silverburn

Correct - in it's normal form, it'll rub off. I sealed mine with "new" Klear (neat and with a brush), before bedding down decals with a normal coat of Gloss. Gloss direct onto R&B dulled it hideously...Klear only took off 20-30% of the shine which is better than nothing. I probably didn't need to gloss, but I wanted 100% peace of mind it was sealed. Need to take care painting over the top of it too - I'd recommend masking off sections you need normal colour for.

Cheers guys - good to know I'm on the right track! So far this has taken about 6hrs to do from opening the box...but I think the real challenge is tomorrow, when I get the tamiya weathering pastels out for the soot and the individual panels, and do some more chipping & dry brushing. Oh and I've given up on masking the glass myself - total nightmare - i've wimped out and bought a mask instead.

Just started the weathering (while waiting for my swastikas), and I've done the easy bits. I've been conscious to make sure nothing is overdone, and hasn't shown up as clearly as I'd like in the following photos. - A light wash to reflect the dusty environment. Again, the effect is better in real life, than what you see here. Some inconsistencies to tidy up, but on the whole it's ok. - "Chipped" the leading edges of stuff; very slight, but I've tried to show it in the shots of the wings & airbrakes here: - Sooted the exhausts. I will be adding a bit more to these; it's a bit weak just now.

Forgot to add - broken decal and port/starboard lights getting set in next week! Cheers guys

Closing this one off...moving to RFI here.

Ok, signing this one off from the build thread here. Tales of woe and deliberate (honest!) mistakes lie therein... Only real difference is that the a/c nmbers are now on, and the canopy is closed...not without pain or smudging of decals, and many curse words. Not much else to add that hasn't been covered in the build thread, so here are the final few pics!

Thanks guys - I already have a set of swastikas on order from netmerchants...I need them for my ju88 too, so I figured it was time I got some!

Good point - I'll be honest I didn't see anything in the instructions for whether which was which...so I stuck them on. I had the drill out anyway for the wings, so thought **** it, I'll do them too. Thought it has to be said I'm getting more and more into "technical accuracy" as my modelling experience increases (only been doing this a few months), but I'm on automatic pilot for this one...2hrs sleep a day (with the newborn) tend to do that!

Decals on! Gotta find and order some swastikas for the tailplane, and that'll be them done. Yes, I know i should have 2 letters in white, and I doubt the czech guys were ever in the Med, but hey ho - baby's keeping me too tired to count rivets.... The wing walkway decal strips on the instructions have the decals right over the raised/rivetted ones on the plastic - no way was I laying them down there, so laid them beside. These are now sealed, so I might start the weathering and the glass tomorrow. Bombs are dry fitted for now.

Just a tiny update - white band painted (not quite exact, as per the reference pic above - mine is too wide, and too near the tail...but hey-ho it'll do). Wing bits all added, and a few other bits and bobs, ahead of laquer, glass and decals tomorrow. Might try and fix that gap on the compass panel, and a bit of sand overspray into the rear gunner corner (seen in pic). Plan for "ageing" is: - Chips on wing, airbrake panels (I've deployed them - see photo), prop, radiator and wheel leading edges. Will be fine chips to reflect sand blasting. Not sure how to approach though...dry-brushed aluminium maybe? - proper chips on the walkways, bombs, optional armour panels, wing gun bay panel and handhold slots - dark wash the radiator faces, undercarriage and bomb bays - white wash for tyres - black soot for various exhausts. - sun fading. No idea how to approach this. Not to worry - I'll trawl the tips section for clues.

I knew it was going too easy! Noticed the propeller was going on a bit tight in the dry fit...so tight in fact I managed to shear the stub off! Oh well...nothing some super glue can't fix - I'm not that bothered about it being able to spin, to be honest. The rest is still going together with negligible problems. Anyway, it's looking more like a stuka now. I may decal it first, then attach all the breakables, which include aerilons this time. Gotta add the desert white strip around the waist first too. Definitely gonna need weathering... I think it's the "new baby" lack of sleep but I've completely missed a fine gap from belly wheel to 1inch from wings attachment.

Thanks! There's gotta be a big problem brewing, since I've not really hit any real problems yet. I went for Montana gold's Steel Grey, and a number of Revell's (black, aluminium etc) for instruments etc. I also went for the OOB instrument decals, which worked quite well - some shrivelled a bit, but as long there's not too much air underneath, they usually go on ok. I'll be using Montana Gold's Sand for the main cammo, and their Dust grey for the underside. Weathering & dirtying will be the main challenge - it will make this model & scheme I recon. As way of a progress update - it's all been sanded/smoothed and primed.

Another 2 hours on this. Pit painted and in. It's completely OOB, but the colour scheme had some "poetic licence" applied... Weathering/dirty-ing not showing up as well in photo, but it's definitely there - I'm happy with the results, because I've been prone to doing too much on my earlier ones. Wings attached to fuselage A really nice gap-free fit on this - kit's been a good 'un, so far. Only some minimal sanding required on the fuselage belly to correct some tiny "warp" effect on the join (one side a tiny fraction above the other), and at the very front, where it doesn't line up either. But these are really tiny tidies that shouldn't take more than an hour Also in scene - a colour sample of the sand, and the small bombs. big Bomb done in Anthracite and still drying out of picture. Next question...as this is a desert config, how should I weather it? With black Promodeller or soot? I'm maybe thinking of a bit of rust/soot for the obvious bits, but what to do on the general paintwork?

I know what you mean...I've already got the putty booked to fixed that particular wee issue (I'd already glued these on before you told me). Thankfully the topsides are ok, and I only have to fill the gap on the less noticeable underside. Pure gold info though - grats!

Ahah, a mere dry-fit for now (thus the elastic bands in shot), so nothing to worry about there my good man... I've been doing some drilling though (wings and fuselage) - a surprising amount required actually for this model? What I will need to worry about is the rear gunner; I'm supposed to only glue the arms on once he and the gun are in-situ! ...so for the guys who have built these before...what "gotchas" should I look out for?

Yep, I was gutted too...it was working so well too. I suspect I might not have left enough time for it to dry though...only 2 hours. That might have been the issue? I should also have finished all the painting first before Klear, it has to be said...

Cheers for all the compliments guys - good to know I'm on the right tracks!

Ok, a total impulse buy... For some bizzare reason, I took a liking to a desert Stuka (1/32, naturely) on the way back from the hospital today; I figured I needed something to amuse myself in the weeks of holiday (with a new baby??? ) I have coming up. There are plenty more ideal candidates I'm after too - eg: Swordfish 1/32, Eurofighter 1/32, mosquito 1/32, tornado 1/32, spitfire 1/32 (Tamiya version), Vulcan 1/48, Sea king 1/35 etc etc. So why a stuka? I seriously don't know...was passing the shop, and just thought - "I'll have that". That and wanting to do a desert scheme, eg: Anyway, lets begin....with the box! ..and 2hrs later, the easy bits, glued, sanded and smoothed. Which was hardly anything - it's going together far too well.... Just noticed I'm out of gloss and primer, so no body work coming soon. Will get started on the pit & pilots though...which look pretty detailed in my eyes!

That bay's so big, I could live in there... Good going...looking forward to the finished article!

Another evening's work, and we have good news and bad. And by bad, I mean a disaster! Good: The rub & buff has survived mostly ok, but I've lost a lot of the metal texture you got with it. Still, it's ok, and it's a small price to pay for being able to "seal" the model with a laquer/Klear. Having said that, the more I see of it, I realise it's still a bit too dirty, and the metal effect has dulled with more sealer. So I've finished some small painting here, and there, and I had some ok success converting my 2 tone flashes into 3. The rest of the news is... Bad: - Klear isn't a great sealer here...when masking off the dorsal fins to paint the edge, the tamiya tape pulled away the "no step" decals. I've since sealed it with Montana Gold Gloss Laquer, which I was reluctant to do, given it dulls down the finish, while adding too much shine. The matt simple made it dull...so I'll take the "shiney dull" as the lesser of two evils... - The chrome I was using (Montana gold) was RUBBISH. I sprayed it 2 days ago, and it still wasn't dry...I found out by putting a huge thumb print in it. Soaked in thinner, sanded, re-primed, and I tried again with Humbrol Silver...it's not as good (ie shiny), but frankly it was at least usable! - Decals; I don't know how, but after sealing them down, I noticed the front port side one was ripped! Gutted...no replacements either, but since I'll be ordering some new decals anyway (I need the numbers 9 & 0 in large and small font), it's at least saveable. That and some of my belly ones are squint - pure laziness/clumsiness on my behalf, I have to confess... - I broke a rear tail fin. Nothing super glue wouldn't fix, but one to bear in mind. - The Canopy refuses to slot into position cleanly. I'll need to be careful here, when I close it up permanently... Also had to re-spray the rear glass, as I'd not made the black thick enough for the decals. Getting near the end. Stuff left to do: - Glue the nose ring in place (it'll be a tigher fit that you see in the pics) - replace blu-tac with glue on sticky-outy bits - Chip and age the firestreaks. Somehow. Might practice on the other kit missiles first. They stick out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the kit, which looks old enough to be about 2 days away from retirement... - glue canopy - touch up some rub & buff bits which have been rubbed off from holding (leading wing edges). Daylight helped find those... - Add missing decals (numbers 9 & 0), and replace ripped pit side one. - Port & starboard lights Anyway, here we are. Experimenting with a different photo spot, to try and get a more natural light; brings out the metal finish better. The dark section in the tailfin is due to the underlying plastic; not sure what I could have done to fix it, to be honest: Yes, I know lightnings are supposed to have the anti-glare black curved over the nose-ring...but the pics I've got show the black run straight through the nose-ring. Handy, since I was dreading painting the curved one... Spot my squint belly decals in this one: And the well and truly knackered one in this one: *** EDIT - Wife now in labour...may be a few days bfore this is finished! ***

I've glued it all together, so that's it - we're committed to the finish now. Oh, and I've given the "new Klear" a go... I sampled it on one of the tanks, and did a conventional Laquer job on the other. They both knock back the "texture" of the buff, but the Klear retained a more accurate reflective surface, if you know what I mean. Both passed the "rubbing" test (did any R&B end up on my fingers afterwards), which I guess is the crucial bit. It's not perfect, but I think I'll be struggling to find the perfect product combination within my means and timescales. So, the Klear is on. It was brushed on neat with a big brush; seemed ok. Laid it on quite generously, and cleaned off any drips. left to dry for 2 hours, and Decals started. Speaking of Decals...they're wrong! Or at least wrong for my timeframe...XN790 was in the "kit" green, but the actual XN790 I'm doing in in bare Aluminium, with the "3 tone" roundels & flashes! I'm managed to blag some roundels from another (finished) kit, But I'm struggling to find the '90' in XN790 (in both sizes) and the 3 tone flashes. I might have to get them printed, to ensure the font & size are correct. Nose-ring fitted (taking an eternity to dry) and rest of decals tomorrow, and a few paint touches (ie gun ports). What do you recon - will Klear seal in the decals ok?

Cheer for that bill - at least I can source a torpedo in 1/32...it's a bit expensive mind - £50. Comes with a free stringbag...

Yes, this is actually my reference pic! It's just my dodgy camera..the rest of the colours are good, but the shadows come out as a lilac! Very strange...I really like these Shadows - in proper light they're my favourite weapon on this. THanks for all the compliments guys...when I get onto the 1/32, it'll be better!

A perfectly good spot - noticed that too, when I looked at the reference pic further up. You'll notice I also used a red "-" in the number, when it should be grey as well, but that's only because I just used the OOB decals. I think I might be outgrowing my newbie status now, as I'm beginning to spot loads of stuff like this! I will be paying closer attention to the next one, rest assured!

No I will probably still need them - I quite fancy doing one of these for myself now! If it's easier, I can print them here, if it's easier?