opus999

OK, I'd read that "Lim" aircraft were license built, I just didn't know that the Soviets exported MiGs to Poland! Thanks for clarifying that -- half the fun of this is learning! Thanks for watching!

I'm starting an Eduard MiG-15 in Polish markings (which I suppose makes it a Lim-1, the Lim-2 being a MiG-15bis). This is the finish I was trying to do with my Dragon MiG-15, but I switched gears when I decided the surface of that model wasn't good enough for a NMF. So, why Polish? Well, I did an Airfix MiG-15 when I was in high school and it was the first Soviet-made aircraft model I built that had something other than the Soviet markings. The Airfix kit was hideous and I always intended to replace it and that moment is now! So here's the kit: I took a few minutes to paint all the cockpit and landing gear pieces with Testor's Enamel Dark Ghost Gray (FS36320). The Jian-2 cockpit was painted with Russian Interior Green, which @zigster kindly pointed out was not used until later MiGs. Pictures I found on the internet showed both colors, but on a closer examination, the ones that were blue-green interior were in museums, and I'm guessing they were "Restored". Other reliable websites confirmed that gray was the cockpit color in the MiG-15. I tried something different for the wash this time. On one of my previous build (can't remember which, now) I tried a technique I'd read about where a couple of drops of Tamiya acrylic black was added to future and painted with a broad brush over the cockpit and as it dried the pigment worked its way to the edges. It worked reasonably well. This time I thought: isn't Tamiya smoke kind of the same thing? So I thinned Tamiya smoke with Testors acrylic thinner (something like 15:1 thinner to paint) and painted all the parts with a broad brush and let it sit over night. The effect is more subtle than I usually achieve (which is good). It's a little hard to see because it's glossy and I need to dull coat the parts. The landing gears didn't turn out very well, so I may do a more traditional wash on those. Is there an advantage to this new technique? Perhaps. I coated the gray parts with Alclad Aqua Gloss before the wash, but it could be that I could skip this step. I don't know, I'll have to do a test. Also, this was easier and less messy than mixing a wash. The downside is it's only one color, so any oil or fuel staining that usually uses burnt umber as part of the mix would still need to be mixed up as a traditional wash (although, burnt umber water color might work!). This is my first Eduard kit. I hope its as good as everyone says! It would be nice to have a relatively effortless build for once. Just for fun I dug up a photo of my original Airfix kit. I was in the process of deciding whether I could refinish it and I took this picture with my new state-of-the-art 640x480 digital camera (this was a long time ago...). I actually pitched this model in the trash it was so dreadful!

It's been busy in this house lately, so it's been a while since I worked on this. I needed to help two of my kids with building their Pinewood Derby cars this week, which I suppose is another type of model... I got an hour yesterday to finish the decals, which were on the top and sides of the saucer: I used the Aqua Gloss method again to ensure there was no silvering, but I'm really not happy at all with the finish. The spots of Aqua gloss around the decals dried and when I overcoated the whole top of the saucer with another coat of aqua gloss, I could see the edges of those spots. I really hope that the sprayed semi-gloss overcoat will fix the poor finish. I know it works with flat, but I don't know about semi-gloss. Also, the registry number and name were all one decal. I decided to cut the name and each letter and number of the registry number out separately and apply them separately. I photocopied the decal first, so I could use it as a template for placement, which worked well. It was tedious doing it this way, but I think I saved myself a lot of trouble.

So I devised a test. Thinking about all the variables here, my hypothesis is that it's the milky junk on the Testors decals that is reacting with the Alclad Polished Aluminum. So I collected extra decals from kits that I've already finished using Polished Aluminum, and some decals that I plan to finish with Polished Aluminum in the future. I then prepared a piece of scrap exactly the same way as on the B-66. First, decanted Tamiya Gloss Black Lacquer spray was airbrushed on the piece: Then, Alclad Polished Aluminum was sprayed on after the Black had dried and cured (Approx. 24 hours): I deviated a little bit in the next step: I painted the lower half of the piece with Alclad Aqua Gloss (like the B-66) and the other half I left unpainted in the hopes that if there is a reaction between the decal and Alclad it would happen faster and this test might take weeks instead of months! Then I applied the decals as mentioned at the beginning. The decals marked "old B-66" were the ones that came with the kit in 1989. The decals marked "'new' B-66" were the ones I got from ebay and that turned black. I would assume they're the same vintage as the originals, but I decided to use both anyway. Also, note (as marked in the picture) that the left side is not over coated with Aqua Gloss, and the right side is over coated with a protective layer of Aqua Gloss (like the B-66) After I prepared the test piece, I realized that the Airfix F-86 decals probably don't need to be tested since I put them directly on the Polished Aluminum on my son's F-86, which I built in August of 2016 and there's been no degradation of the decals so far. Also, the Hasegawa F-104 and Cutting Edge Modelworks F-86 have been used on Polished Aluminum already, with no noticeable effects so far (knock on wood!). . The Cutting Edge Modelworks F-86 will be used again on a Norwegian F-86, the Academy/Cartograf F-86 decals will be the stencils for the Norwegian F-86, and the B-29 decals will be used on a 1/144 B-29 some time in the future. Obviously, I put those on to give me some advance warning of trouble before I start those models (which will certainly be more than a year from now). I first noticed the decals starting to turn black 6 months after I finished the B-66, so it may be 6 months before I can post any results -- but I will post results either way!

Beautiful! I'm glad to see someone doing Berg's aircraft! I have a 1/72 Eduard Spitfire Mk. IX that I plan to do with Rolf Berg's markings but I've had a terrible time finding them! I've managed to get all that I need except for the "RAB" letter codes. But enough about me... Your paint is wonderful and I appreciate the realistic weathering! Very nice stand too. Good job!

Good idea! The black rod was bugging me... especially as I was taking pictures. Just need to find one...

I forgot to mention, there are some concentric rings around the center of the bottom of the saucer that I sanded off, because I thought they were fictional. Watching the original series last night with the kids (new, 'remastered' special effects), I saw that not only were those rings there, but they were a dark gray. Looking at screenshots of the original special effects, the rings were there, but were either a slightly darker gray than the hull, or were unpainted and recessed (with shadows making a darker appearance) -- which is probably why I never really noticed them. So, I suppose it's not a total disaster that I sanded those rings off, but it will bug me now!

Took a little time to put the decals on the bottom of the saucer section. To avoid the silvering that occurred on the other parts, I put some aqua gloss on the area the decal was supposed to go and then applied the decal while the aqua gloss was still wet. Then when the aqua gloss dried I applied more on top. The one down side is that the bottom of the saucer is super glossy now, but an over coat of semi-gloss *should* help that. it may look like there is silvering on the registry numbers, but that is actually the semi-gloss nature of the decals. They were very, very dull and a couple of coats of aqua gloss later, they are now just semi gloss.

What a great build of an unusual aircraft!

This is a wonderful job! I like your subtle wear and weathering. I recently got this kit myself and I'm looking forward to doing it even more now! The Chinese decals in my kit have such a light blue, I can hardly make out the star. Yours look a lot better. I was doing some research to see what color it was supposed to be because I have some darker blue ones I can use. I wish mine looked like yours!

This is a superb example of how wear and weathering should be done. It is subtle and believable. I am very impressed. I would love to learn how you made the fuel stains around the filler cap just ahead of the windscreen. I guess I'll be reading your work in progress! Also, thanks for showing a North Korean La-9! I've never seen one before, but I knew N. Korea used them.

Very well done! I really like that you did a camouflage scheme -- I usually only see these in NMF.

Whoa! That's a neat aircraft! You did a great job on the painting too -- I really like the variation in the coloring and the weathering. I would've guessed it was an airbrush if you hadn't said otherwise.

Beautiful paint job! Very nice detailing too!

You did a fantastic job with the weathering matching the source photo! I am seriously impressed! The metal coloring on the cans is terrific too.