AdriaN (MLT)

Looking good! i love the paint chipping on the black parts and faded grey. I started this kit way back in 2009. I stopped becasue I got stuck on the seatbelts part. I painted the individual seatbelts according to photos but i simply couldnt make heads or tails of what belt went where and stopped. It had quite a complex array of seatbelts. I found the instructions quite inaccurate for painting. Infact I painted according to photos. For the bottom seat I pained the lower part yellow and top dark black. Now sure why you opted for light blue?

But that was the Finnish airforce, here we are talking about Belgian Magisters which were painted silver.

Model masked up for painting the orange bands. Very tricky as it was all done by measuring by eye and no points of reference on the model. First...primed with yellow, as luminescent orange is semi opaque so it needed a primer base. Revell enamel luminescent orange. Horrible paint to use. It required a lot of thinning. it is see through (so it took many passes)....... and it stinks! Happy with the contrast!! Might be too bright at times. Wanted to lightly sand the orange, to reveal some yellow to mimic fading, but didn't manage.

These are the photos im following: As we can see it fades easily and it turns to a very light yellow/orange. Tempted to play safe and just spray orange! I hope when i light sand the orange, the yellow undercoat wont come off too! Not sure how to do it. Or maybe a very light, quick and thinned airbrushing session? Please post your progress!

I soon will be using "luminescent orange" for a trainer aircraft. This will be my first time using it. I was thinking best is white. But since i want to give it a faded look, by some light sanding over the orange, I think ill spray it with yellow. As from photos im seeing when it fades it turns a bit yellow/orange.

@RidgeRunner That is an excellent model! thanks for sharing. The silver finish is just right. Very colorful and unusual roundel colors. Ive been contemplating if to prime the luminescent orange with white or yellow? as i might fade the orange by some light sanding or just a light spraying session. The landing gear bays always puzzle me with Magisters. As sometimes they seem yellow and others seem peachy or whitish. Did you use chromate?

Following my issue with the silver a few days ago, I gave the model a new coat of paint. This time using Revell ENAMEL Silver no 90. Much happier as its not as polished as the Revell ACRYLIC silver. There is nothing wrong with the Acrylic Silver. Its a great paint, just its too shiny for a tiny model. Markings wise I will be doing the Belgian Magister, using decals and instructions from the 1975 Airfix kit! Couldn't resist the silver and luminescent orange! Decals in good condition and MUCH clearer then the decals which came with the Heller kit. The ACTUAL aircraft I will be doing... MT10

Excellent model mate! Tempted to buy it just because of its link to Malta and the RAF Malta markings. But i already have to many in the stash so id rather not for now...

TBH I found the construction very similar to the 1975 Airfix Magister. The fuel tanks on this were separate, which i found annoying because filling/sanding the seam line between tank and wing was difficult. Kit needed loads of filler. Good canopy though! Which markings did you do? Id love to see the final or wip! Now that I have x2 Fouga Magisters, i'm tempted to buy the "Fouga CM.175 Zéphyr"!

Valetta in Luqa Malta 1960s...

Been secretly working away at this 1980s kit. After building the 1975 Airfix Magister, I thought id try another Magister! Model was painfully & slowly re-scribed & sanded. Seat belts made form tape. Given a coating of mr hobby 1500 primer, thinned around 60% cellulose thinner (otherwise it would stick). Then 'polished' out before paint. Not happy with the result. I used revell acrylic silver. Fantastic paint. It almost as shiny as Alclad polished aluminum. BUT in my opinion it came out TOO shiny for a tiny 72nd model. Out of scale. Also every mistake, gap, scratch, orange peel, depression in plastic/filler came out magnified. I gave it another soft sanding/buffing session and am considering either... 1) use same silver and finish with a light matt coat to dull it down OR , 2) trying revell enamel silver (different to acrylic) OR , 3) Model master aluminum. Something not as shiny. These aircraft were not polished metal, but a dull silver. Model re-scribed and sanded a few times! Pretty good canopy. Raised details. Just needed a dipping in Klear. Masking was tough. Im sure the glass is all blade scratches. Primer on and polished. Way too shiny???

Thats nice. Was he based at Kalafrana or RNAS Hal Far?

Thats interesting! Was your dad in the R.Navy or Airforce? Sadly I was born 'too late'... 9 years after the british forces left Malta

Excellent build! When i saw the squadron badge.. I knew this must be a Ta' Qali Vampire. Just researched kit and there are options for THREE Ta Qali options! Being from Malta i must buy this kit. Ta Qali airfield is now built over... part grape fields, part public park, part parking, part US embassy and a tiny part of the approach is used for flying model planes with original tarmac!

thank you ALL! Cant wait to exhibit it in May.

Thanks! What was the flaw? A molding line running from back to front?

THANK YOU all! I am a perfectionist after all. I'm glad the "bad bits" do not show up (over the internet)

Ive found its the best brilliant white paint. Others have a yellow tint or turn yellow a bit. I always have the same problem. Airbrushed or brush painted... it always remains tacky and soft. You can even dig your nail into it and remove it. Ive found if a piece comes off, it pulls the rest off, like latex. Also rubs off on edges and certain surfaces.

How did you find the vallejo white? did it dry to a hard finish? Did it peel easily?

Part of kit. Thank god for them.

What issues exactly? with vallejo? White will always be hard to spray. No matter what. Vallejo... always remains soft and tacky, no matter how much i mix it. And comes off really easily!!

They wern't always good from day one. It takes time, patience, research and criticism. Also, sometimes I feel you have to be a bit of an artist deep down

Ready for Inspection:

WIP here: What ended up being a 4 year build (because it spent most of its time gathering dust or locked away), in the end, I must say I'm extremely happy with the result! 🥳 Things Ive learnt from this build: How to do oil streaking stains with oil paints ✔️ Stained patches, using oils ✔️ post shading aluminum areas ✔️ MIG Pigments are good for weathering engine exhausts ✔️ MIG landing gear dust gives a nice filter to tires ✔️ I am not happy with The main canopy. No matter how much i clean it.. i cannot removes finger stains and fibers from cloth and dust! dust/fibres got stuck onto Klear after dipping session. There is a massive mark where the canopy was attached to spruce. The panel which attached to the main canopy DOES NOT FIT PROPERLY! Gluing canopy to frame was a bit messy Super glue got onto canopy and buffing out was not 100% successful Agama acrylics are sh*t! Vallejo white acrylic is sh*t also .................................

Why are all my notifications from '[email protected]' ending up in my junk emails folder? I use Hotmail and i've tried adding the '[email protected]' address to my 'safe senders list', I also click on 'It's not junk' and 'Show blocked content', but still they keep going in my junk emails! 😤 Any idea why? 🤨