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BF 109G-6 1/48 - My First Adult Build!


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1 hour ago, Oberleutnant said:

Next time I won't use a base coat and just paint straight onto primer.

As Mike Romeo said in his post yellow is best painted over white. It just seems to work better that way. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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  • 2 months later...

Bit of an update.

 

Slow progress and I'm fighting my way through the mottling.

 

I've gone on too dark now with the green marks - too dark with the second coat but its very hard to judge with a brush and stipple. 

 

Alittle unnatural now!

 

Oh well - keep going.

 

IMG_20180820_205329[1]

 

 

IMG_20180820_205343[1]

 

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That's really very good. Perhaps a tad too dark as you say but only just and once you have all the extra bits on and the decals it'll blend even more. Although it's only a little too dark when held against the printed page, without that page I'd never have known. For brush work that's a pretty wonderful job.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, KelT said:

That's really very good. Perhaps a tad too dark as you say but only just and once you have all the extra bits on and the decals it'll blend even more. Although it's only a little too dark when held against the printed page, without that page I'd never have known. For brush work that's a pretty wonderful job.

 

 

Thank you.

 

I reckon its pretty poor but for an amateur its acceptable.

 

Sometimes knowing when to stop is very important.

 

I decided what I had done was too dull and went for another layer too heavy!

 

Damn it!

 

I'm lightly going over the dark bits with a wet bud which is semi working.

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Oh I've done much, much worse with paints as a fellow amateur believe me. I possibly did better mottling than this as well at one point except it wasn't supposed to be mottled. At the time it was a cause for frustration and disappointment, quickly I came to appreciate the sheer amount of learning I derived from my errors, one kit provided more education than a dozen well done ones might. Now I'm not saying that your work is anything near that level of error but I am saying that since it's your first then you shouldn't place too much pressure on yourself and just enjoy the learning experience.

 

I found during my own tribulations that with a little oven cleaner you can go right back to the plastic as though you'd never even touched the model. You of course don't need to do that but my point is that nothing is irreversible (well almost nothing, leaving it too close to a fire might be a challenge to recover) it all depends on how far back you want to go.

 

Which paints did you use? A little Tamiya thinners or something like on a cotton bud would probably allow you to remove light coats, just don't press too hard or it goes through everything quickly.

 

The hardest thing to overcome is that feeling of "just wanting to get it over with". To me is was suggested I start something else and return to it but I didn't have anything else. In the end what worked was to give up on my expectations and simply treat the kit as something to learn as much as I could from regardless of the outcome. The final result was not too bad at all to be honest but by that point it was an unexpected benefit.

Edited by KelT
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Hi, and welcome to the show. The best thing you've done to work on your modelling skills is join this forum and post a build.  Some may not admit it, but there is a strange satisfaction of knowing people are looking at your work, and, even better, commenting on it.

I for one  have learned a lot since posting on here, the main thing being it is for ALL levels, and there is always something to pick up on, even when looking at stuff you wouldn't normally do.

Keep going, keep posting, do a Group Build especially (they make you want to finish something, most of the time!)

There's nowt I can add to the suggestions already made, but your brush mottling is looking good,  something I haven't succeeded satisfactorily with an airbrush yet, well, for me anyway.  

For the record I use Ultimate Grey primer sprayed out of the bottle with an airbrush, great stuff, and use Vallejo ModelAir which spray, generally, nicely out of the bottle. Translucent colours like yellows, reds, oranges and stuff like sand/stone colours are difficult to build up when you don't have the patience like me!

 

:goodjob:

 

Davey.

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Your mottling looks impressive, I´ll get to that stage sometime in the future. The best part is that the spine camouflage is a continous line, not having any "interruptions" (I hope you get what I´m saying, I can´t explain it better).

If you don´t mind me giving you a modelling tip (though you may already know it) passed on to me by Troy Smith, use more water when brush painting, it´ll take some more time to cover the area you desire, but you´ll end up with a smoother paint job.

I also had troubles with painting yellow, even when covering the area first with some light blue.

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8 hours ago, KelT said:

Oh I've done much, much worse with paints as a fellow amateur believe me. I possibly did better mottling than this as well at one point except it wasn't supposed to be mottled. At the time it was a cause for frustration and disappointment, quickly I came to appreciate the sheer amount of learning I derived from my errors, one kit provided more education than a dozen well done ones might. Now I'm not saying that your work is anything near that level of error but I am saying that since it's your first then you shouldn't place too much pressure on yourself and just enjoy the learning experience.

 

I found during my own tribulations that with a little oven cleaner you can go right back to the plastic as though you'd never even touched the model. You of course don't need to do that but my point is that nothing is irreversible (well almost nothing, leaving it too close to a fire might be a challenge to recover) it all depends on how far back you want to go.

 

Which paints did you use? A little Tamiya thinners or something like on a cotton bud would probably allow you to remove light coats, just don't press too hard or it goes through everything quickly.

 

The hardest thing to overcome is that feeling of "just wanting to get it over with". To me is was suggested I start something else and return to it but I didn't have anything else. In the end what worked was to give up on my expectations and simply treat the kit as something to learn as much as I could from regardless of the outcome. The final result was not too bad at all to be honest but by that point it was an unexpected benefit.

Morning.

 

Yes I perhaps do put a bit too much pressure on myself which is perhaps a least a little why this has taken me so long!

 

I'm okay with that though as I'm trying out as much as I can as a test best for future use but at the same time trying my absolute best.

 

I was rarely any good at art at school and when I was it took me ages! No change which is actually quite comforting. 

 

I'm using Vallejo water bases acrylics (Model Colour and Model Air). I find them pretty good although the many layers required can get tedious but I'm prepared to sacrifice that for the flexibility of the paint and lack of odour. 

 

I used a wet cotton wool bud last night and was able to take a bit of the dark off and it actually removed some the mark which made it look a little better although I'm going to need to do a few more grey and green blobs now.

 

Oh the fun!

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6 hours ago, Sturmovik said:

Your mottling looks impressive, I´ll get to that stage sometime in the future. The best part is that the spine camouflage is a continous line, not having any "interruptions" (I hope you get what I´m saying, I can´t explain it better).

If you don´t mind me giving you a modelling tip (though you may already know it) passed on to me by Troy Smith, use more water when brush painting, it´ll take some more time to cover the area you desire, but you´ll end up with a smoother paint job.

I also had troubles with painting yellow, even when covering the area first with some light blue.

Hello,

 

Thanks for the comments.

 

With the continuous line I did try free-hand but it looked dreadful so I used some tape in the end.

 

I had real trouble with the correct thickness of paint - way too wet and it was like water and then too thick!

 

The yellow bits towards the tale I actually missed off thinking they were part of the decal so had to add at a later date and it was really tricky putting it on top of existing multiple layers - actually sitting very proud!

 

It will tidy up though as the decal sits above and over the top of the yellow and will mask the dodgy bit!

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I too prefer Vallejo (Model Colour) now that I have the hang of them. The first time I used them it was over Tamiya Fine White Primer and the paint just wouldn't adhere to the surface. After some experimenting I now thin them using Future and avoid using any kind of primer, they work exceptionally well but it is better to thin the paint and build up the layers. I could imagine that being quite tedious with your mottled pattern though.

 

I am looking forward to seeing your progress with reducing the intensity of the green.

 

 

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8 hours ago, DaveyGair said:

Hi, and welcome to the show. The best thing you've done to work on your modelling skills is join this forum and post a build.  Some may not admit it, but there is a strange satisfaction of knowing people are looking at your work, and, even better, commenting on it.

I for one  have learned a lot since posting on here, the main thing being it is for ALL levels, and there is always something to pick up on, even when looking at stuff you wouldn't normally do.

Keep going, keep posting, do a Group Build especially (they make you want to finish something, most of the time!)

There's nowt I can add to the suggestions already made, but your brush mottling is looking good,  something I haven't succeeded satisfactorily with an airbrush yet, well, for me anyway.  

For the record I use Ultimate Grey primer sprayed out of the bottle with an airbrush, great stuff, and use Vallejo ModelAir which spray, generally, nicely out of the bottle. Translucent colours like yellows, reds, oranges and stuff like sand/stone colours are difficult to build up when you don't have the patience like me!

 

:goodjob:

 

Davey.

Thanks mate!

 

I will get on to using a spray gun at some point in the future - just trying to get to a decent standard with a brush first.

 

Mottling is savage with a brush.

 

I'm also using Vallejo.

 

I find the Model Air stuff is really good for brush paint too.

 

I actually prefer it to the Model Colour as its effectively already thinned for you,

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8 minutes ago, KelT said:

I too prefer Vallejo (Model Colour) now that I have the hang of them. The first time I used them it was over Tamiya Fine White Primer and the paint just wouldn't adhere to the surface. After some experimenting I now thin them using Future and avoid using any kind of primer, they work exceptionally well but it is better to thin the paint and build up the layers. I could imagine that being quite tedious with your mottled pattern though.

 

I am looking forward to seeing your progress with reducing the intensity of the green.

 

 

Cheers.

 

I'll try and post something tonight.

 

I also used white primer and it was bloody useless when trying to put light blue paint over it.

 

Was like pouring water over white.

 

In the end I had to thicken the paint.

 

Lesson learnt - grey primer.

 

Future is the clear polish isn't it?

 

I would love to do away with spray priming as I wasn't much good with it and it was damn tedious!

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Hello,

 

For a first "adult build" the result is very far from bad. the first build i made in 2006 was not as good than yours, and choosen a easier subject.. Your are also a marketing Genius because when i have read the list of "thing going wrong" i was very afraid to see the photo. i will keep a look on that build.

 

Best regards from France.

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4 minutes ago, Jean Pierre CULIS-FERY said:

Hello,

 

For a first "adult build" the result is very far from bad. the first build i made in 2006 was not as good than yours, and choosen a easier subject.. Your are also a marketing Genius because when i have read the list of "thing going wrong" i was very afraid to see the photo. i will keep a look on that build.

 

Best regards from France.

Thanks buddy.

 

I could add to that list too!

 

The dark green mottling blobs are not dark enough but I am using the correct RLM reference.

 

In future I will do a test with paints to make sure the manufacturer has actually got the paint shade right - or check kit instructions are correct.

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17 minutes ago, Oberleutnant said:

Lesson learnt - grey primer.

 

Future is the clear polish isn't it? 

 

I would love to do away with spray priming as I wasn't much good with it and it was damn tedious!

 

Yes Future is the clear polish, I believe it's Pledge Wax or something like that in the UK, it's actually something completely different down here. It's basically an acrylic polish and I found it helps give the Vallejo paint a little more resilience as I had problems with it scratching off very easily with my first attempts.

 

My last model had something like twenty one coats of paint in the end, not all at once of course I was removing them between trials. Using the oven cleaner took off the Tamiya primer too so my last paint job was effectively without any primer and I had no problems whatsoever but I was thinning with Future rather than water. I was fortunate enough to get a lot of help and advice from Plastix who is also a brush painter and does incredible work, he also said that he doesn't use primer although he is using Humbrol water based acrylics for the most part.

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Liking the progress thus far!

 

I am still - after many years - trying to perfect mottling with a brush.

 

My current attempts hinge around thinned acrylics, using a range of colours mixed from different proportions of the main colours (eg in your case dark green, 50:50 dark green : light blue, 25:75 dark green : light blue, etc).  The intermediate colours, appropriately mottled around the main colours, give the impression of a softer edge to the mottles.  Also, as has  mentioned previously,  highly thinned coats of the lighter colour can also help take the starkness out of the darker colours.

 

Sounds like I know what I'm talking about, but I'm still experimenting with this method.  However, I'm reasonably happy with results thus far.

 

Regards

 

Martin

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2 hours ago, mike romeo said:

Liking the progress thus far!

 

I am still - after many years - trying to perfect mottling with a brush.

 

My current attempts hinge around thinned acrylics, using a range of colours mixed from different proportions of the main colours (eg in your case dark green, 50:50 dark green : light blue, 25:75 dark green : light blue, etc).  The intermediate colours, appropriately mottled around the main colours, give the impression of a softer edge to the mottles.  Also, as has  mentioned previously,  highly thinned coats of the lighter colour can also help take the starkness out of the darker colours.

 

Sounds like I know what I'm talking about, but I'm still experimenting with this method.  However, I'm reasonably happy with results thus far.

 

Regards

 

Martin

Cheers.

 

Yeah, its definitely a case of experimenting with the mottling when using a brush.

 

There is no 'easy' or 'correct' way of doing it.

 

Have a look at the method described on the below link which involves using pastels which looks very good and a lot better than I've been able to achieve.

 

I will be giving this a go next time I pick up a Luftwaffe plane as it looks great I think and I believe a lot more than can be achieved with a brush.

 

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/72nd_aircraft/bert-39-s-italian-camouflage-pastel-method-t9603.html

 

This was kindly brought to my attention by @dogsbody

 

 

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3 hours ago, KelT said:

 

Yes Future is the clear polish, I believe it's Pledge Wax or something like that in the UK, it's actually something completely different down here. It's basically an acrylic polish and I found it helps give the Vallejo paint a little more resilience as I had problems with it scratching off very easily with my first attempts.

 

My last model had something like twenty one coats of paint in the end, not all at once of course I was removing them between trials. Using the oven cleaner took off the Tamiya primer too so my last paint job was effectively without any primer and I had no problems whatsoever but I was thinning with Future rather than water. I was fortunate enough to get a lot of help and advice from Plastix who is also a brush painter and does incredible work, he also said that he doesn't use primer although he is using Humbrol water based acrylics for the most part.

That's really interesting.

 

So no primer with the substitute being pledge mixed in as a thinner.

 

Are you worried out whether the paint will hold in the future?

 

I'm apprehensive of not using primer but at the same time I don't bloody like spraying it.

 

I've already got the pledge ready for the canopy which is handy.

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30 minutes ago, Oberleutnant said:

Are you worried out whether the paint will hold in the future?

 

Is that a clever pun?

 

I've had no problem with the paint so far and I've given up worrying. Time will tell I guess. I'm just glad I found a way to work with the Vallejo as I really like the way they lay down and as you mentioned the lack of fumes is a big bonus. I did read that the Revel Aqua range were pretty good too but we don't get those in this dark corner of the world.

 

For brush painting though I can't recommend enough watching Plastix's video, it's like watching someone paint, but it's worth watching all the way through, I learned so much from it. The only mistakes I made outside of what I learnt from Plastix were the ones where I didn't follow his advice due to lack of confidence in my own ability, I soon discovered that taking the leap and just giving it a go his way actually worked. No primer, no masking (for most of the job), thin layers and a confident hand. Of course I have a long way to go but Plastix's advice shortened the journey. Oh I should mention though that the Future as a thinner was my own idea, not from Plastix, so if you do try it and it doesn't work then I'm the one to direct the law suit at :)

 

 

 

 

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