AdriaN (MLT)

Yes masking the canopy is very difficult. Especially since the canopy does not have bold lines and recesses. Even the canopy rivets were out of place. When manually masking I always end up leaving cuts in the glasswork. For this I bought a mask set but for the Valom kit! I thought it will fit well because they are both 1:72... but I did not.. in some parts. Some masks were too big, whilst others were to small. But in the end it is pretty unnoticeable and I didn't get any paint bleed.

Thanks. It is currently the second smallest in the showcase, but definitely an elegant eye catcher. Lucky you. I only ever got to see one landing at riat 2012. I remember the engines made a really sweet sound as the throttle was put into idle.

*Posted in Ready for insepection* I must say, a very fun 3-4 month build. Even though it is 43 year old kit! (made/boxed in 1975) it went together quite well and detail was quite good for an old kit! In fact i found it better than some kits today. Way better than a Heller kit. It was fun spraying blue paint and i really liked the rivet details, so i left them and did some re scribing on wings. Ooh yes and canopy cracked while putting on masks ;( Feel free to comment: IMGP0048c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0050c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0052c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0051c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0013c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0042 by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0061c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0016c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0056c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0006c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0055c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0059c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0036c by Ad Gam, on Flickr 'Patrouille De France' family... IMGP0020c by Ad Gam, on Flickr IMGP0019c by Ad Gam, on Flickr

I must say, a very fun 3-4 month build. Even though it is 43 year old kit! (made/boxed in 1975) it went together quite well and detail was quite good for an old kit! In fact i found it better than some kits today. Way better than a Heller kit. It was fun spraying blue paint and i really liked the rivet details, so i left them and did some re scribing on wings. Ooh yes and canopy cracked while putting on masks ;( Feel free to comment: 'Patrouille De France' family...

The colour cup WAS the problem. It was placed right under the airbrush, right where your last 2 fingers wrap around to hold the airbrush steadily. The trigger on this airbrush was a rather long one, which is why my left index finger used to hurt. I am now using a gravity feed and it is MUCH more comfortable! What really hurt were the bony parts on my fingers which were in constant contact with the airbrush. Same with writing though! the pressure of the pen on your fingers. You get these red, slightly flattened marks. Great tip re-rubber grip! 😉

They SEEM to have Aqua Color 'dull gun metal'

I always loved using 'Humbrol Super Enamel enamel - no 53 - Gun Metal'. It was always this dark metallic gray shade, always used inside jet pipes and jet engines. When it was finishing.. i went out and bought another No 53. This time the tin said 'MET.' (metallic) and the Super was removed. (new branding?) Open testing i was very surprised to see the paint was not that dark gunmetal i always knew. It is in fact now considerably much lighter!! Any ideas as to why has Humbrol changed this paint colour? And why was super removed? did the super actually mean anything? Has anybody realized this change in paint?

Personally... i never pre-shade! i only POST-shade

yes sir 🕵️‍♂️

Yes I just found your thread. We are not he only ones who are reporting it. It has happened to me even just by viewing posts, not posting any emojis.

Hi! I've had the same problem, and im not from Spain. I posted a thread here: @Mike I am not the only one...

I'm surprised how well the nose fit onto the fuselage. Mine needed a lot of filler! Which markings will you be doing? I am also building this kit (different box). About to start decalling.

Thanks Mike. It doesn't always happen. It happens every so often. Next time it does, i'll take a screen shot. Could it happen when the site is under maintenance?

thanks! I am very happy with the overall shading and gray colour chosen.

@Mike any ideas?

This doesn't always happen, but happens every so often... I open the forum and open one or two threads. Everything fine. Then when i go back into the forum index or open up a new thread... the page would keep searching/loading and remains that way. If i quit the Firefox tab and re-open my britmodeller link again, britmodeller doesnt open. It will remain on 'loading page'. The sort of blank page you get when you have no internet. Funnily enough any other internet page will open. It happened a few times after writing a long post & i lost everything! Any ideas why? Down for maintenance?

PROGRESS Finally... paint! The model was primed with mr hobby - mr finishing surfacer 1200. Total disaster (paint too tick) BUT, i managed to sand it back smooth, using very fine sand paper & it sanded very easily! I could only get my hands on AGAMA paints. Here i used their A22M Dark Grey (FS36118). It spray on smooth, dries fast and hard. Only problem is these paints have something wrong with them. No matter how much you mix them.. the paint keeps separating into dark and light ripples. It does not like being mixed with white. Its hard to clean from airbrush once semi dry. And does not spray well when thinned about 50/50. After a base coat, it was post shaded twice, in two session. After, silver parts were sprayed using revell acrylic silver. And finally... sprayed with Klear.

I had a cheap-o... BD132-something! Stopped working because I dropped it & bent needle. 😁 I guess you are right about it being a cheap one. Even so, when you unscrew the side cup, paint does leak out of both airbrush and cup. Currently using a gravity feed, where the cup is part of the airbrush, non removable... and im loving it. so easy to clean!!

This in an excellent model! Which kit is it? because there are a few different ones issued by Revell. I have the unbuilt JU88 in 72 scale... what's concerning me is that there is a lot of glass! Did you buy a mask set or cut out each window??

Yes it is. I first shook it, then stirred with a paint mixer, then shook it again. This happens with revell acrylics also. Cant understand why. ONLY acrylics. I wonder if they are blobs of un-dissolved pigment...Or just some sort of a reaction with thinners/retarder?

This is the WIP to the kit I'm building:

I tried mixing the paint with 'window cleaner'... and it got along with the paint a bit better. It mixed well and didn't look like oil in water, like their thinner looked like. Also no retarder this time. But one thing.. i thinned it quite a lot and the paint had a tendency to dry much lighter, and look a bit white-ish too and also gave off a dotty finish. This is what i mean 'ripples', i mixed it a lot and still got different shades in it! As you can see these dried blobs came out of nowhere. even when the paint cup was wet.

Yes its really starting to annoy me! It does occasionally stop spraying (tip dry), you are right. Im using a dark gunship gray and still it takes AGES to build up the colour. I just panel shaded with a very thinned mix.. and it dried dotty and for some reason much lighter! BUT when it dries, it dries to a nice smooth finish and nice & strong. I personally love Revell acrylics! Their agama thinner is not good either!

I have the Badger 'imitation airbrush'... the Fengda BD-128. I use the metal cup. I think its 5cc. Ive never had problems with bottom feed. But it think the fact that the cup comes under the airbrush, right where you hold it from.. is a big problem! In fact i'm waiting for my gravity feed airbrush from china (hope it arrives, one day!!) Yes i think i do hold it a bit too tight, especially when i press the trigger and move it back and forward! Its a bit like when you write too long essays.. the part of the pen that touches your fingers really begin to hurt.

I have the same kit, just in the box Christer A posted. Does your canopy also have a seam line down the centre? I removed mine. First time removing one. Also... yes I also had that horrible sprue mark on the side of my canopy.