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Zvezda 1:72 Su-39 Frogfoot +++ FINISHED +++


Jasonb13

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1 hour ago, Jasonb13 said:

Thanks Peter, I will be airbrushing it, and I got the thinner as well as I heard it needs to be thinned. 

 

I'm I'm only going with that primer so I can try black basing, and I don't really need to do that on the ordinance, so I should be able to get all that stuff primed and painted using my normal Halfords primer. So with luck it'll all be done and finished by the time the primer arrives for the airframe. We'll see!

I keep meaning to try Halfords for a primer, big cans and a touch cheaper, what one do you use? Thanks 

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I nearly always use Halford's Grey Primer. I don't bother with the Plastic Primer, the 'standard' one works just as well and is bigger for not a lot more money. It's always done the job for me.

 

I use the Halford's White Primer if it suits the colour I'll be painting, in fact if the primer goes well I've used the primer to be the paint as well (e.g. for US modern wheel wells for example, which are white).

 

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Well, I finally got my hands on the Primer today, and I can safely say I'm impressed with it...

 

 

7a492e78-877c-4434-8c9b-2b580701069d.jpg

 

 

It went on really well (in fact, it was almost hard for me to feck it up, try as I might) and it's a lovely finish. I'm waiting for it to fully dry, but as a bonus it doesn't look like there will be that many areas to touch up with more sanding either! And it even cleaned out of the airbrush well, though that might be due to the 'hotness' of the thinner I got with it.

 

Next step is the aforementioned additional filling/sanding, and then a touch up of primer, and then the next phase of black basing, the 'marble' coat...

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Thanks lads...

 

As usual, the primer showed up a few little seams that hadn't gone away yet, but only a few. So I did a bit more filling and sanding, and then topped up the primer again, and I'm happy with how it looks now. I have to say, considering the bad fit of the kit, I'm quite happy with the job I did on the seams, so that's good. And another advantage of black primer is it easily covers any colour of filler (sometimes I use Liquid Green Stuff, which can be tough to cover with a light-coloured primer).

 

Anyhow, the next step is trying the 'marble coat' for the light blue undersides, we'll see how that goes!

 

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So, here's my first attempt at a marble coat...

 

 

a8eb0bf8-82ec-4471-99e0-731063cc0714.jpg

 

 

It took quite a while, but I think I'm happy enough with it. I'll know for sure when the 'blend coat' is done (tonight or tomorrow maybe) and see how it looks then, hopefully it'll look well, light blue with some tonal variations. I'll say one thing, it's a great method to practice using an airbrush! :)

 

Once the blend coat is done on the bottom, I have to repeat the whole process for 3 camo colours on the top, as well as some bits of red/green etc. here and there, and then it'll be the gloss coat. I also have to remember to do the undercarriage etc.!

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And here's the 'blend coat'. It's not as good as I'd hoped, but it's decent enough and there are definitely tonal variations to the light blue, it's not just a solid lump of colour...

 

 

7e128a2e-809d-462b-bc53-9417b561f2fd.jpg

 

 

However, the eagle eyed among you might have spotted some marks on the edge of the fuselage in front of the front wheel well. I started to mask off the paint so I could do the upper colours and the paint lifted, bugger! Am hoping a coat of Klear might help, but I'll have to break out the airbrush for more light blue again anyhow... :(

 

2.5 weeks left, this is going to be tight...

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Well, I redid the paint that lifted, did a gloss coat over it to hopefully help it not lift, and also de-tacked the masking tape, and here's how it looks now...

 

 

1774ecd7-694c-43c9-8a27-4c27ae7d34cb.jpg

 

 

27d99407-3e40-40f0-bddc-a0447ae59001.jpg

 

 

I don't have the courage to see if the tape still lifts the paint, so I'll push that potential hassle down the road and worry about it later!

 

Next up is the three colour top camo, and I'm hoping to get at least two of those colours done today. I've never done freehand camo before, so I'm not certain how it will go, but I guess I'll just have to wing it. Wing it? See what I did there? Never mind... :) 

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Hmmm...

 

Managed to get the first two camo colours done. It wasn't easy though, my first time doing free hand camo was tough enough, but the airbrush started fighting me (tip dry etc.) and then the compressor started fighting me (constantly on, not sure why the auto-cut off wasn't working!) and then I even managed to spill paint onto the model, which I did my best to rescue before the thinner ate through the plastic! Anyhow, here's how it looks now:

 

 

f5a9ad86-59e0-4447-bec6-c17e113138df.jpg

 

 

276fb759-954b-4f10-89e5-368d1e84e678.jpg

 

 

You should be able to see the difference between the light blue and grey blue on the wings. And if you look closely at where the starboard wing meets the engine nacelle (especially near the back) you'll see where the paint was spilled. Not sure if I've gotten away with it or not, but I've run out of time for today. So I'll step away from the bench, and when I get back to it (*maybe* over the weekend) I'll see if I need to do more work on that section, or if I can go onto the final blue (covering whatever black is left).

 

I have a sinking feeling that I'm going to take away all the tape and see a whole lot of issues, but we'll see!

 

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Sorry to hear that you experienced Murphy a lot during your painting. Still, you achieved some great progress.

 

As Mr. Surfacer 1500 is solvent based, I am surprised that you experienced the paint peeling off. Did you wipe the model over with IPA or windex to remove any grease before the application of the primer.

 

I don't know what paint you are using, but it looks like acrylic to me. I think it could do with more thinning which also would help tip drying.

 

I hope things will go smother on the rest of your build.

Cheers, Peter

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Thanks Peter... It seems to be a fine balance between too thin (paint not giving coverage) and not thin enough (tip dry!). This is only my, what, 3rd airbrushed model, so it's still a steep learning curve.

 

Anyhow, I got the rest of the main painting done today. Got another coat of the dark blue done, and it looks a lot better, and got the green panels on the tail and wing tips done too...

 

 

a6e75ae7-9946-4ba7-9936-db2e52130a71.jpg

 

 

3c646f0d-78d6-42b6-b49e-42d99afcaaea.jpg

 

 

Thankfully, nearly all the tape came off without lifting paint. I say nearly, as unfortunately the front of the tail just below the green panel did lift (you can see it in both photos) so I'll need to touch that up. There are a couple of other areas to touch up too, but nothing too bad, that I can see tonight anyhow!

 

With look I'll have the painting touched-up and finished, and the first gloss coat on, by Tues or Wed. Two weeks to go! :)

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Thanks, I'm learning a lot, and happy enough with the results.

 

Had some luck this evening, the touch ups that needed to be done were doable with a good old hairy stick, so I didn't need to set up the airbrush.

 

So the airframe is now fully painted, including little details like landing lights, actuators, wheel wells, blade aerials etc. It's ready for the gloss coat, which will happen tomorrow night, and then I'll get the decals done on Wednesday night.

 

I also got started on the undercarriage and doors as well, so I am getting there. I'd be hopeful of finishing in time now, unless something goes badly wrong. After the decals it's another gloss coat, then an oil pin wash, and then a Matt coat and sticking all the various bits and pieces on (which will take a while on this model!). There will be no weathering bar the pin wash as any pics I can find of this aircraft show it was kept pretty clean for shows etc.

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No pics tonight, but gloss coat is done and drying, decals tomorrow night. Also got the undercarriage nearly done. Tomorrow, as well as the decals, I'll look at finishing painting the undercarriage, the main cannon, and a couple of other little pieces. Should get a couple of pics up tomorrow evening too...

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More done this evening! I now have the decals on...

 

 

d021c676-7c8e-4c50-beaf-cbaa95cc9c79.jpg

 

 

9d20c5fd-34c0-40a9-a630-fe098677905f.jpg

 

 

Thankfully, as can be seen, there aren't a lot of them, 13 in total! :)

 

I also have the undercarriage painted, and some pitots etc. painted too. The only thing left to paint is the cannon, and that's half done.

 

Next is a gloss coat, and then an oil panel wash, followed by a Matt coat and sticking on everything that's left (about 24 different pieces I reckon!).

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So, I got the second gloss coat done this evening, so next for the airframe is an oil panel wash (which I'm hoping to do subtle enough, and not too dark, but we'll see how that goes!) and then a matt coat.

 

I'm also at this stage of the build...

 

 

86fff591-cde7-4b89-b5c9-a6a67b70736b.jpg

 

 

Once that Matt coat is done, all of the above has to be stuck on, and we'll see how that goes too! :)

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Thanks! Yep, looking forward to getting it all on, I just hope it doesn't get too fiddly. I also have to resist the urge to rush and get it all done in one sitting, nothing worse than ruining a model in the last step!

 

8 days left in the GB, so I should be fine to have this finished, especially if I get the Oil wash done in the next couple of days...

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Getting close to have the model finished Jason! Looks very impressive with the painting completed and the decals on :thumbsup:

 

In regards to the paint, what paint are you using? Sounds like acrylic. If so do you use retarder when airbrushing?

 

Cheers, Peter

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Thanks Peter,

 

I followed your recommendation and bought a set of Akan paint for this build. It's says it's the 'water based' Acrylic, as opposed to their 'enamel based' Acrylic. I've thinned it with Mr. Colour Levelling Thinner which is quickly becoming my thinner of choice, and seems to work well wit the Akan paint, even though I think it's not really designed for water based paints.

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