Seamus Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 here's what I got planned for my next build then and hopefully a bit of a re-motivation build- the excellent looking Academy Helldiver. Been wanting to make a start on this one for a good while now, so hopefully it'll be just the thing to get me back in the game On with the Obligatories... She'll be finished in the classic three tone WW2 USN scheme, one of my favourite colour schemes. Might even make a start on her tonight Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz greenwood Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Shaun. Another one of my fave USN A/C. When I get around to mine , I'll do it in overall Gloss Sea Blue. I'll be watching with interest. Cheers Daz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentalguru Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Drewe did a blinding one of these once- I remember it still- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeew Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Yep , that is a cracker of a kit Shaun, you'll enjoy this one mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzy Jase Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Nice to see you building this one Shaun. I love the three tone USN scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted July 4, 2009 Author Share Posted July 4, 2009 Thanks for the early interest fellas I've begun the build in the usual way by giving the transparencies a dip in Klear. These have since been masked off- lots of small panes makes masking much fun I've also assembled the interior and removed and cleaned up the larger parts. Couldn't resist a wee dry fit Although the picture doesn't really show it, the fit of the kit is excellent. I doubt there'll be any need for filler, just a few swipes with a sanding sponge to clean up the seams. That said, the tailplanes may be slightly suspect Really enjoying this one so far, she's proving just the job to get me back into the swing of things Just a bit cleaning up and prepping to do before I can make a start on spraying the interior. Thanks for looking Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 Cheers mate That's a lovely build, and one I stumbled upon whilst looking around ARC for some inspiration Right, a fair bit of progress on the old girl over the last couple of days. I sprayed up all the interior parts in Xtracolor interior green, appropriately enough! I then added a few drops of white to it and did a touch of post shading, just to add a bit of tonal variation. I then picked out the details using a combination of a fine brush and cocktail sticks, before drybrushing some silver around, just to give a worn out look. I also added some scratches to the floor using a silver pencil, and belts were made from the usual tamiya tape and fusewire. This has to be one of, if not the best interior I've seen on a 1/72 kit OOB, you weren't wrong Mike The IP was sprayed flat black, before the dials were picked out in gloss black, to simulate the glass. This was followed by another quick drybrush of silver. here's how it all looks inside the fuselage.... ...and with the fuselage dryfitted. Absolutely no dramas with the fit here I thought about giving the interior an oil wash, but decided it looked OK as it is. I will be washing the bomb bay and undercarriage, and these parts have had a couple coats of Klear in preparation for it, before I close everything up and make a start on the main construction That's your lot for now, all comments welcomed as ever Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRUSKY1965 Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Awesome build! A very difficult work in this scale. Keep up the good work! The cockpit has an incredible detail! Congratulations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeew Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Nice going Shaun. Bringing back my memories of building it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Thanks chaps More progress, and after applying an oil wash to the bomb bay, undercarriage and wheel wells, the bulk of the construction has been completed. No dramas at all, just a few swipes of a sanding sponge to sort out the seams, and a touch of filler here and there, just to clean things up a bit. The main canopies have been left off as I'll position them open, so will tack them in place when it comes to spraying. Once everything is masked up, I'll get a preshade on her, probably tomorrow Thanks for looking, comments welcomed Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 Apologies for the lack of updates, progress has been slowed these last couple of weeks by Yeovilton, Legends and RIAT, but I have been steadily making progress on the Helldiver, to the point where the paint job is complete. Usual process of preshade followed by the base colour, each one highlighted a touch with a post shade, though my airbrush was giving me some grief so haven't gone overboard with it. No step by step pics as I've had some PC trouble recently, but now it's up and running again, here's where she stands as of this morning. I'll give her a quick coat of klear before making a start on the decalling tomorrow Comments welcomed as always Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeew Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Nice paint job Shaun. One word of caution with the Academy decals, they don't like panel lines, especially the stencils, and can silver quite severely. If you use Klear as decal set you'll ease your decalling on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alrite Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Lovely finish Shaun! Can ask how you get it so "glass like", such as ratio's of paint to thinner? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 Cheers gents Mike, I learned my lesson with Academy decals on my previous Crusader build. Started using mircrosol, but gave up, electing for Klear in the end. Works a treat, so have gone for it again on this one. Appreciate the tip though Will, the glossy finish is purely down to Xtracolor, not me! I don't have a firmly fixed ratio as differing colours are more viscous than others, but I typically thin the paint down to the consistency of milk, using humbrol enamel thinners. I don't measure them out, but I'd say it would be somewhere in the region of 50/50, maybe 60/40 paint to thinner- some colours really don't need too much thinning down at all. HTH More progress and decalling was done. As stated above, I used Klear as the setting solution, and the decals largely preformed with no dramas, despite being a touch on the thick side. The fuselage stars and bars need a bit of persuasion to conform to the curves of the fuselage, but I got there in the end. It's unusual to have so many stencils on a WW2 aircraft... The eagle eyed amongst you will notice the lack the aerial on the nose. Being the muppet that I am, I glued it in the wrong place So I've popped it off (resulting in a 5 minute search to free it from the grasp of the carpet monster ) and will reattach it in the correct position, as well as cleaning up and respraying the mess it's removal has left behind. Ho hum! Thanks for looking, comments welcomed as ever Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyL Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 Lovely work as usual Shaun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 Thanks very much Andy More progress and the weathering is largely complete. I first applied a grey pastel wash over the whole airframe to highlight the panel lines, darkening it a bit to highlight those in the areas if intermediate blue. I also applied a red wash to the flaps as from what I've seen from other models, the red tended to show through a touch. The exhaust stains have been sprayed, as have the gun stains, though I'll touch these up later with oil paints. I started adding paint silver chipping with a silver pen, but overdid it relative to the fairly new looking paint job, so I'll maybe add a little bit around the wing roots once the matt coat is on. I've also attached the aerials and antennae in preparation for said matt coat. Should be able to get the matt coat on later today after doing a spot of touching up here and there, so fingers crossed she'll be wrapped up during tomorrow All comments welcomed Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincenzo Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Very beautiful your Helldiver Seamus! I have done the same model and I must say that it is really good. I only saw your wip now, if I had seen you I would have recommended the use of photoetched especially for the cockpit, flaps and the wheel bays. Here are some shot of my model .............. I expect to see it finished! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz greenwood Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Looking good Shaun. Its one of my fave planes too. Cheers Daz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smuts Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Great work Shaun, looks every bit the Beast. Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebos Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 That's a very attractive scheme... the tip on using klear as a setting agent, I assume that's as simple as laying down some klear before the decal? Does that still allow repositioning? I'd have though it would be quite 'grippy' Excellent work as always Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 (edited) Thanks very much for the kind words fellas Vincenzo, that's one sweet looking build The etch does look very good indeed, but it's a bit on the fiddly side for me, plus the expense of it all is beyond what I'm normally willing to spend. I'm more of an OOB builder anyways Wouldn't mind seeing some more pics of you Helldiver if/when it's finished Speaking of finished, mine is now done. Got the matt varnish on this morning and have completed the assmebly this evening, and added af ew finishing touches here and there, so I'll pop a few pics up in the RFU section shortly. A As ever, thanks to those of you who showed interest and offered encouragement throughout the build, much appreciated as always Cheers Shaun EDIT: Stebos, just seen your reply. I use the Klear as I would microsol i.e. brush a bit where the decal is to go, slide the decal on top and wipe of the excess, then brush another bit of Klear on top. Works a treat on thicker decals like Academy's. There's a decent amount of time available to reposition them too, so no probs there Edited August 1, 2009 by Seamus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincenzo Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 If you want, you can take a look HERE, there are some photos of the finished model or otherwise, if you want I can give you the link to an Italian forum where all the construction step by step! I will follow your new model! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Very nice Vincenzo, I remember you posting it now My finished model can now be found here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Nice & shiny Shauny... are you going to mucky her up at all, or leave her factory fresh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Thanks Mikey She's not quite factory fresh- there's a light bit of paint chipping and some exhaust staining, but as I didn't fade the paintwork too much, I didn't think it would look right with a whole load of filth and chipping all over the place. So, I'll be leaving her as is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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