102 replies to this topic

[Neal]

Not much progress; bit more dry brushing of the rear cooler with some lighter greys and black to make the finish a bit more uneven. Then a dry brush with copper between the fins and some chipping with aluminium. Pics with and without flash.





It's not much in the overall build or compared to the standard of build on BM but I'm really pleased with it

Removed some if the heavy maskol and glued some of the minor parts together.

Edited by Neal, 10 December 2011 - 07:27 AM.

[mrvr6]

fom here that looks like a lump of cast aluminium so id say its spot on fella

[Neal]

fom here that looks like a lump of cast aluminium so id say its spot on fella

Thanks, just want to find the time to get on with the rest of it.

[Neal]

Success! Used the promodeller wash as it worked really well (no surprise to most of the more experienced modellers here I imagine) the cockpit now looks like the hastily prepped and well used fighter, I also used it on the inside of the airbrake well. Just need to fix the instrument packs and tidy up the join and the cockpits done.



I've also drilled out the ends of the cannons, retouched the maskol and taken the plunge and given the pilots a primer coat.

As always, comments & advice (good bad or indifferent) are always welcome.

Edited by Neal, 12 December 2011 - 10:54 PM.

[Neal]

Few hours work this evening. Bill and Ben the monkey pilots are done, just needs a coat of klear and a bit of dry brushing and a wash, don't know whether to use the promodeller or mix a dark red/orange.



Looking at this picture the red (no-one ventured an opinion on the previous post so red it is) squadron markings need to go on the underside which is something I've never noticed.

http://www.modelerma..._orange-026.jpg

Tidied up the cannon joint and rescribed some of the panel lines that I'd sanded off. Painted the lower airbrakes and rear or the craft. I've also found some old low viz markings for various warnings and stenciling (not the star and bar though) that I might use when it's all finished as the kit ones are a bit limited.



Need to get the final colour mixed, can't really put it off much longer.

Edited by Neal, 23 December 2011 - 07:55 AM.

[Neal]

I could do with a bit of advice from the BM collective; Ive not that much experience painting figures but i think Bill and Ben the monkey pilots need a coat of klear and a wash and then a lighter dry brush. For the wash I don't know whether to use the dark or mix a dark red/orange?

Edited by Neal, 19 December 2011 - 11:20 AM.

[cjhm]

I could do with a bit of advice from the BM collective, Bill and Ben the monkey pilots need a coat of klear and a wash and then a lighter dry brush. For the wash I don't know whether to use the dark or mix a dark red/orange?

All looking good so far, my vote would be a brownish\reddy wash, GW Gryphonia Sepia or MIG Neutral are what I am planning for little wedge and his chum when I get that far on the X-wing.

I see you're using the pro-modeller (not tried these), not sure if these can be re-wetted if they go on too heavy ? The GW ones are like thin acrylics and are a bugger if you get it wrong but with the MIG ones, as they are enamel a bit of thinner lets you start again easily.

[Neal]

I see you're using the pro-modeller (not tried these), not sure if these can be re-wetted if they go on too heavy ? The GW ones are like thin acrylics and are a bugger if you get it wrong but with the MIG ones, as they are enamel a bit of thinner lets you start again easily.

First time I've used the promodeller wash, I think that they can be removed by rewetting and a bit of a scrub, assuming that it's over a varnish/klear.

I'll give them a couple of coats of klear then probably make my own dark red wash with some thinned down acrylics and washing up liquid.

Edited by Neal, 19 December 2011 - 05:22 PM.

[Jasonb13]

Yep, Promodeller can be re-wetted and removed, the more of a gloss coat on the plastic before the wash, the easier it is to remove it. That said, even on a matt coat I've been able to remove a Promodeller wash when needed!

J.

[The Velociweiler]

I'd agree with you about the red - I've seen models in both plain and with the red banding and those with the red stand out better - the plain ones just don't look right for some reason.

[Neal]

Need to get the present wrapping done then I can get on with this....

There are only a few big jobs left, final paint colour, button it all up, paint the red markings, weather it. In reality whenever I think about the next big job I come up with a bucket load of minor jobs that need doing on the way (mask this, klear that, glue the other) I need to make a list otherwise I'll be missing things or getting them in the wrong order.

Edited by Neal, 21 December 2011 - 04:33 PM.

[Neal]

Well after 2 hours of unsuccessfully battling to fix the PC (thank God for the iPhone) I thought I'd have 10 minutes doing something that I can actually understand and have an affect on. Put some dark weathering scuffs on the helmets (the red band was already pre-chipped with maskol, and cave them a coat of klear, another coat tomorrow and then I can add a wash.



Not a lot, but very therapeutic.

[The Velociweiler]

I built this one in 1990 and tried to replace the Pilots with those from a Fujimi racing driver set. The Snowspeeder cockpt had absolutely zero leg room so I ended up cutting off the pilots legs high at the thigh and still had to lean them back heavily so's the lid could clamp down properly. Unfortunately, the original pattern maker in 1980 (the kit first appeared at the toyfairs in early 1981) realised very early on that to add pilots to the model, they'd have to have fairly odd shapes to fit the kit. I think there were some reasonable looking resincast replacements available from the USA around fifteen years ago, but they were expensive, and weren't around for long...

However, once the kit figures are dun'n'dusted and are placed into the cockpit, they really don't look too bad.

[Neal]

"However, once the kit figures are dun'n'dusted and are placed into the cockpit, they really don't look too bad."

They do have a certain retro charm as well...

Edited by Neal, 22 December 2011 - 04:20 PM.

[Neal]

Used the promodeller dark wash on the helmets and white parachute (?) made dark red wash for the orange, used white with a touch of orange to dry brush the suit. Unturned Pringles lids were ideal for mixing this little lot on.....



And all in the office. The pilots arms are a bit long (should've done more dry fitting) so they needed removing and lifting up.



Not a good as Dan's Viper cockpit, but I'm pleased with it.

http://www.britmodel...showtopic=78877

Edited by Neal, 23 December 2011 - 12:21 PM.

[Neal]

Finally mixed the top colour and gave everything a first coat, there's a surprising amount to do and took ages with the brush. The mix was 40% XF-2, 40% XF-80, 20% XF-55. Looked a bit creamy initially but seems to be drying a bit lighter. Typically I don't think I've mixed enough for the second coat so might go a bit lighter & greyer with the next batch.



Doesn't actually look that different from when I started.

I think that'll be it for anymore progress before the new year, Merry Christmas and thanks for looking

Edited by Neal, 24 December 2011 - 03:10 PM.

[Neal]

I was thinking about some of the weathering once all the painting is complete; for the blast damage I'm going to dry brush most of it but without an airbrush I may need to use some pastels or some of those Tamiya weathering kits for AFV's, any opinions or direction from the BM collective brain?

Edited by Neal, 27 December 2011 - 10:53 PM.

[The Velociweiler]

I was thinking about some of the weathering once all the painting is complete; for the blast damage I'm going to dry brush most of it but without an airbrush I may need to use some pastels or some of those Tamiya weathering kits for AFV's, any opinions or direction from the BM collective brain?

Frequently the studio originals were simply spraycan blasted with paint since there was a severe time pressure on their completion. During ESB and the earlier film, there was only limited airbrushing generally applied for exhaust streaks etc. A glance at the photos of the originals shows one technique they used fairly often. Use your Tamiya pastels to smudge a larger area with a dark burn, and then either with very thin card or even tape, scab a pale painted panel over the smudge, leaving a 'repaired' section over the damaged paintwork. With other coloured panelled areas, you may wish to leave some irregular swabs of Humbrol maskol on the first coat prior to painting a second colour over (for example the darker greys or the red areas of the Snowspeeder). Once the upper colours are fully dry, pick the maskol masking solution out leaving a damaged section of the paintwork. Naturally, don't be scared to pick at the paint irregularly with the tip of a scalpel blade, scoring and scratching areas which would be lifted by maintenance or rearming teams.

[Neal]

Frequently the studio originals were simply spraycan blasted with paint since there was a severe time pressure on their completion. During ESB and the earlier film, there was only limited airbrushing generally applied for exhaust streaks etc. A glance at the photos of the originals shows one technique they used fairly often. Use your Tamiya pastels to smudge a larger area with a dark burn, and then either with very thin card or even tape, scab a pale painted panel over the smudge, leaving a 'repaired' section over the damaged paintwork. With other coloured panelled areas, you may wish to leave some irregular swabs of Humbrol maskol on the first coat prior to painting a second colour over (for example the darker greys or the red areas of the Snowspeeder). Once the upper colours are fully dry, pick the maskol masking solution out leaving a damaged section of the paintwork. Naturally, don't be scared to pick at the paint irregularly with the tip of a scalpel blade, scoring and scratching areas which would be lifted by maintenance or rearming teams.

Thanks for the advice it helps at lot, as I've said before the whole weathering frankly scares me, I'm sure it'll be ok when I get going but still.....

[Neal]

Tamiya snow, soot & rust weathering set ordered.

I think the rust will be useful as I imagine the weather on Hoth is not too kind to ferrous metals (assuming there's some iron in a galaxy far far away)

Will they be ok to be brushed over with klear or will they smear everywhere?

Hoping to get some modelling done over the next couple of nights.