Old Man

Any chance of posting a scan of cockpit/interior information, if any?

Thank you, gentlemen. A bit more progress, have been working on highlights and shadows.... I decided what I was using for basic color was too dark, so everything but shadows got a coat of the basic 'dark yellow' cut with bright yellow and pale grey. Extreme shadows got the basic with some dark green added. Further highlights were basic 'dark yellow' with more bright yellow, and white. Legs and stockings are just roughed in, as is the bit of kilt under the camouflage apron. I will be revisiting the uniform color when I put on the various accoutrements (pack and pouches). I feel pretty good about the uniform,though I am sure there is room for improvement.

Great to see this all together, ir! Wonderful modeling, and the background is extremely interesting.

This is great stuff, Sir!

More progress here, Gentlemen.... The uniform is blocked in, and I adjusted the one eye that seemed a bit over-size and not quite on center... The basic color for the uniform is a Model Master acrylic, panzer dark yellow. I put on a couple of dark washes, one black, one RAF dark green, before putting on the basic color, and did some early highlighting with yellow and white added to the basic color. I will use flatting agent in the next coats. On the (figure's) left eye, I re-positioned the iris a bit towards the nose, and narrowed things a bit top and bottom. Still not sure I like it, though, and suspect I will fiddle with it a bit more, on the inside corner.

Those have an excellent look, Sir. The 'uniform variation' gives it an extra flair.

Great plane to have a model of, Sir! Break a leg!

Pretty much a duffer at this, but I always liked the show. So with that caveat, here is a bit of advice. Don't use flesh for a base color. Use a spray white, matte or primer (rattle-can will do fine). Paint dark areas first, using some flesh-tone darkened with a mauve or violet or a rust brown. Use very thinned paints, and let things accumulate in the deeper recesses. Then paint with a basic flesh color, again very thinned. The first pass should be over the whole area, but then go over a time or two avoiding the recesses. Then paint highlights with your basic flesh color lightened with white or a pale yellow. Then give the whole thing a couple of wash-coats with a basic flesh color, perhaps a bit more orange or buff than the straight flesh tone you have used. You may find you want to repeat this a time or two, the dark, basic, highlight, overall wash routine. Keep the coats thin. I believe the Vallejo paints will be tougher if you add a bit of Future (Clear) to them. This will require a subsequent matte coat, of course. The original TV Batman would never have five o'clock shadow....

Good color there, Sir. makes me think of this....

Thank you, Sir. I am looking forward to the uniform. I am using my aircraft bottle acrylics for this, rather than the tube acrylics I used on the RND fellow. I will have a standard basic color --- a bottle of 'dark yellow' (dunkelgelb) seems to match the khaki color on the box header perfectly. That will help the inevitable touchings-up.... Much appreciated, Sir, thank you. When I get to doing the legs I will be mixing up flesh-tones again, and will revisit the face and eyes. I am inclined to agree with what you say. I am not certain where the overage is. It seems to me that eye comes a little too near the nose, and possibly needs to be tightened up a hair (literally) at the bottom. But just now I feel at the point where if I did more fiddling, I would be doing more harm than good. Dark undercoat interests me. I use acrylics, thinned pretty heavily, and I worry that it would take too many coats, and interfere with highlights. On the RND figure, I did start with a fairly substantial black wash, that pooled in the shadow spots, while leaving the high points white. I like white as an undercoat for flesh, it seems to sort of shine through the thin color layers.

Taking another run at a figure. [/IMG] Here is what I have so far. I have tried for a tanned/sunburnt color on the skin, as this unit was in Palestine before going to Peshewar for operations against Afridi tribes in the 'Red Shirt' episode. A medium orange, a green-tinted buff , raw umber, and white were the basic palette, with small amounts of ultra-marine blue and black as well. All over Tamiya Fine White primer. I intend to move on to the the uniform and gear next. I like to think I have managed some improvement in doing a face. I only had to strip the head once this time. Paint got too thick, and eyes were too big. Stripped the right eye (figure's right) and re-did it, after the face was painted (it was a bit lower than seemed right). I had one bit of adventure with this. I don't spray much, and step out onto the porch when I do (or down to the basement in winter). I had the head attached before priming, and I managed to drop the figure on the porch. The head came off and scooted into a crack between the porch decking and the rear wall. A rather bad moment. I was able to spot it with a flash-light, and retrieve it with a long tweezers, fortunately....

That spray and wash worked nicely, Sir. Is the tank already done, or will that be next?

Those faces are going to look good in a diorama with the tank, Sir. Nice work.

While I obviously am not going to get these complete in time, this is still a live project. I have gotten a good bit of the fuselage surface detail done, and will be on the lower wing ribbing tonight. I ave a companion thread up in the WIP forum, here:

Thank you, Sir. It is an odd item, I don't think I've ever done something with less by way of reference material. Thank you,Sir. I like the wheels myself, and intend to set up for making more standard size ones by the same method of Great War and Golden Age subjects. Rest of the weekend I expect to be working on my pair of Flycatchers. I am by no means out of the woods with 'El Sonora', but after the undercarriage, most of what's left is at least fairly normal modelling....