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Everything posted by mark.au
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FAA builds, 32nd Hawker Nimrod ,Seafire now finished
mark.au replied to bigbadbadge's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Love it, particularly as it’s different and well executed to boot. A camo Lightning, very nice Chris. I’m curious about where you put your prolific output? -
There’s a business concept at play here, developed at the LSE and known as the Risky Business Principle, or RBP. RBP says that in this scenario one must consider opportunity cost as well as impact to cashflow, and then factor in key stakeholder relationships before applying the final criteria of WtF and just do it anyway.
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Ahh, that’s out of stock in all the ACT stores, I’ll order some in. Thanks.
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I didn’t know BNA sold sheets of the Tamiya-type tape, that’s a great option, thank you. The vinyl I bought is the Cricut vinyl, perhaps I’m being a bit hard on it considering I haven’t actually tried it on the model yet. Thanks for the kind words, @CJP, I’m looking forward to how I go too. So far quite impressed with the ease of use.
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Indeed. I’m even more excited about the airframes I can build for which there aren’t any decals at all. I suspect the learning curve starts when I begin to try to creat graphics and the like, outside of the norm of roundels and numbers/letters. There’s also the opportunity to cut vinyls and even sheet styrene to make structural elements for scratch building. It won’t completely replace PE or even come close to what 3D printing can do, but it will offer additional options in the same space.
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A pair of Airfix Hawks in 1/72. Finished.
mark.au replied to Fritag's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Very nice indeed. I have to admit that Fusion is beyond me but I do so like the results that you're getting. Glad you're back at it! -
Thank you Alistair, there's plenty of time to bugger it up 🙂 Thanks Anthony, much appreciated Thanks JRK, I wasn't taking attendance but now you've made yourself known I shall be keeping an eye out to make sure you don't wander off 😄 Thanks Chris, some progress on that front this evening. Thank you sir, there's some progress to report on that front. First thing this evening I completed the base paint work with the black anti-glare at the front and some clean up of one or two minor flaws in the camo. Having kept the remainder of my mixes from last night's session I was able to complete the touch ups quite easily today. Then, with the paint job completed I misted on another light clear coat and set the model aside to properly dry out and set. Here's how it looks tonight; I'm actually really pleased with this one, it's exactly how I wanted it to look at this stage in the process. I spent the rest of the evening playing with my new toy. First, I downloaded the free version of Silhouette's software called "Designer" and was ready to fork out the US$50 for the upgrade that most recommend. I thought I'd see what I could do first though. I found the software to be quite intuitive - I'm quite comfortable with image processing software and Designer is really no different. The markings I need for this model are quite straightforward; the roundels, fin flash and squadron/aircraft codes. I think the "ROYAL NAVY" and serial number, which are jammed on the tail fillet will be too small to cut a mask but I will try nonetheless. Otherwise, there's only the airframe stencils and I'll use the decals for those. After around an hour's effort I had this; It looked ok, it was the right size according to my calculations, there was nothing left to do except try and cut it. I took the Portrait out of the box, set it up and plugged it in. The Mac found it right away and after a quick check of the instructions I clicked on the "SEND" button and away it went. The first cut was a bit shallow and the vinyl wasn’t cut all the way through. I adjusted the cut depth form "1" to "2" and sent it again. Here's the result (bear in mind that this is not the ideal vinyl, it's all I could buy for something to practice on - I've order some Oramask 810 from an outfit in Germany as it's impossible to find in Australia). These masks came away from the backing paper very easily. In offering them up to the model they look to be the correct size, certainly they match the dimensions they measured in Designer. While they aren't the ideal vinyl they might work for the upper wing roundels because it's a more or less flat surface; this vinyl is a little stiffer so I don’t think it will conform to the curved and detailed surfaces elsewhere on the kit. Its tack is also a little stronger than the Oramask so I'll need to de-tack them a little before use but otherwise there's no reason I can think of not to try them. I'm really impressed with the usability of the Portrait and its software so far. The whole experiment this evening, from design to cutting was around 90min and much of that was playing around in the software to see what it could do. No doubt I'll run into the limitations of the free software at some point and will upgrade, but for simple shapes and letters such as I needed for this project the free version was perfectly adequate. Cheers.
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Well, it’s mostly painted now. I decided to mask the white with blutack but otherwise I freehanded the camo. Unlike the wings, I didn’t bother with a preshade as the TSS colours are dark enough that it wouldn’t be an effective technique to build texture; at least it wasn’t on the wings. Instead, I post shaded with darker hues of the base colours. As usual, I exaggerated the effect at this stage knowing it would ameliorate to a subtle variation under the subsequent treatments. When the scheme was complete and dry, only about 5 minutes after I finished painting (did I mention that another benefit of the artists paints is that they dry in minutes?), I removed the blutack and misted on a very light clear coat to seal the paint and prep for the markings masking to come. Next task on the model will be the black anti-glare and then I’ll spend a bit of time learning the design software and cutting techniques with the Silhouette so that I can paint the markings. Cheers.
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FAA builds, 32nd Hawker Nimrod ,Seafire now finished
mark.au replied to bigbadbadge's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
I was quite certain I’d already commented on these latest pics but it appears I was literally as well as figuratively speechless 😂😂 -
Thanks gents. I bought myself a present last night… It turned out that all my vinyl masks were the wrong size for an Avenger upper wing roundel so I pulled the trigger on tooling up to make my own. A new learning journey with my Silhouette Portrait 3 will commence soon. In the mean time I’ll change my plan a little and move on to painting the fuselage. Cheers.
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Thanks Steve. I think you’re right, and now I’ve toned them down a tad I think it works. Thanks Chris, I’m pleased with how it turned out. Now the wing uppers have had a mild treatment too, I think it’s all turned out well. Ahh, the crushes my ten-year-old self had on the Doctor’s assistants…. 😂 Last night I went at the wings with a mild weathering treatment. I accented the panels with a dark mix as it’s clear from pics that these airframes with their rivets and such attracted grime in the joints more than most. After that, I mixed a very light beige to filter both camo colours down and applied it sparingly. The RN did look after their aircraft and as these planes weren’t sitting out in the sun like their pacific counterparts there wouldn’t have been a lot of paint fading. Next up will be a light clear coat and then I’ll paint the roundels. Cheers.
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Big, fat and lazy - Eduard Bf110E
mark.au replied to jackroadkill's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Glad to see forward progress on this one. Keep plugging those gaps, eventually there will be none left to fill! -
FAA Avenger Serial Numbers - 848 Sqn May 1945 and 846 Squadron Too!
mark.au replied to mark.au's topic in Aircraft WWII
Hello all, I’m resurrecting this thread to ask another small favour…. The 848 model is still in the plans for later this year but I actually started on an 846 Avenger and am struggling to find serial number info, particularly for its final operation on 4th May. I’m after any of 846’s aircraft but J-P is of particular interest, as well as the Avenger it lost on that operation. I believe some were in the “FN” range, and some in the “J” range but haven’t gotten any further than that. Any pointers much appreciated. Cheers. -
Hi Colin. As you no doubt know, these paints are the consistency of toothpaste. I squeeze out a suitable amount, usually directly into the airbrush pot and then thin with Windex. I thin to the consistency of something between single cream and full fat milk. Too thin and there’s typically not enough pigment to cover well, too thick and it won’t spray well. I lean towards too thick as that gives good control on fine line work too. If I am mixing colours I usually mix in the pot and check progress by spraying a patch on my white model bench. The paint wipes away instantly with water. I hope that helps, it’s not complicated and well worth a try with these paints, I find them to be very easy to use and able to withstand handling and masking.
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…and while most of the Britmodeller faculty sleeps I had a go at the wing uppers. These colours were mixed and I’m quite happy with how they look. The Slate Grey is perhaps a little too green. There’s a bit of work to do to modulate/texture the finish during which I’ll take a bit of the green out. I’m interested in the collective’s viewpoint on the colours though. I’m taking the wings through to a finish before starting on the fuselage to make sure everything is nailed down first. I’ve saved these mixes as masters so I have a solid base for the paint process on the fuselage (and other FAA models down the track). Cheers.
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Airfix 1/72 Spitfire Vc -- two of 'em!
mark.au replied to opus999's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Nice. I took the liberty of playing with your pic a little and I think the tones look pretty much there… I really like the red, it looks cool. If I had a spitfire I’d be tempted to paint it up like that too! -
You may have anticipated what I'm going to do with my Tamiya Swordfish... I thought it was curious too, the rockets would seem to be ideal additional offensive firepower for the kind of operation the Avengers were engaged in. I have begun painting, initially with what looks like something from John Pertwee's Doctor Who tenure and a storyline entitled "The Green Death" (which dates me for one thing as I recall it vividly some four and a half decades later, and gave me nightmares as a child when it aired). Using green for the pre-shade was a quasi deliberate experiment in changing the hue of the finished base coat. Pre-shading with dark grey or even black as I've used before under white has been too stark and difficult to cover without making the entire coat brilliant white (which subsequently required toning down). It was also because I had green in the pot for some final touchups around the filler. Now firmly in the artist's craft paint camp I used Titanium White for the under sides and while these pics don't show anything out of the realm of expectation I was pleased with how little was required to sufficiently cover the pre-shade without the need for pure-as-the-driven-snow white on the rest of the surface. I was able to modulate the white everywhere and I think the finish as it is now looks like a worn white finish on an airframe that was in the fourth month of its tour. The pic above was taken under a mix of incandescent and LED lighting and is on the cool side of the white balance spectrum. To the eye, it's a touch less blue than shown above. I may have left a little too much pre-shade extant... Not completely convinced that it doesn't require one more misting of white to blend it a tad more. I'm thinking the treatments to come will tone the contrast down some more anyway, and that will leave it where I want it, but there's a nagging doubt... Anyway; progress, yes. Next I'm going to start the artist paint mixology for the DSG and EDSG for which I'm using some Hataka acrylics as my colour guide. Cheers.
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Yes 🙂 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Judgement_(1945)
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Airfix 1/72 Spitfire Vc -- two of 'em!
mark.au replied to opus999's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Still on page 1 and already decalling... Fast work indeed! These both look great Opus, I particularly like the paintwork on the SA Spitfire, I think the post-shading has done a the trick on producing a nicely worn/faded look. As you know, I love a good colour mystery! I think the the cannon covers are red to match the spinner. They are spot-on for tone and there's a logic too, red spinner, red elevator tips, red cannon covers. The leading edges are interesting... I'd say most likely yellow because it doesn't match what we can see of the carb intake for azure blue and it looks a tad off to be white. Logically one might plump for yellow too, as the standard ID marking just extended along the wing for artistic flair. -
That’s just too bad. It’s hard to remuster the enthusiasm after a hurdle like this, but a hurdle it is, not a barrier. Every time I read about primer disasters it reinforces my commitment to my own painting process which does not include them.
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Lest you think I've abandoned the build, here's a small update. Progress has been slow due to real world distractions but I've been doing a bit of plodding. The current status is as below, more or less ready for paint... Overall the airframe assembled well and very little filler was needed. The worst area was the starboard side of the windshield which required filler to bridge a step between the fuselage and clear part. Otherwise there wasn't much required. Painted the greenhouse separately and then attached it to the airframe. At the same time I tested the seams with the bronze green and all looks good. I'm going to display the observer's cockpit open so used the closed version as the mask. The pilot's side windows were a poor fit in the closed position so I masked with foam; the finished kit will have the pilot's windows open too. I'm going to paint the wheel wells first, give that a few minutes to dry and then dry fit the main undercarriage for the model to stand on, as it is now. The wings will be painted as separate pieces to be attached later. In studying some of the references @tonyot posted above something stood out, namely the lack of rocket launcher stubs on the wings. The kit expects them to be fitted to I filled the holes with some stretched sprue... I suspect that the mounting plates may also be absent from non-rocket wings but can't really tell from the photos. There's a few more holes to fill as these aircraft didn't carry the auxiliary fuel tanks either, so their attachment holes also need filling. Over the weekend I expect the complete the underside at least. I'm not completely sure whether I'm going to free hand or mask for the paint scheme; this is after all a field applied scheme so would be expected to be a bit rough and ready. There'a a bit more work to do on studying the photos before I decide. In the mean time the white underside is a given. Cheers.
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28 Sqn Hunter FGA9. 1/48 Hawker hacking by hendie
mark.au replied to hendie's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
It’s funny how sometimes for no apparent reason a particular model doesn’t spark the passion. We still finish it, and still take pride in doing a good job, practicing the craft. But, the finish is usually lacking that certain something, a spark or flair which shows we cared, that we leaned in and applied ourselves. Your closing paragraph suggests this was such a model for you, even including an explanation as to why, but for the life of me I can’t tell by looking at the finished Hunter. -
After a four day absence I half expected to come back to this one finished….
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Much obliged Tony, there’s some great references there. Your models look great too, good enough as references themselves. Upon returning from Melbourne I’ve spend the last few days away from the bench on a charity bike ride, 320km in the Kosciusko National Park riding up an down mountains. Needing a bit of a rest from that stupidity, I got some bench time in this evening masking the greenhouse and should have some paint progress to show tomorrow. Welcome aboard Alistair, you’re just in time for some paint splashing.
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