Shaun's Bodging Bench * replaced for 2018*

[ShaunW]

I see the Nelsonian eye has not been turned...
Superdetailing the tail wheel !!!!!

I'd better get the patch back on quick before anything else catches its attention

Thanks v. much for the link info.

[Asoka]

Hi Shaun,

Very nice work, and would love to see the Jumbo done. What was the issue with the windows? (looks okay to me )

Cheers,

Asoka

[ShaunW]

Thanks Asoka. The 747 has been stalled for quite a while and keeps staring at me from the Shelf of Shame, which it is currently sharing with a Beechcraft Bonanza and F-100D Super Sabre. The problem with the 747 windows was the fact that a fair few of them were written off due to the amount of sanding that I had to do in order to eradicate the rather nasty join lines in the fuselage. I attempted a mixture of painting and using black decals cut from some D-Day invasion stripes that I have in my decal store. The main difficulty is making the windows appear to be even in shape and size. They look OK at a distance but closer up don't cut the mustard. I am planning to re-visit this model at some point next year as I have two options to look at. Firstly, Bruce Merlin-Jones kindly gave me a link to F-Decals who produce some very nice looking aftermarket decals for this particular kit, which include window decals. Secondly I have some Glue 'n' Glaze which I might be able to use to reconstruct the windows and therefore use the kit decals. Built up this will be a very large model and I'll have to clear some shelf space to display it!

[Softscience]

You're a far more patient man than I.

[ShaunW]

You're a far more patient man than I.

You've never seen me stomping around the modelling room when stuff has gone wrong, cursing the day I ever took the hobby up

[Asoka]

Shame about the windows, maybe you can convert it to a freighter!

Jokes aside maybe these can be of use?

http://www.drawdecal.com/store/index.ph ... ory_id=169

Cheers,

Asoka

[ShaunW]

Asoka you are a star man, thank you very much for looking those up and providing the link. I notice there are some 1/72nd 747 decals on there - a Jumbo in 1/72nd? would be almost big enough to get in and fly

[AndrewR]

[ShaunW]

"Hardy, is that an inaccurate Frog Mustang I see on the horizon?"

"Yes your Lordship, I do believe that it is, one can see from here that the exhausts are all wrong"

"In that case, bring the builder to me immediately so that I may make him walk the plank"

"Bit of a problem there squire as he lives in Canada and we're off the French coast"

[AndrewR]

You forgot "Flogging's too good for him"...

[Asoka]

Asoka you are a star man, thank you very much for looking those up and providing the link. I notice there are some 1/72nd 747 decals on there - a Jumbo in 1/72nd? would be almost big enough to get in and fly

I try, I try...
Maybe the 1/72 decals are for the airline display models?! You find some pretty big monsters...

I also have a Revell Fokker DVII in the stash, how did you do the lozenge pattern on the bottom, paint all the bits individually?

Cheers,

Asoka

[ShaunW]

I also have a Revell Fokker DVII in the stash, how did you do the lozenge pattern on the bottom, paint all the bit individually?

No way Revell would have the modeller try to hand paint the lozenge pattern and there were templates in the kit. I used a decal sheet made by Koster but I bought it many years ago and it is probably not made any more. There are, however, other companies producing lozenge decals but off the top of my head I'm afraid I can't advise you further as I don't build many biplanes and this was the first time I've ever used lozenge on a model. Perhaps try the Hannants site to get an idea.

[Asoka]

Yes, The Revell guys must be nuts to give a decal with the lozenge outlines, and not the colours!
I was thinking about trying some form of felt tip pen or something on the decal, and failing that, find a decal sheet! Not a biplaner myself either, just picked this off evilbay for cheap...

Cheers,

Asoka

[ShaunW]

Right, after a week or so of mainly chat on here I thought I ought to show some pictures of actual modelling.

Project Apache moves slowly on. When it comes to painting, I am a committed user of the airbrush and view hand painting, other than for detail work, to be a bit of a dark art. However, my trusty old Aztec compressor is on the blink and will probably need to be looked at by someone who knows what they are doing. That set me thinking, which is not always a good thing and in an attempt to avoid a further delay in finishing this model I've taken the decision to use the hairy stick to complete the final painting. This is quite a big step for me as I haven't hand painted a model since the early 1990's and, depending on the final result, this could be the first and last time you will see a hand painted model by me on the forum

The paint used is HU 155 Olive Drab, which I thinned before application with white spirit in a roughly 50/50 ratio of paint to thinners. The paint was applied using a size 8 pointed sable brush using as few brush strokes as I could get away with. After the first coat of paint yesterday, I gave the model a rub over with 4000 and 6000 grade micromesh before applying the second coat of paint today, which features in the photos below. The engine pods are as yet unpainted as they were used to hold the model. Shiny bits are down to the fact that the paint was still drying when I took the photos.





Stop laughing at the back, this is a serious effort

The paint is in a very thin coat as will be subsequent coats as I do believe that it is best to avoid the temptation of slapping on thick coats. Brush marks are not as bad as I was expecting and a flatting off with micromesh between coats should help there. I find OD to be an odd shade of paint at the best of times and it often seems to dry patchy or streaky but I've always found that gloss and matt clear coats address that issue. So, I'll continue with this during the week and see how it goes. At the end of the day, if I'm not happy I'll get out the sand paper and the model will have to wait for by compressor to be fixed. It has to be said though, in some ways hand painting is a very liberating experience - no masses of masking or the need to break out my respirator mask and open the windows

Thanks for looking.

[AndrewR]

Stop laughing at the back, this is a serious effort

"You have got to be kidding... "


Very nice Shaun!