Rob's Buccaneer mob *finished*

[splash]

To me being ex-FAA, a Bucanner in grey/green is one colour too many

But they do look good in any colours.

[rob_van_riel]

no doubt someone will point out the camo should be hard edged but hey ho.....

I know, but all my references were blurry

This is one of those things where (assuming I'm not just being lazy) wrong sometimes looks better than right. Unless you're up nice and close, some camo patterns have very little contrast between the colours, and to the observer it actually becomes blurry, even though you know there are in fact very sharp lines. I think for patterns with that characteristic, soft lines may be better on models.
When the contrast between colours becomes sharper, like the WWII patterns, you can still see the edges at considerable difference, and those need very sharp lines on the models as well.

Whatever the truth here is, I'll be experimenting with free hand patterns for a bit; I sort of like how they come out.

Scale effects can be wierd that way.

[rob_van_riel]

To me being ex-FAA, a Bucanner in grey/green is one colour too many

Let me guess, overall Desert Pink, on the other hand, is one colour too few?

Actually, I agree with you, DSG over white looks better, but this is what I had decals for, and at least for the camo model, OOB was called for.

[Old_Tonto]

All over anti-dazzle white would be my choice but that camo does look good Rob. Your feathered edges are very good, I can never get mine consistently the same.

[rob_van_riel]

Your feathered edges are very good, I can never get mine consistently the same.

Dumb luck, I assure you. Well, maybe not entirely, there is a very small bit of technique in there: I start by drawing the outer lines, with almost no paint flow and the airbrush almost touching the model. Then I increase paint a bit and fill in the areas. Doesn't sound like rocket science to me. Anything beyond that is just me winging it and hoping it works

Wish I could be more helpful, but this is still very experimental for me.

Your Buffalo seems just fine to me though, so perhaps the problem with your edges is of those cases of the builder being his own worst critic.

[iggie]

The camouflage looks excellent to me!

[rob_van_riel]

I've airbrushed the gear doors of the desert plane, painted the wheel wells, and applied the decal (singular) to the lower wing.

I don't really get it. What purpose does a roundel so small and faded serve? It's useless for identification of the aircraft

[rob_van_riel]

Both Buccaneers are decalled up, and taking a break for the chemical to set. I won't be able to do much more that give them a rub down with luke warm water tomorrow, meaning that if the 4-3-2017 deadline stands, these will be DNF. Whatever the case, Sunday should see them hit with dullcoat, the window frames painted, and the doors installed.



Although the picture hides this, the decals are being problematic. While they handle perfectly, they dry up all wrinkly. Microsol smooths them out a bit, but these will never come out perfect.

[rob_van_riel]

Although the picture hides this, the decals are being problematic. While they handle perfectly, they dry up all wrinkly. Microsol smooths them out a bit, but these will never come out perfect.

Really weird, the way these decals are acting. They go on well, then go all wrinkly, almost as though they'd been hit with strong decal solvent. About 60% of them then straighten out perfectly, snuggling into the panel lines and such (seen in picture), again, the behaviour I'd expect after application of solvents. The rest stay wrinkly, in a way I've seen in the past after hitting stubborn decals once too often with solvents. Somehow, they've acquired built in solvents, sometimes in overdose.
I don't think they ever did that back in the days. Very odd aging effect

[rob_van_riel]

All of the decals on both Buccaneers (and the Strikemaster) survived the rubdown with warm water. Unless something really nasty happened to the canopies (despite all that tape), or happens to yours truly in the next 48 hours, nothing can stop these three from being completed by the end of tomorrow.

[ShaunW]

That is indeed odd behaviour from those decals Rob. Although I am an enthusiast for classic kits I'm not so keen on classic decals, some can be fine, most I find to be too thick and not so hot to trot. Nearly always these days I replace classic decals with modern aftermarket replacements.

[rob_van_riel]

Nearly always these days I replace classic decals with modern aftermarket replacements.

Entirely sensible, in those cases where you're building a classic with the intent to produce a high quality model. On a build like this, where sticking as close as possible to the old style build is the purpose, it feels like cheating to me (unless the kit decals are completely useless, of course).
I'll probably end up doing a mixture on the rest of my Matchbox pile, if only because I rarely have two sets of original decals; the kit decals will be used up during the bare plastic stage, with aftermarket for the painted stage.

[rob_van_riel]

Didn't get these two finished today, unfortunately. A splitting headache got in the way of the level of concentration needed to paint the canopy frames, so all I managed to do was dullcoat the pair.

[Old_Tonto]

They do look rather nice Rob. Take your time and finish them when you are able.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Hopefully you did not dull-coat the canopies ?