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fishplanebeer

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  1. I agree that this topic should probably be elsewhere but at the outset I confirmed that I originally posted in the Modelling Tips area but got very little response so hoped, as this is specific to WW2 camo application, that here would be a better place to garner tips and accumulated wisdom. My only other thought is that there is elastic masking putty out there, made by AK and Mig, which may be an alternative although at £16-ish for the Mig product it is rather pricey and may be no better than blu tak anyway. The ad's show it working really well but there again it's bound to so has anyone actually used this stuff I wonder? Regards Colin.
  2. What is the issue with the Montex canopy masks as I have some of them along with others from Peewit, Pmask and Eduard for the kits I have in my mini stash? I just buy the ones that are recommended for each kit and Montex are the only ones who currently do a mask for a Sword Spitfire IX (Seafire II/III) but I'm now worried that it will not be that satisfactory when I do my Seafire. Sadly but not surprisingly Eduard don't seem to do any masks for Sword, KP and AZ kits.
  3. Many thanks for the advice which is really helpful. I think I'll buy one of the proprietary masks and see how well, or otherwise, they work as although I'm quite OK using my airbrush after all these years I don't think my skills are quite up to speed as yet to allow me to try and spray between the blu tak worms without some degree of overspray resulting. I can't blame the airbrush as it's a newly acquired Iwata Eclipse HP-CS which is easy to handle and pretty robust compared with my old Testor's Aztec which refused to work anymore, albeit it had spent 20 odd years in the garage gathering dust. The tip about the Eduard canopy masks is also really useful as I did find that precisely locating the small canopy masking pieces was quite a trial as well, just wish I was 20 years younger with better eyesight and steadier hands! Regards Colin.
  4. I've almost completed my first model in over 25 years, the SH Kittyhawk 1a (just need to add the final pre-painted bits and pieces and open canopy) and my next project will be either a Spitfire (Eduard VIII) or Seafire (Sword IIc) so looking for some help please. I have raised this question in the Modelling Tips section previously but with limited response so hopefully this may have more joy as the main area I struggled with after all these years was the application of the camouflage scheme. This took for ever to do using thin rolled pieces of blu tak to mark out the scheme and then filling in the areas not to be sprayed using a myriad pieces of masking tape! It worked quite well but at this rate I'll be lucky to make 2-3 kits a year! I know that there are masking scheme products/masks available from a variety of manufacturers but having never used them I'm wondering if they would be a simpler and faster method for applying either the 'a' or 'b' scheme to my Spitfire/Seafire or are they also fraught with difficulties? Regards Colin.
  5. I thought by putting it on back order it meant you got first dibs with Hannants but it seems not so have now bought one off E-Bay instead and cancelled my back order. Mind you I still have the new SH Bf 109E-4 and AZ Bf 109E-3 on back order so will see how these pan out. Regards Colin.
  6. Just to say that the new Airfix Vc is available NOW on a well known auction site! More than the big H (£8.99 on back order) at £11.99 but postage is free so not a bad deal if you need to get your hands on one asap as the seller apparently still has 8 available. It always surprises me that the big H never get these new releases as quickly as other sellers seem to as I also recall when Revell released their 72nd scale Ju88A-1 it was some weeks after they were available elsewhere that they finally had it in stock. Given the volume of kits they must shift I'd have thought they would have been near the top of the pile when it came to distribution by the likes of Airfix, Revell etc.. Regards Colin.
  7. Just to add that I have just looked at he Bae Systems Heritage section on their web site and it is a fabulous source of information on all manner of aircraft, the usual culprits but also so many which I never knew existed! Regards Colin.
  8. The excellent book on the Typhoon by Richard A Franks (Valiant Wings Publishing) has some interesting photos and line drawings of the Tornado prototypes which would be well worth perusing as well. Regards Colin.
  9. I tried to order a replacement part from Eduard spares department for my 72nd scale Spitfire VIII and the total cost including postage was more than buying the kit again from the Big H so was not cost effective. On the other hand when I've needed spares for my Special Hobby or KP/AZ kits their spares departments have sent for free or for just around 5 euros to cover postage, so it's only worth requesting a spare from Eduard if you are also planning to buy another kit from them at the same time. As for Airfix they are even worse as they seem to have an aversion to sending spares out and never actually send anything. Regards Colin.
  10. Just checked on a well known on-line book seller (who now sells everything else as well) and they have the Fine Molds G-2/R6 available for just £48.51 from a Japanese seller so best hurry as they only have 10 left! (or just hope Santa is feeling generous this year). Regards Colin.
  11. Possibly preaching to the converted but just came across the following Facebook page that has lots of colourised images of Luftwaffe aircraft and may be of some use. www.facebook.com/Luftwaffeincolour/photos/ Regards Colin.
  12. My next project will be the AZ example of the Bf109F-4 in the colours of Joachim Marseille but I have a small question which hopefully someone can help with. The box art shows his machine in June 1942, Werk Number 8693, having a red rudder with the under nose cowling painted yellow. However my other source for this machine, from the Osprey Aviation series 'Bf109 Aces of North Africa', shows the same machine but without the yellow lower nose cowling, so which one is correct please? Regards Colin.
  13. Not being very good with the brush I always use the air powered variety so I am/was looking for a simpler means of masking the model. I've just spent a complete afternoon using my old method of thin lengths of blu-tac to mark the camo pattern outline and then in filling the first colour sections with a myriad pieces of masking tape and micro mask - now I remember why I used to produce so few kits each year! I think the idea of using after market vinyl masks and then transferring them onto 40mm masking tape sounds a good way forward for those kits where such masks are available, but in many cases they are not so perhaps I may now invest in some elastic masking putty instead as I've read some good reviews about it even if it is a bit pricey. Many thanks Colin. Ps. just hope after all my hours of masking that I avoid mucking the paint job up
  14. I recently raised a similar question re' my 72nd scale Special Hobby Kittyhawk 1a that I'm in the middle of painting and in the end, being an enamel user like yourself, I finally opted for the following: Azure Blue - Humbrol 157 (matt) Dark Earth - Humbrol 29 (matt) Mid Sone - Xtracolor x009 (gloss/satin) or Humbrol 94 (matt): I went for the Xtracolor simply because I already had it in my paint stash For the purists these may not be the most accurate in terms of the actual paints used during WW2 but IMHO they give/create the desired overall effect. The interior green referred to is indeed the American version and Xtracolor also do this in a matt finish (x117) but not sure what the Humbrol equivalent would be. Hope this helps. Regards Colin. Ps. the Xtracolor paint range is sold by Hannants
  15. Does anyone have suggestions on the best, by which I mean simplest, method to mask off the 2nd/final camouflage colour once the first colour has been applied please? In this scale it's a bit daunting so all methods/suggestions very much welcomed as I'm about to apply the second colour this week. In the past I've tried using thin ribbons of blu-tac to mark out the scheme and then applied masking tape to fill in the shapes but is there a better/simpler way of doing it, for example would micro-mask do the job perhaps? Regards Colin.
  16. A nice release as the individual kits are very, very hard to find and Fujimi is the only alternative other than the established Academy standard XIVc. That said I don't need three XIV's even if they only work out at around £9 each so would be nice if they could also release them again individually once the rush for this 3 kit combo has subsided. Regards Colin. ps. any chance they might do a XII as well at some point?
  17. Many thanks for clarifying all that, and as you say Hasegawa kits in particular are almost off the scale price wise in the UK at present. Tamiya are still are on the high side even if their kits are possibly the best in some cases, for example I have their F4-U1A Corsair and it is quite superb but almost twice the price of the Revell equivalent that I also have which is more than acceptable quality wise. By the way as the SH Emil has been done with help from Eduard I'm hoping it will become the bench mark for this version, so fingers crossed. Thanks again, Colin.
  18. Airfix as mentioned seem to do scaling up but not scaling down so I'm not expecting a 72nd scale Spitfire XII or Seafire II/III any time soon. The fact is that although I/we may seem to think they are potential money spinners in reality how many would they actually sell? So it's down to the likes of Sword, who do have the Seafire, Special Hobby and possibly AZ/KP to come up trumps with those kits that have a more niche appeal. Regards Colin.
  19. I would use G-S Hypo cement for canopies instead of Clearfix as it works really well and comes with a very tiny applicator for precision. It's used by others to fix/affix jewellery and watch glass so pretty robust too. Regards Colin.
  20. Wonder if liquid putty would also work instead of primer paint? Just bought a jar of the stuff on a whim but now not 100% sure how best to use it. Regards Colin.
  21. I'm now at the crucial stage of painting the upper surfaces of my SH Kittyhawk 1a so looking for some advice please in terms of the correct/best enamels to use for the mid-stone and dark earth having opted for Humbrol's 157 Azure Blue for the underside as this looks about right from colourised photos of the period, accepting these are not entirely reliable My dilemma is that I have a number of brands in my paint stash that I could use as follows: Dark Earth: Humbrol 29 : Xtracolor X002/BS450 Mid Stone: Humbrol 84 : Humbrol HB12 (very old tin) : Xtracolor X009 : Revell 16 On cursory inspection the Xtracolor looks best for Mid Stone and the Humbrol for the Dark Earth but would welcome some advice. I know there are plenty more paint options out there that are acrylic but I only use enamels as they are what I've always used in the past and feel confident with given that this is my first model to get to this stage in many years so don't want to muck it up (hopefully not famous last words). Regards Colin.
  22. Just to add again that as a recent returnee to the hobby I still don't trust acrylic paints so sticking to using enamels (Humbrol or Xracolor) as I did before. I know Vallejo do pre-mixed colours in their 'Air' range but was not impressed with them when I tried them out a few weeks back. So providing you thoroughly stir enamels, including varnishes, and dilute to roughly 70:30 paint/varnish to thinner with a psi of around 15 then things seem to work as they did 30 odd years ago. I know that it's a bit of a faff mixing/diluting, and I never have enough empty camera roll containers to mix paint and thinners anymore since the advent of digital photography, but the Eclipse handles this really well and cleaning it afterwards takes just a few minutes. Plus I always use PQ9 quick air drying thinners which is top notch IMHO and allows the paint to dry much quicker than basic white spirit. Regards Colin.
  23. I do have a soft spot for SH as the Kittyhawk I'm building, my first model in 30+ years, is quite superb and they even sent me a replacement canopy set for it for free due to me breaking some of parts. Having been away from the hobby for so long I'm still catching up with all the latest tools, paints and techniques etc. but rather confused/surprised that these days all the top notch model companies seem to be Czech as in my former modelling life they were all Japanese, Tamiya, Fujimi etc. I now understand that AZ and KP are one and the same company with the two brands aimed at different market segments possibly but not at all sure of the link between Eduard and SH, assuming there is one based upon the new SH 'Emil' being in collaboration with Eduard. Makes no difference I know as all that matters is that both produce excellent kits, for example my Eduard Spitfire VIII is truly mind boggling in terms of both detail and number of parts (probably too many given my eyesight and dexterity). What surprises and delights me is that both SH and AZ have both chosen to release their new Emils at exactly the same time which seems rather odd from a business perspective but a happy coincidence for me with Xmas looming as I now have an excuse to add them both to my waiting list courtesy of Santa! All I need now for is Eduard to announce a Spitfire XII in 72nd scale and 2020 won't seem quite so bloomin awful after all. Regards Colin.
  24. This new kit looks amazing based upon the 3-D images and I already have 3 on back-order from the big 'H' along with the new AZ version of the E-3 so can't wait to see which is the better and how they compare with the Tamiya (my favourite), ICM and Airfix versions. My current build is the SH Kittyhawk 1a which is a great kit so hopefully the Emil will be of similar quality. The level of detail is fast approaching that hitherto only seen in larger scales of old, which is excellent even if the leading edge slats may be a wee bit on the large side, so I suspect some expert out their will no doubt give it the full treatment in due course. For me with my failing eye sight and less than steady hands, a downside of the aging process, this level of detail is a real bonus as it avoids having to try and use the tiny photo etched extras from Eduard and others which I find a real nightmare. Regards Colin.
  25. As per the photos on the big 'H' the Special Hobby E-3 looks very, very interesting with positionable flaps and leading edge slats, exposed canon wing bays and detailed engine with the 2 mg's so I already have 3 of these on backorder. That said I know I'll end up with at least one of the AZ Emils, probably the E-1 as this has never been done before in this scale. Regards Colin. Ps. must be my age but 72nd scale kits are now fast approaching the level of detail only available in 48th or 24th scale in the old days!
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