The Blueberry-Bench

[jssel]

Holy Schmolies. Great work.

[Asoka]

Fully agree! The Lightning is fantastic!

Cheers!
Asoka

[Blueberryruby]

Warning. Membership of this forum can seriously damage the health of your wallet and marital relationship.

Never has a truer word been spoken!

It looks stunning with the playing card decals.

Thanks Dazzled, I think they are my favorite decals ever. They are really details and look great n the flesh.

I want to make my one now, in those colours too!

Do it!

I had the impression it was a small jet, but it was in fact HUGE!

It's quite a big boy isn't it

And thanks Asoka and jessel!

[Blueberryruby]

It turns out that i really don't like having an emtpy bench so i've cracked open my airfix zero and got to work on it.

I want to try something a little different with this one... well different for me. I'm going to use it as a weathering testbed to try and help me improve.

Here's the box (just so you know exactly which one i'm making....

20140524_181034 by Blueberryruby, on Flickr

and here's the cockpit that i've knocked up. I've used a black wash to make it look more dirty and dry brushed the edges to give it a more worn look. Any suggestions please tell me, as i say this is a testbed so i'm up for experimenting!

20140524_180702 by Blueberryruby, on Flickr

20140524_180725 by Blueberryruby, on Flickr

20140524_180738 by Blueberryruby, on Flickr

[TobyC]

What a great start. Looks spot on.

[AndrewR]

That looks good. The only thing I might suggest would be to make the seatbelts a bit grubbier!
The new-tool Zero is a great kit. Just be careful detaching things from those massive sprue gates.

Cheers

Andrew

[ShaunW]

Good start Blueberry. I would have also used a wash of Burnt Sienna oil paint sparingly in the cockpit together with the black wash to give a grubbier look and I agree with Andrew, the belts could do with weathering as well, a wash of black or Burnt Sienna would probably do the trick. The Zero is a good choice if you want to have a go at weathering a paint scheme as WW II Japanese finishes weren't the best and weathered very quickly.

[mjatx]

Great start. The 'pit is looking nice.

[AndrewR]

I like Vallejo Sepia wash to bring out the grubby look

[Blueberryruby]

Thanks for the tips guys, i gave the seatbelts a very light coat of weathering powder. It looks good in the flesh but as always the flash doesn't show it off.

20140526_093922 by Blueberryruby, on Flickr

20140526_094110-1 by Blueberryruby, on Flickr

This kit really flew together, if you'll excuse the pun! It only needed a tiny amount of filler. I've given it a very thin coat of Humbrol 191 and i may give it another before the proper scheme is added.

The Zero is a good choice if you want to have a go at weathering a paint scheme as WW II Japanese finishes weren't the best and weathered very quickly.

I'm intending on making it look chipped so the bare metal shows through in places....

[ShaunW]

Nice one Blueberry, the cockpit has weathered up very well. I've never tried heavy weathering on an aircraft and it will be interesting to see how you approach this. Some of these aircraft certainly displayed quite battered paint finishes.

[Blueberryruby]

Thanks Shaun, I'm interested in how its going to turn out as well! Im not really sure what im doing but my plan is to make the paint looked chipped, the decals faded and worn off, panels lines and general dirt and grime streaks.

The next step is another coat of 191 and then use maskol for the chips. If anyone has any hints and tips please share them!

[TobyC]

Thanks Shaun, I'm interested in how its going to turn out as well! Im not really sure what im doing but my plan is to make the paint looked chipped, the decals faded and worn off, panels lines and general dirt and grime streaks.

The next step is another coat of 191 and then use maskol for the chips. If anyone has any hints and tips please share them!

I use a chipping medium. Spray it on the area you want to chip then spray over the colour of the camo. Allow it to harden then scratch with a toothpick to get the chips. I've used it a few times to good effect.

[AndrewR]

I use a chipping medium.

Isn't that hot oil in a deep fat fryer?

[TobyC]

I use a chipping medium.

Isn't that hot oil in a deep fat fryer?

There's always one