burncpt

Haha, well the loose end is supposed to be 'hanging' over the top of the buckle but I think it needs to be bent more as I suppose the material was quite flexible. Will remedy if the superglue holds up! Also, it won't take long for people to notice but there is another glaring error in the finish but I haven't the heart to correct it (and I can't unless I get hold of a Tamiya kit of another set of decals...)

Hi all! Here's my premier natural metal finished aircraft - one of many I hope! Really enjoyed this, even though it took much longer than it should. A few 'improvements': - Airwaves PE cockpit bits/oil cooler flaps (there was lots more but it was inaccurate or unusable) - Aires gunbay - Engine wired with copper speaker cable strands and fuse wire - Cowl flaps separated and actuating rods added (bit out of scale but hey) - Curtiss prop from a Tamiya kit - Brake wires from fuse wire of various sizes, and in the wheel bay. - Tail wheel door rams from fuse wire Finish is alclad white aluminium with some bits duraluminium and Humbrol metalcote. I preshaded individual panels with alclad gloss black to simulate stressed skin. Tamiya acrylic for the gear/gun bays and Humbrol enamel (all the rest). Decals are Superscale and weren't much cop, too shiny and colours much too bright. I ended up stripping off the stars and bars and replacing with kit decals, the rest got a dust of Humbrol satin. I left this aircraft lightly weathered as it was a non-combat plane, only used by Kepner to monitor his air forces. It would have been kept pretty smart, besides the usual English mud on the wheels! Comments and criticism please! Chris

Superb! I am just about to post my completed Hasegawa bubbletop and now you've gone and well and truly upstaged me Congrats. Nice to see such great work with humbrol too, I've always used it and it's good to see that it's good enough to produce results as flawless as this in capable hands. (I am going to go and retrofit some foil plates to the inner gear doors now just to save some face haha!)

Love the jagdtiger! This looks awesome (as someone who knows nothing about armour modelling and is just about to start his first, a Tiger 1) Can I ask, what is a 'filter'? It's not a word that gets used a lot in aircraft modelling!

Cheers all. Got decals on. Unfortunately they are not really suitable for a metal finish as they are just too shiny and the colours are way too bright. The big markings didn't settle down well with Solvaset (bit too strong maybe?) Not having the option of a clear coat I decided to make masks for the big markings and spray Humbrol satin lightly. For the noseart I added a hint of brown to make the yellow more orangey. It turns out there is a pot lid in the modeller's arsenal the right size to make masks for just about every USAF 'star and bar' - in 1/48 at least. For those of you who are interested... 55" star (bigger than normal underwing) = Alclad cleaner 120ml lid 40" star (normal wing size) = Micro sol/set lid Fuselage star = Anita's tacky PVA glue lid (bit of a long-shot this one...) The 'bars' were relatively easy to measure out.

Does anyone know how to edit a topic name by the way? Thanks! Edit: worked this out finally!

Sorry about the links, I'm trying to use Skydrive straight from my phone instead of pushing them through Photobucket which takes bloody ages! They do work but sometimes the preview is blank - click on it to view!

So she's nearing completion! Since the last post, all the filling has been done and primer (Mr surfacer 1000) is on. One of the biggest problems I have with metal finishes is they can look flat, so I decided to try something a bit labour intensive but which, as it turned out, looks quite good. I started by drawing in all the small panel lines with a regular HB pencil as it was all I could find, using various photos as reference. Starting out, not complete: <iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7&resid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7%21254&authkey=AKZpwWz_UHoV2og" width="319" height="179" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7&resid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7%21253&authkey=AObKYS_x70q4YQ8" width="319" height="179" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> I'll have to explain the next bit because in my haste I forgot to take any photos. Basically using this mask, with slightly acute, perpendicular and obtuse angles to fit most of the panels, I sprayed a small amonut of Alclad gloss black where the shadows would lie with the uneven metal skin. <iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7&resid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7%21262&authkey=AHTQjCA2FZiA1uE" width="319" height="179" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> The effect is subtle (in fact I hope it is visible in the photo!) but I think breaks up the silver in a more interesting way than basic panel line preshading. <iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7&resid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7%21260&authkey=AEok2QnyFKFemOQ" width="319" height="179" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7&resid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7%21257&authkey=APa3OsKgLjXfNhk" width="179" height="319" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

This is really smart! Always had a strange fascination with these since playing the computer game 'Half-Life about ten years ago!

Well thank you sir!

Yes it is funny when you see 'Airfix 1979' on the bottom. It was fun mainly because it is so tiny that the overall effect is OK from a distance! These 1/35 scale tanks can't hide anything haha!

Excellent resolution - H&S replacing the body and a new needle from Paul (I can see why most people on here use him - swift and fair in equal measure with faultless customer service!) Can't wait to try her out!

Hi Paul, Thanks for replying - did you get my email with photos thru? I took a short video of the needle in a seperate email but the file must be too large as it bounced back to me. Will try a lower res one today! Do you need the original brush back ASAP or will H&S send out a new one based on the photos? Cheers Chris

It was on the strength of your review that I bought it actually! I wanted to avoid an Iwata - everybody has one and I really like the toolless nozzle change on the H&S/Hansa so I thought something different was in order. I did want a black one really but Paul didn't stock them. Still looks nice in silver, tho unfortunately it has some damage to the chrome on the front of the body which somehow must have got past the QC. Paul was very surprised (with good reason) but have sent him some photos and hopefully a new body will be on its way to me as well! Thanks for the tips - I think spares are in order - seals etc. and I think I'll get a 0.2 needle/nozzle too sooner rather than later.

Hi All, Just purchased a Hansa 381 from littlecars and haven't used it yet as when I took it apart the needle seems to have a slight bend in it - such that if you roll it on a flat surface it can be seen moving up and down. When assembled it doesn't pull straight through the nozzle but off to one side. Is this normal/acceptable? I have let Paul at littlecars know but he didn't have a definitive answer as yet so I though I'd see if people here can help! It's my first proper brush that's not a nasty chinese copy so I really want to get using it ASAP! Cheers Chris

Having just built one of these, I can safely say: you win! You must have used alternative tracks to get them looking like that?

That is amazing! It's all brilliant but my favourite part is the oil soaked into the mud-encrusted lower hull. Gives a fantastic impression of heavy, dirty machinery!

Superlative! Like some others here I'm not a model Spit fan but that is really special. Is it Gunze paints?

Cheers guys! I think I need a better camera - seems anything close-up with my old canon just gets blurry and washed-out. I've just noticed how obvious the airfix writing is on the underneath - probably should have sanded that off but at least it won't be seen when it's in place...

Hi all, My second attempt at anything not medium-scale aircraft so be gentle! I wasgiven this kit to complete for the up-and-coming D-Day diorama at the Hornby museum - my club is organising and preparing the hundreds of tanks, guns, aircraft, ships and figures which will feature. I have done a 1/76 Sherman for the same display. It is not muddied up yet as I don't know what shades will be used in the diorama so it would be silly to have it not matching - nonetheless I hope my feeble attempts at weathering pass muster here on the armour forum. I actually really enjoyed it - was lovely to leave the filler alone and just experiment with preshading/washes and chipping, and all done in a couple of days! Cheers, Chris

OK so I have looked at both the Evolution Silverline and the Hansa Topline. Since there are people on here with both, which would you go for? Seems the pros for the Evo are: PTFE seals, slightly more curvy looks and a regular press-trigger. For the Hansa - Chrome finish and the controlled double action trigger (has anyone used this and can comment on how it feels?)

Had this exact problem first time I used it - my Hase P-47 canopy was dipped and then left undercover (inside) overnight. It dried to a cloudy, pooled finish with significant chalky deposits. What will strip this off best without damaging the canopy?

Yes I've been using enamel for ever! I occasionally use Tamiya acrylics but as Nigel says, the enamels are tougher, brush paint better and actually I find easier to clean up (white spirit being almost as cheap as water - not that you can really clean acrylics with just water...). All my Humbrol tins bar a couple are very old or the recent slightly stodgy ones, not the newest "Made in Blighty" ones and I still think they're good - so these must be excellent!

Nice! I really like the cockpit. Is that mostly pre or post-shading on the individual cockpit panels? That's a hell of a crazy scheme as well, there must be pretty much every RLM colour in the book on that one

Cheers Maurice! The resin is an interesting one! I must admit I was expecting fewer hassles but this set was on offer so maybe that's why. I'm a bit nervous about the filler I used - Perfect Plastic Putty - as it's water soluble (even after hardening it seems) so getting a really good surface prep with wet micromesh could be tricky. Fingers crossed... I always enjoy cockpits and small bits like engines etc. but I am rather scared about the final finish as that's what is really noticeable! As it's winter now, progress should be faster