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27 minutes ago, neilfergylee said:

 

One question though: how do you attach the pattern to the model?

BluTack, WhiteTack, PowerTack - or that day when I discover my son has used all that stuff, Copydex. Oh and that's a cheaper alternate to Maskol.

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On 09/02/2018 at 8:56 PM, neilfergylee said:

 

 

Thank you perdu!

 

I have a nasty feeling that what purports to be Sea Grey Medium is a wee bit dark.  BUT, when you look at most samples, it does seem quite dark:

 

x003.jpg

 

and compares to the paint job on the model:

 

39047163495_8fbceef4b7_n.jpg

 

 

But I'm puzzled and if you look at the excellent model made by @theplasticsurgeon, his is much lighter and, frankly, looks more prototypical:

 

26300609348_3b550cee3a_o.jpg7851532346_6329000e22_z.jpg

 

So, I'll just have to see how it pans-out but I'm bothered that following a couple of coats of varnish, things might get even darker!

 

Thanks very much for the tip regarding Sovereign and xtracolour: I'm inherently lazy, hence my preference for acrylics (just wash it off in the sink) but I suspect I'll change given time!

 

Regarding model shops - where have they all gone??? :o  I'm genuinely shocked to see how plastic modelling has disappeared into a niche, although the likes of Games Workshop are booming: there has to be a lesson there for somebody.

 

Thanks again for your kind encouragement - more updates to follow!

 

Cheers,

 

Neil

 

 

 

Hi Neil,

 

I think if you take your model out into natural daylight and compare a photograph taken there to the photograph of the real one you will see a much closer resemblence.

 

Medium Sea Grey is a good bit darker than most people paint it. Here is some proper objective colourspace data for it.

http://www.e-paint.co.uk/Lab_values.asp?cRange=BS 381C&cRef=BS381 637&metallic2=False

 

The Light Reflectance Value is only 28%. That's not a light grey which would typically be 40~50% LRV. It is, as the name hints quite strongly at ;), a Medium sea Grey.

 

I find taking my models outside is always a good check. Light source changes everything. A surface can only reflect at you the wavelengths that the illuminant sends at it. The sun sends out a vastly more wholesome light with a full spectrum od visible light wavelengths and man made lights don't. Thus it's always best to compare paints under the same lighting conditions :)

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A little more progress over the weekend and a couple of slightly off-putting surprises.

 

Time was relatively short this weekend, but I sought to

  1. Touch-up the paintwork;
  2. Paint the canopy;
  3. Decide the colour scheme to apply;
  4. Apply varnish.

Touching-up the paintwork came as a bit of a surprise.  Now, admittedly it was a bit rash but the little container of dark green that accompanied my 1/24 Spitfire was - I thought - was suitable to fix one or two messy bits with the green paint.

 

Wrong.  It was a b***dy mess:

 

39464880544_498554f11e_z.jpg

 

The finish clashed horribly and I had no choice but to mask and respray the green camouflage.  Bummer.

 

Meanwhile, I discovered a smashing little model shop in Chesterfield: http://www.wdmodels.co.uk/ .   A very friendly shop with a good range of modelling spares and paints.  Interestingly, they managed to confirm my suspicions, namely that supplies of some Humbrol paints are very hard to get hold-of.  This was a bit of a blow as I didn't have any Sea Grey, Medium and needed a little to touch-up a few little unwanted patches of green.

 

I decided to ignore all advice and spray paint the canopy (I hand-painted the windshield).  To do this, I masked it up in one direction, sprayed it, then masked and painted it in the other.  The result was pretty good although I had another surprise.

 

28395355339_56196a6111_n.jpg40144355192_d0d4e0b1f4_n.jpg40192992551_bb933f63fa_n.jpg

 

The surprise was this:  there were a couple of smudges on the rear of the canopy but "no problem", I thought: "a little water and a cocktail stick and Hey Presto!"  Wrong.  Nothing came off...

 

Meanwhile, necessity being the mother of all invention, I decided the best way to get a little MSG to touch-up the paintwork would be to get a small container (take away curry pickle pot!) and spray a little into it and then use a paintbrush.

 

Rather interesting: the brush wouldn't wash under water and, sniffing it, I suspect that it was spray enamel, despite what was on the label.  You live and learn.

 

Meanwhile, I took the advice of @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies and took the model outside - yes Jamie, you're right: outside, it does look closer to what I would expect.  Thanks for the advice. :smile:

 

40203144211_eab11f9f23_z.jpg7851532346_6329000e22_z.jpg

 

So, I decided to finish-up tonight with a couple of coats of satin varnish and also to decide the eventual colour scheme: I am going for a 141 Squadron aircraft with a black and grey radome.

 

And so here is the present state of play.  Am I happy with it: we'll I'll give it 6½ out of 10 at the moment but hope that the final detailing will drag it up a point.  By the way, checking the Modeldecal sheet tonight, I realised that no serials are included: damn!  That means hand-applying the letters or will this be the time that I discover the challenge of laser-printed decal sheets?  Stay tuned.

 

39500761794_7192796c00_b.jpg

 

Thank you all for your continuing encouragement: here's to next weekend!

 

Cheers,

 

Neil

 

Edited by neilfergylee
Typo corrected.
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Welcome back to modelling! :bear:You will be on a rather steep learning curve for a while but to me that is where the fun is, learning. I like what you've done so far and look forward to your next build! :drink:

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7 hours ago, Nachtwulf said:

Welcome back to modelling! :bear:You will be on a rather steep learning curve for a while but to me that is where the fun is, learning. I like what you've done so far and look forward to your next build! :drink:

Thank you!

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I returned to the hobby a few years ago with an Eduard Hellcat.  Turned out very well despite all the fiddly etch bits, but that's down to the kit's excellence, not mine.

 

Matchbox? Airwaves? Mismatched resiny bits! You've come roaring back to the hobby with a proper, hairy-chested challenge of a model and it's looking brilliant so far, Neil.

 

Might as well get used to the painting SNAFUs, seems to happen to me at least once a build.

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10 hours ago, magwitch said:

I have no technical advice to offer but want to say how much I am enjoying this tale of challenges encountered and overcome.

 

9 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

I returned to the hobby a few years ago with an Eduard Hellcat.  Turned out very well despite all the fiddly etch bits, but that's down to the kit's excellence, not mine.

 

Matchbox? Airwaves? Mismatched resiny bits! You've come roaring back to the hobby with a proper, hairy-chested challenge of a model and it's looking brilliant so far, Neil.

 

Might as well get used to the painting SNAFUs, seems to happen to me at least once a build.

Thank you both!  I've had so much fun building this and hope I can pull it off.  Presently having to explain to the Household Authorities the continuing arrival of many small parcels from Amazon, eBay and Hannants!

 

Cheers,

 

Neil

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Only a brief update this weekend as time was against me.

 

The arrival of a pot of Sea Grey, Medium allowed me to do a little touching-up, while I also experimented with "the application of carbon microgranules for visual modification", on other words, dusting a bit of pencil lead to create a weathering effect and the result was encouraging.

 

There was one thing I was determined to do however, and that was to add at least two roundels!

 

26469936148_05cbf4cd82_b.jpg

 

More to follow this week - I hope!

 

Cheers, Neil

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That is looking really nice. I’m a bit late in offering advice but for paint ridges between adjacent colours I now use Micromesh. It comes in various forms but mine comprised about half a dozen strips of material which you wrap around a sponge. The grades go ever finer and you rub the affected part at 90 degrees to the previous rubbing. It’s more of a polisher than an abrasive and I find that a few swipes with the two finest grades is enough to remove most ridges. It’s very good for polishing canopies too.

 

I agree that the model is a bit of a putty monster and I’m currently converting mine into a PR.10. Having built one when they first appeared I was aware of the ‘orrid gap at the root of the underwing so on mine I have applied the undersides first in order to fill in the gaps. Plenty of blending in with filler. Look at all that swarf!

 

40192191272_58884725c9_b.jpg

 

I also scribed the missing flap lines too.

 

Looking forward to your next instalment.

 

Trevor

 

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On 13/02/2018 at 1:25 PM, neilfergylee said:

 

Thank you both!  I've had so much fun building this and hope I can pull it off.  Presently having to explain to the Household Authorities the continuing arrival of many small parcels from Amazon, eBay and Hannants!

 

Cheers,

 

Neil

I too know the problem of getting the latest acquisitions past the “Plastic Police”.  Fortunately I have a very good friend or two who can operate as secure drop sites for me so I can pick up my packages when the PP aren’t around or are otherwise engaged.

 

I like how your Meteor’s coming along; it’s always a bit of a boost when the first decals go on and it starts to look like a real aeroplane.

 

As others have said Sea Grey Medium/ Mdium Sea Grey is a surprisingly dark colour and in certain lighting conditions can appear to have a slightly mauve hue.  Like any other colour it’s apoearance can also be affected by adjacent colours so if, for example, your green was a bit lighter than it should be the grey will appear darker.  When I’m modelling a subject wearing the RAF night fighter  scheme I tend to use one of my several open pots of Humbrol 165 for the grey and 116 or 163 for the green, depending on whether it’s a wartime or post-war subject respectively.

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On ‎19‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 13:05, Max Headroom said:

That is looking really nice. I’m a bit late in offering advice but for paint ridges between adjacent colours I now use Micromesh. It comes in various forms but mine comprised about half a dozen strips of material which you wrap around a sponge. The grades go ever finer and you rub the affected part at 90 degrees to the previous rubbing. It’s more of a polisher than an abrasive and I find that a few swipes with the two finest grades is enough to remove most ridges. It’s very good for polishing canopies too.

 

I agree that the model is a bit of a putty monster and I’m currently converting mine into a PR.10. Having built one when they first appeared I was aware of the ‘orrid gap at the root of the underwing so on mine I have applied the undersides first in order to fill in the gaps. Plenty of blending in with filler. Look at all that swarf!

 

I also scribed the missing flap lines too.

 

Looking forward to your next instalment.

 

Trevor

 

Thanks Trevor!

 

Excellent tip about Micromesh - payday is coming so guess what? ;)

 

Also keen to see your PR10: I'm wimping-out with the MPM model, although the arrival of a Tamiya F.1 and F.3, plus an existing Airfix 1/48 kit (barely-opened) has put me in a tizzy.  I'll need to lie down...

 

More updates to follow!

 

Cheers,

 

Neil

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On ‎19‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 14:32, stever219 said:

I too know the problem of getting the latest acquisitions past the “Plastic Police”.  Fortunately I have a very good friend or two who can operate as secure drop sites for me so I can pick up my packages when the PP aren’t around or are otherwise engaged.

 

I like how your Meteor’s coming along; it’s always a bit of a boost when the first decals go on and it starts to look like a real aeroplane.

 

As others have said Sea Grey Medium/ Mdium Sea Grey is a surprisingly dark colour and in certain lighting conditions can appear to have a slightly mauve hue.  Like any other colour it’s apoearance can also be affected by adjacent colours so if, for example, your green was a bit lighter than it should be the grey will appear darker.  When I’m modelling a subject wearing the RAF night fighter  scheme I tend to use one of my several open pots of Humbrol 165 for the grey and 116 or 163 for the green, depending on whether it’s a wartime or post-war subject respectively.

I think those 'Click and collect' places will be a godsend for you!

 

Yes, just getting two roundels on has made a huge difference.  Fortunately, I'm likely to have a bit more home time this week, so am hoping to make a bit of progress before the weekend for a change.  The real pain is discovering that I'm going to have to make-up the serials from scratch: do I buy individual letters (God help me...) or have a bash at printing onto blank decal sheets using a laser printer.

 

On the subject of MSG, I remember several articles in editions of Scale Aircraft Modelling back in the early 1980s regarding the concept of scale colour.  Essentially, the articles suggesting lightening-up the colours but in the end I seem to recall as complete and utter repudiation of the whole thing.  I think I had better grab hold of my back issues....!

 

More to follow :smile:

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16 minutes ago, neilfergylee said:

The real pain is discovering that I'm going to have to make-up the serials from scratch: do I buy individual letters (God help me...) or have a bash at printing onto blank decal sheets using a laser printer.

 

 

Xtradecal do sheets of letters and numbers in varying sizes and styles for British military aircraft (I think they are copies of the old and increasingly rare Modeldecal sheets).  Alternatively if you know which serials you need I can have a shufti to see if I have them for you.

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10 hours ago, stever219 said:

Xtradecal do sheets of letters and numbers in varying sizes and styles for British military aircraft (I think they are copies of the old and increasingly rare Modeldecal sheets).  Alternatively if you know which serials you need I can have a shufti to see if I have them for you.

You are a scholar and a gentleman!

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A quick experiment.  Before 96 Squadron adopted its definitive markings, they experimented with a star pattern - thank you Scale Aircraft Modelling.  I had a go at reproducing the markings in PowerPoint, printed them onto plain paper and attached them using Copydex for a very rough trial fit.  Thank you @theplasticsurgeon for the hint - it stuck beautifully but then peeled leaving no damage or mess.  If I go ahead, then it's hello laser-printed decals - I'm thinking of taking the same approach for the serials, having found a lovingly-produced font for RAF lettering.

 

I might have to repaint the radome (groan) but it would be a pretty unique scheme:

 

40384173212_e7764f991b_b.jpg

 

Edited by neilfergylee
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This weekend was spent applying the majority of decals although I have decided to take the plunge and make my own decals for a 96 squadron machine including markings and serials.  A package containing blank transfer paper for laser printers is awaited from Amazon...

 

The good news is that I have found a TrueType font on the Internet for RAF serials that I have downloaded and tested.  It is a little awkward to use but as you can see, a test bodes well:

 

25629689477_a36a292959_z.jpg

There was one thing that was irritating me and that was the canopy.  Although I was quite pleased with how I had managed to mask it, it was by no means perfect and the inner surface has become rather hazy.  Furthermore, reading other builds, I realised that it would have been better to paint he canopy black, both to reduce the opacity of the framing and to give a more realistic interior colour.

 

Therefore, I decided to use the canopy off my second Matchbox kit, working on the basis that it was almost certainly destined to be an NF-14 and the first one could be reused if I really needed-to.

 

So, I started again and here was the result.  Old one at the front, new at the back.

 

40458484192_bb35cfc2f8_z.jpg

 

And the proof of the pudding etc...

 

26595704098_4b7e9b46c0_z.jpg

 

I feel this is quite an improvement on the earlier version, enhanced both with the addition of decals and fitting the etched harnesses to the seats:

 

38656701130_de2dc02889_z.jpg

 

So, I'm going into radio silence for a few days but there is just a chance that I shall be approaching the finish line next weekend!

 

Thanks for watching.

 

Neil

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On 2/20/2018 at 10:45 PM, neilfergylee said:

 

On the subject of MSG, I remember several articles in editions of Scale Aircraft Modelling back in the early 1980s regarding the concept of scale colour.  Essentially, the articles suggesting lightening-up the colours but in the end I seem to recall as complete and utter repudiation of the whole thing.  I think I had better grab hold of my back issues....!

 

This is a subject that is very much a matter of opinion and depends very much on mindset and how we consider our models (miniatures; full size viewed from far away; even trying to compensate for models predominantly viewed indoor of subjects seen outdoors, etc).

 

What I am happy to say is that 9 out of 10 proponents of "scale colour" have no idea what they're doing objectively and are rather faffing about satisfying a personal fancy.

 

Colour has 2 key properties which may be affected by distance; the light reflectance and the chroma.

 

If we take a photograph of a landscape with, for example, similar species of trees viewed from nearground to background some miles away and measure (using instruments, not aging male guesstimation through yellowing eyes) the difference in colour near to far, what we find is that both are affected. Both the intensity of the colour reduces towards grey however the light reflectance tends to average out - NOT necessarily lighten. As a result, perceived contrast between colours reduces with distance.

 

Almost all scale-faders just lighten colours which is not how colour perception changes with distance. They're also fixed in the perspective that they are viewing a fullsize from afar too.

 

Trying to replicate how colour perception changes with distance is much more complicated than recommending substitute paint numbers for "scale colour".

 

There are plenty to claim they can do it, because they are "artists" and they will argue until they are blue in the face that they are correct (because 'artist') but every one of them will give you a different subjective opinion on why they're right and everyone else is wrong.

 

What's important is to get the contrast right between adjacent colours. Get that right and you will get away with many other sins. To do that, it's always best to start by comparing the real "fullsize" paints to each other.

 

Never go for higher contrast than the fullsize. If you do want to "scale colour", reduce the contrast between them. The safest thing to do there might be to flatten them both down a little using the same grey of tone similar to the lighter colour, but as with everything in modelling - less is more.

 

There's nothing that makes my teeth itch as much as seeing models painted in anemic pastel shades because the modeller thinks they have scaled the colours!

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ooh this is getting so frustrating!  So near, yet so far...

 

I acquired from Amazon some clear laser printer-friendly decal paper and it is wonderful.  This is what I bought: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00PKS5HZK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

They allowed me to create a perfect set of serials and the 96 Squadron markings I needed:

38773571970_7533ee7623_z.jpg

 

The serials went on PERFECTLY, but whilst I knew laser printers can't print white, although they can print yellow, you realise that the decals really need a white background:

 

39689249985_8384611f7a_c.jpg

 

And I had no white paint...

 

So, necessity being the mother of all invention, I tried to create a white background using some cannibalised pieces of decal:

 

39726376395_cfed43eac5_c.jpg

 

Unfortunately, when trying to add a fresh set of squadron markings, the white decals started slipping all over the place and so I had to abandon that approach.

 

So, slightly back to Square One but I'm regrouping...!

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Would it help to print the blue/yellow squadron colors in a slightly lighter tone ? Once placed on the dark base it should bring the colors back to a normal range ? Or close enough to call them faded at least ? 

 

Dennis 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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