BROMO'S HALIFAX Mk 1/11

[ShaunW]

Very sorry to hear this Bromo and I konw what you mean, at times like this it's tempting to throw in the towel. I fished for quite a few years and it too can be very frustrating! If it's any consolation, a few years ago I spent ages masking and airbrushing a SEAC scheme on a F 105 Thunderchief. I gloss varnished it and put on the decals, everything looked great and I was very pleased with my efforts. Then I applied the matt coat and it dried white, I kid you not. The air turned very blue but I'm still here trying to improve. Consistency I find is difficult to achieve, one model can turn out well, the next a disaster

[MerlinJones]

And from someone whose red meatballs turned into blobs of ketchup, I feel your pain.
So you've got a CC aircraft that's looking slightly weathered...is it really that bad? The varnish will have turned yellow over time anyway, unless it was mattcote, so perhaps you could look at images of weather-beaten examples and try to replicate some of that on your Halifax.
My T-1 will be missing certain stencil decals, but only me and the experts will notice and only the latter may care. My Lesson Learned being not to take old Hasegawa decals for granted.

Regards,
Bruce

[Narayan]

Really sorry to hear that Bromo. I hope your loft doesn't take a beating because I enjoy looking at your work and I don't think any of it is going backwards. The Jag you did, the Mossie you have on the go are just two off the top of my head but they're inspiring to say the least. Hope this one doesn't put you off coz you clearly have the skills, a lot more than me and that's what I need to aspire to!

Sorry about you being a Liverpool fan though. Nothing I can do about that

_________________
Narayan

More effort, more aluminium and more aircrew went into the Liberator than into any other flying machine ever built.

A:B
2012 03:01 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 176:47

[bromo]

Thanks Shaun, i just feel so fed up with whats happned.I could carry on and try and hide it at the back of the display but i will know its bad.Time was i loved building kits,i dont know weather its putting my self under preassure with a GB or what.I think im going to take the two weeks abroad as time to deliberate where i go from here.
Thanks Bruce,if anyone could give wise words it would be you, good idea that the weathering,i feel a bit better now.
Narayan, thank you so much for the kind words my friend,looking at your Liberator i think you are ahead of me,and your skills are not lacking compared to mine.

[Jagewa]

Boollarks, Bromo, never know when the big one strikes. I'd be trying some very thin coats misted on of white sprayed on, as a post shading, as Bruce says give you a good weathering effect.

Have a good two weeks away from it.

Cheers
Jim

[Softscience]

Bromo,

Before you throw in the towel, listen to a fellow modeler who frequently beats himself up about results in the hobby.

First, you are not lacking in skill. I have watched you build some beautiful models. What happened to your Hallifax sucks big time, but it's not your fault. Sometimes the paints and varnishes we use act up, and there really is no good reason for it. Some funky chemical reaction can ruin an otherwise great model.

Second, you mention lacking consistency. Even the most expert of builders make models that don't turn out sometimes. I'll bet that even guys like Mike Grant, Johnsan, and that Tango India Mike guy with his great in-flight photos, have bad builds and screw-ups on occasion. Its a hiccup. Sometimes it's due to our tools or paints, and sometimes its due to our own carelessness or whatever. It sucks, and it hurts even more when the screw up happens late in the build, but we shouldn't let one disappointing model cloud our judgment about our output in this hobby in general. You built good models before, and you will build good models in the future.

And take it from me, don't pressure yourself in this hobby. When I was trying so hard to achieve perfection it just kept slipping through my hands. I was overthinking things. Then for my last few builds I decided to accept the fact that I'm working on a model, and that by its very nature, the result would be an imperfect simplified representation of something else. Once I accepted that building suddenly became fun again.

[MerlinJones]

I'm betting that the MG's of our Forum are simply more careful as to what they show us.

Regards,
Bruce

[SJPONeill]

Boollarks, Bromo, never know when the big one strikes. I'd be trying some very thin coats misted on of white sprayed on, as a post shading, as Bruce says give you a good weathering effect.

Have a good two weeks away from it.

Cheers
Jim

I agree with Jim that this is a practical way ahead to overcome this speed bump...I've never been a big fan of these types of varnishes as my track record with them, on those rare occasions that I actually get a model to a stage where they can be applied, is not so sharp. I found Testors Dullcoat about 25 years ago and have stuck with it since as my matting finish, just applying extra layers (it is thin as water) til I get the desired degree of 'mattness'

[Dazzled]

Comiserations on the paint issue bromo . Stick it out of sight for a month or two and see how you feel then.

[bromo]

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and encouragement things seem better with a hangover,although getting called out to work this morning did not help
I have decided to finish it, it wont be in the GB but i will complete it when i get back.Had a couple of hours this afternoon,finished and fitted the turrets,cockpit canopy and nose glazing(that's one thing i think i have nailed now,masking clear parts) wings and tail planes fitted and undercarriage installed.A couple of sessions when i get back and it will be finished as for the yellowing,i will try some weathering i think.






Thanks again for all the words of encouragement and i will try and check in while i am away,if not see you all in a couple of weeks.

[Softscience]

To be honest, I can't see the yellow tint you mentioned. I thought it would be much heavier. Looks like what the others said may be correct. You can pass that off as weathering. Especially if you can mist on some white coats to break it up a bit.

[bromo]

Its there Ralph,i dont know whether the flash helped

[Jagewa]

...i dont know whether the flash helped

You could always display it under a strobe light... disco fever

[Dirkpitt289]

I'm glad you decided to try and resurrect this one. I'm with Ralph on this one. I just don't see the yellowing. It's funny how sometimes the camera highlights all the flaws and other times it can't be seen. My guess is someday you'll look back on it and wonder what all the fuss was about.

[TomW]

Definitely go with the weathering option Bromo, pictures of CC aircraft often show them to be quite patchy and faded in finish. Also all white paint picks up a yellowish cast with exposure to UV light naturally* so I expect the real thing wasn't a pure white after a couple of months in service.

Stick with it.

Regards

Tom


*statement of the obvious intentional