Foxbat Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 As usual I've gone a bit overboard with kits for a group build, but this time I might actually finish one or two. I have an Akan paint set for late war Russian attack/bomber aircraft so while I'm taking a comfort break from the Toldi, this is going to be a very public test mule for how they work. I picked up this kit while I was in my LMS looking for artillery and suitable Russian green paint. It is the typical HB Easy Kit in that it combines a low number of toy like huge parts for the main airframe with some really nice moulding on the detail (hollow exhausts and intakes for example). Here are some pictures: Note the green/black colour scheme on the box is only relevant for the first 80 aircraft operating before August 1943, so my paints are fine, especially given the decals are for a famous aircraft that became operational in late 1944. The Moskva looks to be the wrong colour, but since alternative decals are non-existent, I'm just going to live with it. This is the correct scheme for those markings: http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/tu-2/misos/moskva32/moskva32.htm Finally, here are the paints. I have heard good things about colour accuracy and they seem to brush OK, so I have high hopes. Let's rock Andy 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 What an intresting way of moulding the fuselage, Looking forward to seeing this built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 (edited) I have this kit, so I shall be watching this with great interest. I've done a bit of research on the Tu-2 (for a book) so if you have any questions, please let me know. As you're probably aware, if you do nothing else to enhance this model, you will need new machine guns. Good luck with the build! Regards, Jason Edited May 30, 2016 by Learstang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 30, 2016 Author Share Posted May 30, 2016 (edited) I have this kit, so I shall be watching this with great interest. I've done a bit of research on the Tu-2 (for a book) so if you have any questions, please let me know. As you're probably aware, if you do nothing else to enhance this model, you will need new machine guns. Good luck with the build! Regards, Jason They are beyond basic but given the nature of the gunners stations and undercarriage bays, I was just going to go OOB until I got to paint. I'm sure there's a good model lurking in there somewhere, but I've given myself way too much to do in this GB to lavish the time it needs to bring it out. One question though - none of the profiles I've seen show the wheels, and all the photographs I've seen are in black and white. Were aircraft wheels already the standard green we know today at that stage, and if not, what would you recommend? Cheers, Andy Edited May 30, 2016 by Foxbat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted June 1, 2016 Author Share Posted June 1, 2016 Given the nature of the beast, it didn't take long to get it looking like an aeroplane. I'm hugely impressed with the Akan paint - they brush smoothly, give good coverage and wash off the brush easily and completely when you're finished. The best acrylics I've used so far. This is the cockpit painted and installed, and the gunners positions filled with black to give an illusion of hidden depths. I've left a ring of interior colour round the edge of the black but I'm not sure howmuch you'll see or if it will help the illusion. Oddly, given how well moulded the rest of the kit is, the top surfaces are a fractin of a mm bigger than the bottom giving a noticeable seam down both sides. Easy to fix, but probably not the easy the box meant This is one of the gun positions with the glazing in place. Won't win any prizes, but looks adequate to my eye. More later. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runeha Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 (edited) The pitot tube on the canopy is very overdimensioned. If something - replace this. Here's mine built som time ago Edited June 1, 2016 by runeha 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Where did you get the paints from ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted June 1, 2016 Author Share Posted June 1, 2016 The pitot tube on the canopy is very overdimensioned. If something - replace this. Here's mine built som time ago Oh, that's very nice. Hope mine comes out that well. I'll see what I can do with the pitot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted June 1, 2016 Author Share Posted June 1, 2016 (edited) Where did you get the paints from ? I've had them for a while now so I think I got them from the Greek place because they were the only European supplier with them in stock at the time. If I was buying them now I would just go to Coastal Craft here: http://www.coastalcraftmodelsuk.com/akan_paints.php You want sets 47317 for 1943-45 bomber colours, 47306 for late war fighters and 47307 for vehicles. Set 47311 plus a generic black should do for early war schemes. Shame they included red in that set instead of black. Edited June 1, 2016 by Foxbat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Greek guys don't have the paints I need, Coastal Craft don't have a proper web store - printing a form in XXI century is a nonsense. I guess I'd wait for another guest from Russia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted June 1, 2016 Author Share Posted June 1, 2016 Greek guys don't have the paints I need, Coastal Craft don't have a proper web store - printing a form in XXI century is a nonsense. I guess I'd wait for another guest from Russia Ah, didn't realise that about CC. Kitshobby on eBay has a lot of sets and even with international postage they work out slightly cheaper than UK prices. I think I got mu Su-30 set from there. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/KISTHOBBY/_i.html?_nkw=akan&submit=Search&_sid=1112426952 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Stuart Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 (edited) Email to Coastal Command. He is easier to deal with than his website suggests - and I didn't use any forms from his site. IIRC, I paid him using PayPal. Edited June 1, 2016 by Robert Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Foxbat, regarding the wheels, they should be painted green. I use Testors Model Master Medium Green - it seems to me to be about the correct colour. Nice work so far! Also, nice model, runeha! Regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 That pitot does look a lot like a periscope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Nice, rapid progress Foxbat Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted June 2, 2016 Author Share Posted June 2, 2016 (edited) Added the (one piece) engine nacelles and went for the first coat of real paint since the underside is essentially now complete. Have to say the paint brushed on quickly and easily, gave decent coverage and dried very quickly. Still very impressed with it. What you can see here is one coat of grey in the wheel wells and bomb aimer's position, one coat of blue grey across the undersides and two coats of white on the fins (because it's white and that never covers first time). All brushed onto unprimed plastic. Edited June 2, 2016 by Foxbat 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaCee26 Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 One question though - none of the profiles I've seen show the wheels, and all the photographs I've seen are in black and white. Were aircraft wheels already the standard green we know today at that stage, and if not, what would you recommend? Hi Andy, In Beijing museum they are green. I got recently an Encore kit (ICM plastics) dirty cheap. I have thought to use it as a detail set for the HobbyBoss kit knowing it as a dog to build. Cheers, AaCee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted June 2, 2016 Author Share Posted June 2, 2016 Hi Andy, In Beijing museum they are green. I got recently an Encore kit (ICM plastics) dirty cheap. I have thought to use it as a detail set for the HobbyBoss kit knowing it as a dog to build. Cheers, AaCee Thanks for the confirmation. If I had planned this then I might have gone for one of the ICM kits too, especially since there are so many available on eBay, This was an impulse purchase in my LMS though. I suspect it had been there a while as the price sticker was a bit faded and also a bit lower than the current online price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 Had a bit of a wobble when the green and grey wouldn't cover properly. A stiff talking too and a couple of days storage upside down to persuade the pigment to re-integrate seems to have helped,so tonight I'm here. All brown upper wings are per the profile, one of the reasons I chose the scheme. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Stuart Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Give that paint a really good shaking ... I'm using Akan 4BO, and if I don't shake it, there's a distinct yellow ocher stripe at the bottom of the pot. That reappears after, about, oh, maybe, 10 minutes. Shaking the pot helps a lot. Something to watch while you are shaking the pot ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted June 15, 2016 Author Share Posted June 15, 2016 A little bit more progress tonight. The undercarriage is painted and attached. I also put another wash of blue on the underside then gave it a light going over with a sanding stick to bring out some detail. Those white dots were the undercoat for the navigation lights which have now been added. I had to stop and thing about markings. The kit supplied one is for White 32 'Moskva' but the name is in black instead of red and white so won't show against the dark grey camo. A quick search of Soviet Warplanes turned up an unusual scheme (I like those) that had the same camo as mine, but with the bort number at the bottom of the fin and a smaller than usual star. I found the necessary decals in the spares box (courtesy of an An-2) and slapped the first couple on. Still a lot of detail parts to finish, but definitely looking like an aircraft now. I started on the canopy framing, but my masking fluid has gone a bit thick, and despite the frames being quite easy to follow, doing the whole lot freehand with two or three different colours on each piece is making my eyes go curly, especially as the interior grey is going onto bare plastic, and clear plastic really doesn't like paint. I'll get there though Never been this close to complete this early in a GB, so I'm not stopping now Andy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 This hit the buffers trying to paint the canopy framing. I found some masks, but begrudged paying the same for them as I did for the kit. Found an alternative at a good price, so there's now s good chance this one will also cross the finish line 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 Excellent! Is that a T-26 m.1937 I see lurking in the background? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted August 30, 2016 Author Share Posted August 30, 2016 Is that a T-26 m.1937 I see lurking in the background? It is. In fact it's the stripy one also to be found in the Gallery of this very GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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