1:72 Special Hobby Blackburn Skua

[alex]

very nice! I think I should start working with Alclad too, I was always a bit afraid of. The Skua looks excellent!

Alex

Edited March 23, 2014 by alex

[Neil AS]

Some how I've missed this build. A real neat and tidy build so far. Excellent work Bill..

[Col.]

It's testamony to your modelling skills that I'm thinking this looks good Bill. Now don't get carried away, I don't mean 'good' as in the way a Sea Fury or Tempest II looks, it's certainly not as fugly as I remembered them being.

[David H]

Looks very nice, Bill. makes me want to do a pre-war Vindicator, the US Navy's answer to the Skua/ Roc.

I know what you mean when you refer to grainy metallic finishes. I haven't tried it but i hear good things about Tamiya Airframe Silver decanted into an airbrush and sprayed.

Second, one thing i DID try was i decanted some Model Master Silver (can't remember the part number) into an airbrush and had good results with it. It's not Metalizer, but its not the MM aluminium enamel either (which i don't care for). It was sort of a lucky find i guess.

Its worth mentioning that the smoothness of the underlying surface will amplify any graininess of the silver finish too. I'm sort of obsessive about wet sanding my models with at least 1000 (if not finer) in prep for the application of any finishes. I'll even sand down my primer coats if i have any concerns about the type of finish which goes over it.

So... i have another Corsair in the first phase of the blue painting. First coat of blue is on, and i found enough "Issues" in the finish that it will in all likelihood be sanded down before the next coat of blue goes on.

-d-

[Navy Bird]

Thanks, everyone!

 

Good point about sanding, David. I forgot to mention that I primed the model with Alclad Grey Primer and Microfiller, and then sanded everything with #2000 grit paper. Makes a world of difference!

 

I started the transfers last night. The fuselage stripe is composed of three separate pieces, one each for the two sides (which meet at the top) and one for the bottom. At the top, the decals need to align with the cut-out for the machine gun, and with the bottom of the canopy. On the bottom, they need to align with the cut-outs for the arresting hook. Plus, they all need to align to each other. I figured there was no way all of that would happen, especially with the complex shapes of the fuselage sides and bottom, and I would have to touch up the edges with paint, etc.

 

Guess what? It worked perfectly! All the alignments meet right where they should - nice job, Special Hobby!

 

Cheers,

Bill

[HOUSTON]

Bill,

EXEMPLARY workmanship ..

Enjoying it ..nice thread ...light and fun...

[Navy Bird]

On 3/23/2014 at 02:01, Procopius said:

Oops, deleted my post, but in retrospect, of course you knew that! I am not a humorless robot, I swear.

I thought you were either a Roman usurper, the father of Emperor Anthemius, a Christian rhetorician, an historian, or a Hussite general, also known as Procopius the Great. At least that's all I could find in Wikipedia. Wait, here's another one - a spider of the genus Corinnidae. Those disambiguation pages are great.

 

Now, which one have you modelled yourself after? No pun intended, of course.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[David H]

Bill, did you end up applying a clear coat over the silver, or apply the decals directly to the painted surface?

If you clear coated what did you use?

Curious,

-d-

[Martian]

I think she is a thing of beauty Bill, both the real thing and your model, but then again, I think the Short Seamew looks pretty cool!

Martin

[Navy Bird]

On 3/23/2014 at 21:31, David H said:

Bill, did you end up applying a clear coat over the silver, or apply the decals directly to the painted surface?

If you clear coated what did you use?

Curious,

-d-

 

She's got a coat of Future on her.

 

On 3/23/2014 at 21:42, martin hale said:

I think she is a thing of beauty Bill, both the real thing and your model, but then again, I think the Short Seamew looks pretty cool!

Martin

 

I do too, especially with the wings folded! And to think they built more than one. I even like the Curtiss Seamew - isn't it odd how there could be two aircraft, from opposite sides of the Atlantic, that have the same nickname and are both just plane fugly? Weird...

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Procopius]

For some reason I was under the impression you sh/couldn't put a clear coat over Alclad. I'm becoming more and more intrigued by this highly toxic paint.

[Navy Bird]

On 3/24/2014 at 09:33, Procopius said:

For some reason I was under the impression you sh/couldn't put a clear coat over Alclad. I'm becoming more and more intrigued by this highly toxic paint.

I'm pretty sure that's not the case. Alclad even sell their own brand of clear in flat, semi-gloss, and gloss flavours. They even have their own water-based clear gloss which you can use just like Future, i.e. canopy dipping and so on.

 

I've used the Alclad clears, Future, and even Floquil Crystal-Cote and Flat (which gives a nice eggshell sheen). I've not had any problems. All paint is toxic, even the "acrylic" paints. Alclad is a lacquer, so all of the usual caveats apply. Use a paint booth or open a window, wear a respirator, don't mix it in your martini, etc. What I like best about Alclad is that you can mask over it. I think you can also do that with the Gunze Mr. Super Ultra Metal Color paints, or whatever they're called. I haven't tried them yet.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[tonyot]

Its coming on really well Bill,.......it looks great in the silver finish! Looking forward to seeing it finished mate,

Cheers

Tony

[general melchett]

I'm sure that's not the case. Alclad even sell their own brand of clear in flat, semi-gloss, and gloss flavours. They even have their own water-based clear gloss which you can use just like Future, i.e. canopy dipping and so on.

I've used the Alclad clears, Future, and even Floquil Crystal-Cote and Flat (which gives a nice eggshell sheen). I've not had any problems.

Same here Bill, in fact I use Alclad products for a lot of things now including their great matt, flat and gloss Klear Kotes, prismatic finishes and the various primers. The other great thing about it is the rapid drying time which once you've blasted it with a few shots of @25psi air really speeds up the painting process. I must admit to not having any trouble with the stuff either and it cleans up quickly with Premi-Airs Liquid Reamer, (which is just if not more smelly than the Alclad but works wonders!).

Great work on the old bird btw, an ugly ducking which will turn into .....well, an ugly swan really...

[Navy Bird]

Hi mates!

 

Well, I shouldn't do this, but I'm going to anyway. I'm going to post some photos of a BIG mistake I made. The big mistake, of course, was following the instructions in the Special Hobby kit! (Cue an eerie sense of deja vu...)

 

 

 

 

As I've learned on a separate thread, with some esteemed Britmodellers who know their Skuas, is that the tail fin stripes were most likely blue/white/blue (even though the specifications called for red/white/red for 2nd Flight Leader) and the wingtips would not have been painted at all on an 803 Squadron bird, only on those from 800 Squadron. But this plane, L2887, was transferred from 800 into 803, so it MAY have retained its painted wingtips. But looking at photos it would seem that the painted area of the 800 Squadron wingtips would not have been the entire dihedral area, but just the tips.

 

In other words, the plane should look like the box art - and not what the instructions would have you do! And to think my wife is always accusing me of NOT following the directions when I put something together...

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I think I can fix her. I can make her better than she was before. I have the technology. I have the capability. I have a spare kit...

[spiton]

It looks beautifully !!

[Col.]

Call it a 'what-if' Bill.

[keefr22]

She's looking great Bill, with your usual exemplary finish. But I do admit the fin stripes look a little odd,like someone has painted a fin flash on vertically instead of horizontally - maybe they'd been at the rum rations again! Could you not mix a matching blue & just paint the red on the fin stripes out? The rest of the aeroplane is looking spiffing..!!

[Navy Bird]

On 3/25/2014 at 06:52, keefr22 said:

She's looking great Bill, with your usual exemplary finish. But I do admit the fin stripes look a little odd,like someone has painted a fin flash on vertically instead of horizontally - maybe they'd been at the rum rations again! Could you not mix a matching blue & just paint the red on the fin stripes out? The rest of the aeroplane is looking spiffing..!!

That's exactly my plan, Keith! I did some experimenting last night, and to my eye Gunze H5 Blue right out of the bottle is an extremely close match to the blue in the decal. I'll mask off the fin (carefully!) and change the red stripe to blue.

 

The red wingtips are another matter. But I've got an idea for that, too. Wish me luck!

 

Cheers,

Bill

[keefr22]

Wish me luck!

Cheers,

Bill

Good luck!

[Procopius]

[Col.]

Who needs luck when you have skill?

[Navy Bird]

On 3/25/2014 at 17:16, Procopius said:

 

Well, at least the joke wasn't about a colostomy bag.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Procopius]

Man, I am not batting a thousand today!

[Navy Bird]

On 3/25/2014 at 20:28, Procopius said:

Man, I am not batting a thousand today!

Sorry, I had just read your comment on the Airfix 109G-6, and I thought to myself if any aircraft would get the colostomy bag treatment, it would be the Skua!

 

The Brian Regan thing was funny. I used to be like that when I was younger. The drunk part, not the funny part.

 

Speaking of colloquialisms, how does "batting a thousand" translate into the Queen's English? Is there a comparable cricket term? Something about Demon Bowlers and googlies and leg breaks? Just wondering.

 

How about "There I go again, leg before wicket!"

 

Cheers,

Bill