hammett98 Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 (edited) This is all new to me - first model kit and first time using an airbrush, so adjust expectations accordingly! I have scoured the forums for advice and tips and wanted to share the first part of my build. Color wise inaccurate I know, but a small fortune has been spent already, I lack the confidence to mix paint and I needed to conserve funds, so a simple Vallejo Interior green with details picked out (silver is a metallic sharpie) and then dry brushed with Necron Compound. I must admit to being really happy about the interior as its far better than I expected to be able to produce first attempt, however ran into some snags along the way. The control stick snapped on the sprue somehow, however I managed to fix it so its barely noticeable. The airbrush had a moment (the airbrush - not me!) but again will not be seen once the fuselage halves have been assembled. The biggest D'oh moment was the instrument panel decal, which despite me feeling I had placed perfectly its actually left and mildly too high. For the amount of effort I put into it I'm a bit annoyed at myself for that one. Next is a gloss coat and then a light wash before sealing with a matt coat and gluing the fuselage. Mild disappointment is the fact that when test fitting the parts it looks like a lot of these details are almost impossible to see, especially once a painted canopy goes over the top. Guess that's why most the cockpit painting tutorials out there feature 1/48 scale. Any tips, advice or comments are gratefully received (as long as its not "that sucks!") 🙂 Edited August 3, 2018 by hammett98 Enlarged photos 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 Hello Hammet ... This looks good so far 👍 Keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 Looking really nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammett98 Posted August 3, 2018 Author Share Posted August 3, 2018 Thanks very much guys. I gloss coated with Gauzy Intermediate tonight through my airbrush and was not massively impressed. A few patches had very tiny bubbles, specifically right on the top of the seat. Any idea why this happened? I followed the AK guide for pressure etc. and also tried to blow the bubbles to pop them but no luck. It is very difficult to see but if I used it on the whole airplane I think it would ruin the finish. I overdid the wash slightly too in some areas but again on test fitting its not visible at all. In fact, I'm going to skip the matt coat as the current finish isn't a strong gloss anyway and I get the slight feeling that I'm overdoing the cockpit when all this work is only 10% visible. The thing I am pleased with is that the wash toned down the silver dry brushing a lot and took some of the metallic glare off of it. I'll add some pictures tomorrow when the light is better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammett98 Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 So I pushed ahead and started building last night. Luckily noticed that a tiny bit of the wing is visible through the cockpit and needed painting before assembling the fuselage. Nothing in the instructions about that but glad I noticed. I simply brush painted a small strip either side of the cockpit base and that did the job. Fit was quite good, although this morning once everything was dry I used some putty to close some of the bigger gaps. Not sure I've done an amazing job and I might do a bit more. Need to do a bit more sanding too. The nose section went together in quite a strange way and not everything lined up perfectly, especially the top section where there seems to be a big step where it joints in front of the cockpit. I'm not sure how noticeable this will be once painted but I'm hoping once primed it will become obvious. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 Hello hammett ... you may want to do some shaping/sanding of the upper nose. It should definitely be flat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammett98 Posted August 5, 2018 Author Share Posted August 5, 2018 18 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Hello hammett ... you may want to do some shaping/sanding of the upper nose. It should definitely be flat. Damn - the old "nothing cant be covered by a big glob of paint" technique isn't gonna cut it here! Seriously though, have been doing a lot of sanding and filling of the nose section. Slowly starting to look a lot better although re-scribing the panel lines is a bit of a challenge. Also been working on the top seam where the fuselage meets and also the same seam in front of the cockpit. More to go - especially filling the seam around the bottom of the nose but getting there. My camera also seems to capture every tiny imperfection that is difficult to see "in the flesh"! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 5, 2018 Share Posted August 5, 2018 Its looking better ... I see that your trying to rescribe the lines to. Good for you to not give up. 👍 Its a skill that gets better with practice, but its never an easy skill to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted August 5, 2018 Share Posted August 5, 2018 That's looking great so far. Just remember to build this for yourself, not for anyone else. If you think this one is good, then the next one will be better. Chris 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 5, 2018 Share Posted August 5, 2018 I hope you don't think im trying to push you into doing anything ? I absolutely wouldn't want to give you that impression. I was just trying to offer some friendly advice. Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammett98 Posted August 5, 2018 Author Share Posted August 5, 2018 2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: I hope you don't think im trying to push you into doing anything ? I absolutely wouldn't want to give you that impression. I was just trying to offer some friendly advice. Dennis No not at all - the more input the better. I genuinely appreciate every word of advice and encouragement. What might be obvious to you pro's might not even occur to me so please let me know your thoughts as things progress. Its why I'm here and not just sitting in my cold lonely dungeon rocking slowly back and forth 😄 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammett98 Posted August 5, 2018 Author Share Posted August 5, 2018 5 hours ago, dogsbody said: That's looking great so far. Just remember to build this for yourself, not for anyone else. If you think this one is good, then the next one will be better. Chris Thanks Chris - genuinely having a great time building this kit and being part of this community. Next one is already being planned! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 5, 2018 Share Posted August 5, 2018 9 hours ago, hammett98 said: My camera also seems to capture every tiny imperfection It's maddening isn't it? 11 minutes ago, hammett98 said: and being part of this community. Hear hear! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted August 5, 2018 Share Posted August 5, 2018 1 hour ago, hammett98 said: Thanks Chris - genuinely having a great time building this kit and being part of this community. Next one is already being planned! And there you go. That's all you need. Enjoy! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blanco77 Posted August 5, 2018 Share Posted August 5, 2018 Very nice Hammet. You seemed to of mastered the dark art of Airbrushing! I've tried so many times to be successful with this illusive skill, very limited success. Truly stunning results featured on this site has inspired me not to quit. What Airbrush do you use and what should I be looking at spending on one? I use water based acrylics. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammett98 Posted August 6, 2018 Author Share Posted August 6, 2018 On 8/6/2018 at 12:17 AM, blanco77 said: Very nice Hammet. You seemed to of mastered the dark art of Airbrushing! I've tried so many times to be successful with this illusive skill, very limited success. Truly stunning results featured on this site has inspired me not to quit. What Airbrush do you use and what should I be looking at spending on one? I use water based acrylics. Thanks Hi Blanco, Kind of you to say but I literally used an airbrush for the first time on the cockpit here. The primer went down really nicely and I thought to myself it was pretty straightforward, but then the green was more of an experience watching the color build on successive passes. But to be honest i really enjoyed it. Personally I just followed a lot of advice on youtube etc. but I ended up getting a tank compressor on ebay for £70 and then got a neo iwata from amazon for like £60. I had to buy everything for this hobby, side cutters, files, knife, paints, thinner, cleaner etc etc. and so spent a fair sum of money before I even got the airbrush and compressor. So for me I wanted something that would do the job (as in not be such poor quality it put me off) but that was at the more affordable end of the spectrum. If I had more cash I might have bought an evolution or an iwata revolution. I just figured an advanced airbrush in my hands was not gonna make much difference at this stage. Paints wise I just went for vallejo air based on recommendations but depends who you listen to. I'm not experienced enough to really know the difference yet. Hope that helps - get stuck in and persevere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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