lesthegringo

Same here, with the added comment that you can easily start afresh if you need to by wiping it away without the need for aggressive thinners, plus even a cheapo set of pastels has a myriad of colours so you can use the different greys and browns to tone it correctly. The pastels are also excellent for the rusty look of exhaust pipes Les

Not seen those Tamiya Lacquer paints before - are they similar to the Gunze lacquers? Cheers Les

No problem on mine as it's in the garage with a good extractor venting outside. And there is no comparison with the acrylic sheet I'm using to make my A-10c flight sim cockpit instrument panels - wow does that stink! Cheers Les

Guys, here is a tip that I have also posted on ARC, if you have a laser cutter or something that can cut thin card you can make templates I'd been pointed to those Uschi texture template masks for weathering use, and they looked like a great idea, but I wondered if I could make some thing similar, but with different shapes of patterns to suit my needs, like for German aircraft or such like I got some clip art pictures of raindrops, and random blotches, rust, tiger stripes, that sort of thing from the internet, then using a combination of an old version of Photoshop and Inkscape, was able to come up with some .svg files I can use on my laser cutter to make some similar ones. I tried thin styrene sheet first, but although it worked, it warped due to the heat plus the plastic tended to melt rather than cut cleanly. They work, but not the best. I then tried some thin card, and once I got the cutting speed and power right, it works better than the styrene. The pattern cuts fine, but the edges can be a little less crisp which is OK most of the time for this sort of thing. The problem is when two blotches are close together it could lead to the card between burning away to nothing, plus there is not much physical strength to the card so they would be a couple of use only. Then I hit on the idea of coating the card with cheap superglue, on both sides before cutting, and I can happily say that it works a treat, nice sharp edges and a reasonably stiff template, with the added bonus that the superglue stops the paint and thinners from soaking in and weakening it. So now I can in a short time produce my own weathering templates, including actually tailoring them to a particular airplane so that the weathering is different on the various panels, access panels etc. Hope this helps Les

Just a caution - on my Italeri boxed JU-87, it had the spinner parts incorrectly called out so it would leave a weird gap or incorrectly sized part. Unfortunately I didn't keep the instructions otherwise I would have scanned them with the errors noted, but maybe you can review the parts you have in advance to prevent issues Cheers Les

Looks good to my untrained eye. I would be interested in seeing a test build review as I have seen fit issues quoted on most reviews of Harriers, and the awkward shape of the subject makes tackling them tricky What we need now is for HGW to come up with some MDC decals like they use for the rivet sets, the ones that leave no carrier film. Cheers Les

Hi all, recently I have posted a few 'looking for / wanted' type posts in the wanted section, the last of which was for some KittyHauwk UB 16 rocket pods. On the latter one I had some to-ing and froing on it with others and so there were a few posts on it, but today the entire thread is gone, which also happened to a couple of similar threads I started. I have had no notifications either to tell me it is moved, nor to inform me it was incorrectly placed or that I had breached any rules. Am I not understanding something or missing something? Cheers Les

Great pictures, it really is a different scheme. Frankly, I think the confusion over whether it is black or dark green means I can please myself! Les

Thanks guys - now those two pictures have me back thinking it's two tone green, brown and black with a light grey underside. Les

It's the second picture and I claim ignorance due to the fact that I did a Google (other misleading search engines are available) search for 'Iranian Su-17'! It's a nice looking scheme, and the fact it isn't a cold war one explains why they look so pristine Cheers Les

Guys, I'm looking at pictures of an interesting Iranian Su-17 scheme and I'm trying to work out if it is two greens, brown and black, or three greens and brown. It looks to me like three greens but I know pictures can deceive. Can anyone clarify? Cheers Les

My go to filler is cheap superglue mixed with talc powder for small to medium gaps - try it, it is quick, and does not shrink Les

Hi all, this thread follows on from another regarding best silvers to use for base coat prior to weathering. The purpose of the other thread was to establish the toughest silver base so that I could use mechanical weathering methods, but one of the reasons for doing so was some issues I have with the salt weathering method. I have successfully used the salt weathering technique on a few models now, but my experience of it is that in my hands it is only any good for pretty extreme weathering. The reason for this is that it leaves the remaining top coat rough due to little bits and traces of salt getting trapped under the top coat. This means where I want significant leading edge erosion and chipping, but still want good paint on the rest of the wing, I lose a lot of the value of the method as it becomes less random. You essentially have to paint on the water, and then apply the salt specifically, so you get stripes rather than feathered chipped areas. The same goes for panel line chipping. So it is clear I need to revisit my technique as other have been able to use if for some great models. I also am keen to hear of any other ways to do this, my focus is 1/48th aircraft so I know different methods suit different scales and subjects Cheers Les

Thanks guys, will try them on a test piece. However it occurs to me that I must be doing something wrong when I am using the salt technique, so I have started a separate thread to see if I can clear that up Cheers Les

All, I want to do some weathered aircraft with bleached / faded and chipped and peeling paint. I've done it before quite successfully, so the process is not a problem, though I am happy to hear from any of you out there who have any tips, as some of the work displayed on these forums is outstanding. I know the salt weathering technique, which works but is not a favourite of mine as I find that it leaves the remaining paint rough where tiny salt patches get stuck under the paint. My preferred technique to date it to actually physically chip the paint, using a light pass with some Scotchbrite type material after first undercoating with a silver paint. My problem is that you have to be very very light at the edges, like leading edges of the wings etc, otherwise you can go straight through the silver as well. I'm now primering all those areas to help the silver stay on, but want to know which silver paint is the toughest, both in terms of sheer adverence, but also resistance to abrasion. I'm using Gunze number 8 at the moment, having tried the Gunze 'MC' series of metallics and found them to be terrible for abrasion resistance and adhesion. I used to use Humbrol 11, but found that it does not set hard like the gunze paints unless left for a very long time, but do rate the adhesion and toughness. For a long term project I would use it, but for most cases it is impractical. I do have some Alclad II chrome silver, but have heard that it is best used as a top coat, plus it is very expensive as a weathering medium So what is there out there that I could use as a tough, durable silver? Cheers Les

A carrier based Me109? Wasn't aware that they existed, for the people like me who don't know, what are the major differences? Cheers Les

Very nice - what technique did you use for the paint chipping on the wing roots? Looks finely done without overdoing it or looking deliberate Cheers Les

it does look like Bobcat got the colours the wrong way round, so thanks for these pictures! Les

I built this kit and really liked it, with a bit of care it goes together with virtually zero need for filling. I remember it was also the first time I ever used an aftermarket set of resin exhausts (can't remember whose) and it was one area where the kit was improved by the resin, but not as much as I imagined. The original parts, properly treated run it close for the money Looking good on this build so far! Les

Thanks - I think that the lack of reference material means that I can be fairly loose with my interpretation. I have to say, the Bobcat model has got to be the weirdest I have ever built, both in terms of looks and subject matter, but also in the build layout. Don't get me wrong, I am impressed with fit and detail, but the breakdown of parts has me bewildered sometimes. I can recommend it, but make sure you have the instructions because without them, there is NO way you could guess where a lot of the parts fit! Cheers Les

Guys, the Bobcat Yak 28P has callouts for light gull grey (C11) for the interior and dark grey (c308) for the undercarriage and bays, however when I check the gunze colours they quote, they seem to be wrong - for a start C308 is actually quite a light grey Can you guys advise as to which would be suitable Gunze colours? Cheers Les

My experience of the cheap airbrushes has been good - I have a load of them as I do stuff where I use multiple brushes with different colours for doing stuff like jet exhaust, so I can quickly swap between them. While not as good as an expensive one (more later) I have found that for at least 90% of my work they are fine, and with a bit of effort can be made to work very well If the paint is not coming out unless you are blocking off the paint cup, my suspicion is that the needle nozzle is either slightly loose, or has a crack in it so that the air is being pushed slightly into the paint cup rather than it creating a depression to pull the paint through the paint nozzle. I have seen this a number of times. If you have stripped it down to clean it and it is the type that has a little o-ring between the nozzle and the body, if you have cleaned the brush with harsh solvents it can swell the o-ring - when you assemble it again, you think the nozzle is tight, but as the solvent evaporates, the o-ring shrinks back and allows a leak. As for good (i.e. expensive) airbrushes, yes, they are better. Generally they can give a finer, more consistent spray pattern, are easier to clean and have a smoother action. I like the Creos 770 as a good balance of value for money. But if you want to persist with the cheapo ones, by cleaning them and making sure that they have no burrs, rough edges, has a straight needle and properly centerd nozzle, polished trigger parts, they will do a great job for the money. they can be variable in build quality though, and I have to say that though I have 12 of them bought as a job lot, selective assembly has left me with seven 'good' ones and 5 that I use only for rough work like primers due to them not being capable of very fine work. Hope this helps Les

Thanks, clearly a lot of tonal variation, and that bleaching is really evident to the point where it looks like three tones of green on the aircraft in the background Cheers

Thanks for the replies, guys - in the flesh mine seems to have less contrast. I may lighten the green a little as suggested Cheers Les

The Academy callouts for the SEA camo are tan FS30219 (gunze C310), green FS34102 (gunze C303) and green FS34079 (gunze C309). Having used the two greens, I'm questioning the gunze colours as they seem to have less difference than what I see in reference photos. It is hard to see the demarcation clearly between the two shades Can anyone confirm whether they really are that close, and if not what (preferably gunze) alternatives I should use? Cheers Les