CheshireGap Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Loving the methodical approach to the experiments: - thoroughly second all the comments about Badger Stynylrez, great stuff and can be thinned with water if you are avoiding alcohols - given you are thinning with water, have you tried using an acrylic flow improver to reduce that clumping effect on the first coat? If you have a problem with the paint drying before it hits the model, try Retarder as well. Worth the experiment - then knock your air pressure down to 10-15 psi or so, and go easy pulling the trigger back - I hope you are not still thinning with Pledge...it's not a thinner, or a decal solution, or a magic elixir, it's a varnish. Varnish with it and nothing else. - at the end of all the experiments, start again with a decent paint... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfSparks Posted April 9, 2017 Author Share Posted April 9, 2017 Hi All On 05/04/2017 at 2:00 PM, CheshireGap said: - given you are thinning with water, have you tried using an acrylic flow improver to reduce that clumping effect on the first coat? If you have a problem with the paint drying before it hits the model, try Retarder as well. Worth the experiment Hadn't considered Flow Improver or Retarder, might get some for the last leg. Anything recommended for Humbrol anti-spray paint? On 05/04/2017 at 2:00 PM, CheshireGap said: - then knock your air pressure down to 10-15 psi or so, and go easy pulling the trigger back There's not much in the way of pressure control with this basic setup, having less variables to fiddle with one of the reasons I went for it. Using it on the lowest setting. On 05/04/2017 at 2:00 PM, CheshireGap said: - I hope you are not still thinning with Pledge...it's not a thinner, or a decal solution, or a magic elixir, it's a varnish. Varnish with it and nothing else. Nope! Left that at an early stage, now thin exclusively with Northumbria Water's finest. On 05/04/2017 at 2:00 PM, CheshireGap said: - at the end of all the experiments, start again with a decent paint... That's on the cards, just a couple more guinea pigs to debase. Anyhoo, got the underside all masked off using a slightly thicker plastic tape, let's see how that grips / leaks etc. On went the Dark Earth as usual, only to be presented with something quite unusual I'm not concerned with the textured finish, that's just the way Humbrol goes on for me at this stage, but more the dark and light patches. Best way I can describe it, it's like a bar of milk chocolate that has been left in a warm place for a couple of days. Untempered,. Looks worse in real life than photo. I gave it more coats of variously thinner and thicker mixes, but that flat blotchy variation came back in the same places. Some contaminant on all the surfaces? It wasn't confined to an area (Vallejo Primer vs Pledge, and the underside came up ok), so I'm going to cut my losses and seal it in before I build up too many thicknesses of paint. I was doing so well to try and spray away from the edges of the masking too. Never mind, If I hadn't pointed it out I probably could have passed it off as a weathering technique More masking and on with the Dark Green, will be interesting to see how that comes out. Comments and suggestions welcome Cheers Steve 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheshireGap Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 17 hours ago, ProfSparks said: Hadn't considered Flow Improver or Retarder, might get some for the last leg. Anything recommended for Humbrol anti-spray paint? When I remember, I use a couple of drops of Windsor & Newton flow improver (any half decent art shop should have some including Hobbycraft), though there are others such as Vallejo, just not as available on the high street. Retarder I do use the Vallejo stuff as I picked some up at a model show a year or so back; a couple of drops of each should be fine but remember this effectively thins the paint a little bit more. Always better to mix outside the brush, don't add it in to the cup and try to stir it in. With regard the air pressure, do you know how low the lowest setting actually is? Anything below 10 psi and the paint may not be atomising very finely, can lead to a more textured finish. If you don't have an accurate gauge on your compressor, pressure can be hard to just and a lot of trial and error is required. I find I am usually sitting somewhere between 10 to 20 psi depending on the mix and what I am trying to do with it, much over that and I usually start to make a right mess of things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfSparks Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 Hi All Well, onward and upward! New masking on and after a light application of Pledge to seal in the edges, the First Coat Second Coat and Third Coat Was about to give it a Fourth Coat, when I began to wonder why? Looking at it I couldn't see a need and took the masking off instead Yes there was some bleed on the underside and a couple of areas where the Dark Earth had lifted (but only on the Pledge undercoat side, not the Vallejo Primer side...) so after a quick touch up and another coat of Pledge, things are looking ok again. Final Pledge coat and left to dry before decals and finishing. Oddly enough, the hardest thing at the moment is stopping spraying! I'm always surprised at how well a couple of passes covers, and have to consciously refrain from emptying the whole paint cup onto it to keep a thin coverage. Three or four spray coats are thinner than I could ever get with a single pass of the brush, and it's tempting to keep going as that's the only opaqueness reference I'm used to. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. There are a couple of ridges between the Earth and Green, but I'm unable to identify them as being the Pledge 'Run Stopper' or the Dark Green. Annyhoo, will let this settle and add some more bits later. So far looks like I've snatched a 1-1 draw from the jaws of a 2-0 defeat! Comments and suggestions welcome Cheers Steve 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Looking good Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfSparks Posted April 21, 2017 Author Share Posted April 21, 2017 Hi All Last little bits'n'bobs done That 50/50 mix of Silver and Dark Earth looks a lot greyer in real life Still a problem with the decals settling, even after the boiling water and Micro Sol treatment. Never mind, let's draw a veil over this one, I hope it's the worst of the four. Comments and commiserations welcome Cheers Steve 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Well, Steve, I continue to be impressed. No, make that very impressed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Very nice Steve. There's lots of science (and opinion!) in this hobby but the main thing is to enjoy building the kits! If there's anything you're not happy with then ask for help... or do a search. I think the decals look fine but there's a whole can of worms to be opened on that subject. Lots of people (including me) have the Microscale Sol and Set products - they're pretty easy to use and might help. Good stuff. Looking forward to the next build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfSparks Posted April 23, 2017 Author Share Posted April 23, 2017 Hi All And now we come to the part we've all been waiting for, the final kit from this collection! This is going to be the one to bring together all I've learned over these past paint jobs. First off, the whole surface was given the once over with Mr Muscle to remove residual grease etc, then a couple of thin coats of Vallejo Surface Primer. I know it's meant to be problematic, but I've about a gallon of it Hasn't turned out too bad, and I would go as far as to say I'm right pleased with the smoothness! Then a couple of passes on the underside with Coal Black 85. This was a bit of a gamble, as I have previously been using the supplied Black 33, but as the 85 is a semi-gloss (as opposed to the matt 33), I figured I'd give it a go. One coat of Pledge later I'd say this was heading in the right direction ! As a side note... Pro Tip Of The Day:- Put the airbrush DOWN before changing hands holding the subject Anyhoo, Masking Madness awaits... Comments and suggestions welcome Cheers Steve 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Nice work Steve I used the Vallejo primer for quite a while and it was fine IF I didn't try to sand it. Cleaning the surface before application should help stop peeling too. Fingers crossed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfSparks Posted May 5, 2017 Author Share Posted May 5, 2017 Hi All A bit more time to shuffle this one to it's conclusion. Dodgy Dark Earth on, not looking too rough this time Masking like Zorro and the Dark Green goes on ok too The great unmasking, a couple of touch ups, and we're good to go for the final straight. That thicker masking tape, whilst having a better glue layer, is less flexible, tended to lift over time, and oddly had a firmer grip on some patches, requiring some remedial work again, so will give the sticky sausage another go. Also, the Dark Earth brushes a different shade than sprayed, whereas the Dark Green stayed the same. Hmm, curious... Anyhoo, I'm more on the ball with the paint thicknesses now, only applied two thin ones of each on the top. It certainly cut down the ridges between the colours, but I feel I could go even thinner still. Restraint, and a belief that it will work, is all you need. Comments and suggestions welcome Cheers Steve 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfSparks Posted May 17, 2017 Author Share Posted May 17, 2017 Hi All And now, the end is near... Wheels and danglies on Other bits 'n' bobs on top And the decals You can still tell where the brown was touched in. And those flaps behind the engine cowlings, the Blenheim were separate and painted in camo, whereas these are moulded to the cowling and need to be painted silver Tried a different approach to the decals this time, putting them in hot water until they slid off, then pressing down with the cotton bud dipped in boiling water. This is the first one Loads better, but by time this was settled and I put the next one in to soak You can see it's not quite as supple as the first, the water temperature must have gone down a bit as I was fiddling on? Going to look out for one of those homeopathic oil warmers, the sort that is heated by a tea light candle, see if that keeps the water hot enough to keep the decals flexible. Anyhoo, here it is as finished as it's going to be Will post a RFI of all four when opportunity presents. So, in conclusion:- These four are poorly detailed, indifferently moulded, and uniformly camouflaged, and therefore are ideal for lashing together as airbrush test subjects. Anyone wanting to venture into this aspect of the hobby would be hard pressed to find a more suitable set. Bottom line, the results I achieved from the included starter pots, and the cheapest most basic airbrush setup I could find, are far above what I would be able to achieve by brush painting. Even the slightly textured finish is nothing compared to the experience of getting an airbrush in the hand and just going for it! Get a 0.5mm nozzle, thin the paint to about 50/50 (rough starting point), and away you go. Thanks to everyone who dropped by, your tips and encouragement were greatly appreciated. This isn't the end of my Airbrush Experiments... Cheers Steve 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Very nice Steve - the canopy painting is particularly impressive. Good job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 Fantastic project Steve. Keep up with the airbrushing, if you can achieve results like these with starter paints, I can't wait to see what you come up with going forward. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomerJ_757 Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 (edited) Bought that set for the same purpose, haven't managed to open the box yet, 🙁 Holidays and diy getting in the way! Really impressed with the incremental steps approach, well done Prof and everyone else for the tips! Ian Edited May 19, 2017 by HomerJ_757 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avereda Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 On 17/05/2017 at 7:59 PM, ProfSparks said: This isn't the end of my Airbrush Experiments. I should hope not, this has all been excellent stuff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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