Nikola Topalov

Oh man, now you're telling me this, haha. I should have looked more. 😩 Thank you for the heads up! I might just buy the Hase one and do a proper A3 Tamiya. Or sell it, haha. Best, Nikola

Hi gents, After seeing this very cool winter camo scheme below, I could not resist but start a side project to my 1/32 Bf109 F4 (some colours are the same so I should be able to spray at the same time). Since the scheme is from an A4 variant, I decided to go with this simple Tamiya A3 and only replace the antenna mast to ''convert'' it into an A4. It will of course be OOB, with closed canopy since I am mostly interested in doing justice to this beautiful camo scheme. I ordered some generic decals online, and some I still have to find. I don't know if parallel builds are for me at the moment since I don't have much free time, but I just have to do this one, haha. Let's see how it goes. Best, Nikola

Nice work! Well done. Great paintwork and weathering. Colour modulation might be a bit too strong and uniform (more on the underside) for my taste but it might be the lighting in the photos. This is just my humble opinion of course. Again, great model! Best, Nikola

For those interested, this long modelling journey is documented here: 🙂 Nikola Best

Hi gents, Here is the end result: Best, Nikola

Well folks, I didn't believe that I will say this after about a year and a half but she is ready for inspection! OOB with Eduard Look IP and seatbelts. Painted with Tamiya, Gunze and Vallejo paints. Weathered with various filters, Tamiya, Ammo and Vallejo washes, Prismacolor silver pencil, AK weathering pencils and Vallejo and Revell pigments. I am very satisfied with the end result, with a couple of mistakes made which I can live with. I enjoyed the process very much and learned some valuable lessons for the future. Best, Nikola

Hi gents, After a loooong journey with the Mustang, my second 1/32 bird which I will soon begin work on is Hasegawa's Bf109F-4 flown by Hans-Joachim Marseille in Africa in 1942. I will build it mostly OOB with Eduard seatbelts. If I have time and energy I hope to do some scratch building for the cockpit as well but we'll see. The kit includes a figure of Marseille so I will give that a shot too. See how it goes. I am still not sure which markings I will do but probably the ones on the box art with the red rudder. I like the red rudder and also the white wing tips but unfortunately they can't go together. ☹️ Best, Nikola

Next step - some slight chipping, scuffs, maybe some dirt and RFI beauty shots

A few more details before the final reveal:

Great Spit Mr. Lin. Lovely colours and weathering. I like it very much. Well done! One comment if I may - IMHO the colour modulation is a bit too uniform and it draws away from a more realistic look. Also, the camo demarcation lines could be a bit lighter than they are, more blended with the original colour. Might be the photos, I don't know. Again, just my opinion on few things and it definitely does not affect great work which you have done here. Best, Nikola

She's got wheels.

Fixed

I just realized that I made a mistake on the prop - the cuffs were apparently made from rubber so there wouldn't be any bare metal visible due to scratches in that area. Will have to fix that.

Prop ready...

Oil leaks done...

Hi gents, Panel lines finished. Started some streaking, stains, leaks,... Best, Nikola

Thank you very much SD! Appreciated! The first picture really helps a lot with a number of things. Didn't see that one anywhere before. Best, Nikola

Hi gents, Weathering has begun! First was the colour modulation (which I should have done before decals but life ain't complicated enough so I like to spice it up a bit ) Lesson learned. Next are washes, post-shading, oils, pencils...

Decals - check! Not super easy to soften. Great print and in register but kind of on a thicker side. I used both Vallejo decal softener and Humbrol Decalfix to do the persuasion. There is some minor silvering to fix. We will see how it all looks after a clear coat. Best, Nikola

Some tyre works (aluminium not treated and weathered yet):

Close enough for now:

Hi gents, Gloss coat on. Exhausts painted with the first and main weathering pass complete. Apologies for s%#ty photos. Finally on to the decals 😊 Best, Nikola

Now that is true zen!

I know that this is a LATE reply but I just wanted to share my experience - Tamiya X-22 and Mr. Color Levelling Thinner at roughly 40/60 ratio sprayed at around 15psi never failed me so far. I spray at around 2-3" moving relatively fast as to just get the wet surface before moving on. I wait until the surface looks dryish before the next coat. All the coats are the same. Dries rock hard and glossy in roughly an hour. However, I do not have experience with polishing afterwards. I guess it is wise to let cure properly for a couple of days. As this thinner is nasty stuff I always use a mask with filters. Best, Nikola

Hi gents, Finally got some free time (when I am not too tired) to continue working on the pony. My first checkerboard pattern masking and painting done. I screwed up in one place but it's an easy fix. Next is painting the exhausts, then a gloss coat and then decals. Best, Nikola