Andy Dighton's workbench

[Stuart]

Nice work on the Beaufighter.

I think you'll find the Hataka blue line a joy to work with. I believe blue are formated for airbrushing, and are very nicely thinned.

NB. They do benefit very much from a good primer!

Close the Red line is intended for airbrushing, whilst the Blue is for brush painting. That being said, there's not a lot between them and I've airbrushed and brushed both successfully.

They do indeed benefit from primer, as they're very fragile. Again though, I've painted quite a few models recently without primer (too lazy) and once the clear coat goes on handling them hasn't been an issue.

[Andy Dighton]

Thanks for the kind comments folks.
The Spitfire was decaled and had 2 coats of Klear to seal them in on Tuesday. On Wednesday I gave it a coat of Mr Super Clear matt and this happened to the roundels.



I can't work out what happened. It only affected the upper wing roundels and one fin flash. None of the other decals were affected.
The decals were replaced with spares. Anyone have any ideas on what went wrong?

[Stuart]

So was this the spray varnish or a brushed coat of a different varnish? A reaction maybe? That or something with the decal solution?

Did you do anything different Andy?

[Stuart]

Oh, looks really good btw!

[iggie]

Possibly some adhesive residue from the decals? But if so, I'd have expected it to have reacted with the Klear if anything and certainly not anything applied after two coats of something else...very odd

[B4en]

I'd guess either the Klear wasn't fully cured on the affected decals (maybe they got a thicker coat?) or the matt varnish needed a little more mixing? I had similar problems with a Humbrol matt varnish years ago and never used the stuff again.

[Andy Dighton]

So was this the spray varnish or a brushed coat of a different varnish? A reaction maybe? That or something with the decal solution?

Did you do anything different Andy?

The varnish was Mr Super Clear from a rattle can. The same that I've been using for the last 6 months or so. The only difference is the paint which wasn't affected.

I'd guess either the Klear wasn't fully cured on the affected decals (maybe they got a thicker coat?) or the matt varnish needed a little more mixing? I had similar problems with a Humbrol matt varnish years ago and never used the stuff again.

The Klear had 24 hours plus to cure and if the varnish wasn't mixed enough surely it would have affected the whole model?

Possibly some adhesive residue from the decals? But if so, I'd have expected it to have reacted with the Klear if anything and certainly not anything applied after two coats of something else...very odd

I think it must decal related. They were just soaked in warm water and put in place. The replacements were from an identical Revell boxing and if you look closely at the second photo you can see that the printing isn't that great.

The Klear must be more than 15 years old. Maybe it's lost it's protective qualities.

[Andy Dighton]

Just the finishing touches to go on the Spitfire VB. Quickly following behind is a BBMF Spitfire PR XIX.

[Andy Dighton]

The BBMF Spitfire Vb was finished earlier.

[Stuart]

Looks,excellent Andy!

[Andy Dighton]

Looks,excellent Andy!

Thanks Stuart. Spitfire PRXIX is now at the paining stage. Once this complete it will leave just one more build for my BBMF collection.

[iggie]

The Vb looks really smart Andy
You have a regular production line going on there!

[Stuart]

Very nice PR Spitfire!

[Andy Dighton]

Thank you Jim & Stuart.
The BBMF PRXIX has been decaled and coated with Klear to seal them in. I'm going to leave it until Monday before I do anything else with this one.



So to fill my time I've decided to start the Spitfire Mk.XVIe. This is the Heller kit and the decals arrived this morning.
Progress so far.

[ShaunW]

Lovely Mk V, Andy and those RF.D markings always take me back to the Airfix Vb kit back in the 70's. The XIX is looking good.