Skypirate's Hideaway

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skypirate
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by skypirate »

Aaarrgh!
My first use of Humbrol gloss 209 on the Gnat seems like a disaster. My initial coat is probably too thick (to achieve a decent depth of colour) and shows no sign of drying at all. I wonder if it is possible to strip the paint without damaging the masked areas, and start again?

On the other hand I have found a silver enamel that I like! Mr Hobby Mr Color 8 seems to tick all my boxes. I thinned it with Mr Color Thinner and it airbrushed fine. I expect that lacquer thinner will also do the job, and I will try that less-expensive alternative at next opportunity. Regular turps is no good for cleanup.

I have not had much experience with Mr Color. I have a small range of paints, but my only other use (was it Light Aircraft Grey?) was unsatisfactory (the cobweb effect), and the Dark Sea Grey does not look anything like it should.

Cheers,

David
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JamesPerrin
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by JamesPerrin »

Yep you need to apply multiple coats of 209 (or any other fluescent I've tried) to build up the colour. For my gnat I added ~20% gloss red to give it some body.

Mr Hobby Mr Color paints are lacquers they don't d enamels are far as I know. I use their acrylics with IPA and love them. Tamiya do (or did) enamels but are hard to get outside of Japan I believe. Alclad II have recently started a range of airbrush ready enamels call MilSpec (not cheap) http://www.alclad2-online.co.uk/index.p ... RNZ=651120;
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iggie
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by iggie »

I always put a coat of white under any florescent colour, and then build up the colour with thin coats; mind you I'm using acrylic so possibly not the same with enamels
I hope you can get it recovered ok!
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
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skypirate
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by skypirate »

I am dodging the Gnat for the time being. Looks like I will have to strip the paint. Blast!

So I started decals on the VC10. First I have added a few tiny decals cut from black strip to sort of look like like the various vents on the engine nacelles.

Image

A few more dots of black paint will go on to represent circular vents. And I need to tidy up the grille on the fin and do another one on the other side.

And a new challenge has arisen. (This is not my secret what-if project). I have taken on the Mister Craft Javelin FAW.7 kit and will finally be able to use the SAM decals from around 1982! Hope they still work! This kit is quite basic, but at least I won't have to rescribe the panel lines - they are all done! Well mostly. Looks a bit bare on the topside of the fuselage. I have demolished my old Airfix FAW.9 which was looking very sad with discolored decals, and rescued many parts to improve the Mister Craft kit.

Image

Here are the Airfix wheel wells going in. One is installed.

Image

And here is the fettling necessary to allow the wings to close up around those foreign wells while preserving integrity of the plastic as much as possible.

Image

Voila!

Image

The next bit of surgery which will make or break this model concerns the length of the nose and the replacement of the cockpit tub and nosewheel bay.

Image

It looks to me that the nose is a bit short for a Mk.7, so I will try to graft a longer bit of Airfix nose on - if it fits the circumference! If not....... Hmmm. I should track down that project that James Perrin carried out so well.

Thanks for looking,

David
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JamesPerrin
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by JamesPerrin »

Happy to oblige, http://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=5971;

Can't see the images at the moment as postimage seem to be playing up, but I look forward to seeing what you can do with this.
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DavidWomby
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by DavidWomby »

Ditto on the images but I'll watch the Javelin with interest. I assume it's the same mould as the ZTS Plastyk on that lurks in my stash.

David
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The Great Auk
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by The Great Auk »

In Chrome, if you right click the image and select Open Image in New Tab you can see them.

That's some excellent work! I've been enjoying your VC-10 immensely and think that's some of the best cheat line masking I've ever seen. Will watch with interest.

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ShaunW
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by ShaunW »

I couldn't see the images earlier today but now they're back. Excellent work, David and I'm really looking forward to more on that wonderful VC-10. I've never been a huge fan of the Javelin but nevertheless I will follow your build with interest as I usually learn something from watching you!
Doing - Tamiya 1/35th Universal Carrier.

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skypirate
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by skypirate »

Thanks for the link, James.
Here is a picture of the VC10 cheatline decal going on. This is truly nerve-wracking.

Image

I sensibly cut the decal into manageable pieces, but it still split in a couple of places. It turns out that my masking was just about 1.5 mm too low. This shows up where the cheatline climbs up around the engine pylon.
One side is done. I think I will lie down for a bit!

Cheers,

David
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iggie
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by iggie »

Looking good David! Shame about the masking being a tad low; can you touch it in after you've applied the decals?
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
ShaunW
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by ShaunW »

It is looking good, David. This is a challenging thing to do, in the past I've done similar with civil airliner schemes and found it devilishly difficult to line up paint to decal cheat line.
Doing - Tamiya 1/35th Universal Carrier.

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JamesPerrin
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by JamesPerrin »

Brain surgeons will never understand how stressful our hobby can be. :mrgreen:
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skypirate
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by skypirate »

iggie wrote:Looking good David! Shame about the masking being a tad low; can you touch it in after you've applied the decals?
No chance, Jim. That part of the cheatline over the engine pylon is very thin. It is not obvious if judiciously photographed from the right angle!
Here is the cheatline being coaxed into position around the pylon on the other side.

Image

That side done, too. Some touching up required. Notice I removed the decal grille I built up on the fin. The decal sheet provides a much better one!

Cheers,

David
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skypirate
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by skypirate »

With acknowledgements to James Perrin's research, I have further examined the Mister Craft Javelin Mk.7 kit.
The nose dimensions are the same as the Airfix FAW.9, which is a good sign, since those marks shared the same airframe apart from the afterburning engine in the Mk.9. And to give Mister Craft credit, apart from the engraved panel lines, the kit provides markings and alternative parts for a Mk.7 and a Mk.9. So I may not have to cut up the nose at all! But I do want to replace the cockpit tub and the nosewheel bay, and the Airfix nose looks less chunky and more svelte (if that word can be used in describing the Javelin!), so I reckon it is worth the effort. I will have to do the same careful measuirng that James did to ensure that the canopy will fit after surgery!

Cheers,

David
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iggie
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by iggie »

skypirate wrote:
iggie wrote:Looking good David! Shame about the masking being a tad low; can you touch it in after you've applied the decals?
No chance, Jim. That part of the cheatline over the engine pylon is very thin. It is not obvious if judiciously photographed from the right angle!
Here is the cheatline being coaxed into position around the pylon on the other side.

Image

That side done, too. Some touching up required. Notice I removed the decal grille I built up on the fin. The decal sheet provides a much better one!

Cheers,

David
Good Lord; that is narrow! Hopefully all went well and both sides are on safely now 8-)
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
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