Rybeast Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Hi there! Long time forum watcher, new forum poster! Before my last teaching post I had begun work on the Revell A380 1:144. I've had to leave it until now (we teachers really don't have that much spare time!) and ice come to adding decals and the like. I'm a bit miffed and rather annoyed to find that the decals don't carry the 'cleaner, quieter' etc. as the seller had said, but also that the decals are numbered differently to the instructions. Now I could gather and work out where the stickers go, but I thought if I'm really going to go through all that - why not just change the livery completely? As the title suggests I'm wanting to go with BA livery. I've had a look on eBay and found an Italian seller who does them for about a tenner, but I was wondering if any of you professionals had a preference or any rateable experience with particular sellers? My second question is: does anyone have a list of paint and a diagram for what would need painting where? I've had a trawl over the 'net and found a beautiful model bu someone on this site - Humbrol midnight blue I think they used - but again, any experiences or ideas would be great. I would also need a diagram or very fine, rough pointers as to what paint goes where! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Extremely sorry for the long post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whisky Papa Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 (edited) 26Decals do A380 BA decals, too. There's a rollout here. WP EDIT: Quality decals usually come with paint schemes (nazca, drawdecal, avigraphics, BOA) ... Edited August 26, 2015 by Whisky Papa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 What's a rollout? Thank you very much for your reply. What would constitute a 'quality' decal with paint scheme? My only reason for asking is schools are back in West Yorkshire in a fortnight, so with lesson planning and the impending doom of first day back in wanting to try and get as much done as I can so that all I have left to do is add the decals and glue together! From what I have seen, the wings and fuselage are pretty basic - again, not sure of the colour schemes though. The belly of the fuselage will be interesting, as will the engines! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whisky Papa Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Rollout ~ Ready for Inspection You'll find a Work in Progress report here. There's a pic there which shows a bit of the 26decals instructions which tells you where to put the colour. I don't think the kit is basic... Click ;-) WP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 It's considerably less fiddly than my 747 which has surprised me I must admit! The engines shouldnto or fully be too bad as I say. If I can get my painters masking tape around the silver edging that I already have it should just about ensure no leakage. You have been ever so helpful with all this - thank you very much. I shall research a bit more on what colour I need and see if I can pop out and get it tomorrow. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Don't forget all the lovely reference photos on Airliners.net Basic colours are as follows: Upper fuselage: white Lower fuselage and engines: BA blue Wings and tailplanes: Airbus light grey Inspar area on the wings: Corogard (A dullish metallic grey which is difficult to match because it isn't a standard colour; it gets custom-mixed with every application) Here's a good picture in nice strong sunlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share Posted August 27, 2015 Hi Jessica, Thank you very much for your extremely informative post. I'm not wanting to spend too much on more paints - I went out and bought for the Airbus colours and now changed my mind! The corogard colour - would that be the usual sort of colours the instructions would tell me to put in for the usual plane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share Posted August 27, 2015 So I've had a little look at the internet and a few places are telling me that the code for Xtracolour's 'airbus grey' is X359. Unfortunately it also seems to be out of stock. Are there any other colours that would be just as good a fit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Testors Model Master "Canadian Voodoo Grey" was a very good match, so of course they've discontinued it Snap up all the bottles of it you can find. Humbrol 196 in either enamel or acrylic is also a decent match. For the Corogard, Revell says that it's a mix of their colours 374 (grey, silky-matt) and 47 (mouse grey). I like to use Testors Steel from the little square bottle (it's cheap and pre-mixed), but really any medium-dark metallic grey colour will work because Corogard is custom-mixed from a clear carrier and aluminium powder each time it's applied, so there's no standard for it. In addition, it reflects light differently depending on the angle the light strikes it, time of day, cloud cover, sunlight vs. artificial light and far too many other variables. Pick a colour that you're happy with and dare the farbenpoleizi to prove you're wrong. Look at this photo for a perfect example. The Corogard on this aircraft looks different between the two wings just because of the angle the light is hitting it being different due to the dihedral. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share Posted August 27, 2015 Hi Jessica Thanks for thfor examples given above. I've actually bought the following after researching all day! I'm going to go for: Midnight blue as BA blue Humbrol 166 as Airbus grey Humbrol 56 for coroguard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) Humbrol 56 is very sensitive to brush marks. If you can airbrush it, it will look much better Edited August 27, 2015 by Jessica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skodadriver Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Current BA blue is NOT Midnight Blue. It is BA World Scheme Blue which is available from Xtracolor. Midnight Blue (= Humbrol 15) is accurate for the BA Negus scheme from the 1970s but not the current one. If you can't get Xtracolor and you're happy to use automotive paints, Halfords Fiat Capri Blue is a good match for current BA Blue 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV571 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Just as a clarification to Jessica's post, the A380 does not use Coroguard on the wing box. Airbus now apply a finish called Aeroflex HS instead on all current production aircraft, unless the operator requests a customised scheme. Aeroflex comes in various shades but the standard (and the one used on the BAW A380s) is RAL7004 Signal Grey. I'm not aware of any of the major model paint brands having this exact shade but you probably can get close with Barley (aka Camouflage) grey. It's distinctly darker than the BAC707 grey used on the rest of the wing as can be seen in the photo of G-XLEH. Incidentally 'Boeing Grey' and 'Airbus Grey' are the exact same shade so you could have also used X301 (if it had been in stock! ) As for decals, definitely go with the 26 Decals set. I have an early set of instructions which calls out Coroguard for the wing but hopefully Ray has corrected this to RAL7004 on later versions. If the Italian sheet you saw is the TBDdecals set, the registration is totally spurious and is missing the 'To Fly, To Serve' logos whereas the 26 sheet has these and the correct G-XLEx options. The Chatham Dockyard flag on the TDBdecal tail also looks suspect but without seeing it first hand, I can't be totally sure. For the fuselage, if you haven't already, I 'd recommend popping into your local Halfords and picking up a can of 'Appliance White'. It'll be a lot quicker than trying to use a small tin of enamel - especially if you're brush painting. A fair few people have also used Fiat Capri Blue for the lower fuselage section so it may be an option to the Humbrol blue you have. HTH Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share Posted August 27, 2015 If you can tell me how to spray the primer I'd be more than happy to do it. I've got a can of Humbrol acrylic primer white at home - but I messed up doing the wings so I'm a bit scared to do it again. I've gone with midnight blue because it's a nice blue and won't clash with the blue wall in my room Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skodadriver Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) ..... I've gone with midnight blue because it's a nice blue and won't clash with the blue wall in my room Well that's a new one on me but good luck with the model! Edited August 27, 2015 by Skodadriver 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Just as a clarification to Jessica's post, the A380 does not use Coroguard on the wing box. Airbus now apply a finish called Aeroflex HS instead on all current production aircraft, unless the operator requests a customised scheme. Aeroflex comes in various shades but the standard (and the one used on the BAW A380s) is RAL7004 Signal Grey. Ah, I stand corrected, and shall note this for all my future Airbice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share Posted August 27, 2015 Well that's a new one on me but good luck with the model! Haha, thank you. I'm going off another modeller on this forum who made theirs a while ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 So I've had a look at the decals I currently have for the Airbus livery - I'm not fancying trying to get the windows onto closed windows. I recall the modeller I'm basing my own aircraft on used something like model putty to fill the windows? How might he have done this? I'm assuming he'll have stuck something (card?) inside the kit and used the putty/filler from the outside and smoothed down with a pick or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 My favourite trick for filling windows is to use Milliput. Roll out a snake of Milliput long enough to fill in your chosen row of windows and stuff it in from the inside of the fuselage half so that it pushes out through the window openings like toothpaste. Use a modeling knife to trim off the sticky-out bits and then smooth it down with a wet fingertip. You'll reduce the need for sanding down to an absolute minimum. I've used the plastic card and fill from the outside method as well, but I find that it sometimes needs a couple rounds of filling and sanding because of the large potential for trapping air bubbles in the window openings. There's another method which is a bit risky, but can give good results. Apply a piece of packing tape on the outside of the fuselage, taking great care not to allow it to wrinkle and make sure that it's stuck down around all 4 sides of each window. Then flood in Superglue on the inside of the fuselage half, allow it to dry then peel off the tape. Once again, you need to be careful not to trap bubbles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 Hello all, After degreasing and de-painting with dettol, my wings were all ready to be primed. Found that a much easier task today than I did a week ago! Painted the underwings and bordered the top of the wing in the nice light grey. Must admit- it's looking pretty good already! Just wish I could find a container large enough to take both parts of the fuselage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 So I've started painting the wings and as you can see, the grey is extremely light. Might need another couple of coats in addition to the two - we shall see! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 Here are two of the engines. As you can see, a lot of the detailing has been loss due to the viscosity of both the White gloss and the midnight blue gloss on top. The part on the left I tried painting in a dettol solution to see if the paint would peek from the engine, but to no avail. I've bitten the bullet and sent an email to Sarah and Anette at Revell to get some more engine parts and components, it seems a shame to go through as much as I have done with the rest of the model, particularly as I was so impressed with myself painting all the individual engine components first before putting it together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 So I'm masking my A380 and I've come across a little issue. Does the blue paint follow the contouring throughout the fuselage? Or is it just a straight line across the whole thing, ignoring the lines underneath? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Seen from the side, the blue is dead level. That means some very interesting masking needs to be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybeast Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 I didn't think the masking was too bad! There are areas where annoyingly the paint has managed to seep underneath the frog tape but overall I'm happy with what I've seen so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now