there is a middle piece that goes under the fuselage.
DSC_0868 by Stuart Smith, on Flickr

DSC_0869 by Stuart Smith, on Flickr

I attached the middle piece first, followed by the outer wing pieces that I had already glued together. This resulted in a gap on top that had to be filled and I don’t think I got the alignment quite right either. It took a lot of filling and sanding to get things to look ok. Then I had to fill and sand again when the gap opened up.

It was a bit frustrating – not sure what to think about it really. Perhaps I should have approached the assembly a bit differently?

Then to further frustrate things, having painted all the vertical canopy frames I removed the mask and a lot of the paint lifted straight off. So now I’m having to repaint these by hand which isn’t easy because they are so thin.

Oh well, this is how it goes sometimes, I’m over this part and now its time to get on with the build – I’m almost at the main painting stage!

This is great looking construction work on this pair, Stu, despite that more complex Hurricane wing trying to throw a spanner in the works! With canopy frames, I rarely mask in the smaller scales and usually free hand paint with a brush (I airbrush all of the main paint) and tidy up with a cocktail stick. In larger scales, 1/48th and above, I will mask as the frames are of a size that brush marks can be more apparent.

Well tidy indeed.

Cheers guys,

Stu

ShaunW wrote:This is great looking construction work on this pair, Stu, despite that more complex Hurricane wing trying to throw a spanner in the works! With canopy frames, I rarely mask in the smaller scales and usually free hand paint with a brush (I airbrush all of the main paint) and tidy up with a cocktail stick. In larger scales, 1/48th and above, I will mask as the frames are of a size that brush marks can be more apparent.

Hi Shaun, I think the problem here is that the frames are really thin and that curve around the top of the canopy didn't seem to like the paint either. Anyway, I'll get there in the end. Its just going to take some careful painting by hand.

Cheers
Stu

Have you tried painting thin strips of Scotch tape and then using them to cover the canopy frames? It can work really well especially on thin frames that don't like paint!

iggie wrote:Have you tried painting thin strips of Scotch tape and then using them to cover the canopy frames? It can work really well especially on thin frames that don't like paint!

Thats a good idea - I may have to try that one. Thanks for the tip iggie !

Stu

No worries Stu
Paint the tape first, then cut into the required widths

I can't believe its been so long since I posted here. Well here's an update. I’ve managed to get some modelling time in recently and started to make some progress on the Spitfire and Hurricane. I repaired the damaged Hurricane canopy by hand and it looks ok now. It just needs a little matt cote before I attach it at the end of the build.

canopy by Stuart Smith, on Flickr

Both kits have had the undersides painted and now need just one or two more coats of the grey on top. Here is the Spitfire…

DSC_0917 by Stuart Smith, on Flickr

As you can see I decided to paint the stripe around the back of the fuselage instead of using the decal. I wish I had left the cannons off until last. They are easy to break off!


Classic kit time My latest project is the Bristol Superfreighter…

DSC_0919 by Stuart Smith, on Flickr

The interior has been painted Humbrol 56 Aluminium with black for the cockpit area. I also added some extra tabs to help keep it together. It’s a very big kit but one that I’m happy about starting as its been in storage for quite a while.

DSC_0920 by Stuart Smith, on Flickr


And I got this for Christmas…
DSC_0922 by Stuart Smith, on Flickr

I was told to get it made straight away so this will take the place of the Lancaster that was next in line. This has been on my wish list for a while so I was really happy to receive it and can’t wait to get going. The sprues are already washed!

The Lancaster will follow. All these big kits - fortunately I still have room on the ceiling!

Thanks for looking.
Stu

Excellent work going on! I'll be watching the Superfreighter as I have one in the stash to build one day.....
And the Noratlas looks to be a nice kit from the reviews I have read

Nortalas will be interesting to watch. A Heller classic

Camouflage completed on the Hurricane

DSC_0923 by Stuart Smith, on Flickr

Amazingly (as I usually make a mess of it) I managed to get a reasonably straight band around the fuselage . Now I need to tidy up one or two little areas and paint the yellow on the leading edges.

Stu