opus999

This is similar to my approach, but it looks much better than my results! Do you use an enamel or lacquer black base? Also, do you mask the different panels or do you free-hand them? I just got my first bottle of dull aluminum in the mail yesterday -- can't wait to try it.

My dad built this kit and hung it up in my room when I was a kid. I've always loved the Sterling and you've done a wonderful job with the kit! The weathering and paint are very believable... good job!

This is a fascinating and well researched set of subjects! They're beautiful too!

Nice! I love the mud in the tires and the powder and oil stains look very believable.

As with your other F-86D, beautiful! The NMF is something to be proud of.

Oh my gosh! This is amazing work! The weathering is so believable... Great job!

This is a beautiful build (and I was never crazy about the saber dog, but this kind of changes my mind! ). I am really impressed by your super-realistic NMF. What did you use?

What a great subject and expertly executed! I love the little details, like the color on the inside of the canopy frames. The diorama is a superb addition too. Great job!

It is a fascinating design to be sure. Your natural metal finish is very realistic! What did you use? Also, I think your wash is just right! I have to say I've never made decals and have limited experience with masking for national markings, etc. so I'm very impressed that you were able to do both to good effect! Makes me want to dig into my 1/72 Hasegawa Tojo...

Finally got a couple hours free and put the decals on. The decals were AeroMaster decals "Thunderjets over Korea Pt.II" that I bought in 1999 at the same time I bought the kit. I chose "Four Queens", which is a commonly done scheme and is also the same scheme that my Italeri kit has. Prior to decals, I sprayed on a coat of Testor's metallizer sealer, which I found doesn't affect this finish in the slightest. I also took another stab at getting that scuffed/hammered/oxidized look because the plane looked too clean. This time, I tried dry-brushing testors enamel chrome paint in very short strokes, very lightly in random patterns. It is very easy to over do, and it doesn't look good if the chrome goes on too heavy. The effect was subtle, but fairly realistic. I may have to do a little more now the decals are on because the brightness of the decals colors detracts from the effect. I wish I was a better photographer: I tried and tried to capture this on camera, but this was the best I could do (which really doesn't do it justice): The decals were very transparent and easy to work with. Unfortunately, while they didn't seem very thick, they didn't conform well to the raised detail. So, I used my Mr. Mark Softer decal solvent. Generally decal solvents and Alclad don't mix, as I've discovered the solvent will strip the polished aluminum right off. Some testing showed me that this particular paint combination (Testors metallizer sealer over Alclad Polished Aluminum over Alclad RAF High Speed Silver) was unaffected by the solvent, which is good because these decals needed a lot of solvent to get these to settle in and conform. All went well until the next to last decal. The "USAF" on the bottom wing started getting some strange stains under the decal film as it dried. You can see it here in the middle of the "U" and in the middle of the "S": To me it looks as if the ink is leaching away from the letter. Could this be from the decal itself, or the solvent? I used the same decals and solvent on the rest of the aircraft without this happening, so why is this particular decal so special? This particular panel had an additional coat of Alclad Stainless steel over the Polished Aluminum (and under the metallizer sealer). I thought the perhaps the solvent mobilized the pigment (or whatever is in Alclad). This is all speculation, of course and I can't prove any of it, but I wish i knew so I could prevent it in the future! How can I fix it? Well, I think with some careful masking I could re-spray the RAF High Speed Silver and Stainless Steel, but I've found that masking over decals with tape usually doesn't go well at all. I'm going to let this one sit while I work on my CF-104; maybe the path will be a little clearer in a couple of days when I'm not so steamed about it. Next steps: Paint the canopy, wash the surface of the model with detergent and warm water to get the solvent residue off, coat again with metallizer sealer, and then weather. Weathering is also something I am uncertain about and have been doing a lot of research on, but that's a post (or a rant) for another day.

Not much to report except I only had time to paint about 1/2 of my fuel tanks with the new red this week. I'm going out of town for the weekend, so nothing's going to get done. One question I'd like to bring to the group: Does anyone have advice for weathering this model? I do OK with weathering non-NMF models, but my NMF model weathering skills have really fallen short so far, IMO. Not that I think there's a lot to be done: the CF-104 pictures I've looked at show them to be relatively clean looking, with just a little general wear, but no obvious weathering patterns. I've also looked at US air force NMF F-104s and observed them to be relatively clean. My observations of the real world are that natural metal and gloss paint don't provide the right surface for dirt and grime to stick. So, any weathering I will do will need to be subtle. Any advice? Special tricks?

Got a little time last night to paint my new red on the sides of the fuselage and the top of the horizontal stabilizer. I'm much happier with this color, and it matches the color in most of the pictures on the facebook page that @Crimea River pointed me to! When I look at the pictures on this page, it's hard to see the difference, but in real life it's obviously a lot better!

Wow! That's terrific! I wonder why google never coughed that up? I wish I had that resource when I was working on my low-viz CF-104. After looking at the photos there, I think I'm on the right track with my new red color I'm putting on it right now. The other red was just too orange. Thanks!

Got the darker aluminum panels masked and painted, as well as a different type of aluminum in the aft part of the fuselage. For these darker panels and engine cone, I used Alclad Stainless Steel, and for the section under the tail and just forward of the engine cone I used Alclad Aluminum. Masking all of those teeny tiny panels was an exercise in patience! I could only find a couple photos of the underside, so I may have missed some panels since the photos I found weren't all that great. I'm pretty pleased with the finish. The plastic underneath is a different story: the Alclad shows off every imperfection and the kit's plastic is kind of rough and scratched up in a few places. If this was going in my display case, I would have had to sand and polish the plastic. As it is, though, it will be hanging on a ceiling in my son's room, so no one will be able to get close enough to notice! I had some issues with tape pull up on the engine, so I may need to go back and fix that. Also, I had the worst time with my stainless steel: It seems like it was clogging the airbrush or something. It would only come out if I had the trigger pulled half way back or more. It was getting very frustrating. When I had to touch a panel up with RAF High Speed silver, it worked even if the trigger was just barely pulled back. But the stainless would only come out if I had it more or less full bore. Has any one had this problem before? Do I need to strain the paint or something? I haven't run across this problem with alclad before and I've used the stainless steel many times. Next, I need to paint the airbrake on the bottom and the front landing gear doors red. Then a coat of testors metalizer sealer and it will be time for decals!

Thanks! Yes, I did do the props in RLM 70. I don't know how I missed the prop tips, but that's why I like being here -- people are happy to help out!