Iceberg and After

[amblypygid]

If I may ask, Cookie: I used Lifecolor with my airbrush for the first time at the weekend and it sprayed beautifully neat from the bottle at low pressure (US neutral gray). Tried the same trick with some Olive Drab and it was clogsville until I added some thinner. Do you find that consistency changes much from one color to another, or do you routinely thin them? 

[giemme]

Yes, I remember your home brewed Lifecolor thinner

Plain Future is a different thing, though admittedly I don't use real Future but a sort of an Italian equivalent - it may behave differently.

 

That said, I don't think you can match a gloss enamel with any acrylic

 

Ciao

[giemme]

4 hours ago, amblypygid said:

If I may ask, Cookie: I used Lifecolor with my airbrush for the first time at the weekend and it sprayed beautifully neat from the bottle at low pressure (US neutral gray). Tried the same trick with some Olive Drab and it was clogsville until I added some thinner. Do you find that consistency changes much from one color to another, or do you routinely thin them? 

Chiming in while waiting for Cookie to answer: as with any paint, there are variations between different colors of the same brand; however, I always thin any acrylic paint, even more so with Lifecolor. I tend to spray multiple light coats, and let the paint self level (again, pretty evident effect with Lifecolor)

 

HTH

 

Ciao

[corsaircorp]

On ‎09‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 8:07 AM, Grey Beema said:

Looking good there Cookie, I really love the job  on the Corsairs.  Good luck for the Seafire which will seem tiny in comparison.  

 

What comes after the Seafire?  BPF Avenger? BPF Hellcat?

 

Save my seat I need to get more popcorn..

Well it look that way !!

The Corsair is let's say a little bit more brutish ??

Hello Cookie

Is that astonishing ?? I Reaaaallllyyyy like your thread !

Very well done !

Congratulations !!

Sincerely.

CC

[Cookenbacher]

1 hour ago, giemme said:

That said, I don't think you can match a gloss enamel with any acrylic

It wasn't really the finish that caused me to prefer the Colourcoats enamels, but the color itself - they are just so much more accurate than anything else I've tried. That being said, it is hard for a gloss acrylic to beat a gloss enamel for finish! (but Lifecolor is very nice at self levelling with the Future concoction)

 

6 hours ago, amblypygid said:

If I may ask, Cookie: I used Lifecolor with my airbrush for the first time at the weekend and it sprayed beautifully neat from the bottle at low pressure (US neutral gray). Tried the same trick with some Olive Drab and it was clogsville until I added some thinner. Do you find that consistency changes much from one color to another, or do you routinely thin them? 

Yes, every color seems to act a little different.  I had a gloss blue (not during this build) that was already so thin, that even with no thinner added, I had to really back off the pressure in order to get it to spray well. The Future trick works really well with Lifecolor and Vallejo, I think it's because it thins while maintaining some cohesiveness so that the paint doesn't just 'spider' everywhere. I've also had luck using airbrush medium as a thinner (I think for much the same reason), but the Future mix is cheaper.

 

1 hour ago, giemme said:

Chiming in while waiting for Cookie to answer: as with any paint, there are variations between different colors of the same brand; however, I always thin any acrylic paint, even more so with Lifecolor. I tend to spray multiple light coats, and let the paint self level (again, pretty evident effect with Lifecolor)

Agreed! Lifecolor works great in thin coats - sometimes I'll spray a coat and then just hit it with some air from the airbrush (without paint) and then immediately hit it with the next coat and repeat until it's how I want it. But be careful, if you over do it, the coat will dry before it's levelled and you'll end up with a bump or two, but if you get 'into the groove' of it, you can watch the paint level out then dry right before your eyes - pretty fun.

The first time I used Lifecolor (on the Tornado ECR below), I was a little heavy handed, but I can report that even when 'pooled' it will self level and dry very smooth. If I remember correctly, this was around the time we met here on Britmodeller Giorgio!

 

49 minutes ago, corsaircorp said:

The Corsair is let's say a little bit more brutish ??

It's true, it's true, as your wonderful pics show CC! What kits are those? It makes me want to get started on a TSS Corsair.

 

Building it side by side with Hellcats makes the Seafire seem almost like a kayak - something you wear rather than ride, while the Hellcat seems almost like a tractor, with the seat setting up top, high on this mechanical beast. This may sound like I'm mocking the Hellcat, but I'm not (well, a little - come on, it's gigantic), because there is a method to the madness: the engine is huge, and the pilot needs to be able to see over it to land safely on an aircraft carrier, so they're perched way up top in a fuselage that slopes away in every direction.

[Grey Beema]

I have a Seafire III, Corsair II and Hellcat II lined up together in the cabinet.  There is just enough space (I think) for a Firefly between them.  It is interesting to note the size of the two American built fighters that were basically built around the P&W 2800, large fuel tanks and armour with the Seafire, designed as an interceptor, with an engine designed for racing with a small front cross section and small fuel tank for aerodynamics.  

 

Until they hung the larger external tanks on the Seafires they were largely used as Fleet CAP but even then the Indefatigable & Implacable had to turn into the wind every half hour to launch and recover the Seafire against the hour cycle time for the Hellcat and Corsair..

 

PS I tend to use Xtracrylics for my camouflage colours.  I like the colour match and the smooth shiney finish..

Edited January 16, 2018 by Grey Beema

[amblypygid]

Thanks, Giemme, Cookie, v helpful guide to future Lifecolor experiments. I find thinning very difficult to judge by eye, so I'm always looking for a standard formula on which I can rely (or at least that is more reliable than my eyesight!)

[giemme]

7 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

If I remember correctly, this was around the time we met here on Britmodeller Giorgio!

I think you're right  

 

31 minutes ago, amblypygid said:

I find thinning very difficult to judge by eye, so I'm always looking for a standard formula on which I can rely (or at least that is more reliable than my eyesight!)

It takes a bit of experience and experimentation; a good starting point is to thin paint to a milk-like consistence; once you get the hang of it and learn how a certain paint behaves, then you get into more variations (like thinning a lot more than that).

It's all good fun!    

 

Ciao

[Beard]

8 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Building it side by side with Hellcats makes the Seafire seem almost like a kayak - something you wear rather than ride, while the Hellcat seems almost like a tractor [...]

Of course, one looks good in a Spitfire...

[corsaircorp]

Hello Cookie,

The Corsair is an Hobbycraft one but heavily modified.... Painted as an operation Tungsten aircraft

The Seafire II is a Tamiya fuselage with the MDC resin kit, depicted in the MTO

Lots of fun ! indeed !

Will start a pair of Hellcat but I'm waiting for the Sea Fury too... So Which one to choose ...

Sincerely.

CC

[Cookenbacher]

6 hours ago, amblypygid said:

Thanks, Giemme, Cookie, v helpful guide to future Lifecolor experiments. I find thinning very difficult to judge by eye, so I'm always looking for a standard formula on which I can rely (or at least that is more reliable than my eyesight!)

It can be frustrating with variations between paints even within the same range, so that every rule of thumb has caveats. One thing that helped me, that I read somewhere on the net, is to place a drop of thinned paint on a vertical plastic surface (like a plastic mixing cup) and watch how it runs down. If it runs freely leaving an opaque trail, then it's about ready.

Another thing I've just started using is a MAC valve attached to my airbrush hose with a quick connect 'above' it, so that it can be used with all my airbrushes. A lot of the fancy expensive airbrushes come with one attached to the airbrush itself, but the inline one is cheap and can be used for any airbrush. If I've over thinned my paint, I can just dial the pressure down a little and get it to spray how I want. It's really just a way to cheat! In fact, I've gotten in the habit now of dialing the pressure around and doing quite a bit of test spraying with each new color change in order to get everything 'dialed in' nicely before applying any paint to the model.

I think it's easier to adjust pressure with the MAC valve than with the regulator at the compressor, because any pressure change is instant - the regulator has to open its own valve to change the pressure within its trapped volume and you have to wait a few seconds to see where you're actually at, plusthe MAC valve is conveniently located right next to the airbrush. I have my compressor regulator set around 30 psi, and then can adjust the MAC valve to spray anywhere under that, down to zero.

 

5 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

Will start a pair of Hellcat but I'm waiting for the Sea Fury too... So Which one to choose ...

It is a golden age that we live in!

 

7 hours ago, Grey Beema said:

I tend to use Xtracrylics for my camouflage colours.  I like the colour match and the smooth shiney finish..

I've had trouble finding Xtracrylics here in the states, and then when they can be found, you have to be careful of 'shelf sitters'.

 

7 hours ago, Grey Beema said:

Until they hung the larger external tanks on the Seafires they were largely used as Fleet CAP but even then the Indefatigable & Implacable had to turn into the wind every half hour to launch and recover the Seafire against the hour cycle time for the Hellcat and Corsair..

It is pretty amazing that the Seafire even worked in my opinion. A short range interceptor adapted for carrier use seems like an iffy proposition, but Mitchell's design rose to the occasion once again, and with its famed performance still largely intact. Once again, not to denigrate the USN designs, as you say, they had a range more useful for Pacific operations, and I shudder to think of the operational losses if the USN operated the Seafire in the same numbers as the Corsair and Hellcat.

 

5 hours ago, Beard said:

Of course, one looks good in a Spitfire...

But then there's that, all the cool fighter pilots would rather be seen in a Spitfire, that's for sure.

[giemme]

7 hours ago, Beard said:

Of course, one looks good in a Spitfire...

Of course!  

 

Ciao

[amblypygid]

4 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

In fact, I've gotten in the habit now of dialing the pressure around and doing quite a bit of test spraying with each new color change in order to get everything 'dialed in' nicely before applying any paint to the model.

 

I find I'm always adjusting pressure (with a similar set-up) from one paint to another. Lord knows what pressure I'm spraying at; I always judge pressure by hand (or cheek) and then by how the paint behaves when spraying. I think I usually operate at below 10psi

[Cookenbacher]

6 hours ago, amblypygid said:

 

I find I'm always adjusting pressure (with a similar set-up) from one paint to another. Lord knows what pressure I'm spraying at; I always judge pressure by hand (or cheek) and then by how the paint behaves when spraying. I think I usually operate at below 10psi

 

My MAC valve makes about five turns from full close to full open, so I usually go full closed and count about 2 and a half turns and go from there as that should be near 15 psi, my usual starting point. (my regulator is helpfully labeled in Mega Pascals - so I have it at 0.2 MPa ~ 30 psi, and I'm assuming the MAC valve has a linear opening characteristic).

I usually spray regular top coats around 12-15 psi, and then lower it as I thin the paint for post shading ending up around 10 psi.

 

[Cookenbacher]

Oh, and the above post is in no way meant to be prescriptive, I just got on a roll talking about airbrushes. Hopefully, there is something useful someone can glean from all that!

[Bedders]

Nothing really. Just loving this thread!

[amblypygid]

1 hour ago, Cookenbacher said:

Hopefully, there is something useful someone can glean from all that!

 

Definitely, Cookie! I kind of know what works for me, but it doesn't always work, so it's reassuring to see that I'm not doing something thoroughly inadvisable.

[Cookenbacher]

I ordered a Silhouette Portrait cutting machine today - a decision heavily influenced by @CedB and @giemme. The machine won't come for few days, but I downloaded the free version of the drawing software and whipped up some BPF Roundels and the codes needed for the Hellcat builds.

Like anything, it took a little time to get up to speed, but I think they're lots of possibilities here.

I'm sure there will be another learning curve when the cutter arrives and I actually attempt to cut the masks!

[Stew Dapple]

I look forward to seeing how you get on with that mate

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Procopius]

1 hour ago, Cookenbacher said:

I ordered a Silhouette Portrait cutting machine today

Have I mentioned what a great friend I consider you, Cookie?

[CedB]

4 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

I'm sure there will be another learning curve when the cutter arrives and I actually attempt to cut the masks!

Good move Cookie, I don't think you'll be disappointed! Those masks look great - how did you do the ident letters? Do you have the font installed?

 

A few tips if I may:

1. Try the BlueTooth connection (if you want the cutter away from the computer) but I couldn't get it to work with my MacBook. YMMV. I just clear a space and plug it in when required.
2. Have a look at that video for setting up custom settings for your masking paper (at about 6:20; click 'more' in the description for Tamiya settings). The thickness, depth of cut and cut speed all effect the end result and I'm still trying the best settings.
3. Try a test cut (I know you'll do this) on your paper and adjust the cut settings to your preference. Page 79 in the Studio Guide. DO NOT be tempted to try a test cut without understanding the depth / cutter setting; I have a cutting mat with my test cut 'engraved' into it now.
4. I found that, with the cheaper mask paper I used initially, that not using a cutting mat allowed the paper to move in the rollers (I probably got the thickness setting wrong). Using the mat also allows you to re-use bits of paper you have lying around - it 'looks' for the edge with its camera thingy.
5. If you're not using a mat (like in the video) make sure you have the paper orientation set so that the paper is held by both the outer rollers otherwise it'll wiggle as it gets cut (ask me how I know)

That's about it. I've still to try the PixScan mat (sorry) and using it for cutting camo templates but it won't be long I'm sure.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on

[Cookenbacher]

12 hours ago, Stew Dapple said:

I look forward to seeing how you get on with that mate

Thanks Stew. I just found your P.7 thread (I wish the 'following' option would send a notification whenever a 'followee' starts a new thread) and off to have a look.

 

OK, back now - sorry for the delay folks.

 

9 hours ago, CedB said:

A few tips if I may:

1. Try the BlueTooth connection (if you want the cutter away from the computer) but I couldn't get it to work with my MacBook. YMMV. I just clear a space and plug it in when required.
2. Have a look at that video for setting up custom settings for your masking paper (at about 6:20; click 'more' in the description for Tamiya settings). The thickness, depth of cut and cut speed all effect the end result and I'm still trying the best settings.
3. Try a test cut (I know you'll do this) on your paper and adjust the cut settings to your preference. Page 79 in the Studio Guide. DO NOT be tempted to try a test cut without understanding the depth / cutter setting; I have a cutting mat with my test cut 'engraved' into it now.
4. I found that, with the cheaper mask paper I used initially, that not using a cutting mat allowed the paper to move in the rollers (I probably got the thickness setting wrong). Using the mat also allows you to re-use bits of paper you have lying around - it 'looks' for the edge with its camera thingy.
5. If you're not using a mat (like in the video) make sure you have the paper orientation set so that the paper is held by both the outer rollers otherwise it'll wiggle as it gets cut (ask me how I know)

That's about it. I've still to try the PixScan mat (sorry) and using it for cutting camo templates but it won't be long I'm sure.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on

Thanks Ced, I was hoping that you'd post some advice! I'll take it all to heart - the cutter doesn't arrive until Monday, and the vinyl not until Tuesday - so I'll have a day where I practice with plain paper or something.

 

9 hours ago, CedB said:

Good move Cookie, I don't think you'll be disappointed! Those masks look great - how did you do the ident letters? Do you have the font installed?

I traced the ident letters from the decal instructions, then blew up the very imperfect results and used them as guides for drawing them by hand using a very fine grid (and 'snap to grid' function enabled). It wasn't difficult, because all of the angles are 45 deg. A different solution will be required for RAF codes as they are more like 'normal' curvy fonts.

 

12 hours ago, Procopius said:

Have I mentioned what a great friend I consider you, Cookie?

What size are Blenheim roundels?

[giemme]

Cookie, I'll second all Ced said, especially the use of a cutting mat.

 

What kind of vynil have you ordered?

 

Ciao

[Cookenbacher]

I ordered some Orocal 810 and 631. Those are the two I saw mentioned for model masking.

[CedB]

14 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

I traced the ident letters from the decal instructions, then blew up the very imperfect results and used them as guides for drawing them by hand using a very fine grid (and 'snap to grid' function enabled).

Thanks Cookie - great tip, I'll (try) to remember!

Be careful cutting paper and make sure the thickness is set - it was cutting paper that caused my cutting mat error