1:32 Martlet

[silverburn]

Hi again all,

Another one completed! That makes it my third!

This was another test rig, and was actually bought on impulse, since it was cheap! However, now it's done, I quite fancy doing a "D-Day montage" - especially since I'm bidding on a 1:32 Beaufighter (which I'll also do in D-Day colours). I wanted another "used" look for this one. Probably because it's fun learning how to age stuff...:-)

Anyway, the big lessons learnt with this one are:

- SPRAY PAINTS ARE RUBBISH AT FEATHERED (ie not "hard edged") CAMMO. Or at least mine are! I simply could not get a smooth gradient, and ended up with a really rubbish scheme. I *must* consider an airbrush for the next one! Although Montana Gold to apparently have different caps, for just this purpose.....hmmm. We'll see....all opinions welcome.

- Some Decals are RUBBISH. You would not believe the pain I endure with the fuselage D-Day stripes...only for they to "dissolve" when laquer was applied! As it turns out, it does add to the "ageing" process (if you squint hard enough). I suspect they might not have been dry enough? I did pretty much jump into laquering about 2hrs after laying decals. Next time, I'm just going mask-crazy, and painting them myself!

- Put the glass in place *before* spraying...especially if it's meant to be cammo coloured...

Anyway the good points:

- This was my first "scratch build"! Well...I drilled 2 holes and used painted cotton bud stems in them to act as exhausts...the kit had them closed off. Does that still count as scratch build?

- I filled in a couple of panels with "unpainted" versions...to age it a bit. It works....ish.

- I was able to straighten out the fuselage...it simply wouldn't dry-fit together. Only by looking down the fuselage, did I notice than the front section was rotated clock-wise by a few degrees!

- I got to do an engine. It came out ok!

Anyway...to the pictures!

My engine. And you can see the problems I had with fading between cammo colours quite well on this one.

and another...

My *cough* scratch built exhausts!

The half-disolved decals can been seen in this one; though in proper light it sort of works...if you squint. It does age it it, especially on the wings.

Edited November 9, 2009 by silverburn

[omegaman]

Nice representation. Well salvaged decals

I have a tip which I have used for feathering using rattle cans. Mask the areas with blu tac and you should get a lightly feathered boundary using the paints you want to use. Looks about right too. Have a go!

Anthony

Also, What kit is this? Revell?

[Murdo]

It looks like the Revell 1/32 kit which is actually very nice although fitting the Engine and landing gear can be a severe (and I mean SEVERE) lesson in patience and ably demonstrates a modellers need for around 4 - 6 hands. I believe Bex reached screaming point here?

The invasion stripes are a bit like wallpaper but do eventually behave ( a hammer helps ) and I had no major issues with mine although I think they're the only decals I've ever actually peeled off a model and reinstalled despite being coated with MicroSol/Set. They are fairly thin but pretty indestuctible.

A point... Bex did mention that part of the kit instructions are totally incorrect. Something to do with the wings?

It's really quite a nice kit and does build into a very decent model as Silverburn has shown here.

[bexwh773]

It looks like the Revell 1/32 kit which is actually very nice although fitting the Engine and landing gear can be a severe (and I mean SEVERE) lesson in patience and ably demonstrates a modellers need for around 4 - 6 hands. I believe Bex reached screaming point here?

The invasion stripes are a bit like wallpaper but do eventually behave ( a hammer helps ) and I had no major issues with mine although I think they're the only decals I've ever actually peeled off a model and reinstalled despite being coated with MicroSol/Set. They are fairly thin but pretty indestuctible.

A point... Bex did mention that part of the kit instructions are totally incorrect. Something to do with the wings?

It's really quite a nice kit and does build into a very decent model as Silverburn has shown here.

Silverburn,

As Murdo has said, I nearly launched this kit into the wall several times as its a real pig. Once youve won the war, then yes it does produce a cracking model, but it doent help that the kit doesnt fit together and the instruction sheet is bottom about face for fitting the wings. Lets not even mention Revells totally hilarious painting guide, after several attempts I decided to use photos of a real one and ignored the guide totally.

The decals, well they were also a complete joke to which I never did see the funny side I gave up with the D - Day stripes and binned the damn things

Well heres the RFI Thread........... LINKY

And a photo of the beast.............. I have to be honest, yours is alot better than mine Mine now hang on me Dads bedroom ceiling

ATB

Bexy

[silverburn]

Likewise, I chose to forgoe most of the instructions as well - partly because I was "compromised" on paints (and colours), and because the the instructions were useless. I also have the fuselage glass panels here to prove how useless they were! I'll be painting my d-day stripes by masking next time (on my forthcoming Beaufighter).

Re: the engine and landing gear fit and finish...I think I cheated, because I started at that engine end (after a bit of manual correction of the fuselage twist ) and worked backwards slowly, superglueing a small section at a time. I also sanded down the edges of the pit and engine bay firewalls as well to ensure they weren't snagging. I still needed a bit of filler mind, around the wheel bay, but it wasn't bad to be honest. If I'd charged in without dry-fitting and glue the whole lot, it would have ended in tears!

The wings were funny...I actually built mine without looking at the instructions...worked out the folding mechanism was RUBBISH once it was all stuck together and was going to last all of 5 minutes...so I just glued the whole thing tight. And then I tried to read the instructions and wished I hadn't bothered!

The only thing really missing from this kit, is an up-to-date pit; the pit was pretty spartan and detail-less compared to modern kits. I didn't bother looking for an aftermarket version, mainly because I was just mucking about, but I will for the future. My forthcoming Beaufighter appears to lacking in this area too (from what I've read on the interweb), so I'll be looking for aftermarket on that too.

Glad to see some people like it as is - I could have done much better, and may undertake a re-run at this kit in the future.

[Alan P]

though in proper light it sort of works...if you squint.

Ah a man after my own heart. I look at all my models this way!!

Your self-critique is quite entertaining, but you are being a bit unfair on yourself. These are very good results for just your second and thrid models, especially considering your use of spray cans. You deserve a bit more respect for what you've achieved so far!

Top tip just to expand on what omegaman already said:

Regarding feathered camo lines with the "blu-tac" method...

If you outline the camo lines with rolled out thin sausages of blu-tac and mask the rest of the area normally, you can spray the next camo colour with the direction of spray vertically down over the blu-tac. When the masking and blu-tac are removed, you should be left with a feathered division between the colours. Keep the spray can moving and don't put too much paint on, or the wet paint will pool along the bottom of the blu-tac and ruin the effect you are looking for. Try it, it's quite easy to achieve with little practice.

Good luck with your next one!

[silverburn]

Cheers guys - will certainly give the "blu-tac sausage" technique a go! Might have a wee practice with some blank paper...

[CornishRebel]

If you can find it, use 'white tac'. Blu-tac seems to leave a residue on the paint, which the white stuff doesn't.

Keep up the good work.

Phil

[Murdo]

This is how mine turned out. The invasion stripes are the kit decals.

[silverburn]

God, how did you manage that so perfectly Murdo!

[Murdo]

Ooh, thank you Silverburn.

I didn't have any real problems with the decals apart from positioning problems as they are so big. I even had to peel the stripes off once or twice with my fingers and and reposition them. Surprisingly they took this very well. They are quite thin but incredibly strong. Hence the reference to being like wallpaper.

I had even used Micro Sol / Set on them and was amazed that they would still peel off.

The stripes and roundels once positioned were slathered in Micro thingy, (the red bottle) and behaved perfectly!

I wish the decals on the Airfix 1/48 Hawk were as good. They drove me nuts.