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Steve Collins

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Posts posted by Steve Collins

    At A Loss (Faulty Memory)

    in Work in Progress - Aircraft

    Posted

    Guys,

     

    My poor old brain is causing me some difficulties.  Quite some time ago, I saw a reference to a process for applying those thick Far Eastern-made decals from the likes of Tamiya, Fujimi, and Hasegawa.  I followed the link, read the original post, copied the process to my computer, and tried the process.  It worked just as advertised.  Now I want to pass that tip on to the people in our local club and I'd like to attribute the original author along with the quotation (see below).  If someone could give me his name, I'll be certain to include it when I forward the information.  Thanks very much.

     

    "The best way to get all Japanese decals ( Fujimi, Hasegawa, Tamiya etc)to work as they're supposed to is use hot water and the correct setting solutions. You'll need a bottle each of Gunze Mr Setter and Mr Softer. Micro sol and others won't work as they're formulated differently. Do not use Gunze on Microscale or Cartograf decals as it will chew right through them.

    Dip the decal in hot water, it doesn't need to be boiling but it does need to be fairly hot. The temperature of a drinkable tea will do. The glue is heat activated and is what makes up most of the thickness. If you dip it in cold water you'll spend the rest of the day waiting and cursing.

    Lay down some Mr Setter, this is in the blue bottle. It acts as an additional glue. Slide the decal onto it and into postion and leave it alone. The decal should wrinkle a little.

    Give it 10 mins or so and go over the decal with a brush with a little Mr Softer (green bottle) on it. Use sparingly as it is extremely hot. Too much and it will damage the paint, especially the weaker acrylics. The decal will now wrinkle a lot. Do not touch it as it is almost liquified at this point.

    Once it is dry it will have smoothed out and will lay down beautifully over just about any raised or recessed detail you care to think of. Used properly it is probably the best conforming decal process in the industry. Used incorrectly and you'll be just another guy complaining about crap Japanese decals."

     

    Steve

    1/72 EB-57B Vermont ANG

    in Work in Progress - Aircraft

    Posted

    Nice work there, Andrew.  I used to see those guys when they'd come down to Homestead from Mountain Home in the late '70s.  That was before they closed the active duty squadron and sent the planes to you guys in Vermont.  I've got a couple of -57s (B-57B and B-57G, both in Vietnam) coming to a slow (very slow) boil.  Spending too much time on the rescribing.  Yes, I'm about half a bubble off true.  I _think_ I've got enough weight in the nose on both.  Hope mine turn out as well as yours. 

     

    Steve

    A-10A (Academy 1/72) - Operation Iraqi Freedom

    in Work in Progress - Aircraft

    Posted · Edited by Steve Collins

    On 3/31/2020 at 1:10 PM, alt-92 said:

    Bentwaters bird probably, but that's on the other side of the Thames estuary.
    On the mainland, we had them at Ramstein AB - they used to do BRRRRRT at Nordhorn range just past Hengelo.

    Lovely area that :) Spend some time there in the late 70's on holidays, fond memories.

    As far as I know, A-10s were never stationed at Ramstein.  There was a detachment at a base in northern Germany (Jever?) for many years.  GB had A-10s at (at various times) Alconbury, Bentwaters, and Woodbridge.  In the early 90s, Spangdahlem had one squadron of A-10s for several years.  Ramstein during that period had F-4Es, transitioning to F-16C Block 25s then Block 30s.  Sorry for the hijack.

    Steve

     

    by the way, if you or anyone else should try this kit again, the cockpit and associated parts from the Monogram kit fit almost perfectly and improve the look immensely.  Nice job you're doing.

    • Like 1

    Airfix Mig-17F Fresco

    in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft

    Posted

    Very nice MiG there, Mike.  Gonna bring it to San Marcos in August?  I look forward to seeing it there.  Right in the middle of building one now.  Agree on the issues getting sufficient weight forward enough.  I have weights inside the intake splitter and behind the cockpit.  The fit of the clear part to go on the bottom of the fuselage was problematic for me.  The fuselage plastic was too thick for the clear parts (which I don't think need to be clear, by the way) to sit flush with the fuselage.  I had to thin the inside of the fuselage to get it close.  In addition to the issues with the wing mentioned elsewhere, I found that the bottom of the wing is not deep enough to fit flush at the wing root on both sides.  I thought perhaps it was my fault as I had clamped the wings while they were drying, so I bought another kit and the set from that kit were the same without clamping.  So that will be an interesting FSR (fill, sand, repeat) session.  But, in the end, it looks like a MiG-17, so I'll make it work.  Cheers.

     

    Steve

    B-57B Night Intruder

    in Work in Progress - Aircraft

    Posted

    On 5/31/2019 at 5:20 PM, opus999 said:

    Well. I've spend the day--off and on--trying different "fail safe" schemes to restore panel lines and they've all been a bust.

     

    One person at another forum swore up and down that putting "Mr. Surfacer" between two pieces of tamiya masking tape would make perfect raised panel lines every time. I'm not sure what he meant by "Mr. Surfacer" -- was it the spray? the bottled stuff? 500? 1200? 1500? So, I guessed it was the 500 in the jar and gave it a try. I let it sit for a couple of hours and when I carefully pulled the tape off, it pulled off chunks of my new panel line. OK, scratch that one.

     

    I then tried the method I posted, but I didn't have any automotive primer, but thought that perhaps Mr. Surfacer would work as I had a spray can of M.S. 500. So I followed the instructions in the thread to a "tee" and when it came time to carefully pull up the tape -- It pulled up chunks of my new panel line. OK scratch that one.

     

    I decided to try an idea of mine to put the Gel CA between two pieces of Tamiya tape. when it cured (maybe a half hour), I took a coarse sanding stick (180 grit) and sanded it down so that the top of the "panel line" was flush with the top of the tape.  The idea being that maybe there wouldn't be a connection between the "panel line" and the glue on the tape and it wouldn't get pulled off. That actually worked, but the panel line was enormous (I'd doubled up the tape and had them too far apart), so I did a second test with only one thickness of tape and a realistic spacing. I sanded that the same as the first try, and when it came time to pull the tape up carefully.... wait for it.... it pulled up chunks of my new panel line. OK scratch that one.

     

    I switched gears and decided to try a method that many folks on a couple other forums swore by as their go-to repair method, which is to put a piece of Dymo tape down, lay a #11 x-acto blade on it at a 45 degree angle and just cut along the tape.  Supposedly it makes a ridge that looks like a raised panel line, and the resulting cut gets filled in with paint, etc.  I tried it on a paint mule and after a couple tries, got it to look pretty good. At this point I got pretty excited and *almost* tried it on the B-57, but wisely decided to try it on an old, beat up F-86 lying around. I could not get it to work for anything! I just ended up gouging the crap out of the model.  OK scratch that one.

     

    I sat there stewing about it and realized, that my tests were on my paint mule, which is, painted (imagine that), and on closer inspection I saw that where my new panel lines pulled up, they had actually pulled up a layer of paint. So, I wonder if any of these methods will actually work on bare plastic?  I don't have any bare plastic around (that I care to sacrifice, anyway). So I picked a panel line on the bottom of the B-57, taped it off, and put Mr. Surfacer 500 from the jar on it.  I plan to sand it before I pull the tape off in hopes of preventing pull up. We'll see what happens.  I don't know what "plan b" looks like at this point.

     

    I'd hoped to be at the painting stage tomorrow, but now--who knows?

     

    Color me frustrated.

    Opus, try running the tip of a new blade along the inner edge of the tape prior to pulling it up to separate it from the Mr.S or CA or whatever you try.  Gently, of course, don't wanna score the plastic, just separate the tape from the filler.

     

    Steve

    • Thanks 1

    Revell 1/72 Boeing B17G Flying Fortress

    in Work in Progress - Aircraft

    Posted

    A couple of things that may help with the clear parts, if you want to use 'superglue' (cyanoacrylate - CA) adhesives.  Dip the clear parts in Future/Pledge Floor Care/whatever clear acrylic floor polish you have available in your area and let it dry overnight.  The clear acrylic provides a barrier between the fumes from the CA and the plastic.  You should remove the Future from the edges you're gluing, but just from the edges.  Second thing is to find one of the 'non-fuming' types of CA that are available on the market.  They're usually labeled as 'For Clear Parts.'  Hope this helps.

     

    Steve

    • Thanks 1

    Thinning problems with Mr hobby self levelling thinner.

    in Paint

    Posted

    I could never answer anyone when asked what my thinner ratios are, though I'd say it usually comes out to about 2:1 thinner:paint.  The best way I've found to describe it is to mix the paint in a clear jar.  After thoroughly mixing the paint, hold the jar up to a light and tilt it so you can see in through the top toward the light.  As you tilt the jar so that the level of the paint goes across the bottom of the jar, if properly mixed, there should just be a bright separation line between the liquid and the paint that remains on the jar above the liquid paint (same as if you tilt a glass of milk and do the same thing).  If the paint above the line is very translucent, you've gotten it too thin, if the line doesn't appear right away, it's not thin enough.  Yes, very inexact, I know, but it works well for me for both acrylics and enamels, usually in the 12-15 psi range.  Hope this can help you get a good mix for painting.

     

    Steve

    • Like 2

    Revell 1/72 B-17G Flying Fortress

    in Work in Progress - Aircraft

    Posted

    Yvan and Chris, you may be talking about two different iterations of the Revell B-17 (depending on how long ago you were a teenager, Chris).  This particular one came out in about 2011 and is an entirely new mold.  The previous version was done in the '60s originally and was a B-17F (usually released as Memphis Belle).  That may be where the wheels-up/wheels-down difference comes in, among a host of other things, most especially quality and level of detail.  By the way, Yvan, the build is looking good.  I'm looking forward to seeing it progress as I have a couple of these to do myself.

     

    Steve

    • Like 1

    MiG-15 (Lim-1), Eduard 1/72

    in Work in Progress - Aircraft

    Posted · Edited by Steve Collins

    Maybe it's just an artifact of the photo, but is there something (sprue tag, mismold?) attached to the fuselage piece forward where the angles are?  I think it should just be a slightly obtuse angle, just greater than 90 degrees, but seems to have a piece that goes, well, down from there that is impacting on the nose wheel bay piece. 

     

    Steve

     

    MiG-15 (Lim-1), Eduard 1/72

    in Work in Progress - Aircraft

    Posted

    It works for me.  Been doing it for years.  Don't like working with oils, too messy, slow to dry, have to be very careful what you put them over, how you clean them off if you don't like it, on and on, whimper, moan.  Watercolors are just easier for me.  Hope it works for you.  MiG is looking good so far.

     

    Steve

    MiG-15 (Lim-1), Eduard 1/72

    in Work in Progress - Aircraft

    Posted · Edited by Steve Collins
    Add information

    Opus,

     

    I use watercolor paints to make my washes.  I usually use the Grumbacher kind in the small tubes.  I see you're from Washington, so you should have a Michael's or Hobby Lobby relatively nearby.  I use lamp black and china white to make my grey washes, with siennas (raw and burnt) and ochres (same) for various shades of browns.  I use distilled water in a plastic contact lens case (resealable, saves the wash for later use), put in a small amount of the paints I need, stir with a toothpick till the paint is well dispersed, then add a drop of dishwashing soap (washing up soap) to break the surface tension during application.  Put it over a gloss or semigloss surface, wait 15 minutes for it to dry.  You can then go back with a damp (not wet) q-tip (cotton bud) and wipe off any excess.  System has the advantages of being easy to store, easy cleanup, and easy removal and redoing if you don't like the look.  Of course, it can be overcoated with anything that is not completely water.  I use Future.  Sorry, not trying to hijack, just passing along something that works for me.

     

    Steve

    • Thanks 3

    USAF grey in Vietnam

    in Aircraft Cold War

    Posted

    On 4/20/2018 at 10:36 PM, e8n2 said:

    Shouldn't it be 36622, a flat color like the rest of the aircraft?  My 1978 basic T.O. 1-1-4 shows all Vietnam schemes with 36622 for the undersides.  It also shows that O-2s used in FAC opertations are to be overall 36473, and CONUS operated aircraft would be in 16473, the same as ADC gray.  Georgio, PM me if you would like a copy of the 21 March 78, chg 21 version.  All pdf and of course now it doesn't exist anymore.

    Later,

    Dave

    The SEA scheme definitely used 36622 as the underside color.  There may have been shiny spots, but gloss colors were not used.

     

    Steve

    F-4e conversion (hasegawa) 1/72

    in Aircraft Cold War

    Posted

    Sorry I'm a bit late getting to the game, gents, but Jonathan is correct. I was in the 4TFW in 1973. We were in the process of changing out our hard wing jets for slatted jets. Unfortunately, I wasn't there for very long. It is possible that some of the aircraft may have gone TDY to Thailand at some point but I was on F-4Ds by that time so I can't say for sure. It is pretty safe to say that, for almost all of the air war in Vietnam, the F-4Es were hard wing jets. So far as I know, all F-4Es had slatted elevators.

    Steve

    Tornado F.3 (opened panels)

    in Aircraft Modern

    Posted

    Luca,

    Sorry, I can't help with the panel differences. Just one point about aircraft with open panels (and it's kind of a pet peeve with me). If you see and aircraft on the flightline with open panels, it will almost _never_ have weapons on board. Perhaps an inert missile for training, but it will be pinned and disconnected. Generally, panels would only be opened with weapons on board if the crew found a problem. A technician would be called and, if he could fix it very quickly, he would open the panel, fix the problem and close the panel. If it required that the panel be left open for a while, usually, the plane would be disarmed and unloaded. And, of course, as soon as I've said this, there will be a flood of pictures and links to hundreds of pictures of planes with weapons and open panels. Just a thought.

    Steve

    • Like 2
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