A 1/72 Amodel I-16 Type 5 Spanish Civil War (without a bucket of filler?).

[TonyTiger66]

I'd second much of what Artie says (again) and also the earlier recomendation to drill & pin all the flight surfaces.....The stryrene's probably in a bit of a state by now so glue alone may not cut it. A couple of carefully drilled holes in each mating surface paired with suitable lengths of stiff wire/rod will save you much pain with future filling/blending tasks.

I'm with you both on the methods Sarge. I hadn't thought of the strengthenIBG puns in time to use them for the wing. I'm going to have to be very careful with it now. It's the sanding and manipulation that weakens the joints, I got to use this method to re-attach something else. I'll illustrate this later. Hopefully the wing won't come off again, but if it does: Strenthening pins this time for sure !

Best regards

Tony

[TonyTiger66]

Six you say? Vary good luck to you Tony. I hope the Iwata is working out for you. Looking faward to the final stages.

All the best. John.

Hi John. Yes it's six... In many ways it doesn't feel like it as it is two lots of three; three I-16's (well, two one seaters and a two seater UTI-4) and three Lagg 3's, so in many ways it feels like I'm just building two. Sometimes!

I'm very grateful for your help and advice with the airbrush. I bought the exact model you recommended and printed out your cleaning routine as 'best practice'. I can confirm that everything you suggested works well. Moreover it's more or less revolutionised my little modelling exploits.

Now I don't know what I would do without an airbrush! Before, I was fighting with the (old) airbrush all the time and truly believed I was hopeless ( ??), but now with the Iwata and a bit of a structured routine, it's very pleasurable. I like the painting bit most now.

As we will see, the importance of good paints is becoming very apparent. I guess we all have our favourites, and recently I've been finding I have to broaden my horizons a bit when it comes to paint, I've had some surprises!

All the best John

Tony

[TonyTiger66]

Righto, onwards and upwards.

I have already shown a picture of both the UTI-4 and 'Popeye' nicely in primer. This was after the 'wing falling off' incident, so I think it's only fair to show how I re-attached the wing and managed to rescue the model, in around only 36 hours.

I hadn't yet had the advice of using wire to create strengthening pins for joins like this, without locating lugs (this was a clean 'snap'). It's a shame I didn't figure that method out as I feel the way I repaired it is a bit of a blunder. Here is the break:

And here is how it looked from underneath, awkwardly running right through the undercarriage bay:

At this stage I had tried to glue the wing back in using Revell, then Tamiya polystyrene cement, but it wouldn't hold and I could find no way to clamp it. I decided to resort to something I had heard of many years ago: slow setting thick CA glue and some of this:

Of course, the lid fell off the bottle of talcum powder. I was holding it with my teeth and shaking it onto the model by nodding, whilst holding the wing and fuselage together with my hands!

The good news was, it seems to have worked. I left it overnight to dry, then filed and sanded it, carefully.

I was pretty pleased with the repair, but it needed more filler and blending:

And beneath:

After some tricky filling and sanding:

At this point I was still using my old airbrush. It would only co-operate with Alckad II primer, so Popeye duly received another coat and was left, just because it was bedtime, overnight.

I had a strange idea about painting all the surfaces of the model according to actual materials used. As usual, trying to run before I can walk, I would then try the 'hairspray' technique and weather the models.

Thus, I next sprayed the cowls with my beloved Extreme Metal Steel:

Both the I-16 and UTI-4 were now at the same stage. In my eyes this was a good stage; final painting. This is how we came to arrive at the picture I posted of them both looking quite sporty:

Although they look nice here, I wasn't happy with some imperfections the metallic paint showed on the UTI-4 cowl, so this received a treatment of Mr. Surfacer 1000, was reprimed and sprayed again.

In the next instalment; what not to do with Humbrol enamel!

Thanks for reading and watching

Best regards

Tony

[Brandy]

Oh dear!

If nothing else, Tony, this post is entertaining - I must admit that covering models in talc is something I have yet to achieve!

Step by step, slowly but surely, you are getting to the point of having what you initially wanted, and it appears you are learning a lot on the way, so that has to be a good thing! I'm looking forward to seeing how your new airbrush performs, and most of all, to your next build to see how the trials of this one get put to good use in saving a lot of anguish!

Keep up the great work!

Ian

[TonyTiger66]

Paint. Oh yes. Paint.

I was pleased with my 'fake metal' cowls. The next 'texture' and colour wanted was the fabric covering the wing and tail ribs. I thought the old Humbrol unbleached 'linen' would be good for this. Nevertheless, looking through my stash of (mainly over 12 years old) paints, I found a colour I liked the look of more. I was completely unfamiliar with it so Googled it. Number 71. It turned out to be described as 'Oak'.

Unfortunately upon opening, I found this acrylic paint had set to a solid blob of jelly .

I didn't know if I could put my Humbrol enamel 'unbleached linen' over Alclad II primer, let alone put the acrylic Hataka brand green I intended over that? Impatience and a little frustration at the 'jelly' paint led me to try it anyway. I masked the aircraft, thinned some enamel and got this out; my new toy:

Nice

I was a little concerned to be baptising it with thinned enamel, but all went well:

I don't trust enamels to dry quickly so I left it overnight. The next day I discovered that not only was the paint not dry, but it had dried to a sticky, rancid brown substance.

I decided there was nothing for it but to try to get it off. That was proving quite easy, it was coming off into my fingers, so I decided to try this:

I've had success with it in the past. I decanted a small amount into the bottle cap and worked around the model with a stuff brush, you can see it working on the leading edge here:

I didn't want to take the primer off, so only used a tiny amount and kept rubbing it off with kitchen towel. It took me around an hour and I was very pleased with the result, as, surprisingly the Alclad had now turned the colour I had wanted in the first place!!:

Have you spotted it? Yes, this time the port horizontal stabiliser has fallen off again . I was now prepared for this kind of thing; out came wire, some cutters and a pin-vice. This time I was indeed going to show the plastic who was boss!

I glued it back on and out of complete boredom, and satisfaction with the new 'oaky' coloured wings, decided to spray the wing tips red. Whilst doing this I turned the model upside down, forgetting it was laying in a piece of kitchen roll soaked in Model Master pain remover. When I turned it upright again I found the paint remover had, indeed removed some primer and left horrid kitchen roll patterns and fluff all over the rest. How I laughed at my mistake! :panic:

There was nothing for it but to strip all the primer off. Joy. I noticed with glee how the bristles were falling out of the brush I was using, so I tried another:

And I noticed with unabated joy how the bristles were falling out of that too. A tiny penny dropped somewhere in the grey mass of rice pudding in my skull, and I realised the paint stripper was melting the glue holding the paint bristles in. I also had some on my hand and it was taking the paint off the paintbrush handle and making it very sticky. I decided to carry on regardless (Syd James would have been proud) and turn my I-16 into this wonderful looking item:

:shocked:

Now it takes s lot to get me worried, but at this stage something in the back of my mind was starting to tell me that something was slipping. I couldn't quite identify *what* was slipping, but it was something important. Then I realised the plastic was starting to go soft. I rushed to the bathroom and rinsed all the gunk off the model. Surprisingly I got to a solid, but slightly tacky surface. Now what? There was still s lot of paint on the model that needed to come off (and most of the filler had come off too, joy of joys), but the paint remover was melting the plastic!

Oh well, I decided to bring the paint remover into the bathroom and apply it over the sink with the tap running, rinsing the model every centimetre or so patch of paint that came off, praying the model would not melt and crumble. I had had a model crumble before my eyes before around 14 years ago; a 98% finished Heller PZL 23 Karas. I got turps on it. It literally crumbled to nothing before my eyes. I didn't want a repeat.

Almost done and not very pretty in pink

I was very relieved when it was done, but quite disheartened by how far back I had now come. I had gone from a primered model ready for top coats to something needing all its gaps filling and smoothing again. Oh well, out with the filler (yes, I did all this in one afternoon), but first I primed it with Stynylrez to get an idea of what needed doing. I then took advice and masked off areas not to be filled and only used a minimum of filler (Humbrol):

This approach, suggested by yet another helpful Britmodelller, made the whole recovery process much easier and faster. Another few lessons learned!

I haven't uploaded the pictures yet, but by the next day this was back in primer again, and now is green!

The finish line is in sight.

Thanks for reading

Happy modelling

Tony

Edited to include a couple more photographs.

[TonyTiger66]

Oh dear!

If nothing else, Tony, this post is entertaining - I must admit that covering models in talc is something I have yet to achieve!

Step by step, slowly but surely, you are getting to the point of having what you initially wanted, and it appears you are learning a lot on the way, so that has to be a good thing! I'm looking forward to seeing how your new airbrush performs, and most of all, to your next build to see how the trials of this one get put to good use in saving a lot of anguish!

Keep up the great work!

Ian

Thanks Ian I'm glad it's entertaining. You're right, slowly but surely I'm getting there. I've already started one of the Roden Lagg 3's for the GPW GB and even though it's not the easiest of kits, it's proving easier than I'm used to because of what I've learned here. I'm still enjoying these I-16's and as long as the plastic doesn't melt it crumble, they'll be done and ok soon.

I had hoped to show how one could be built 'easily'!!

The thing is, I know how, but it's a bit too late for this WIP! I really do think a little bullet point guide will be put at the end.

Thanks for the positive words of encouragement. Modelling is becoming more fun each time I learn something new.

Best regards

Tony

[Artie]

Hi, again, Tony...pleaase, excuseme for what I'm going to say, but up to this point, I must admit this is the most hilarious thread I've ever seen...!!!!!

You've suffered every disaster a modeller can came across......You've tried every crazy technique you've came to know.....You've broken every piece you've been able to....and you're still tring to finish that model. You're a really tenacious man, my friend.....If I was to cope with such amount of issues, I'd probably throw the kit away and forget about it......Needless to say, you've got all my support and recognition.....I can't wait to see these little Moscas finally built...

Best regards...

[CedB]

Tony I'm sorry but I have to agree with Artie - I had started with my sympathy turned up to full, started buckling with the talcum incident and then lost it somewhere around the pink

Just goes to show after my (now insignificant) iPhone incident that having a group of friends is always beneficial when things go wrong - one of them has always got it worse than you

Looks like you're sorting things out, step by step, and it's good to know we're here for you (if we can stop the giggles).

[Bonehammer]

I know it might be TMI for most of you, but the picture above reminds me of an incident involving Veet and anti-perspirant that left me unable to lower my arms for three days. Talk about incompatible materials...

I'd tell you "hang in there" but you're already doing that!

Cheers,

Bone

[The Spadgent]

Hi John. Yes it's six... In many ways it doesn't feel like it as it is two lots of three; three I-16's (well, two one seaters and a two seater UTI-4) and three Lagg 3's, so in many ways it feels like I'm just building two. Sometimes!

I'm very grateful for your help and advice with the airbrush. I bought the exact model you recommended and printed out your cleaning routine as 'best practice'. I can confirm that everything you suggested works well. Moreover it's more or less revolutionised my little modelling exploits.

Now I don't know what I would do without an airbrush! Before, I was fighting with the (old) airbrush all the time and truly believed I was hopeless ( ??), but now with the Iwata and a bit of a structured routine, it's very pleasurable. I like the painting bit most now.

As we will see, the importance of good paints is becoming very apparent. I guess we all have our favourites, and recently I've been finding I have to broaden my horizons a bit when it comes to paint, I've had some surprises!

All the best John

Tony

Phew! I was a little worried it might not be for you as I'm new to this too, but I really did find the Iwata a huge leap up from my cheap Chinese one. I'm so happy for you chap. It simply means your builds will get better and better.

Take it easy. All the best.

Johnny boy.

[The Spadgent]

Of course, the lid fell off the bottle of talcum powder. I was holding it with my teeth and shaking it onto the model by nodding, whilst holding the wing and fuselage together with my hands!

That's amazing sounds like something I would do. So glad it's not just me.

Nice one Tony.

:)

[John_W]

It's fighting hard, but you are definitely winning this one.

[TonyTiger66]

Hello people

Hi, again, Tony...pleaase, excuseme for what I'm going to say, but up to this point, I must admit this is the most hilarious thread I've ever seen...!!!!!

You've suffered every disaster a modeller can came across......You've tried every crazy technique you've came to know.....You've broken every piece you've been able to....and you're still tring to finish that model. You're a really tenacious man, my friend.....If I was to cope with such amount of issues, I'd probably throw the kit away and forget about it......Needless to say, you've got all my support and recognition.....I can't wait to see these little Moscas finally built...

Best regards...

Thats all good Artie! If I have made someone laugh a little that's fine. I don't mind showing my mistakes because I guess (surely it's not just me??? ) that there will be lots of modellers out there that read this, but don't comment, that make many of these mistakes.

I was told, in 2003, by someone in a LHS (Marcway Models in Sheffield UK) that I had a 'dying hobby'. It made me very sad. I built many models at the time and didn't care for his words. I have been so happy in the last decade to see his words proved wrong! We have a thriving hobby and we have more aftermarket, more decals, more paints than ever before.

For some of us older guys used to Airfix and Frog, it is quite daunting, but it is not a bad thing. It just means we can enjoy learning all these new things; resin , photo - etch. I haven't been successful with the latter yet (I tried it on a 1/72 T-26 tank) but it will happen.

Thanks for your kind words . I am known for my tenacity, to the point of ridiculous sometimes!

I also heeded your words on 'keeping it simple'. I've reeled back a bit and will accept lower standards from myself. I was definitely trying to 'run before I could walk'.

It's good to have a friend out there where the GCE/SCW all started. I just got a Valom Fokker FVIIb/3M. It looks very difficult, but I am glad Valom made it and as much advice as I can get from Spain is very, very welcome!

Tony I'm sorry but I have to agree with Artie - I had started with my sympathy turned up to full, started buckling with the talcum incident and then lost it somewhere around the pink

Just goes to show after my (now insignificant) iPhone incident that having a group of friends is always beneficial when things go wrong - one of them has always got it worse than you

Looks like you're sorting things out, step by step, and it's good to know we're here for you (if we can stop the giggles).

Hi Ced. That's a really good message. It's nice to know I've made some friends on here. My wife today was commenting on the fact we have quite a solitary pursuit and that we can become 'loners'. It's true, but Britmodeller changes all that. We can put whatever we're experiencing out here, and just about 10 times out of 10, we get support rather than ridicule. I have feared the latter, but now I don't so much.

By the time I type this I hope you're out with the lads in Bath for a Friday chat and glass of lemonade, have one for me, there's no good beer in my area ! Have a great time and don't surpress the giggles - there are more to come!

I know it might be TMI for most of you, but the picture above reminds me of an incident involving Veet and anti-perspirant that left me unable to lower my arms for three days. Talk about incompatible materials...

I'd tell you "hang in there" but you're already doing that!

Cheers,

Bone

Hahahaha! Oh my word. I can imagine just what happened . It is rather a graphic picture isn't it? Flipping cheap brushes. Forget the Veet - although they have some daft 'flavours' 'Lynx' is much kinder to the old 'pit' hair . I'm hanging in, and it's fun - this modelling lark is all about solving a puzzle - and each kit is a different puzzle. It's great stuff.

Phew! I was a little worried it might not be for you as I'm new to this too, but I really did find the Iwata a huge leap up from my cheap Chinese one. I'm so happy for you chap. It simply means your builds will get better and better.
Take it easy. All the best.
Johnny boy.

Thanks John. You're right - it's a huge step. It makes things much easier and adds a bit of confidence. The Chinese ones are like trying to shovel snow off a path while it's still snowing . I t hope you're right - I think they can *only* get better, but this will make it easier for that to happen. I'm having some challenges with thinner ratios right now. I know others will know this, but each individual paint of each individual brand seems to behave differently.
I can see where people will get to have a favourite brand and 'recipe'. I'm getting there with Agama, Tamiya, Mr Hobby Color (Aqueous) and Hataka. The poor old Humbrol I used to love so much isn't doing very well in the 'spray' stakes, but it's great for brush painting.

That's amazing sounds like something I would do. So glad it's not just me.

Nice one Tony.

:)

That's a relief John! I had thought it was just me . I had absolutely no idea how to perform, basically, four functions with two hands.

The result was a bit messy (well, Johnsons should have better tops on their Baby Powder!), but I got what I needed - a good joint with a 'filler' component.

This 'CA and talc' idea is something I'm sure I read way back in the late 70's in an English modelling book. It had a JPS lotus on the cover and the modeller was well known for 'Airfix Magazine' of the time style kit-bashing.

The wing was back on and smooth - so as you say - a nice one! I was worried at the time..

It's fighting hard, but you are definitely winning this one.

Thanks John I know a lot of the fight is my own learning experience, but you're right, I feel I'm winning. They won't be as good as I'd hoped, but this is my first WIP and first real set of builds in a long time, so any result is well, a result!

Thanks for the positive comment and thanks for looking .

Ok, I'm off to try spraying some red...update soon.
Happy modelling and have a great weekend, summer/winter solstice,
Tony

Edited for dyslexic fumbling.

[Rob G]

I'm sitting here shaking my head in amazement. I'm not one for chucking kits out, but this one... it would'a gone by now. Good onya for persevering!

Talc is important - stops chafing &c.

Keep on going Tony, the end is nigh!

(In the nicest possible way.)

[amblypygid]

I reckon you've made this kit six times over, Tony. You're a marvel; any one of your mishaps would have had me dumping the kit in the bin, accompanied by some choice Anglo-Saxon. Keep going!

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Jesus Tony what a saga!

[TonyTiger66]

I'm sitting here shaking my head in amazement. I'm not one for chucking kits out, but this one... it would'a gone by now. Good onya for persevering!

Talc is important - stops chafing &c.

Keep on going Tony, the end is nigh!

(In the nicest possible way.)

Thanks Rob, very kind words . Oooh the chafing, makes my loomin thrums and nudgers burn, and my port wangle, well, that often needs talc:

https://youtu.be/bJj3JeZVirw

Best regards

Tony

[TonyTiger66]

I reckon you've made this kit six times over, Tony. You're a marvel; any one of your mishaps would have had me dumping the kit in the bin, accompanied by some choice Anglo-Saxon. Keep going!

Thanks Chris! I've managed to revert to the old Anglo-Saxon only once, and that was this week. These little blighters have minds of their own, I'm sure if it! Then again there's every chance that by now they've sent me stark staring mad, but somehow, it's still fun .

The mishap of all mishaps is yet to be shown in these pages....watch this space...

Tony

[TonyTiger66]

Jesus Tony what a saga!

That word keeps cropping up Sarge! Tiny kits with so few parts, heaven help me when I start the Valom Fokker VII/3M. That's to be my next non GB WIP. Amodel here, a Roden on the go, Valom next. Yup, certifiable !

It's all nearly over....

ATB

Tony

[TonyTiger66]

Hello model makers!

This is just a quick note. My updates seem to be (sadly) weekly at the moment as it's the school holidays and we have 'teen' events going on. I've been doing a bit of cooking, DVD making and so on.

Modelling has slowed a little but a quick summary:

I sprayed the I-16 and UTI-4 with Hataka A-11 green. I know it may not be absolutely right for Spain, but I really like how it looks. With lots of sunshine and the rain in Spain falling mainly on....the....planes....

I'm sure they may have looked this shade of green at some point:

The red is 'Red Madder' by Gunze Sangyo (Aqueous). I'm exceptionally pleased with both paints, they both sprayed beautifully. I had tried Tamiya red a couple of times and it seemed gritty and was drying in the tip of the airbrush a lot. It may have gone off,or maybe I had mixed an incorrect amount of thinners in? Anyway, here they are prior the the cowls being painted black. Black. BLACK!!!! Cough.

I did make a blunder, as usual ..

I have to get used to the fact that the paint is in s cup on top of the airbrush, unlike years ago when I was spraying classic cars and it was in s sealed container below.

Enthusiastic swaying if the airbrush resulted in me slopping a dollop of paint out of the top of the airbrush onto the UTI-4:

I redisted all temptation to wipe it off and simply left it, to sand if off later. I'm not sure if that's the best approach when this happens; what have others done when this happens?

I sprayed the undersides with Agama 'Polish Light Blue'. It may seem an odd choice, but I have seen a picture somewhere in the Internet of an original fragment of the underside of a Spanish I-16. There were two layers of blue paint visible and one was very light indeed. I tried Humbrol 65, the Hataka Russian Blue, Agama RLM 65 and all looked too dark, so Polish Light Blue it was. I have had this paint 13 years and I noticed it had gone a little lumpy. I thinned it with just a couple of drops of tap water and got it to *just* work well enough for me.

I must buy some new paints this next week. I normally buy a bulk lot if Agama from Hadar Hobby in Warsaw and I think it's going to have to happen...oh the expense...and the waiting, but it's worth it

I next sprayed the cowls with Tamiya Matt black. Black. Bla...I was really surprised at how incredibly Matt it came out:

A bit too Matt for these aircraft, but very nice for a 'night' scheme on e.g. a Boulton Paul Defiant or Beaufighter...a mental note has been made.

I decided a light misting of Alclad II black gloss laquer would look appropriate on the cowls. I have it s good shake, opened the quite large bottle and tried to squeeze some drops into the airbrush cup. Nothing would come out! So I squoze harder.

There was a

Pop.

And black laquer paint splashed out over everything:

And:

:poo:

And:

Not to mention:

Black. Black! BLACK! BLACK!!!!!!

https://youtu.be/IIW9sL-Yf6Q

I have spent two days and two bottles of laquer thinners cleaning my work table, paints, the floor, my chair. I was wearing shorts and I still have BLACK!!! on my legs. I've sent off to BNA ModelWorld to get some more thinners to get some more BLACK!!! off of places like that.

Meanwhile I've used up nearly all my ModelMaster paint remover, once again stripping all the paint off of these two models to get the BLACK!!! Ha ha ha haaaa, ha haaaa, the BLACK!!! off of them.

Ahem.

I won't subject you to more pictures of paint stripping. In the next episode of this, by now, situation comedy, we'll see what I can spill, break or otherwise ruin next!

Thanks for reading and for your support and kind comments

I promise to try harder next time

Tony

[lunarhighway]

what a battlefield! black indeed! don't give up

Edited June 22, 2016 by lunarhighway

[CedB]

The Saga continues!

Tony did that bottle have a seal on it inside the cap? I had the same problem with the Stynylrez primer (although it didn't go all over the place, luckily).

I hope the clean up goes OK, you were getting on so well...

[Rob G]

... there is nowt to say.

I do hope that things change for the better soon.

[TonyTiger66]

Hi Ced. Many thanks, yes it was going well until the Black thing happened .

I've seen it as an opportunity to rectify some things I was going to live with. I've dropped the elevators on the UTI-4 as, of course, the tail planes etc. broke off.

Elevators removed:

This time I can wire the horizontal stabilisers on for once and all.

That will only leave one not wired on the I-16....

There's always something positive can come out of such things.

It wasn't a seal on this occasion; Alclad provide a ball bearing in the bottle to aid with mixing. The problem is once the bottl is inverted the ball bearing can effectively totally block the nozzle. I only figured out that this was what had happened when I found the ball bearing in that quagmire of black.

It happened with their white primer too, twice but with less dramatic results and I had wondered why. Doh!

Their nozzles/fit are also, suspect. I even tried taking the ball bearing out of the primer bottle and super glueing the nozzle on:

But it still falls out, even without a ball bearing in there. I don't know if this is a quality control issue. I'm going to drop them an email as this all strikes me as slightly poor design. It's fortunate that these models are so simple in outline, if this accident had occurred on e.g. a detailed model ship, (e.g.just spraying a funnel) it would have been truly disastrous, and even more costly than it has been.

From now on I'll take the nozzles out of Alclad, shake them up with the top on and ball bearing inside, then use a syringe or dropper to transfer paint to the airbrush. I hope my mistake here helps others to avoid making it

I think I've managed to get away with not stripping all the paint off the I-16, as Stynyrez has gone on the wings nicely:

But the UTI-4 is truly a mess. I tried to do just sections:

But it wouldn't have it:

I know you like Valom Ced, so here's a peek at what I'm looking forward to starting once these are done:

Now that's what I call box-art! Looking forward to painting that one. If it goes well I'll also buy their model of the 'Southern Cross'. The real thing is only around 8 miles away so it will be easy to get detail photographs!

I think it will be far easier than these and I've learned so much from you and all the others through this build. Plus through my own blunders !

The three Lagg 3's are going very well, I haven't had time to put a progress report up on the WIP because of all the mess and clear up. I think that Popeye and the UTI will both be green again by tomorrow, with touches of red the day after

ATB

Tony

[TonyTiger66]

... there is nowt to say.

I do hope that things change for the better soon.

Thanks Rob So do I! I think it might be wise for me to start wearing a lucky rabbits foot? ?

I'm not beaten yet.

Best regards

Tony