RNZAF Mustangs

[wellzy]

use gloss black first 

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good afternoon Magua

Nice work so far ...

Patrice

[wellzy]

don't forget to use gloss black primer 

[Magua87]

Wings are on the HSS Mustang. Hoping to have it ready for spraying tomorrow. 

 

 

[Magua87]

Slow progress. I damaged both canopies cutting them away from the sprue. Not sure how other people managed to do this properly, but when I cut away the canopy it created marks which can't be polished out.

 

No matter. I've been modifying vac formed canopies for the Hasegawa kit. LOTS of cutting required, but I think I'm there with one canopy.

 

[Air-to-Air]

I use an RB Productions Ultra Fine Saw to separate the part from the sprue. However, when I went to clean up the sprue gates with sanding sticks my canopy started to suffer some scratches too. So I stopped and covered the "glass" inside and out with Tamiya tape. I did the inside so that my finger nails would not inadvertently scratch the inside of the canopy. I then proceeded to finish cleaning up the sprue gates with sanding sticks and a fresh No.11 blade in the hobby knife.

 

I don't envy your work with the vac canopy, they can be a lot of work. Best of luck with it.

[JimmyZ]

On 06/12/2016 at 10:56 AM, Magua87 said:

Slow progress. I damaged both canopies cutting them away from the sprue. Not sure how other people managed to do this properly, but when I cut away the canopy it created marks which can't be polished out.

 

No matter. I've been modifying vac formed canopies for the Hasegawa kit. LOTS of cutting required, but I think I'm there with one canopy.

 

 

That's exactly the type of thing that happens to me, especially with the clear parts and often leaves me wondering if they can't change the clear parts' attachement to the sprues to be better.

 

Air-to-air's advice wih the tape seems good though.

 

Cheers

Jimmy

[Magua87]

First canopy is on and I'm very happy with it. There's a bit of sanding to do to tidy up the edges, but it's looking pretty good. 

 

[Magua87]

As we move further into the silly season I'm going to focus on getting this Mustang completed before all my time disappears. The natural metal mustang will be finished early in the new year. 

[wellzy]

She is looking good , keep up the good work 

[Magua87]

Paint!

 

First, a base coat of Mr Surfacer 1500. Followed by decanted Tamiya AS-12. Lovely paint to use, but I think I'll stick to spraying at my brother's place. It's a bit stinky at my apartment, even with the windows and doors open. 

 

 

Masked off the Mr Surfacer for the anti glare panel. 

 

Unfortunately the AS-12 looks a little rough. Looks like I didn't do a good enough job with the Mr Surfacer. The primer lifted in a few places under the wing and where I resprayed the AS-12 over bare plastic it looks a lot smoother. No worries though! Still looks good and I've learnt some lessons for the second kit. 

 

 

 

 

[Magua87]

Tamiya gun metal for the panel around the exhausts. Lightly oversprayed with AS-12 as it was a bit stark. 

 

The brushed on Tamiya surface primer hasn't removed the panel lines from the wings, but has reduced them quite significantly. Apparently that's appropriate for this particular Mustang. I think I'll take a closer look at my other Mustang before I commit to painting. I think the wing panels could use some more work to fully remove the lines.

[Magua87]

Gloss coat Monday hopefully. Then we'll be onto the decals. 

 

When looking at some images of the TAF/RNZAF mustangs I noticed a paint variation on NZ2413 where the squadron badge sits. 

 

 

Source of the photo.

 

Looking at Mumbes' Mustangs he's represented this as a bare metal finish. If it is natural metal it looks like a rough demarcation on the mustangs in the photo above. Might be a job for some dry brushing of some metallic paints. 

 

Edit: also, I've just noticed now that NZ2413 has some US stenciling on the flaps. Good to know for the next step!

 

Edited December 17, 2016 by Magua87

[Procopius]

Too late I arrive with advice on spraying metallics! IMO, gloss black or similar isn't generally needed for NMF aircraft (unless they're polished every hour on the hour), PROVIDED you use something like Alclad's Grey Primer/Microfiller. Similarly, I'd strongly recommend Alclad metallic colours in lieu of decanted Tamiya AS-12 -- far less grainy.

[Magua87]

9 hours ago, Magua87 said:

 

When looking at some images of the TAF/RNZAF mustangs I noticed a paint variation on NZ2413 where the squadron badge sits. 

 

 

Source of the photo.

 

 

Quoting myself. So, NZ2413 has an un-cuffed propeller in that photo. Same aircraft below, but with a cuffed propeller. No mark around the squadron badge. Perhaps it's actually exhaust stain? Anyway, I'm using the cuffed prop, so no need to represent it.

 

 

Source

[Magua87]

9 hours ago, Procopius said:

Too late I arrive with advice on spraying metallics! IMO, gloss black or similar isn't generally needed for NMF aircraft (unless they're polished every hour on the hour), PROVIDED you use something like Alclad's Grey Primer/Microfiller. Similarly, I'd strongly recommend Alclad metallic colours in lieu of decanted Tamiya AS-12 -- far less grainy.

 

Cheers, Procopius. I see more Mustangs in my future, perhaps a Tamiya F-51. I picked up my first bottle for my second Airfix Mustang. Airframe aluminium for the fuselage.

[Procopius]

I believe Airframe Aluminium is a high-gloss Alclad color, so may require the black base for you to get the most out of it. Apologies for the poor photo, but this is what I (a very average modeller) managed with regular Alclad Aluminium over their grey primer a few years back (ignore the Meteor, that was Tamiya XF-16) -- I think it looks about right for an in-service Mustang -- obviously the ones in private hands now are much shinier, cf. one I saw in 2014 at Oshkosh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Magua87]

I ignored my own advice and added the bare metal panels for the squadron badge. Decided the other picture I found was too small to really tell. 

 

This Alclad is magical. Airframe Aluminium over Tamiya TS-12. I'm looking forward to using this on the fuselage of my other bird!

 

 

[wellzy]

Very nice finish 

 

[Magua87]

Making good progress now. Brushed on a clear coat last night and now I'm almost finished with the decals. 

 

The blue isn't as bright as it appears here. That's the result of a cellphone camera and my lamp. 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by Magua87

[wellzy]

She is looking good well done 

[Tempestwulf]

I've never managed to have good results with Alclad, I don't know why. Even tried their gloss & dull coats but they seemed to stay tacky for days following, even with simple misted on coats. I prefer my Mr Color paints. You're Mustang's looking fantastic so keep up the good work

[Magua87]

Because I'm indecisive I've painted both the cuffed and un-cuffed blades in flat black. 

 

 

I also painted the spinner in Humbrol gloss black. Magical to see such a high shine straight from the bottle. 

 

 

After finishing with the decals I gave the aircraft a coat of Tamiya semi-gloss and gave the anti-glare panel a once over of flat black to tone it down. Very happy with the aircraft and looking forward to finishing this kit, hopefully before I go away in a few days. 

 

 

 

[Procopius]

That's looking mighty nice.

[Magua87]

She's on her legs now. Only the prop and spinner left to go. Oh, and the main aerial. Keep forgetting about that.