1/72 Airfix Gnat's at the double!

[Val]

Ok, I've polished up the areas that looked scratched:





I started with Flory's blue sanding sponge and sanded until the scratched paint had totally disappeared, and then work my way through the two sides of the sanding polishers. The plastic areas shine now, so hopefully when I reprime later tonight it will be ok. I'm not too worried if it's not 100% perfect, unlike the Red Arrows version this will get a bit of weathering. The canopy on this one is just about ok. The canopy on the other Gnat however is terrible, and has been removed... I'm leaving that one for a little while so I can attack the Vallejo poly primer with sanders!

That's all for now folks!

Val

[Val]

So I finished undercoating the silver gnat after an extended break!





Nothing too exciting but I'm happy enough with the finish! More soon!

Val

[Val]

So, I've got the MM Aluminium down on one of them, and looks ok!

And there we go. Just got to seal her up, mask her off and get the Vallejo Dayglo down. Any tips for that??!

Cheers,

Val

[Val]

So, the silver bird has been treated to a coat of Aqua Gloss, I'm not worried about dulling down the metal too much as I'm going for a High Speed Silver finish as opposed to NMF. I then painted the bits to be bright orange with Tamiya XF-2 white so the dayglo comes through nice and bright.



And this is the result (after a few touch ups):





Incidentally the anti-glare panel is Tamiya Rubber Black. I just need to touch in the wingtip then we can get decalling.

I have also painted the other gnat but with less success.







The finish itself is Tamiya gloss red thinned with Mr Color self levelling thinners. No complaints there, but to get a smoother finish I used Tamiya polishing compounds. This worked well in itself but with two problems. Firstly I've rubbed through in places. And secondly, and most annoyingly, the compound has got stuck in the panel lines, although not totally obvious in some of the pics. I have tried a cloth to get it out but with no success. I have also tried a wet cotton bud with more but not total success, the panel lines are too deep. So the final option was a cocktail stick. While this worked best, it also took paint with it. So I think the only option is a re-spray. I'm not going to lose any panel lines, that's for sure!

So, the trainer is coming on nicely and good progress should be made soon. The gloss red gnat is a pain, my first time doing gloss work so it's a learning curve. I think micromesh cloths might be the best bet to polish them.

Val

[Val]

I've not forgotten about these builds. I've decalled 80% of the silver one. The Red Arrows one, however, we've fallen out. I just can't get the gloss right. Sooo this is the new look of her:

 

She's since been reprimed and I'll have another go. The issue is I used Tamiya polishing compounds to get the gloss up to a mirror. That in itself worked fine. What didn't work fine is that the compound get stuck in the panel lines and I ruined the paintwork getting it out. So, a rethink is in order. She's been IPA'd, as pictured. The cockpit isn't as nice as it once was, but it'll do. She's become an experiment in gloss work.

So the action plan. Repaint in red as before. Give her several gloss coats, a tough acrylic (Mr Color or Tamiya), and then polish her up with my micromesh kit. If that doesn't work, she's going to be a matt red Red Arrow and vow to never do a gloss aircraft again!

Cheers,

Val

[Stosh65]

Is there a record for longest time between posts in a wip? Looking good though. 

[Val]

5 hours ago, Stosh65 said:

Is there a record for longest time between posts in a wip? Looking good though. 

 

Cheers.

 

i think I already hold that record!!