Scargsy

Semi-skimmed silver top, chilled.

So being northern I didn't fancy wasting the current paint so gave it a bit of a light rub down on the worst lumps and bumps with some Tamiya 'fine lapping paper' then thought I'd try another coat or two, I went for some Mr Color GX-1 white, initially quite heavily thinned (3 parts self-levelling thinner, 2 parts paint) then a more usual 1:1 mix. I think it's workable - still a bit textured but once the decals are on hopefully a good coat of clear will help level it all out.

So I put down the Zero white coat, initially mixing a little self-levelling thinners (though this did make it a little thin). I have to say it went down amazingly nicely and smoothly... It's a lovely colour however I have to say maybe a little too creamy to my eyes (considering it might look odd against the kit decals), the kit suggests Tamiya TS-26 (or X-2) which is more of a pure white. I tried to get a photo to show above, obviously photos aren't great at colour reproduction, so I put some milk in as a reference. Paints are from L to R: Zero 6R4 white, Mr Color GX-1 Cool White and Tamiya LP-2. The GX-1 looks like a pure titanium dioxide white (very bright with a hint of blue), the Tamiya slightly warmer but pure white and the zero warmer still. Before my eyes started bleeding micro-analysing overly comparing white tones I decided I'd give it another coat but mixing some of the GX. So 1:1:1 mix of the Zero white, Mr Color self-levelling thinners and the GX1... I think it's a bit better but it becomes difficult to tell with all these whites! I masked up and added some sandy yellow for the front splitter and the Zero colour blue - I had worried looking in the jar that it might be a bit on the light side but it seems better on the car. Somewhat annoyingly that didn't go too well - my masking (with the curve tape) has slipped on the front splitter, some of the white has chipped off, the blue has gone down a bit textured and I've had a bit of blue bleed through. Anyhow, enough for today, I'll see how it settles, sand back and touch-up as needed once it's all fully dried.

Minor update. I sealed up the holes in the bottom with some plasticard sheet, slightly better than the random battery cover and useless slide switch. Not the greatest fit, I've added a little filler too but it's better than what the kit came with. Body shell halves I've primed with Zero Light Grey primer and given a coat of their Gloss White... I was upset with how 'speckly' and textured it appears (and it's not even got full coverage, so I'll need another coat) however after leaving it overnight it has settled/levelled down a bit, compared to the picture above which was maybe half an hour after spraying. I'll give it another coat but might try thinning it with some self leveling thinners (it's pre-thinned, so I'm worried about how far I can push it)

Added, though I'm not sure if it makes much difference now as we're in the running for the poll, which should open soon. Maybe it does for GB contenders that don't make it through first year?

So far I have to say the fit and moulding quality is great - maybe a couple of very tiny bits of sink marks on the rear wheel arch tops (hardly noticable) and a few minor mould lines seams. I guess the joys of being a modern kit

I have to say my own Metro never looked as good or went this fast! So I made a start by removing all the body coloured parts from the sprue trees and attaching what I can together to start before priming. I have however made a few mistakes so far - there are a couple of sink marks in the underside of the rear spoiler I should have fixed before attaching and it looks like fitting the light pod (or the empty 'clips' is going to be somewhat harder now I've attached the front bumper. Zero primer seems to have gone down nicely; fingers crossed for the paint.

Unfortunately I glued the back / edges on with a little bit of Tamiya Extra Thin after originally just using some PVA - it would probably make a real mess trying to get it off. I think it's maybe the clear coat (Mr Topcoat aerosol can) which has made its way inside - it is acrylic based, I just can't easily remove it. I'm mainly more interested in what caused it, so I can avoid it in future!

Yeah I guess a Reaper would qualify, mainly designed for high-altitude surveillance - even though it does have 'teeth'.

So I'll be building this little beauty... It's going to be pretty much OOB, with just some aftermarket paint masks and maybe a resin pilot, if I have one that will fit. I'll probably model it in flight / undercarriage up. Instructions seem clear enough, there are 4 decal schemes - I'm not sure which I'll go for but really don't fancy doing the invasion stripes. All parts are bagged up in a giant bag containing smaller bags (the coloured plastic being 2 sprues to a bag). Looks like there's individual prop blades which I'm not looking forward to! I have no idea why there are stickers with 'made in South Korea, imported by Italeri' everywhere? Some new EU regulation?

So my second GB entry will be this mini-beast... 3.0 litre, V6, mid-mounted with 4WD in a Metro shell, group B rally madness at it's finest. The kit itself looks pretty comprehensive which is a good thing if you like 6R4s as unlike Spitfires there's no exactly much in the way of choices out there (maybe a resin kit or two). The instructions are in a nice glossy booklet with colour in parts. Decals seem good - I've got some aftermarket window masks from Hiroboy (plus their Zero-paint set, I hope it's a good match the white seems somewhat yellowed but that maybe just the thinners). All the sprues are individually wrapped. There's a small PE fret, some rubber parts, seat belt material, chrome parts and a metallic MG decal/sticker. It comes with two sets of wheels (I guess the second set are for the RAC decal version). The parts just keep coming... Finally the tiny body shell (Plymouth GTX for comparison), which is individually wrapped and packed in a small box to help protect it... Now I somehow have to fit all those parts into it!

So here is one of my entries for the GB: I do like an oddity and an ugly duckling so I think this fits the bill, also I'm a bit of a Roland fanboy so it's cool to see some of their advertising back when they weren't the global company they are today. So the Dome Zero was a Japanese attempt at a super car, in true 1970s wedge styling. The 'RL' stands for 'Racing Le Mans' for this racing version. Unfortunately they didn't fare too well, with both getting the approvals for the road version into production or the Le Mans racing versions, This kit is a model of the 1979 entry, with decals for no. 6 and no. 7 cars, Neither had a great run and both failed to finish the race (no. 6 one running out of fuel at lap 40 and no. 7 with engine issues at lap 25) - but god loves a tryer as they say, and so do I. Finding reference material is a little on the hard side, but the company is still in existence working in racing, I'm not sure if the 1979 cars still exist, they were possibly recycled for the future Le Mans attempts with the wedge shaped Zero reappearing in 1980 and 81. I did find a few YouTube videos: https://youtu.be/VryFfXFG15Q https://youtu.be/Vo9w7Ci8vxA https://youtu.be/ZRaKzEqu3QI In terms of design it has an open cockpit at the front to aid driver visibility but testing showed large amounts of wind buffeting in the cockpit, so the roof was modified leaving a large gap to the back for ventilation. The main image shows the roof in the 'open' configuration (no it's not a growth out of the guy bending over) which I guess is how the driver would need to clamber in and out. Anyhow onto the kit... It's not an overly complex affair, Scalemates shows it dates back as far as the actual car to 1979, though it appears to have had a few tweaks along the way, being originally motorised, then a static model and at some point having some extra engine detail added (maybe then). This particular kit is from the latest reprint (2002). The instructions are a fairly typical old style folded paper sheet in black and white. The parts aren't too numerous given the age of the kit, nicely with most individually bagged... The chromed parts actually look quite nice too. There is quite a detailed engine (Cosworth DFV) though I think most of it won't be visible when finished, although it looks like the rear section will be hinged. The decals - I had worried they had yellowed with age but it seems it was just the greaseproof sheet that yellowed. There seems to be a bit of a crease in one corner and some scratches on the big spoiler decal but hopefully they are useable. I noticed there is some gunk in the shell (dried mould release?)... guess I should give it a wash before painting. The white plastic parts have yellowed slightly with age too. I decided to make a start, the chassis still bears the marks of being 'electrified' with a battery compartment and what appears to be some kind of slide switch for locking the front wheels (parts in top right of bellow image)? Annoyingly they left the battery cover which doesn't sit flush so I'll attempt to build something from plasticard to fill the two holes in the chassis more flushly. I glued the front suspension arms piece in place - hopefully I can gently bend them enough to fit the wheel hubs in later without snapping them. For the body I glued in rear spoiler as it might need a little filling before paint (actually from one of those video clips it shows that the spoiler isn't attached to the extended rear sides in real life). I also fitted in the small parts behind the light fittings and two side intake ducts - these will need a bit of filler towards the front edges. I've also 'protected' the rather fragile pointy bits towards the ends of the front body shell part from me damaging them with some bits of lolly stick and masking tape. The main part of the engine block I've built up too prior to paint (see above) and done some dry fitting. It seems that the whole rear wheels / section is attached to the front via 3 mounting points on the engine block so maybe a bit fragile (the rear shell has a hinge though attaching it to the front). I think I'll attach the inner tub to the chassis before painting (I generally like gluing stuff together before paint), though it seems I might need to add some additional sides to stop the inside of the side vents, etc. being visible from outside. It's hard to know what would be visible without any reference photos - I imagine it would be pretty bare bones for weight saving but feel they would have had some kind of sides to seal the cabin? The instructions aren't overly clear on colours - e.g. the interior of the shell isn't mentioned and the instructions seem to call out that the interior should be white and silver. Given the age of the car, clues in the paint guide and general modelling appearance I'd guess the construction would be an aluminium monocoque tub with space frame front/rear and sheet aluminium panels for the chassis/underside with a fibre-glass / GRP body. I'm not sure I agree on the instructions calling out white on interior (think this maybe more to reduce the amount of painting needed) I feel if the aluminium panels were painted they would be black to reduce any possible glare/distraction for the driver, also in one of the videos linked above it briefly shows it as black with some unpainted aluminium parts (though that is the later car).

Hasegawa 1/72 F-15J 'Komatsu Special Markings 2018' OOB (comes with some resin/3D printed exhaust nozzles). Build log here

A quick gloss coat and it's onto the decals, I decided to start with these rather annoying ones... Unfortunately the decals are a bit on the thick side and if I'd had to do the drop tanks again, I'd have probably slice the ends of these off and added them on top. After a bit of decal solvent and even a bit of neat self-leveling thinners it's not too bad. The rest of the decals weren't too difficult to get on (though I did rip a bit of one of the roundel's on the nose) and being a modern jet, rather too many stencils than I'd like! I gave it a light coat of gloss clear to seal the decals, then a clay 'dirt wash' / panel lining with some Flory stuff (wipes off once dry and can be re-wetted/wiped away). Then a light coat of semi-gloss clear to help seal the 'dirt' and finally a very heavy coat of flat to try and level out the decal steps (all Mr Topcoat rattle-can clears). I did manage to knock off one of the vertical stabiliser and another horizontal stabiliser along the way! After removing the masking I seem to have had some weird reaction on the canopy (bizarrely this seems to be on the inside, I've no idea why and what caused it or how to fix it, I did try running some water inside it and swilling around, to see if it would dissolve but to no avail).

Revell X-15 (1/64) Build thread here

So another coat of primer/paint mix, then a light gloss coat and it was time to add the decals, scanned here (incase it all went to pieces)... The decals are pretty thick, annoyingly time seems to have welded them to the paper. Once they do loosen off they don't seem to want to slide much on the model so placement was a bit fraught, also they now seem more out of register than they were on the backing paper! Also I get the feeling some of the text is a bit out of scale and they are lacking in detail and sharpness compared to modern offerings. Still I got most of them on (I ignored the black 'no step' on a black body, etc.) and then gave it a bit of a sealing with another coat of clear - it's a bit rough and bobbly but I'm going to call time on this build, not sure I'll be able to improve on it.

Hobbyboss 1/72 F-5E Tiger II Build thread here

So after a coat of gloss clear I added the decals, unfortunately I'd forgotten how thin these decals are (due to taking a break on the build) and so I unfortunately lost one of the 'Marines' decals for the sides - it crumpling up in the water to a mess I couldn't unfurl. Another clear gloss coat then to help seal the decals before I gave it a light wash with the Flory stuff (dark dirt, grime and a bit of grey) - I really like that this stuff is washable once dry, no fear of messing up! Once the dirt wash had dried I rubbed pretty much most of it back off (leaving mainly a bit of panel lining effect) then gave the kit light overshot of semi-gloss clear followed by flat clear to seal in the wash. That's it finished then - I'm actually quite pleased with how it came out (other than the missing decal)...

Thanks it was part E7 which I wasn't sure where it fitted (at the deck level or in the 'floor' of the recess) as the instructions aren't very clear. In the end I've omitted it, there are a couple of tiny little tabs - one on either side of the main deck lid (E9) which do lock into the canopy clear part so hopefully it should be secure enough!

So after starting sanding back at 2000 grit it was all going well... until I inevitability burnt through the paint (on the arches). I attempted a little brush touch up and sand back but in the end elected to give it a second coat of gloss black (this time Mr Color), again getting bits of dust and stuff in it... Another bit of light sanding and I decided to put the decals on which didn't go too badly (though it was a pain trying to line up the stripes on the hood and front wings. There are some tiny decals for the door and boot (trunk) locks which is a nice touch, the non-reflective decals for the side indicators though are a bit nasty, there are similar ones for the rear lights - I might just paint them and try and use some clear to make lenses. I've then since added a couple of coats of gloss clear - I'm waiting for it to harden, then I'll try and cut it back with some car polish, though I think I've got some water marks stuck under the clear (oh I do hate doing shiny road car paint)! Fingers crossed once it's hardened I can get a nice smooth glossy coat from the clear.

I have rather a lot of race car kits in the pile so think I'll throw a couple together for the GB - probably a Metro 6R4 and Dome Zero RL because I like an ugly duckling or two. The Dome Zero decals seem to have yellowed severely over the years so I best go find a sunny window-sill!

I'll be following this as I have the very same kit in my stash so maybe joining with it (either that or a Tamiya 1/48 one, but I generally prefer building 1/72). I need to make some space on the workbench first though with 4 builds ongoing, so hopefully I can get some hints and tips from your build!

I noticed some nasty sink marks in the side, so these got filled and sanded both sides. Pressing on I managed to button up the doors quite easily with just some minor sanding and fettling, though one of the front ones has indented a little further than I'd have liked. I also decided to attach all the wings / stabilisers before paint. It'll make painting, masking and decalling a little harder but I find it preferable to trying to attach them later and the glue ruining my paint, also I wasn't sure just how well the vertical tail planes would meet and if they would need filling (they actually fit very nicely). The drop tank pylons were also fitted for a similar reason, given the tanks have some large decals I wondered about attaching the tanks to the plyons first but hopefully this is going to be the easier way. So onto priming using my current 'dark' mix of Mr Surfacer 1500 Black and Mr Surfacer 1000 Grey in a 3:1 mix, this then thinned 1:1 with self leveling thinners (so 3 black : 1 grey : 4 thinners) I generally dislike using pure black as it can look a bit harsh, the grey should give better filling and the black is quite hard to get hold of (usually out of stock in the UK when I need it - I ended up ordering from an online store in Poland). I always think kits look great in black primer. Firstly I sprayed the darker colour on the upper surfaces that will be masked, I shouldn't have left the soft edges though fading out (as this caused issues later). I then added the masking for the radome and wing 'blobs' (not sure you could call it a camo really). Here it is next to the F5. The second colour was then sprayed all over (it's the same colour on the underside too)... At this point I decided that the colour variation looked a bit too harsh, also the light feathering of the first coat didn't help, as it left darker regions just near the transitions! (There's also some nasty 'steps' where I put quite a bit of paint near the masking tape). To help a bit with the colour changes I put some of the darker colour back in the airbrush and decided to try free-hand around the blobs (filling in the first colour areas near the transition so hopefully I get a bit of bleed to soften the colour change)... I think that looks a whole heap better, though the marking maybe somewhat off where they should be now - Though you can clearly see that paint step towards the leading edge of the left wing in the photo above. The blending might not be accurate for the F15J but the colours look better now. The next task was to maskup and paint the exhausts and metallic sections, I'd added some rough masking tape to try and keep as much grey as possible off the primer. Unfortunately I'd kind of gone a bit overboard with the rough masking and so I'd been left with a few black spots (also the rear stabiliser fell off when removing the masking for the exhaust, but that kind of made my life a little easier for the fixup... The metal areas I'd given a quick coat of Mr Color gloss black, then AK Xtreme metal dark aluminium. The exhaust nossles will need painting a different colour but I'll attempt that with a brush and hopefully not too shaky hand. Here's where it's at now, it needs a bit of a gloss coat, then decals next...

So progress is being made, I'd waited until the F-15 build was coming up to speed to do a bit of a paint session. I'd decided to go with the colour codes from the mask set, some of the kit suggested colours seemed a bit off (far too blue on one colour) and the kit diagram has the underside with pretty much the same camo pattern as the top (the mask set only has masks for the top and I'm not really sure if an aircraft would have patterned camo underneath?) Firstly I masked off the radome and exhaust - I had considered painting the exhaust first but wasn't sure how well any oversprayed silver would take to subsequent coats, so the inverse of the masking will be needed later to add the silver. First colour was added... Then on went the paint masks for part 1. The masks seem OK, I had to add some tape over certain joins but it doesn't profess to be made specifically for this kit (just a general 1/72 F-5 mask set). The only critisim I'd have is even though it's nice they printed the numbers on each little mask section the text rubs off very easily (and leaves little black bits on the kit I needed to knock off so it doesn't get stuck in the paint). The second colour was then applied, I went quite lightly trying to place it where the next set of masks would be but as you'll see further down I should have probably been a bit more uniform with it. Also given the amount of different greys I'm currently spraying I figured it might be good to label the paint pots! Here's another shot, showing part of the mask set map/booklet... The second set of masks was then applied, here it is next to it's bigger sibling... Finally the third colour was applied (this is also the colour suggested for the underside, so that go a coat of paint too)... The masks were then removed to give the final camo... Then plenty of masking tape and clingfilm were applied and the exhaust painted with AK Xtreme Dark Aluminium... So that's pretty much where it is for now, I'll give it a light coat of clear then next step will be decals I guess.

If you want to head east a bit over the border, you can try Halifax Modellers World.