VT Red Sox Fan

Bill, as usual this is spectacular work! I really do appreciate the work you did attaching/polishing the canopy—will be circling back to this on future builds—best, Erwin

Mark, following along—I have this in the stash and I know you will set a high bar to shoot for and learn from—looking brilliant! Best, Erwin

Bill, just catching up—looks amazing! Thanks for walking us through the fuel dumps—I think you sorted this out well. It’s nice to see the wings on—best, Erwin

Johnny, thanks for the Xtradecal info/warning, they do have some nice markings so it nice to be forewarned about potential issues. That said your work looks brilliant! You did a great job knocking down some of the bubbles—looking fwd to the next update—best, Erwin

G & @billn53, super helpful resin hints—the F-4 is looking Phabulous best, Erwin

Johnny, really like the custard Moth, but boy, the cammo aircraft demos incredible work so I am big fan of both—your pre-shading is amazing! Best, Erwin

Bill, just catching up—this is moving along really well—hats off to you going back to school—your correcting fluid technique is solid, I used it on my 1/72 Trumpter F-105 after following your build—it has stayed in place for the long haul. Loved the part on the boots and look forward to how this build unfolds—best, Erwin

Rob, really great work and research—this really is impressive—best, Erwin

Great build—the P-61 is one of my favorites! I think your photo etch investment is really wise and will pay off with all the glass—you also sorted the nose issue nicely—following with interest—best, Erwin

Impressive—best, Erwin

G, great work--I agree with Johnny @The Spadgent on the tape trick--that looks super useful--best, Erwin

I agree, that interior is coming along very well--best, Erwin

Catching up late with this build==amazing work and with a move--jaw dropping on so many levels--best, Erwin

Hello everyone--based on the prodding above, I went ahead and re-did the flat coat. I continued to use Mission Models flat as I did not want to jeopardize the Mission Models IJN D1 worn salt topcoat. My experience this time yielded better results spraying the flat coat 1) without thinning, keeping the distance about an arms length away & spraying at about 18 PSI (for reference I had originally thinned per Missions instructions, sprayed at about 12 -15 PSI & was about 4 to 6 inches away from the aircraft). My new technique resulted in a dusting of the flat and I was able to control the dull build up pretty well. As I practiced it occurred to me that it is probably best the dulling occurs slowly so you can create the effect you are looking for. Also, I found applying the flat coat was more like dusting than painting--not sure if others mileage is the same, but that is what I learned this go. Once my trials were over I went on to mask the clear parts/engine/metallics to start the re-dulling the B5N2's finish. I initially removed the cowling and sprayed that separately as I wanted this to be a semi-gloss vice the gloss G @giemme pointed out earlier. I did this because my understanding is that the cowlings of Sakae engine equipped airplanes tended to have cowlings glossier than the rest of the the airplane due to the mechanics of the engine. I believe the Hiryu B5N2 below backs up this theory (granted it is a Pearl Harbor raid picture). I also liked how the dull coat worked with some of the chipping around the radiator and I believe it bought attention to to the aircraft's data plate (as an aside, my research revealed 3 lines of thinking on the manufacture's data plate--1) masked so it creates an ameiro rectangle (some Pearl Harbor wreck bear this theory out, 2 Over painted--supported by Pearl Harbor wrecks as well and finally 3) The manufactures tail data plate re-applied over the unit level painted IJN D1 (both Air Fix and Hasegawa support this theory, but I could not find a photo--in the end I went with option 1. Additionally, since Nick Millman's research on Nakajima built A6M2s indicated the ameiro color maintained much of its luster on early war aircraft, I decided to shoot for a semigloss look on this factory applied finish while the IJN D1 green would have a flat, chipped and worn look given that this was applied at the unit level. Finally, I touched up some of the weathering pigments/fuel stains as I was not going for a "blended" look on these wear points. I also took advantage of sunlight and photographed the B5N2 under more natural lighting--I think I will need to follow some of Johnny's @The Spadgent (& @giemme's) advice and spend some more time on my photo set up. I really do think G had it correct on the earlier call--the further reduction of gloss has really improved the overall look of the model. I think my next learning curve with the Mission Model clears is is how to spray them in finer detail. I also want to get experiment with their semi-gloss. I think once I get the hang of Mission's clears they will work out well for me in my local conditions. I was also happy to see the canopy swaps still work. Hope you all like finish line 2 & asn always thoughts on how I can improve are always welcome even if it means creating a finish line 3 . Best, Erwin

Marco @Marco1965—thank you for the kind compliment and help during this build. Updated picture are soon to come now that I have a better understanding of Mission’s flat clear—best, Erwin